Valerie Steger-Lewis, RIP
October 14th, 2009
Archive
Posts Tagged ‘life’
Phew! What a…washout!
September 2nd, 2009
As if we needed to be told, the official weather data for August has been released by Met Eireann, revealing that August was another damp – or soaking – squib. Rainfall figures show that July and August have been, respectively, 1.6 and 2 times the average at the Belmullet weather station.
Here in Mayo we should be grateful, however, as some parts of Ireland have been far wetter, with nearly 4 times the seasonal average falling at Johnstown Castle in July, and 2.5 times the mean at Valencia in August.
Interestingly, the temperature and sunshine figures for Belmullet have been slightly above average, 6% & 7% respectively. The summary, then, is warmer and wetter, which happens to be just what the climate change model is predicting.
US Healthcare Debate
August 11th, 2009
I don’t claim to know very much about this and all my ‘knowledge’ has come from reading news stories and blogs, which of course may be biased or ’spun’, but I am slightly troubled. I am (politically) a liberal fence sitter, which obviously affects my perspective. There you are, I’ve declared my leanings.
As I understand it, President Obama wants to make it possible for everyone to receive medical care regardless of their means. A noble ideal, but someone still has to pay for it. In other words, taxes. This has caused a bit of a ruckus in the US, with the loud voices at either end of the political spectrum grabbing the headlines: down with taxes/don’t kill my baby; you know the sort of thing. Naturally there are also the (somewhat more subtle) corporates, lobbyists, pressure groups and so on, feeding money and (mis)information to those doing the shouting.
Daring Fireball has a couple of amusing (kind of) anecdotes:
From an Investor’s Business Daily editorial 1 arguing against the current U.S. health care reform proposals:
“The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) basically figures out who deserves treatment by using a cost-utility analysis based on the “quality adjusted life year.” One year in perfect health gets you one point. Deductions are taken for blindness, for being in a wheelchair and so on. The more points you have, the more your life is considered worth saving, and the likelier you are to get care.”
“People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.”
Stephen Hawking was born and has lived his entire life in the U.K.
and
Anti-health-care-reform activist, reportedly injured in a fight at a town hall meeting last week, is collecting donations to pay his medical bills because he was recently laid off and lost his health insurance. [more]
I read both of these with a sense of wonder and despair. The inaccuracy and hypocrisy shown is astonishing and made me wonder if many US citizens are taken in by this stuff. I suppose there must be quite a few, or it wouldn’t be worth publishing. And yes, I have seen Fox News.
Society, community, nation: surely these terms imply some kind of structure of care, of support for those who (hopefully temporarily) cannot support themselves? It would be easy to believe that those who have the resources are simply unwilling to share and that the flip side of ‘land of opportunity’ is ‘tough luck if you don’t succeed’. Systems such as those in Britain and Ireland may be far from perfect but they at least attempt to be humane.
I started to think about The American Ideal (or my understanding of it); how it has been corrupted and where, ultimately, it will take the USA. Immediately my mind conjured up images of anarchy; a sort of ‘Mad Max’ post-apocalyptic scenario where it’s every person for themselves and the only law comes from the barrel of a gun.
I can only hope I am very wrong, and as I said I am only seeing this through the eyes of the media.
1. since edited, removing refernces to Stephen Hawking ↑
Child Abuse, the State & the Catholic Church in Ireland
May 23rd, 2009
Many of you will have heard about the report, published a few days ago, into the abuse of children in Industrial Schools in Ireland during the 20th Century.
The report, a massive work that has taken nine years to compile, documents the enormous scale of the abuses – every type imaginable – inflicted on both boys and girls by the, supposedly Christian, people responsible for their education and welfare. It documents the awareness of the abuses, some might say collusion, of both the Irish State and the Catholic Church. What the report does not document, thanks to a High Court ruling in 2004, is the names of the guilty parties.
Much has been written and broadcast about the report, by people far more qualified to comment than I am. Indeed, the abuses are not really news. These appalling abuses have been widely recognised for some considerable time, but the report brings together many of the stories of the victims and highlights the scale of the tragedy. It is important for all of us to be aware of what happened, in the hope that a blind eye is never again turned towards such dreadful crimes.
Read more about the abuses committed by the Catholic Church in Ireland by clicking this link.
My Gallstones – a twitter conversation
March 17th, 2009
11:46 AM Mar 10th from Tweetie
Went to bed with wind, woke 3am in pain which was excruciating by 7am. Got lift to dr; given morphine. On way to A&E with poss. pancreas…
11:47 AM Mar 10th from Tweetie
…or gallbladder problem. Feel a bit high but still some pain.
11:52 AM Mar 10th from web
@filce: My God. Hope you get a speed diagnosis, resolution and recovery. My best wishes to you.
11:55 AM Mar 10th from web
@ray888: all the best – get well soon
12:11 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
@filce @ray888 thanks very much, means a lot. Just about to arrive at A&E. More later…
1:44 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
Blood & urine taken. Am on trolley in A&E waiting for test results. Excellent service so far, no complaints.
4:24 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
Just arrived Ward B, my home for tonight. ECG ok, blood & urine ok, blood pressure a bit high. Currently gallbladder and stomach suspected.
4:26 PM Mar 10th from twhirl
@cbkerndter: what happened?
4:32 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
@cbkerndter woke up last night with bad stomach pain – I mean really bad. Dr this morning, morphine & straight to A&E. More tests tomorrow.
4:33 PM Mar 10th from twhirl
@cbkerndter: outch wish you well
4:44 PM Mar 10th from web
@filce: Well your day has sure changed. I think, given events, you are in the best place. Hopefully they’ll be news soon.
4:45 PM Mar 10th from web
@filce: ‘blood pressure a bit high’ – lol – why would that be?
6:29 PM Mar 10th
@finkeegan: Sorry to hear you had such a painful experience!
7:49 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
V. excited, just had another shot of morphine: I relish the blissful release heading my way. Thanks, all, for your messages.
8:08 PM Mar 10th from web
@Andiepowpow: Sorry to hear you’re ill Al. Hope you feel better soon. Hope that Morphine doesnt make your nose too itchy x
11:30 AM Mar 11th from Tweetie
Still in hospital awaiting ultrasound scan. Better night last night, thanks to intravenous drugs, but still plenty of pain.
11:57 AM Mar 11th from twhirl
@jellyjumper: hopefully you will be better soon. greetings from Achill
4:08 PM Mar 11th from Tweetie
Ultrasound says…twins! But seriously, I have gallstones. Don’t know what happens now – hopefully it involves food & water.
4:10 PM Mar 11th from web
@sineadailillhi: my dad had gallstones last year, got them out with simple keyhole surgery, was home the next day and is great now 
4:28 PM Mar 11th from web
@filce: Glad it’s gallstones and nothing more sinister. Been thinking about how you’re doing on and off all day. Must of been scary.
4:45 PM Mar 11th
@finkeegan: Well, pain aside, at least they are benign and removable. So that is good news, right? *googles “how avoid gallstones”*
4:57 PM Mar 11th from web
@ray888: hopefully the passing of gallstones, will be a lot less painfull than a man giving birth to twins
11:52 AM Mar 12th from Tweetie
Still in hosp, awaiting ‘official’ diagnosis. Thanks for all your kind and supportive messages. Will reply individually when I get home.
4:43 PM Mar 12th from TwitterBerry
@Yuyis: hope you get well soon……. Take good care…. 
)
2:34 PM Mar 13th from web
@filce: How are you doing today? Did you get a proper diagnosis in the end? Hope you’re comfortable and all that.
4:43 PM Mar 13th from Tweetie
Diagnosis official (gallstones). Am allowed to eat now – w00t! Might be released Sunday. Feeling much better, and promise to eat my 5-a-day!
10:54 AM Mar 14th from Tweetie
“I’m coming home, I’ve done my time…” paroled early for good behaviour! Feeling so much better. Will miss the hospital food, of course.
11:35 AM Mar 14th
@Lifelists: Alistair Steger-Lewis……You have been evicted, I’m coming to get you!!!!!!!!!!!