The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach

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  • Somewhere Beyond the Bitter End

    This is another in my intermittent series of posting things I’d written long before, so that they’re out there on the Net. I wrote this one quite some time ago, back when I was in the Bard Writing Workshop that Hun runs. I wrote most of it after taking a quick walk on a brisk October day right before that day’s meeting of Bard — so yes, this is yet another of my last-minute desperate writings because I didn’t have anything. But it came out OK. I eventually submitted it to The Hun Review and it made it … in 2007, I think.

    The title comes from a Patty Griffin song.
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  • Week 7 on HMR

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    325.4 | -5.8 | -43.0
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 120 | 80

    I had a pretty good week, losing almost six pounds. It’s not quite a record but I’ll take it. 🙂 My blood pressure has clearly settled down to an equilibrium, as it is now bumping between 120/84 and 110/80 weekly. My doctor has decided I need only biweekly visits, and I’ll be having blood work done monthly rather than biweekly. All in all a very satisfying round of progress.
    weight-2009_0127
    bp-2009_0127

  • Week 6 on HMR

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    331.2 | -4.2 | -37.2
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 110 | 84

    It would seem I’ve hit my steady state in the program. Weight loss is bumping around 5 lbs weekly, which is more than satisfactory. My blood pressure also seems to have leveled off and found its equilibrium value. I’m still in for the long haul but it honestly hasn’t been so bad so far.
    weight-2009_01201
    bp-2009_0120

  • Health of the Republic: Reset to 50%

    It’s been a while since I’ve updated this ticker.  And it remains completely arbitrary, of course.  But with a new administration taking hold of the reins, it’s time for some (cautious) optimism about the restoration of the Republic.  I have genuine high hopes for Barack Obama and his people.  I think this is a smart, dedicated man who “gets” America — not the stupid rah-rah of the Bush years, but a deep and abiding commitment to the principles of this great nations — the principles that, in fact, make this nation great.

    On the other hand…  only 50%?  But yes, there are still the forces of malice and stupidity.  Over a quarter of the population somehow thinks the 43rd President did a good job.  Nearly 20% believe Saddam Hussein sent the 9/11 highjackers!  The Republicans are licking their wounds, but they’re not reforming.  We face a financial and economic criss of literally once-a-century severity, with a significantly weakened industrial and social base from which to launch a recovery.  We are still embroiled in two wars which appear intractable, and we still do have people out there hoping to cause us real harm.  And we’ve got all the long-lasting pernicious effects of the Bush administration — from torture to spying to “burrowing” — to overcome.

    So, here’s a glass lifted in celebration and anticipation of you, President Barack Hussein Obama.  Good luck and godspeed.

    Now, let’s get to work.

  • Worst. President. EVER.

    I know it’s early to ring in with the verdict of history and I know there’s room for reasonable debate. But I feel pretty sure that this will indeed be the epitaph of George Walker Bush, 43rd President of the United States (to our everlasting chagrin and shame). Hopefully the crimes committed by he and his cronies will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the nation will reach a consensus on exactly how disastrous the past eight years have been – largely, I would point out, through acts of will, not acts of God. While others will compiled fuller lists, and while I intend to steal mercilessly as I compile this, what follows below the fold is my recitation of the sins of W:
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  • Really interesting MLK clip

    Apparently, someone at the BBC unearthed this snippet of an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in which he is asked about RFK’s 1964 prediction of a Negro President within 40 years.  King says he wouldn’t be amazed if it came sooner.  (Interesting that RFK was right within 4 years… not a bad piece of prognostication!)

  • America the Beautiful

    A stirring rendition, courtesy of Beyoncé at HBO’s “We Are One” Inauguration Concert.

  • Noted with approval

    emptywheel makes an excellent point we don’t hear enough, in commenting on the US Airways crash into the Hudson.  Noting that no one died and indeed injuries were comparatively slight, emptywheel reminds us that “This Miracle Brought to You by America’s Unions“.

  • Back on Track

    Weight this week | Change since last week | Total change
    335.4 | -6.2 | -33.0
    Blood Pressure | Systolic | Diastolic
    * | 112 | 80

    This was a better week from the viewpoint of weight loss — nearly three times as better, in fact.  Even better, my blood pressure seems to be improving as well:  This week, the BP was 112 over 80, enough of a drop that my doctor considered taking me off the rampiril.  (He didn’t, though.  The recent fluctuation has been enough to warrant further treatment.)  I can’t complain about 33 pounds over five weeks.  That’s a lot better than I would ever do on my own.

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  • Words Fail Me

    From the “sunset interview” in People (as quoted at Shakesville):

    Which moments from the last eight years do you revisit most often?

    THE PRESIDENT: I definitely think about the families I’ve met of the fallen soldiers—about the compassion, love and determination of the families, to make sure that the Commander-in-Chief hears their stories and knows their pride.

    I think about throwing out that pitch at the World Series on [Oct. 30] 2001. My heart was racing when I got to the mound. Didn’t want to bounce it. Didn’t want to let the fans down. My heart was pumping so hard, I wasn’t sure if I could lift my arm. I never felt that anxious any other time during my presidency, curiously enough.

    I cannot get my head around the self-absorption and (literal!) small-mindedness of this man who would be — who has been and regretabbly still is — President of the United States.  January 20 cannot arrive a nanosecond too soon…