Healthcare for the Elderly

Now this is a really touchy topic. I've heard alot of arguments on each side of this topic, but one in particular really makes me sit down and think; it has to do with the seemingly devalued position of the elderly in our (western, or at least american) society. Up until the last half century or so, elders in a tribe/community/group/etc would at some point stop producing meaningful physical labor, but their value would be high due to their experience. Now, experience is difficult to capture on any medium, print or multimedia. But as information storage and retrieval becomes easier and more accessible, the pass-down of knowledge and experience that the elderly were such an important part of seems to have been taken on by technology. Add this to the western cultural obsession with physical youth, and you have a distinct marginalization of the elderly.

One of the blog responses to the above article really hits on this idea, when it points out that,

"many of them want to keep contributing and we should be equally motivated to find ways to increase their value to society and therefore change the underlying situation that leads us to devaluing them."

Amen. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what role these people would play. But look at someone such as Noam Chomsky; regardless of what you think of his politics, simply as a result of having been around for awhile, and paying attention to things the whole time, he has such a fascinating understanding of the dynamics of the world around him. These kinds of knowledge simply cannot be passed down through weblogs or reference cds or autobiographies. This is the kind of understanding that the elderly alone can really provide us.
Admittedly I think the focus on pediatric vs geriatric care should be weighted more towards the children. But the most important thing is to provide purpose for the elderly to lead productive and healthy lives well into their retirement years. This is the best way to minimize their health problems, I believe.

Capacitor-Car or fluff?

As usual, it's difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, but this does seem like a pretty good vehicle option, if it works.

Mt Rainier

For those that didn't know, I recently climbed Mt Rainier, along with Vaibhav, Mo, and Jed.

We spent a great long weekend engaging in such activities as basic mountaineering, wrestling with altitude headaches, whooping up on each other in bowling, drinking alaskan beer, and eventually, climbing that big ole mountain.

As usual, everyone else in the group of climbers thought we were functional idiots, but who can blame them, really. We are looking forward to picking up another trip like this eventually, and we're open to suggestion from anyone that's done this sort of thing successfully. We've already had some great possibilities, like Mt. Elbrus, in the Caucasus Range near Moscow, and some great volcanics in South America. I like the pampas. Not like the diapers, but the south american plains that produce such good beef.
Yum!

Here's another great shot of us right around the break of dawn, on our final ascent. We traveled in rope teams for greater safety, because we were traversing a number of snow and ice fields with glaciers here and there.



And, of course, the post-climb euphoric beer toast with our entire climbing group and our fearless guides.


Cheers, all!

Terrorism on the Rise Since Iraq War?

It seems like the points argued in this NYT article are pretty much a no-brainer, to me. Of course terrorism is on the rise. The number and location of attacks can probably be statistically manipulated to support either side of the argument, but the reality is that terrorism is most frequently a direct response of resistance to an overwhelming political or national force that leaves a group of people feeling left out of the decision-making process that is defining their lives. They then resort to guerilla or terror tactics in an attempt to influence that overwhelming power, or at least gain a voice. With our invasion of Iraq, we were taking a huge gamble, and since our handling of said invasion and the subsequent "nation-building" have gone poorly we are faced with a huge increase of insurgents, or localized terrorists. Iraq was never really about terrorism, anyway. The war was undertaken simply to try and close the loop on an embarassing situation begun back when we supplied Iraq with weapons years ago, and propped up Saddam Hussein to counter the newly independent and heavily Islamic Iran. Of course the oil aspect was the other major factor. The concept of terrorism was a convenient and I suspect fanciful link. Bush sometimes says that we will either be fighting the war abroad or at home, so it's better to fight it abroad. In the most simple and isolated sense, he is absolutely correct; the focus has been shifted to Iraq as a battleground, instead of the continental United States. But in the process, we are alienating most of our middle-of-the-road allies, as well as whole populations in the critical areas that produce these terrorists. It's one thing for a propaganda machine to tell young kids that America is bad. It's entirely another for those same kids to grow up watching their neighborhoods become warzones as a direct result of American intervention. We are sacrificing our long-term defenses for a short-term sense of security. If we hope to maintain our country in any recognizable form of power into the next century, we are going to need to shift our priorities; we as voters and citizens need to demand national leaders that will offer long-term planning instead of approval-point punditry.

Staring Contest

Really funny parody of a sports documentary, talking about a staring contest competitive circuit...

3D maps in GoogleEarth?

Fascinating article about how 3D maps are being uploaded into GoogleEarth to assist people with urban development and city planning. It was only a matter of time, I suppose, but it's pretty incredible how fast this stuff is moving along.

the President of Burundi? Cup of Coffee?

Eddie Izzard? anybody? forget it...
Any of you philly kids that are interested, I'm tossing around the idea of checking out the Royal Burundi Drummers
Oct 1, I believe. Expand your mind, anyone?

Michigan. And cool fall weather.

Just hit up michigan for a few days, in preparation for my buddy's wedding and to visit a few navy friends up here for school. Not really sure what I expected of the place, but it sorta surprised me. I guess I pictured like a Penn-State-like massive student body crammed into a little town in michigan, and probably more trees and cheese vendors. All in all, it's pretty much standard americana, replete with the strip malls, frat houses, and university buildings in resurgent architectural styles, overlapping with the restaurant and bar streets. However, I discovered that MBA students really don't do much work, they pretty much drink beer and play speed quarters. For those of you who have never played speed quarters, it's a very aggressive form of quarters, a drinking game involving bouncing a quarter into a cup, and drinking either as a punitive measure or competitive equalizer. Either way, it's pretty fun, although ridiculous. I mean seriously, it's a wednesday night, people. Don't you have exams or essays or something? I'm probably just jealous...hehe

Fake Navy Commercial

For those of you actually *in* the military, this will probably be alot funnier. But I think the humor translates pretty well...

A Tale of Grog

While alcohol consumption is truly part of the culture of the Navy specifically, and sailors the world over, the recent (last 50 years or so) shifts in attitude towards alcohol consumption have changed alot of the traditions within the naval service. This includes the drinking of " grog". But as a throw-back to those days, and the emphasis and value associated with alcohol, I present this folk tale, also provided on the Wikipedia entry:

The U.S.S. Constitution, as a combat vessel carried 48,600 gallons (184,000 l) of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (fresh water distillers). However, let it be noted that according to her log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons (184,000 l) of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds (5,250 kg) of black powder and 79,400 gallons (300,500 l) of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds (250 kg) of beef and 64,300 gallons (243,400 l) of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchantmen, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, and though unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons (151,400 l) of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, NO rum, NO wine, NO whiskey and 38,600 gallons (146,100 l) of stagnant water.

Classic. You gotta love those navy guys...

Bush's New Terror Strategy

Oh, TheOnion, you make me laugh. Heh, stopping terrorism "for real, this time". Classic.

Buy Beer over the Internet?

Well, this is supposedly a new site going up, although it doesn't seem to be working at the moment. But if it's true...wow, look out laziness. This sounds like literally the best and worst thing since sliced bread. Well, alcoholic sliced bread. Whatever, you know what I mean.

And in the Spirit of Pirates: Knit Like a Pirate

That's right. Knit Like a Pirate. Honestly, the proper words escape me. It's a site dedicated to knitting in pirate patterns. Cathy, I'm basically looking right at you for this. I expect a tri-corner hat picture soon.

Talk Like a Pirate

How ridiculous...yet how beautiful. "I be plundering" or "Buxom Wench", easily my favorite phrases thus far. Also love the vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and arrrrr.

classic.

Learn how to Talk Like a Pirate.

Norfolk 7's Trophy Photo

For those that didn't get a chance to check it out, here's our trophy pic from the Norfolk 7's Rugby Tournament.

Ouchy

Yup, here's what happens when you get punched in the face (rugby match sat) and then head butt your teammate trying to tackle somebody (rugby practice thurs). All told, ringing black eye, partially broken nose, and seven stitches. Well done, indeed.

Wrapping things up...

Well, we're closing in on the end of my time, not just for norfolk, but the Navy in general. That's right folks, I'm going to be a dirty civilian soon. <grin>

By this time next week, I will *hopefully* have confirmed my job intentions, so that's good. Other than that, I'll be packing up my apt, taking a bunch of leave, and recovering from the injuries I sustained to my face from the last week's worth of rugby silliness.

There will be alot of transitional woes as I prepare to ditch military life, but I'll keep y'all updated, almost as if you cared...

- Ben

The End of History

Hilarious. The Onion's take on Bush's end-game plan. I love these guys...

Economist on the War on Terror

Interesting overview of the past five years in security, coming from The Economist.