Is this the end for the Willows Theatre?

Click cover to read the story in the October issue of The Concordian available online.

MisterWriter

EVERY TEACHER’S DREAM ANSWERING MACHINE

This was sent to me but it seems appropriate for use at the school district. Don’t you think?

MisterWriter

GIRLS ARE…

Two interesting videos show the effect that marketing and the media have upon young women in our culture. One is a commercial put out by Dove as part of its series to elevate the self-esteem of girls. The other a slightly longer version showing a different girl getting ready for a date.

So what message do they send and what message should they send instead? For a society that claims to want to accept people as they are, our commercial products and quest for commercial sales, especially in the area of beauty products, certainly does not give that message.

MisterWriter

$1.1 Billion in Crime Losses from California Dropouts – Who Knew they Were Good at Something After all.

Yet another reason to stop treating our education system as a portal of limited value; a recent study by Clive R. Belfield (Queens College, City University of New York) and Henry M. Levin (Teachers College, Columbia University) shows the cost of crime to California committed by some of its dropouts is about $1.1 Billion. 

With the dropout rate slated at one in four high school students, it is easy to see why this is a huge problem, especially since it is overshadowing the more conservative figure of $393,000 generated by students who remain in school and take their place as productive members of society.

You can read the report HERE.

“In California in 2007, juveniles were arrested for one-in-six violent crimes and over onequarter of all property crimes (NCJJ, 2008),” the report cites.

The report uses 3.56 million juveniles in California of which 819,500 will not complete high school.

“In 2007, there were 233,588 arrests of juveniles (ages 10-17) out of a
population of 4.49 million (Hill, 2007). Of all arrests, 27% were felonies, 60% misdemeanors, and 13% were status offenses (i.e., crimes specific to juveniles).3 Across the juvenile felony arrests, 40% were for property crimes; 25% for violent crimes; 10% for drugs offenses; and 25% for others (including firearms possession). There were 170 homicide cases involving juvenile perpetrators.”

These are scary numbers in the face of a bad economy and an education system that has been cut to bare bones.  In the MDUSD alone, the cuts impacted sports – parents are now attempting to finance high school sports – 4th and 5th grade music, the former lost as of last year and the latter doomed by the end of this school year without even more fundraising efforts. 

“During the school year 2007-08, California’s public schools reported approximately 130,000 violent incidents, almost 6,000 serious violent incidents, and 70,000 other incidents.”

In my opinion, a part of the problem of educating young people today lies in the lack of imagination that is the curriculum. With massive amounts of money spent on textbook adoptions that cater to standards and benchmarks, all part of the ongoing assessment addiction left to us from No Child Left Behind (which is doing a stellar job in leaving them all behind), teachers are left with an inability to inspire students. Why? There is no time for inspiration when test scores press upon the value of that school and the education it provides.

Why are so many of the students who do graduate (25% by some estimates) having to take remedial math and English courses in college?

Another element that I believe detracts from the education  a student can receive is the lack of control schools have over their students.  School districts avoid lawsuits, have no enforcement of a student short of suspension and expulsion, but not before significant negative impact has been made upon staff and students, and often this is met by irate parents looking to blame the school system rather than their lack of parenting skill. 

If you doubt this go visit a high school of your choice and watch the attempt at education. They are unable to make students pick up trash despite trash bins chained to metal ceiling supports every ten feet or so.

Your thoughts? 

MisterWriter

SHOW ME THE MONEY…OR ELSE

How do you raise $721,400 that was cut from the school district budget effectively ending high school sports?

Last year the MDUSD Board of Education was forced to eliminate that amount from the budget money that would have covered high school sports for the current school year. It fell upon parents and the newly formed United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation to raise the money.

The Foundation agreed to raise $200,000 and the rest would be brought it by assessing fees to the parents of kids playing sports.

The goal was to raise $1.2 million. According to a CC Times report the fundraising had raised $160,000 with the Foundation having raised “roughly the same amount.” So this would total $320,000.

In addition, gate receipts and other fundraisers were to close the gap, and may still do so, although at this time the totals are quite a bit behind.

From the Foundation web site…

“Steve and Debra pledged $100,000 to the United Mt Diablo Athletic Foundation. “

“The Diablo Valley Athletic League has generously donated $1,000 the United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation.”

“The final amount raised from the eWaste events are still being tallied, so stay tuned for the final totals! The preliminary amounts show that we raised a total of $3,110”

“The funds raised from the Football (Schuman's National Underclassmen) Combine for the foundation was $2365.00”

“The funds raised from the SportsCuts event was around $2900 for the weekend. We also wanted to thank the hair cutters at the Pleasant Hill store that donated their tips to our foundation for the weekend.”

“We brought in $1,200 at the Yogurt Shack - so our 20% is $240 - but they decided to go ahead and give us a check for $300.”

The problem is that as much as the community has been generous, the amount is far short of what is needed and puts the high school athletics program in danger of being cut mid-year. While the board has yet to address that point of action, sooner or later it will present itself – there is no funding at a district level that can help.

Worse still, reports of threats to shut down the Mt. Diablo High sports program by Oct 1 from a district official did not help alleviate the frustrations that are apparent. A CCTimes report cited:

Mt. Diablo High was expected to raise $39,750 for all sports, including about $30,000 for football, Hay-Muagututi'a said. But as of this week, the school's contributions amounted to little more than $100, although the coach had sent out two fliers and telephoned families about sports funding.
The school did not collect the donations of $400 for football during registration, as many schools do, Middendorf said.

The report also added that the Foundation’s response was that if Mt. Diablo High was cut from the program because of that then the rest of the schools would not play either.

The United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation’s largest fundraiser to date is coming up October 18th, a 5K Competitive Run, 5K Fun Run and a 1/2 Mile Kiddie Run.

You can do something – download a sponsorship form HERE if you want to run. All students with over $25 in sponsor do not need to pay a registration fee. You can REGISTER HERE or Email Pat Middendorf, the Foundation President HERE and tell her how you can help.

Anyone have another solution?

[UPDATE 9/29/09: ABC-7 just posted a story on this subject HERE]

MisterWriter

MORE SWINE-LESS FLU

Sharing yet again – Dr. Frank Lipman’s posting HERE on why he does not –yet- recommend getting the Swine Flu vaccine. Of course he must be working for some ultra-radical liberal anti-vaccine group that are also vegans, right?

Be sure to take my flu poll on the right side of this blog page.

Hand me the Kleenex, please…

MisterWriter

Thank God It’s Frigg’s Day!

Odin and his wife Frigg – It’s her day after all!

Friday was names for the Norse goddess Frigg, the wife of Odin, the God of war and death (and surprisingly the God of poetry and wisdom – because there’s nothing as inspiring for writing good poetry than war and death!). 

Odin (also known as Woden) has Wednesday named after him.  Frigg, on the other hand, one of the more prominent Goddesses represents marriage and motherhood and she is the goddess of love and fertility.  Frigg is the daughter of Fjorgyn, the Goddess of the Earth.

Frigg’s day in old German was frigedag which ultimately became Friday.

-----------------------------------------------------

Another work week has come and is about to end and thankfully so because of late the work week has been tryingly long.

Perhaps it is because I am getting older but I seem to achieve less in an average day than I did as a younger man – or is it that I am working at a higher quality level and so have less time to cram stuff in?

Each night I make a TO DO list, generally about twenty items long, some minor things that just serve to remind while others require action. Each day I use the list as a guide – it is too easy to forget what to do otherwise – and so I get a sense of what gets done.

With a glass of wine in hand I look down the list to cross of those things completed and find that if I am lucky I have removed one or two items, only to replace them with two or three items – the list keeps growing.

Okay, some of the items do not need to be on the list…

 

“Write best selling novel…”

“Buy winning lottery ticket…”

“Find lost $100 bills in pants pockets…”

Others must be on the list…

“Finish the story list for the nest issue of The Concordian…”

“Get photograph of (fill in name here) for article…”

Yep, it is Frigg’s Day and I, for one, am glad.

MisterWriter

BLOG GUTS – Can I spill them fast enough?

I enjoy reading blogs and on a daily basis skim through quite a number of them. I like the information, the opinion, the point of view, but mostly I like to see what inspires people to get on the computer and post something.

No this is not me although the general concept may be appropriately close, especially on Fridays

Having blog guts means not worrying that someone will take advantage of the revelations to discredit or attack the blogger. It also means not worrying that some whacko will do a search and find out where you live and take advantage of the information you put out there.

Despite its prevalence, the Internet remains the most interesting and the scariest place out there.

I like to write about things I read and things I see rather than a personal commentary about what I am doing, my family life or the Twitter-esque minutiae of micro blogging. “I am now going in the bathroom. I am now sitting on the pot. I have just flushed.” Way too much information and why do you need to know all that, anyway?

Spilling our guts for the world to see is fine until you decide to go for a job interview and your potential boss, savvy in the use of the Net, Googles or Bings your name and reads your life spilled out across the Web. Worse, hyperlinked by other sites that comment on your comments, some even pronouncing judgment upon you to push their own agenda and drive up their blog traffic.

It’s too much information. It’s not so good that everyone knows everything about you. No one is THAT interesting that their every word needs to be immortalized.

The other thing about bloggers who spill their guts is that often their version of their lives should be labeled fantasy or fiction rather than the truth.  I have read far too many personal blog entries from people I know that describe their home in romantic terms rather than the disaster that I know it to be.  Likewise for those endless descriptions of angelic children when the reality is somewhat more demonic. 

I know that what I write will be evaluated. I know that some readers will just lap it up while others will spend a good chunk of time trying to dissect it, find fault with it, or argue against the point I make. And that’s fine. That is the point of writing it in the first place. It is expression and the variety of views, whether I consider them right or wrong, are valid and have a place.

I also like to clear the slate every once in a while, erase the entries and start fresh, after all this is not some vast literature that needs to be around for posterity. It is just an opinion. It is just a blog, guts and all. And it is the cheapest form of psychotherapy out there.

MisterWriter

THE NEW MINORITY – DOES IT OFFER SPECIAL STATUS?

It was a long time coming but more and more notice is given to the new minority grouping in America today –you guessed it – Caucasians.

Once a majority, white people are now being overtaken globally. You can read about it HERE and HERE and HERE. Then read this blog called Of América for a different viewpoint.

One Website says “Young Americans who are minorities outnumber young whites in almost one of every six U.S. counties. It’s a demographic wave that is transforming more parts of the nation and raising questions about who is a minority.”

Huh? If a minority outnumbers a “majority” then the “majority” IS the minority, in which case the terminology should be changed.

The above term “minorities” is still referring to non-white as a minority despite holding a majority position.

I have long maintained that we are not mixed but we are mixed up. We are confused about our identification as Americans rather than the classifications we employ to identify our heritage rather than our assignation. If you click the map above and read the comments my point will be clear. 

I am no longer American but Asian-American, African American. And why are there no Caucasian-Americans, Jewish-Americans but there are lots of stupid Americans who like to wear the banner of righteousness over issues of gender, race and personal rights?

No longer can stupid just be stupid. No longer can we be held accountable for our actions alone – someone has to apply a racial label to identify the right and the wrong and the righteous and the wronged.

If a person of color gets fired the first question that gets asked is whether they were fired because of the color of their skin. This question was never asked when that person was hired. As the majority becomes a minority and vice-versa will that still hold true?

When I see the President of the United States, I see someone articulate who commands respect and not because of the color of his skin. I couldn’t say that a year ago. 

And what ever happened to “One nation under…”

Young children are free of this idiocy until their parents or some other adult mess things up. You never hear a kid say “I’m going to go play with my Asian American friend Charlie,” or “I’m going to my African-American friends house.”  You just hear “I’m going to play with Charlie.”

So where does it end? Personally I have no issue with being in the minority classification. Where I take issue is when people, no matter their cultural heritage, stop thinking and act badly as though that was some right granted to them from above.

And there seems to be no shortage of that mentality. Still!

MisterWriter

 

H1N1 Pandemic Virus Does Not Mutate Into 'Superbug' says study

 

More news from the viral world that should be assuring us another chance to live a better life.

Lab tests have shown that the H1N1 virus does not mutate as first feared.

Read the full story HERE

MisterWriter

CUBA WANTED TO NUKE US? WHAT CHEEK!

 

A fascinating read from the National Security Archives recently released Cold War collection – turns out during the Cold War that Fidel Castro wanted to nuke the U.S. asking the Soviet Union to do it for him. The Soviets, who at the time were called “The Evil Empire” by then President Ronald Reagan, exercised some smarts letting Fidel know that any American radioactive cloud would drift right on top of him. Hmmm…bad plan Fidel.

“1995 Contractor Study Finds that U.S. Analysts Exaggerated Soviet Aggressiveness and Understated Moscow's Fears of a U.S. First Strike”

It turns out that the Soviets were afraid we would strike first and we were afraid they would strike first and so both sides quickly spent all their loose change stockpiling thousands of missiles (somewhere in the 50,000 per side range) to do the job first and right, in the event the other side tried anything.

And now, all those missiles in the the former Soviet states could be up for grabs by third world thugs wanting to have a big missile, if they haven’t gone already. Who knows? 

When I read these reports I am constantly amazed that we are all still here. Is that a sign of intelligence, or stupidity? Are nuclear missiles a deterrent if both sides know they could never use them without destroying themselves?

And what was that Disney tune… “It’s a Cold War after all…"?”

I remember tensions during that time. From the 1950’s nuclear bunkers – remember those little nuclear radiation symbols on the sides of buildings- to “duck and cover” and kiss your ass goodbye! 

Now we have to worry about the new little nuke club, the one made up of crazy leaders who think radiation is a fun way to make an impact.

Click HERE to visit the site. Read the NY Times article HERE

MisterWriter

DEFYING LOGIC

Eight episodes in, ABC appears to have pulled the plug on DEFYING GRAVITY, a really good science fiction show that appeared to get next to no publicity.

 

It is no secret that I like science fiction, and it was by accident that I stumbled across DEFYING GRAVITY episodes on HULU.com.  It was already at episode 5 and I had never heard of it before watching the pilot. I was hooked.

I won’t give the plot away – you can click HERE and see the whole 8 episodes in HD. ABC did not produce the show – it was a BBC/Fox production, so still may find a home. 13 episodes were filmed, but fans got a clue of the end when ABC announced the eighth episode to be the “Season Finale.”

If you like Sci-Fi, click the link and go watch the pilot on AMAZON HERE – you can watch all the episodes or download them. If you like what you see send ABC and the producers an email letting them know they should defy logic and bring it back so audiences may discover it.  And a little promotion wouldn’t hurt either. 

MisterWriter

ARE YOU 3-D DEFICIENT?

I know you have some FREE time so here is a stereogram for those of you who think you are smart! It helps to stare up close until you see sort of a 3-D effect and then move back slowly. it will resolve into a word…

Okay, I apologize for that, but its IS kind of fun. You can make your own HERE. Go at it!

If you couldn’t see it…don’t feel bad. A large part of the population just can’t see these things.

MisterWriter

“I GOT FLU, BABE!” CDC stats show we’re all still alive

Here is a FLU update straight from the CDC website HERE.

“Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) are increasing nationally. Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness are higher than what is expected during this time of year and have increased for five consecutive weeks now. This is very unusual for this time of year.

The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was low and within the bounds of what is expected at this time of year.

Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses.”

Did we get lucky? Certainly – so far.

If you are a parent or around children you know how fast flu travels. With all the mutations of the flu, some will be more virulent than others. And despite our anti-bacterial frenzy, we should allow more germs into our lives; our immune systems will thank us later.

More later…

MisterWriter

Beware when getting your FREECREDITREPORT.COM

Love the jingle on TV – the guy who has wound up in a bad situation because he didn’t know his credit score – he plays guitar with his friends and sends you to the site to get your free credit report.

WATCH OUT! Free is such a relative term. Owned by Experian and after losing some multi-million dollar lawsuits, they now have a disclaimer on the front page that surprisingly most people do not read; that you will be automatically enrolled in a credit protection plan unless you cancel and that it costs you $14.95 month. They even have to point out that the ONLY true free credit report comes from the one sanctioned by the government – annualcreditreport.com . You can get that one free once a year, either all three agencies at once or one at a time.

So why would you spend $14.95 a month? The answer is that you wouldn’t if you knew about it and even though freecreditreport.com posts it on the home page, it is clearly not standing out to viewers.

If you used this service you may wish to examine your bank records for a recurring charge from a company with a name like "CIC * TripleAdvantage.” It will be on there!

Here is what you need to know to fix it!

MisterWriter

Humility and generosity are the Ashley hallmark

Those of us in the Bay Area know him as ABC-7 News Anchor Dan Ashley, but what may not be so known is the level of generosity that Dan and his wife Spalding offer to their community.

Aside from sitting on the board of such organizations as Friends of Camp Concord, California Symphony, to name a few, Spalding also heralds the cause for Challenge Day at Northgate High School.

 

The couple just opened their home yesterday evening, as they do several times a year for different causes, this time to 125 invited guests who came to mingle, enjoy the many wines and food samplings from twenty four local area vendors ranging from

Sterling Albert shows off one of his various samplings offered at the Ashley home.

Walnut  Creek’s Prima Ristorante and Bing Crosby’s to Brentwood winery Bloomfield Vineyards, Concord’s Sterling Albert Winery and many more. 

The Concordian’s Mike Dunn (Radar) was also on hand to chronicle the evening. To see Mike Dunn’s photo gallery click HERE.

Included in the evening was a silent auction offering such prizes as a behind the scenes tour at ABC-News with Dan, abstract paintings from Dan’s sister Deborah Ashley whose photos can be seen in Diablo Magazine and paintings adorn the walls in the Ashley home and far too many more items to list here.

 

Spalding Ashley, Northgate’s Kevin Chinn and Challenge Day Founder Rich St. John

It is nice when people with more give back. That happens a lot. With the Ashleys, you get more than that; the couple are deeply interested in their community and very accessible. Spalding is totally committed to making the difference at a school level with Challenge Day and the fundraiser brought in over $11,000. Their house was magnificently decorated by Spalding and her friend Debbie Mazorra with ornate umbrellas, paper lanterns, tables and chairs by the pool and scattered throughout the auction items.  And Dan put on his electrician’s hat to ensure that there was outdoor lighting that would not blow fuses once the sun dropped behind the mountain.

When you talk with Dan you get an unmistakable sense that he is genuinely interested in what you have to say – not just politeness. And he is. It is a decency that goes back to his roots and a simpler life before anchoring the nightly news.

Dan also generously writes a monthly column for The Concordian called “What Really Matters.”  Here you will find a diverse range of topics that touch upon the core decency and values that makes him more than  someone who scored a great job. It is that decency and genuine interest that fires up people who know him to put aside the silly irritations of life and focus on a larger picture – it is your life; make the most of it.

Dan emceed the California Symphony Pops in the Plaza on Sept 17; a huge success that drew record crowds.

Complete with a trekker introduction to the symphony’s Star trek piece – Dan is a Trekker – he also stayed for the whole performance with Spalding, enjoying the music he helps to support.

I jokingly asked him how many weekends he has free, knowing full well the answer. The answer: between now and mid-November he has none. It’s a good thing Thanksgiving gets in the way.

Next week Dan sponsors a golf tournament to benefit the Friends of Camp Concord that will be held at the Oakhurst Country Club on Sept 28. “You have a chance to give deserving young people the opportunity to have an experience that will likely last them a lifetime,” Dan writes in The Concordian. 

The event that he hosts along with his good friend Dan Goldman will hopefully keep that opportunity open for youngsters unable to pay for a camp experience. 

For more information on the Friends of Camp Concord
click HERE.

For a PDF brochure on Dan's golf fundraiser event click HERE

Thanks, Dan and Spalding!

MisterWriter

FORGET TRYING TO GET ON CBS-5 EYE ON BLOGS – GO FOR THE EYE ON FROG INSTEAD

I have to laugh at the blogs that get listed on CBS-5 Eye on Blogs; no offense to Brittney Gilbert who has one fun job reviewing everything that is on the Internet. And my blog gets listed there, ironically at the strangest of times for the strangest of reasons. There are postings that I think should really be up there and find they never rate a mention, yet, when I get all testy and rant about things that I think are not worthy, she likes that and posts a link.

Hey, it’s fine Brittney. I know you like to look at Claycord more – when he sneezes it gets listed. It’s your blog; you can do what you like. Here I sit pouring my heart (or what is left of it) out into this online word war and what do I get? Fame – hardly. Fortune – now who’s on drugs?  No I get squat!

I’m just kidding. Really I am. I like Eye on Blogs, read it daily and truthfully I find quite a few to add to my reading collection. Web traffic is a fickle bedfellow and frankly a few thousand extra visitors from a mention on Claycord works wonders for the ego if you ever feel the need to have a few thousand people nitpick what you write . Still, those of us who flop words on the screen do get a tickle when someone with some measure of credibility, not to mention a whopping big news organization behind them, selects a posting to put front and center. So thanks to Eye on Blogs, but for today…

I’m choosing EYE ON FROG instead – sorry Brittney!

MisterWriter

It’s Rosh Hashanah with no Guiding Light and my flux capacitor is broken and I lost my Terminator eye

It’s been one of those weeks, you know the kind when you can’t wait until the end of the day to enjoy a private happy hour or two knowing that you can’t keep pushing yourself like that because it is just not a healthy thing to do. But what else can you do? You do your job, race around like a fool doing far more than what was probably needed to start with, simply because you have to do a good job; you can’t turn in crap – too many people do crap and whine about their lives.

Even The formerly popular soap opera The Guiding Light has had the plug pulled! Times are tough.

Sweet Friday – ha! I have to work tomorrow, although that means attending a fundraising party so I won’t complain. besides, I like the hosts and am happy to be there.

Have you ever promised yourself, on a Friday evening, as the triple digit heat subsides and a glimmer of hot, yet cooler, air seeps in, that you will change things? I mean really change things? And then the evening drains the rest of the mental battery and you sleep heavy only to wake up to a Monday morning that has no mercy for you?  Mix and repeat 52 times for another birthday, another New Year, more resolutions and a lot of procrastination.

Wow, I am rambling after my first scotch rocks. Nice!

I’ve met a lot of people this week who have been laid off. There are a lot of optimistic souls out there who just know that something better come along to save them, only they have doubts, worry that they are older and the job market has changed significantly.  Are the days where some great job comes along at a cocktail party? Well most people do not have cocktail parties anymore.

The best news of the week is my formerly inflamed left eye that glowed red like the Terminator iris, has finally, after a week of drops and ointment, not to mention multiple trips to the ophthalmologist's office, subsided to a crimson streak like a summer sunset leaving firestreaks across the blue.

The blog has had a great turnout this week. The flu has also. Neither seem to kill too many people, though.

And finally, I am considering putting together an online writer group, a writing lounge if you will. Let me know if you are interested in joining.

If you have any news that you think I can dissect, let me know. Especially on a Friday afternoon! You can email me at andre@misterwriter.com and chance are I will reply – usually favorably. Hey, it is free – you can’t complain.

Happy weekend!

MisterWriter

IT WAS “CHARLIE BAGGETT DAY” SAID THE MAYOR AND VICE-MAYOR OF CONCORD

 

When I turned 15 no one proclaimed the day “MisterWriter Day",” but that was one of the surprises for Charlie Baggett today at his CD Release Party (and birthday party) at Concord airport. 

Mayor Laura Hoffmeister and Vice Mayor Guy Bjerke joined the crowd of about 200 inside the large hanger of Pacific States Aviation where Charlie rents his aircraft. The hanger included an attractive private jet, along with assorted propeller aircraft.

While he knew that the city officials would be there, Charlie had no idea of the Proclamation and was visibly moved. You can watch the video which shows that moment as well as Charlie singing live the title track from the CD “I only dream of you.”

Click HERE for earlier stories about Charlie

You can buy his CD from Amazon.com HERE. 

MisterWriter

THE IDIOT CONVENTION HAS CONVENED.

The idiot convention has convened. I received a job offer from the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION that …

“We are in search of an interested individual that can represent our Organisation's interest in the next Health Awareness Tour for a pay sum of £138,500.00. Please send us your names,age,sex,country,occupation and phone.”

The spelling as with most scams is terrible. And the email address is a yahoo address. Way to go -Morons! Needless to say the actual World Health Organization is not happy. Read their press release HERE.

Are there really that many stupid people with feelings of self-importance or self-entitlement who would fall for this?

MisterWriter

YOU MAY ALREADY BE IMMUNE TO THE SWINE FLU – H1N1 AND NOT KNOW IT.

You just have to respect a pandemic; the fear and knee-jerk reactions that come as a result are really not that different to what you get when you stick a broom handle into an ant nest – the ants will lose all order and chaos ensues.

According to the CDC, as of last June over a million Americans had already been exposed to the H1N1 virus and it would be a safe assumption given the rapid-fire spread that you could almost double that number by this time.

The question that is being asked is why a few million Americans are not dropping dead from this virus. Worse, millions of people who have been exposed to it and never developed a symptom, may well be aiding the spread of the virus.

Like the Spanish Flu of 1918, those who do not die from a virus have developed antibodies to it.  This is try of each of the seasonal flues that come along – the reason we get flu each year is that the virus mutates and we are faced with a new strain to which we have no antibodies.  This is also the premise behind vaccinations – mix up some strains (dead of course) and inject it into your body so that your body defenses can recognize and build antibodies to it.

There is no data as to how many people have survived the H1N1 virus and developed antibodies. Worldwide there is no data. There have been some scientific thought about finding survivors of it and gleaning antibodies from their blood, but that is still in its Dracularian pubescent stage.

My last post about the vaccine, which you can read HERE, generated a lot of commentary and as you can see from the running poll on the right side, the people who plan to take the H1N1 vaccine run about half the number of those who will not. Of course the poll is flawed as it only represents readership of this blog and the numbers are too small to have any valid use. 

Then again, the testing done on the H1N1 vaccine involved only a few hundred people before it was deemed safe. 

The odds of being struck by a lightning bolt are higher. For that you have a 1:700,000 chance. One television station KHOU determined from the Mexico statistics that your chance of catching the H1N1 virus are 1:29,000 and your chance of dying from it 1:736,000 which means you have a similar chance of getting struck by lightning than you do dying from the H1N1. 

And if you have already been infected and did not know, if you have been infected and thought you just had the regular flu, you now have an immunity and zero chance of dying from that flu, although the same cannot be said about any side effects from the vaccine itself. Even the CDC acknowledges this fact by referencing data that older people may have been exposed to another H1N1 strain circulating prior to 1957 and thus may have gleaned immunity.

Parents of school age children can READ THIS on suggestions on dealing with school infections.

A Canadian study you can READ HERE suggest that the virus is contagious for up to 8 days.

Yesterday (9/15/09) the FDA approved the H1N1 vaccine. You can read that HERE.  About 45 million doses of the 195 million doses of the vaccine ordered by the government are expected to be available Oct. 15 at 90,000 locations in the country.

For the week ending Sept. 4 the CDC logged 5000 new cases of H1N1, mostly on the eastern United States although it has affected every state. Still no change in illness/death rates, though.

I’m watching to see what happens with the data from those who get the vaccine before passing a final judgment on whether it should be considered safe or even something I want my family to get.  Despite the counter arguments presented on my last posting, there is not enough data to prove this point at this time both from the vaccine or the virus.

You can read the CDC’s H1N1 site HERE. And you can see the FLU VIEW from the CDC HERE.  “The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was below the epidemic threshold,”  the site reports.

MisterWriter

Better Belpharelosis than a Scratched Conjunctiva, don’t you think?

I write this one-eyed piece as the blur from my left eye makes reading impossible. You see, something happened yesterday – I have no clue what – and my left eyeball became inflamed, red, inflamed conjunctiva, worse than Pink Eye; it was actually the ultimate in red eye – and I could have auditioned for a Terminator movie!

And so I typed “Home remedy for Eye Infections” into Google and it returned the two best choices. 

Choice one – dribble honey into my eye. Hmmmm… I pass. Choice two – wash my eye out with breast milk. Hmmmm. I have no one close by actually producing breast milk and the likelihood is that anyone actually in flow would likely be hard pressed to give it up. Pass.

Instead,  I went to the Ophthalmologist who dilated and stained my eyes, shot blinding bands of light across the surface and informed me that I had a deep cut there – cause unknown. Solution, eye drops, antibiotic ointment and a return check in a day.

Interesting visit.

It is amazing that we have seemingly simple devices that allow trained people to look inside your eyes at workings that even now are still not fully understood. And not just in that field; most science and medical fields have developed into highly refined specialties complete with equipment.  Someone had to develop those pieces of machinery, lots of trial and error and, as with most things of value, its inventor likely made little or no money.

It is not magic and yet it is another reason that young people today need to be forced, one way or another, into pushing themselves to succeed. Obama had that right.

When the Visigoths sacked Rome at the end of the Empire, the succeeding  Dark Ages showed that the end of one lifestyle does not mean the next will be better.  Despite Rome’s order and system of government and education, what came after was closer to a miserable existence. Losing out is easy. Building upon failures is the hard part. It wasn’t until the Renaissance that things improved again.

I may only have one eye that focuses right now, but even I can see some darker days ahead if we do not get a clearer picture about our life and society, education, morality, and remain focused on it instead of allowing others to cloud the waters and confuse us.

I’m still seeing red!

MisterWriter

A nice memory about Patrick Swayze who just died

Patrick Swayze has died after a long fight with pancreatic cancer.

Normally I do not indulge in celebrity death notes but in this case, I met him and have a nice Patrick Swayze story to tell.

Back in late 1983 I worked as an extra on a film called Red Dawn (1984) that was being filmed in New Mexico in a town called Las Vegas where I had run away to from California. The film was a blessing because as beautiful as New Mexico was, finding work was next to impossible.

Fresh out of college with a Bachelor’s degree in basket weaving (Communications), I wound up getting an extra part  ($50 a day and prime rib until the film went over budget) and had the pleasure of standing at the bar of the hotel after filming with the cast each evening, most of whom I have nothing nice to say about except for Patrick. 

Patrick was not well known at that time and frankly the movie was…okay (they are making a remake as we speak), 

Each evening Patrick would stand at the bar and have a drink, chat with anyone who was being decent. And so I found myself on several evenings having a very nice conversation with him for about an hour at a time. He was a nice guy. Unassuming. Not at all pretentious.  And it was clear that the values he held were very strong even at that point in his career.

What struck me the most, however, was after our chat he looked at me, shook my hand and excused himself saying: “I have to go and phone my wife. I call her every night at this time.” It was said in a way that was so not Hollywood, and left me quietly impressed.  And that was what he did, validated by the cast who stressed that his wife was the center of his world and he reveled in their time together.

If you doubt my story, I include a photo montage of me (on the left) on the set above, back when I had hair and weighed less than I do now.  The guy on the far right is the same guy who shoots the teacher  in the opening five minutes of the movie – a great claim to fame.

Patrick was married to Lisa Niemi whom he met when he was 19 years old. They married in 1975. And everyone knows the films that resonated from his career, from Ghost with Demi Moore, Dirty Dancing (with fellow Red Dawn actree Jennifer Grey)  to To Wong Foo which he performed in drag.

He was a rarity for Hollywood – a decent man and for that I note his passing with regret. You can read the write up of his death HERE. 

MisterWriter