Why are people so dumb? Part IV

Ok, I mean seriously, what in the world is wrong with people? Read this article and you will be asking yourself the same thing. I can't believe this wasn't caught before. Sounds like it could have been going on for at least 3 years. You'd think that a couple who was responsible for that many foster children would have to undergo some kind of regular "inspection." The whole thing just makes me sick.

Dagens Namn -- 12 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Åsa or Åslög.

Dagens Namn -- 11 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Dagny or Helny.

Dagens Namn -- 10 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Turid or Tord.

Back to School

For the next month, my life will be pretty much be all about school or work. For the next four weeks I have class on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Lucky me! The rest of the days of the week I have to fit in my three 12 hour shifts at work (days or nights). The class that I have all day Fridays and Saturdays is my Advanced Health Assessment class. It only lasts for four weeks and when I pass it I can go out and do clinicals in the community. We had our first day of lecture (7 hours!) for this class today. It was overwhelming to put it lightly. Information overload! We covered cardiovascular, respiratory and integumentary assessment. Tomorrow we have our first lab day (also 7 hours!), where we get to examine each others' cardiovascular, respiratory, and integumentary systems. Fun stuff. We even had homework that we got today, that is due tomorrow. Who would have ever believed that there were so many things to examine/question and so many differential diagnoses for someone complaining of a cough? Hopefully I will emerge from this month not too much the worse for wear. If, however, you don't hear from or see me for a while, you now know why.

Dagens Namn -- 9 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Anita or Annette.

Dagens Namn -- 8 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Alma or Hulda.

Dagens Namn -- 7 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Roy or Regina.

Junebug

I went to see the movie “Junebug” yesterday with my mom and my sister. To summarize the premise briefly…

It is a deceptively simple character study of a family in North Carolina whose eldest son, George, marries Madeline, a sophisticated art dealer from Chicago. They fall in love and marry quickly, so they still don't know much about each other. Madeline is trying to sign a small town artist who lives near George’s family. So they make a trip to North Carolina to woo the artist and to meet George’s family.

The film is slow, gentle, and contemplative. It kind of has the feel of a good short story. If you can only handle action packed thrillers, don’t bother seeing this movie. The movie has gotten a lot of positive critique so far. All of the actors give good performances. Even Benjamin McKenzie of “The O.C.” fame, who plays the moody younger brother Johnny. The actress who steels the show, however, is Amy Adams who plays Ashley, Johnny’s pregnant wife. Ashley is like Scarlett O’Hara with ADD, a desperately cheerful chatterbox who is earnest and childlike, but more intelligent that she first appears. It is as though she just talks and talks and talks because to be silent would be to confront her life's emptiness. To quote one the reviews I read, “Ms. Adams's incandescent Ashley floods the movie with a heartbreaking sweetness and warmth.” Adams had better be on the list for best supporting actress when the Oscar nominations come out. She has already received praise for her performance by winning a special jury prize for dramatic performance at the Sundance Film Festival

In conclusion, I’m so glad we went to see this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to any of you.

Dagens Namn -- 6 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Lilian or Lilly.

Dagens Namn -- 5 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Heidi or Adela.

Beslan tragedy

As if I wasn't depressed enough already with all the coverage of the hurricane, I happened upon a documentary on HBO tonight about the Beslan tragedy, which occurred a year ago this past weekend. It was so compelling that I ended up watching the whole thing. For those of you who don't know about this event, it involved a group of 30 armed terrorists taking 1,300 people hostage at a school in the town of Beslan in the southwestern part of Russia. It occurred on the first day of school, so not only were students and teachers present, but also many parents, younger siblings, and relatives. The siege lasted 3 days and in the end 29 of the terrorists and 344 civilians died. The documentary provided a summary of the events interspersed with interviews with children who had survived the tragedy. They were all so young (between I’d say 7 and 12) and it was just depressing to think what they had been through. Most of them lost friends and many of them lost family members. In the last part of the documentary they focused on how the kids were doing now. There was so much anger, which is obviously understandable. Many of them talked about what they would do to the terrorists if they ever saw them again. It is just heartbreaking that these kids have to be filled with so much rage at such a young age.

Why is it?

Why is it that some people think that traffic/road signs don't apply to them? Signs with messages like, "Stop," "Yield," "No left turn," "No right turn on red," are all there for a reason. In my many drives through Georgetown I am convinced that certain people have absolutely no conception of what, "Stop, All (Four) Way," means. When the sign says, "Yield to underpass traffic," that means that you must yield to the cars coming out from the underpass, not cut them off. Do these people have a death wish? Or maybe they are out to hurt other people? Who knows. I certainly don't understand it.

Dagens Namn -- 4 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Gisela.

Do Somethin'

Celebrities are pouring out of the woodwork with offers of monetary support for hurricane relief. I applaud these efforts because if you have as much money as some of these people do, you should be sharing it with those who are less fortunate. Especially at a time like this, when so many people are in dire need. Louisiana natives, Ellen DeGeneres, Tim McGraw, and Harry Connick Jr., are all involved in some fundraising effort or another. One Louisiana native who is blatantly missing from the donation scene is Britney Spears. The girl is worth an estimated $125 million and grew up in one of the states most affected by the hurricane. You would think she could cough up a bit a cash. While a promise of money is still absent, you will be glad to know, however, that she has said that she is praying for all those affected. Now I know she has a baby on the way soon, but even so I think she could afford a small donation. I mean, Hillary Duff donated $250,000 and she’s not even from one the states that was badly affected by the hurricane. Earlier this year, Hilary even donated sales from her sold out Most Wanted Tour to the Tsunami victims in South Asia. Somehow I doubt Britney donated then either. Come on Brit, you have more money that Hillary Duff, don’t you? Shell out a few bucks.

TANSTAAFL

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is truly astounding. I have tried to stay away from the TV news coverage because I just find it so utterly depressing. I do, however, still read the newspaper and that is enough. There was a short article in the Post yesterday that caught my interest. The headline was, “U.S. Considers Aid Offers From Two Dozen Countries.” (Follow the link and scroll down to the second article for the full text.) According to some State Department spokesman, Condoleezza Rice has decided “no offer that can help alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused.” The sad thing about it is that the word “considers” is used. The damage caused by this natural disaster is so great that this country will not be able to overcome it without help. The state of the world today, however, makes it so that offers can’t just be openly accepted. For example, Venezuela has offered humanitarian aid and fuel. Sounds good to me, but Venezuela apparently has a contentious relationship with the Bush administration. It would be a distressing thing to think that aid offers would be turned down because our current administration can’t get along with other countries. I realize of course that these offers probably don’t all come freely either. I’m sure that some of the offers are being made with the expectations of other favors from the US in the future. It just shows how messed up our world is today. I guess that Milton Friedman was right, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Dagens Namn -- 3 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Alva or Alfhild.

Dagens Namn -- 2 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is: Justina or Justus.

The Five Maseratis

I have added a new link to the sidebar. See right. It is for this cool little band called The Five Maseratis (Matt Kelly, Jorge Pezzimenti, Rob Steward, and Jon Darby). Matt and Jorge are also in The Legwarmers (which I already have a link to). Jorge and Rob are also in a band called the Pietasters. Busy guys, which is probably why their shows are few and far between. I have never actually seen them perform live, but having listened to their stuff online I think I would enjoy a show. Check out their website and their MySpace page.

Dagens Namn -- 1 September 2005

Today is your name day if your name is Samuel.