Magic 8 Review

Now that the first week of March Madness is over, and tonight the second week starts, it is time to look back on the Magic 8 and see what's happened.

Every year Grant Wahl, sportswriter for Sports Illustrated, comes out at the beginning of January with his "Magic 8" -- the 8 teams from which the national champion will eventually come.

Now, these are not necessarily the most talented eight teams, or the teams with the best records, and he's picking them almost a full three months before the NCAA tournament. Pretty impressive that every year since 2000 except 2003, he's accurately predicted the national champion.

So, on January 16, 2008, Wahl selected these teams as his "Magic 8":

1. Georgetown -- WRONG. the "class of the Big East" got an overrated #2 seed. It's easy to be swooned by Roy Hibbert, but let's be honest, they won close games all year with glaring weaknesses. I saw one look at the bracket, and knew well underrated Davidson would send them packing. #2 vs. #10 was more like #4 vs. #5.


2. Indiana -- WRONG. Hard to blame anyone on this one. I knew Sampson would get canned when all the stories hit the presses, but I never thought they'd fall apart like they did. Indiana wasn't even close to the same team after Sampson that it was before.


3. Kansas -- CORRECT. They're still around, and looking more and more like the team to beat. Perhaps I should have taken them to win it all. Unfortunately for them, #5 Davidson or #1 Wisconsin will meet them in the Elite Eight. Neither will go down without a fight.


4. Louisville -- CORRECT. I didn't believe this pick when he wrote it -- given that BYU had beaten Louisville and taken UNC down to the wire. I just didn't think they were amazing. When the bracket came out, I thought they were done for; having to play through Tennessee and UNC to reach the Final Four. But I was wrong. Louisville's playing killer ball, and that's bad for my bracket. Very bad.


5. Memphis -- CORRECT. But I doubt they'll be correct much longer. This isn't hatin' Memphis. They're good. Real good. But I saw them lose to Tennessee and they never fixed that weakness -- free throw shooting at the end of games. Unfortunately for them, they get Texas in Houston, and this shootout at the OK Corral will end with dead Tigers everywhere.


6. Tennessee -- CORRECT. Something about them just doesn't look right these days. Some writers say it's the point guard play, and maybe it is, but I think they have The Malady. The Malady is this deadly airborne disease that starts to infect teams about March, and may become epidemic. It's characterized by symptoms of lackadaisical play, and absence of that killer instinct necessary to win a two week long tournament. You see it with BYU every year in the first round, and Texas A&M showed it for the last five minutes of their game against UCLA (before being robbed). Tennessee had it against Butler, but got lucky and survived. They won't against Louisville, and there goes the other half of my ESPN brackets.


7. UCLA -- CORRECT. For some reason they have a charm around them. How many games have they won because of wrong calls this season? 4? Including the last game against Texas A&M? Everyone seems to think they have the easiest road to the final four (go Western Kentucky!), and that may be true given the money they've OBVIOUSLY slipped under the tables to refs, but I almost put Xavier down on my bracket. They're like Wisconsin -- good enough to be a #1, but not flashy enough to ever get it.


8. Xavier -- CORRECT. Well speak of the Devil! Xavier has the mix of teamwork and experience that should get a lot more credit during March Madness than it has. Will they beat West Virginia? It will be hard, but I think so. Will they beat UCLA and the referees in the Elite Eight? That's a tall order. One or the other, I'd say yes, but both? Two against one just isn't fair in this fight. UCLA's charmed life goes on.

So, in my imperfect mathematical ways, how's he doing?

Well, out of the original eight, six made the Sweet 16. Not bad. 75% remaining.

Odds by region of reaching the Final Four:
East -- 75%
South -- 25%
Midwest -- 25%
West -- 50%

But since not all teams are created equally, let's look at Vegas Watch's predictions:

Instead of the East having a flat 75% chance of one Magic 8 team reaching the final four, we can add up their percentages and see that there's actually a 90.6% chance.

So, the revised regions are:

East -- 90.6%
Midwest -- 61.9%
South -- 37%
West -- 79.5%

So, there's a 90.6 x 61.9 x 50 = 28% chance that an East/Midwest Magic 8 reaches the finals, and a 37 x 79.5 x 50 = 14.7% chance that a South/West Magic 8 reaches the final. Therefore, there's a 2% chance that a Magic 8 wins it all.

I'm hoping for a Wisconsin v. Xavier final.

NCAA Tourney Thoughts

Texas A&M got jobbed. If you look at the close up replay of that last shot, it was no block. The UCLA defender clearly swiped both arms. That said, you could feel it slipping away for the last 5 min of the game, as A&M just seemed to lose that killer instinct and start playing not to lose.

This marks the second year in a row that my BYU Cougars have lost to the #9 seed (Xavier in '07) who has then gone on to almost beat the #1 seed (Xavier lost in overtime to Ohio St.). I guess that gives some vindication that we at least got a good opponent. Just once, I'd like BYU to get a #7 or #10 seed, rather than an #8. At least then you get the #2 in the second game.


Standings for the pool shifted greatly today. That surprised me. "MoJo" jumped into the middle of the pack, while "Heifer International (ESPN)" dropped way out of first place. After mulling it over, the culprit is ESPN's scoring. It gives 10pts per game the first round game for 320 total points, and 20 points per second round game, for 320 total points. Essentialy what that means is that picking poorly the first round hurts you less than picking poorly later on. Since only 8 games were played today, picking one incorrectly was worth 2 of last rounds via points, but is even more precarious because you'll only have 4 games next round.

So if you pick poorly but spread them out in your bracket, that's better than missing everything in one region, where you automatically doom yourself to losing points in the later rounds because neither of your picks made the next game.

That said, since tomorrow another 160 points are up for grabs, anything's possible.

Lightbox Fix

Recently I upgraded from Lightbox 2.03.3 to 2.04. Lightbox is a little more work on my end when posting, but makes the pictures a little more snazzy on yours. I hope you like it.

However, it came to my attention that Internet Explorer (the bane of all the earth) would give an error message when people tried to view my page.

Well, that wouldn't do, since I have all of 5 readers (thank you!) and I don't want to lose them. Some lucky troubleshooting, and the culprit was found -- Lightbox!

For some reason, I could load specific post pages, but not the main page. No other webpage was affected. That meant it was specific to my webpage, and specific to my general rules. I remembered that the only two things of note I had done recently to my blog was add a Paypal button and upgrade Lightbox. So, I got rid of the Paypal button and nothing happened. I got rid of Lightbox, and "bam!" everything worked. I reinstalled Lightbox 2.03.3 and things seem to be working fine in both IE and Firefox.

So, please let me know if you're having issues viewing my webpage or images.

And here's a friendly word of advice: Go Firefox.

The World's Conscience

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world, ... The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world." (Nancy Pelosi, US House Speaker, March 21, 2008)

via CNN.com

TBE Play For A Cause

Ok, so the tourney has started. Not everything went as planned. My idea of having a pool that donated money instead of taking it, has come to fruition, but not everyone got into the ESPN group on time.

That's four people in the pool. Not much, but not bad for a last second idea. And the winner will get $40.

So far, the organizations that our being represented are:

Students for a Free Tibet
National Ovarian Cancer Alliance
Heifer International

I will update this with the other organizations as I find them out.

Notice: Also, because of the mixup in posting brackets (some posted on FanNation and others on ESPN and one that ESPN didn't accept because of server backlog...) I am making it clear that I am using my bracket on ESPN, because that was my original intention, even though as of right now it is doing worse than my FanNation bracket. I must be fair. Also, in case the scoring is different between the two sites, we will use the ESPN scoring also. I don't foresee that being an issue.

Good luck!

A Rockin' Bracket

Now that March Madness is upon us, and all my loyal readers are going to sign up for my TBE Play for a Cause pool, so we can help people less fortunate, why not take a five minute break and fill out and head to 94WYSP Philly's Rock Station.

They have joined March Madness by creating the ultimate Rock Band playoff. Who do you like? Pearl Jam? Led Zepplin? Maybe it's a dark horse, like Staind?

FYI, the Jennifer Reed region is so stacked, U2 got a 5 seed. Yes, that's right, a 5 seed. Nirvana got a 2 seed in the Spike region.

They'll play two songs from each band at the times shown on their website, and then people text message who they vote for. Winner moves on. Prizes include a 42" HDTV.

So, in the immortal words of Jack Black, "Rock on!!"

College Gets Rick Rolled

If you've never been Rick Rolled, you might not find this as funny as I did.

I laughed straight through the whole video. The guy dressed in the trenchcoat is awesome.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, click this link for an explanation.

Youtube video of College Bball game.

Emmy-worthy Reporting

Today on CNN, there is a video about a man who ran naked through a supermarket and trashed it. Chris Cekot, from WHTM in Pennsylvania, reports, and the presentation is superb. Typically, I have a low bar of expectations for quality, especially when it's MSM, and ESPECIALLY in local MSM. However, this is High Quality stuff.

Watch the video and pay attention to the shots. I especially love the chicken breast and hot dog shots.

Tibet and Bjork

Where much is given, much is required

One of the comments in my last post about Tibet basically asked the cogent question, what can little old I do for something like Tibet? With so many causes out there, what do I support, or do I focus on bettering myself?

Well, the answer is not cut and dry. Obviously, circumstances dictate how you get involved and in what you involve yourself. Let's be honest, Joe Schmo no-name can write letters and give money, or educate others (and should), but his direct effect on the leaders and issues is small. His value often comes in addition to thousands of other Joes who together, make a formidable force.

Well known people -- athletes, movie stars, politicians -- occupy a different position. Where much is given, much is required. They often can use their popularity to sway public opinion, or their proximity to politicians/national leaders to change public policy.

Unfortunately, most people in that situation take their money and run. They focus on themselves. They have the luxuries -- the big house, nice cars, fancy clothes -- and give little to charities, and do even less for local or international issues. Those that do should be lauded for their actions and in the hopes that more stars will follow suit.

Bjork is an international music star. Her genre isn't incredibly popular in the United States, but she is well known world-wide, and recently played a concert in Shanghai. Beijing Wide Open relates the story of how Bjork played one of her well known singles -- Declare Independence -- and then shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" and "Raise your flag!" Go read more about it (it also has a Youtube video of her music video embedded). Now that China is putting Tibet under armed lockdown, and people are reportedly being killed, we need more of this, now.

Bjork is now one of my favorite artists, and Declare Independence has become one of my favorite songs.

Here is a video of Bjork hailing Tibet at the end of her performance:

March Madness TBE Pool

My two loves are international affairs/politics and sports. Last night I was thinking, maybe I can combine the two? However, this thought requires active participation from more than myself.

I've been posting recently about Tibet, and Sara asked, rightly, what could we peons do. Here's my idea:

I will create a 2008 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Pool for any and all readers of The Bleeding Ear. However, this pool will require money. Perhaps $10 a person? Ok? Each participant will play for the charity/NGO/world cause of their choice (stated when signing up as the name of their bracket), and the winning cause will get all the money.

Perhaps I will be the only one playing, and some cause will get $10. But if more people play, we could conceivably give $50, or $100 to a cause (I don't harbor great expectations about the readership of my blog). I think this is a great way to merge a fun time (March Madness) with doing something good for the world, and by joining together, we can give more than any of us could individually.

I know the tourney starts in 2 or 3 days, so time is of the essence. This is also a rough draft, so I haven't decided where TBE should host the pool, if $10 is a good amount per entrant, or how to properly transfer money.

Please let me know what you think about my idea, and any suggestions you have for the issues I just related.

UPDATE 1 (16:27): I've looked into a few things, and I've found that:

1. I think the easiest way to do brackets, will be to go to Seth Davis Bracket Challenge at Sports Illustrated's FanNation.

This allows everyone one bracket -- very easy to fill out.

You will be required to create a FanNation account, and make sure to make your nickname/screenname the cause of choice (because that's also the name of your bracket).

Then you join the "TBE Play for a Cause" Pool (yet to be made).

The bonus is that you could also win prizes from SI if you're really good.

2. I have a Paypal account, and I can set up a Donate button on my blog where people can donate the $10. That would make the money changing secure.

(This requires a requisite amount of trust in yours truly of course.)

I do not think this requires you to have a Paypal account, since many sites have donation buttons.

I would need to call Paypal and/or the causes of choice to make sure there's a way to get the money from Paypal to the cause. Paypal's website says if something has an email address -- even if it doesn't have a Paypal account -- it can get the money.

3. Let me know your thoughts on these updates. And talk to friends. The more people the merrier (and the more money that would go to a worthy cause).

Update 2 (19:40): I've done some more research, and the best place for the bracket is ESPN.

After you donate to Paypal,

1. Go to ESPN's Tournament Challenge and either sign in or sign up.

2. Once you have a profile, create a bracket and name it after whatever cause you want to play for.

3. Click the "My Groups" tab, and search private groups for "TBE Play For a Cause" (already made). Join the group (password: TBE)

4. Finish filling out your bracket and have fun watching the tourney!

Update 3 (19:54): Here's the Paypal donation link:

Update 4 (13:05, 20080321): Paypal donation link rescinded. Tournament started.

Tibet

the United States of America is an impotent man

Many of you know me personally, and many more know me via this blog, but few -- I think -- know what I feel passionate about. Conversations I have typically revolve around American politics, Vietnam, medical school, or my new son -- those things that most interest those I associate with here in America.

However, when I'm by myself, I think and debate with my soul about other things. Over the years, I have become increasingly more libertarian, and I can explain why to any who want to listen. Most don't, so I have never elaborated. One of the core stakes on which I rest this philosophical shift, is my belief in the writings of John Locke.

It was he, the enlightenment writer, who coined the platform that holds up the scaffolding of our country. His writings were the basis for Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. In other words, John Locke justified the existence of the United States of America.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ... (Declaration of Independence, 1776)

Since 1950, China has ruled Tibet. It has not been a nice rule. Most everyone who learned about the Trail of Tears in school (America's forced relocation of Cherokee Indians from Georgia to Oklahoma) was saddened by what I think is now universally seen as a horrible move. China's occupation of Tibet has been the same. Thousands of Tibetans left their traditional homeland to live as refugees in Nepal and India, while the Chinese government forcibly relocated thousands of native Chinese into Tibet in order to "dilute" the population still remaining.

The Trail of Tears, oil on canvas by Robert Lindneux, 1942; in the Woolaroc Museum, Bartlesville, Okla., U.S. The Granger Collection, New York

Over the last couple days, to commemorate the failed revolution of 1959, Tibetans have been holding peaceful protests inside and outside Tibet, only to be met with police brutality inside, and forced opposition in India.

Photograph obtained exclusively by FRANCE 24 shows burned cars in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 14.

..."— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ... (Declaration of Independence, 1776)

The problem with America today is not that we dabble in the affairs of foreign countries, but that we forget our very soul, written in black and white, and ratified July 4, 1776. Instead of worrying about Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel, we should be in Sudan, Burma, and Tibet. If America supported people according to the words with which we justify our existence, instead of trying to mediate squabbles between Jews and Arabs, perhaps we would not be looked down on in the world. Perhaps we would not be seen as hypocritical. Perhaps we wouldn't have terrorist plots.

... "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. (Declaration of Independence, 1776)

The problem with America today is ... that we forget our very soul

Instead the United States of America is an impotent man, and those peoples who truly need us, whose situations mirror our own just 232 years ago, struggle against odds, alone.

I encourage everyone to open your eyes. Stop being consumed with your own lives, your worries about where to eat tonight, or what shirt to buy, or why so-and-so at the office is so annoying. I know it's easy, and I get caught up in it too -- only worried about when is the next medical school test -- but awake! Become aware of the travails of your fellow brothers and sisters. Visit sites like Unseen Dharamsala, which chronicle in pictures the lives of Tibetan refugees, or Beijing Wide Open -- the blog of a Tibetan leader of Students for a Free Tibet.

Help our generation's George Washington and Thomas Jefferson realize the blessings we take for granted.

Which Primary 2

every political campaign is a year long game of Rochambeau

Well, the Texas hullabaloo is over, and so are my exams. All that means is I can give you feedback for what went down.

I picked a primary -- Democrat. Gasp! My parent's give me the look "oh really?"...my grandmother claps for joy (it's FDR's party -- the only true party).

I had to vote early because of exams. Early voting was at the Fiesta Supermarket. I got there thinking I could get in and out, and head back to studying for pharmacology, but boy, was I wrong. I was greeted with these views (see pics):

more pics:[2][3][4]

Clearly, I was in for a treat. It turned out to be a 45 minute wait for a five minute vote. Texans were taking their voting seriously.

One funny aside -- situational irony -- I grabbed a shot of an American flag over the "Hispanic" and "International" food isles, with Chinese take-out to the right, as we're all waiting to vote. ONLY in America...

more pics:[2]

For me, the choice came down to three things. First, Republicans had ballot initiatives to determine their party platform. Did I want a say in that? Second, Clinton and Obama were fighting desperately for Texas while McCain had everything pretty nearly locked up. Should I vote in the contested election? Third, most laws that affect us are local. Do I vote for the 18 contested local Democratic primaries or 16 contested local republican primaries?

The answer to the three questions were: 1) yes, 2) yes, and 3) 18 is more than 16, so 18 it is. That was 2 to 1 Democrat, and I registered Democrat.

My vote went to Clinton.

No surprise there. I did it because,

1. Clinton has MORE EXECUTIVE experience than Obama, which I think is necessary if you're going to be the most powerful executive in the world.
2. Clinton was losing to Obama, and I wanted to see her close the gap and bring the contest all the way to the national convention -- which I feel is good for the Democratic party and America as a whole.
3. Lately, with the things Obama has said, and then the stories that were retracted (NAFTA, etc), I see Obama's message of hope as more and more empty -- like a snake oil salesman.

a 45 minute wait for a five minute vote

But in reality, what I've seen is that Clinton has persisted with her "fighting words," and the bobbling-heads of the MSM have jumped all over it.

"It's very difficult to argue that the level of scrutiny of Barack Obama has been the same as the level of scrutiny of other candidates" says the Washington Post.

Will this push her to the Democratic nomination? I don't know. She waited too long to start. I have this feeling that she will pull it out, with the Superdelegates, but with the Florida/Michigan fiasco up in the air, nobody in the Democrats really knows anything right now. I do feel that Clinton is the stronger general election candidate, because I think the Republicans will go mean and dirty early and often. Look at the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. Perhaps it was Rove, but I think it's more general. The Republicans play to win, and they will train all guns on the Democratic nominee. Clinton, I feel, can withstand that barrage (and dish some of her own) better than Obama would. But we'll see.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is that every political campaign is a year long game of Rochambeau. He who stands up longest wins.

Which Primary?

Life was easy before I turned 12. I only had one primary to go to. I moved up from Sunbeams to CTRs to Valiants to Blazers ...

... but now I have TWO primaries to choose from, and I don't know where to go.

Image from Wikipedia.

I took some time off from studying Reproductive Biology and dropped by the League of Women Voters, one of the most awesome non-partisan groups out there. I always read their flier before elections, because they get all the candidates to respond to questions, and it helps me stack them up side-by-side. Except this year Mike Huckabee "didn't qualify." Dunno what that means...

And then I went to Harris Votes to get my sample ballot, so I don't waste time deciding on a candidate running in another district. If every county doesn't have something like this, they should, because between the two links above, it is SO easy to be a good democratic citizen of the USA.

However, all of my footwork found that the Democrats have 18 contested positions this primary, and the Republicans have 16 contested positions and 3 ballot items that will be party platform issues.

So now, after all this hand-wrangling over the next president of the USA, it's not at all about that anymore. Heck, everyone knows it's the local laws and leaders that affect us the most. So, do I join the Democratic party, or the Republican party?

Which primary do I go to?

Them Fightin' Words

I'm not a Clinton supporter, but let's face it, Obama is a snake oil salesman

Finally, something's happening. The gloves are off. Clinton should have done this three weeks ago, early into Obama's run of 11 straight state popular vote victories.

(CNN) -- A visibly angry Sen. Hillary Clinton lashed out Saturday at Sen. Barack Obama over campaign literature that she said he knows is "blatantly false," while Obama called her outburst "tactical."

Clinton jabbed the air with her hands as she told a crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio, that two Obama mailings spread lies about her positions on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Shame on you, Barack Obama," she said.

...With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland nodding in agreement behind her, Clinton accused Obama of emulating the tactics of Karl Rove, President Bush's former political director who is reviled by Democrats.

Obama "is continuing to send false and discredited mailings with information that is not true to the voters of Ohio," Clinton said.

Now, I'm not a Clinton supporter, but let's face it, Obama is a snake oil salesman.

He comes to town and he spouts change. He talks of hope. People love his charisma, so they forget that he has ZERO experience. He spins it by saying he's not from inside the beltway. People forget that he has ZERO experience outside the beltway too. He pulls fast ones on us -- saying he doesn't support outright bans on selling guns, but wants a law that would outlaw selling guns within five miles of any school or park (if you look, you'll quickly realize, that's tantamount to banning guns in almost every state but Montana). He makes you yearn for the good old days of 1963 (although we forget that those "good old days" included a populace overcoming its second war in as many decades, an entrance into a Vietnamese conflict bound for disaster, and the start of incredible growth of illicit drug use and std's). Yeah, I guess those were the good old days.

Clinton, until now, has been content to be his lapdog. She fawns at him during debates. He reciprocates. You'd think the two were dating. Now it's clear that people are buying what he's selling. People want hope. They're willing to forget that the strongest executive in the world could be run by someone who has NO executive experience, because they want to believe America is -- they are -- still great.

Clinton, until now, has been content to be his lapdog ... You'd think the two were dating

The only way to stop a snake oil salesman is to expose him for what he is -- a fraud. You have to catch him in lies, show his product to be nothing more than lemonade (understand my last post now?). When a candidate's whole platform is based on hope and change, he must be credible for that to work. Clinton is now finally attacking that chink in his armor. She holds the moral high ground after that stunning blow at the end of a losing debate, when she talked about her faith, and soldiers, and trials. Now, if she can show Obama isn't as clean as he says, she has her victories.

But she can't stop now. She should have done this three weeks ago. Now she must be angry, vindictive, the woman scorned. We have all seen her cry, and wax philosophical, now we must see what happens when a mother sees her baby hurt. We must see her go for the jugular. The next debate needs to be vicious, it needs to be fiery. Each word needs to be a blade to dig into the man of hope. She needs all her staff to find other examples of "untruths," and she needs to turn this love fest into a credibility war. Turn it ugly, and she has a chance. If she doesn't, it's over. They'll head into the National Convention separated by about 150 delegates and they'll be wrangling over super delegates' votes, and nobody will come out the better.

The Snake Oil Salesman

Just one swig a day

Before a snake oil salesman comes to town, most townspeople polled say they'd never buy anything from him -- it's hogwash. But then he comes, "clip clop, clip clop" as the hooves hit the ground, a single donkey pulling a wooden wagon behind. The donkey's trimmings are nonchalant -- faded reins that once were bright red and blue -- and it slowly chews cud as the iron shod wheels squeak to a halt.

The wooden planks of the wagon are weathered but solid, and soon everyone is gathered at the town square. Little street urchin boys climb trees to get a better view, and mothers in bonnets admonish their daughters to act demure although the heat of noonday is strong.

And then at once, the window of the wagon swings open, revealing bright colors and beautiful bottles. From around the back steps a man impeccably dressed in a black tuxedo, addressing "sir and madam" as he smiles brightly. "Surely this man, who looks so believable, can't be that bad?" a young man thinks.

The tuxedo man shakes hands with those toward the front, his strong grip and sure look --eyes never deviating from the person he's engaged with -- invariably leave each onlooker smiling. And then he steps onto the crate; his makeshift podium, and begins to speak.

Oh the oration! "Are you ailing? Have you lived the last 4, no 8 years in agony? Perhaps it's a stomach problem -- you feel sick don't you, sir?" as he points to someone in the second row. "Yes, we all know what you have, what you've used to deal with your problems, these last 8 years. Yes, we all have heard the spiel from your 'doctors' that have helped you all this time. But you're not better yet, are you?"

Oh he's good. He knows the town he has reached. "I grew up learning about your town. I came here as soon as I could. Why? I hoped I could meet you, learn from you. I've read about the many great things you've done in the past. Look at Jimmy," he says, motioning to a well-known teenager in the middle of the group, "I've read of his exploits in school. You all know him well, and I know he's a good boy."

"This man's one of us," an older, well-to-do lady says, as she fans herself.

The orator continues. "I believe in you. I know what you can do. I hope for a better tomorrow. It was that hope that has brought me here -- to share it with you. I've found the cure for the last 8 years in this," and with a whirl he whips out a nice crystal bottle from the racks in the window. Stopped with cork, this tall thin crystal bottle contains a clear, slightly blue, liquid. He brandishes it for all to see, smiling brightly, and then continues.

"You see, I had what you had -- this indigestion, this upset stomach, this feeling of unease for the last 8 years. I hated what I was told -- it didn't make sense. I read about your exploits, and I knew there was good in this world; things to strive for. I hoped for something better, and that hope led me to this."

It was that hope that has brought me here ... I've found the cure for the last 8 years

With a flourish he popped the cork, and took a swig. The audible "gulp!" and subtle bounce of his Adam's apple resonated against the sweltering noon-day sun. "Aaahhh...so refreshing. I found this, my friends, which I've named H&C Tonic for hope and change. I share it with you because I look up to you, I feel I'm one of you," and he looks at one of the urchins in the tree. "I was raised by a single mother, school teacher, who herself was bred in Kansas -- the heartland of this great country. I spent the last 8 years, like you, with indigestion and worries about the future. But I found H&C Tonic, and a swig of this a day has changed all that. The pains, the upset stomach, it's all gone. My worries are faded, and my hope is magnified. I know there's a great future ahead, and I don't sit up at night grumbling about it, or dealing with my queasiness. Just one swig a day, as refreshing as you just saw. Sure you can take more, it won't hurt, but even just one swig a day -- and your pains and worries will float away like mine."

"But what's in it?" a skeptical old man in the back asked, as he raised his cane -- but the orator had done his homework.

"Oh, physician Brown! I'm glad you asked." With a smile he turned back to the crowd. "Oh it's got a water base, some flavorings and vitamins. Things you all know to be good. But ol' Doc Brown, he wants me to give up my proprietary formula so he can go into business for himself! Now that wouldn't do, now would it, doc?" and the salesman laughed, the crowd joining with him. "Ol' Doc's a good man," he said, "but how come he's been treating you your entire lives, and you still have these symptoms. My proprietary blend of Hope & Change Tonic will cure your ills and bring you back to the days of your youth, when you could run and not tire, fall asleep under the stars and not worry about the morrow. Just one swig a day!"

With that, the tuxedo man started passing out bottles. Coins changed hands. Old Doc Brown mumbled under his breath and walked away. A street urchin picked the pocket of the old lady with the fan, so he could take a swig himself and see what it was like, and slowly, the crowd dispersed, until only the salesman and his mare were left.

The sun, fading behind the mountains, signaled the end of another good day. The jingling of coins in his purse made the man smile. "Well old girl, one more state down -- only a few more to go, and we can stop this business. We'll have enough saved up to get us out of this small wagon and into the big white house we've always dreamed of." He closed the wagon's window.

"Oh, it looks like we're out of lemons and blue food coloring. We'll need to pick up some more in the next town over -- can't run out of this tonic before we're through!" Then he took another swig.

"Aaahhh...gotta love lemonade, huh girl?" And the donkey just kept chewing.

Response to "A Fairy Tale for Unwitting Adults, Part 1"

Last Saturday, Xanghe posted "A Fairy Tale for Unwitting Adults, Part 1" which got me wasting study time and thinking about religion.

After much rumination and pondering, I responded in part on his blog, but my thoughts kept coming, and I have decided to publish the remainder here. Mind you these are remarks to parts of his post, not the whole post. Please follow the link above to read the whole thing.

"As I look back and begin to catalog all of the perceptions I've heard from both sides of the spectrum, I feel like I'm in the middle of a high-school love triangle. To make an analogy, I guess the person that both sides are fighting over would be Jesus (I hope that's not irreverent). Both sides want so badly to be looked upon by Jesus as the best and most faithful but, as high school students often do, each side feels insecure in their diligence and position and therefore belittle the other to attempt to compensate. Inaccurate as it may be, that analogy seems to reiterate itself every time I hear the born again vs LDS debate. But that's just my perception."

POINT 2:
That being said, I disagree partly with two points you made and agree with one. First, I don't think we're quite the high school analogy you said, although I get your point. It seems more to me like a football analogy.

Mainstream/"Born Again" Christianity is like running some sort of wishbone in college 30 years ago. It's proven it gets results. All the old timers still run the single wing or power I (Catholicism). They're classic. Then comes along this new iteration of football -- the forward pass. Sure it's still football, and the other offenses have forward passes in their repertoire, but now someone comes along and says you can achieve your goal by passing MOST and running LEAST.

Woah...that's heresy. Get to the end zone in another way? No more slugging it out on the ground? And so the backlash ensues.

Who's right? Of course you can score touchdowns with both offenses, just like both denominations believe in Jesus. But fundamentally the proponents balk. It changes the game they're used to, they love, they "signed up for." Whether one is actually the “right” way to play football is not something someone can say in the midst of things. Only 100 years after the fact can you truly look back and say, yes, putting a scrimmage line in football was the “right” thing. With religion it's like that but complicated, because we all believe that there is a right way, but nobody now has the infinite foresight to say unequivocally what is correct. We have only faith.

"The delineation between born again non-denominational Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has nothing to do with doctrine or beliefs or anything of substance - it's pure perception."

This is complicated by the second thing that I disagree with: Christianity's inherent Nihilistic dichotomy. “The delineation between born again non-denominational Christians and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” has everything to do with “doctrines, or beliefs, or anything of substance.”

Christian doctrine says you go to Heaven or Hell. Sure man tries to put a fudge factor in there (purgatory?), but the basics boil down to black or white. Jew or Gentile. Saved or not? This dichotomy is deeply ingrained in Christian theology from Genesis onward. Cain or Abel?

Given this, it makes perfect sense why Born-Again Christians tell me “you don't worship MY Jesus Christ” and I can sit and nod when I hear a prophet of God tell me to be “a peculiar people,” or “be in the world, but not of the world.”

For the same reasons one of my friends told me the other day that “we're all prophets of God,” I can say with conviction “God has called a new prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson.” Because they believe the Bible is infallible, and the only Word, and I, at the crux of my faith, say almost exactly the opposite – I “believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; [I] also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God” (AoF 1:8, italics added) and therefore Joseph Smith was his prophet and revelator, and therefore only through faith on Jesus Christ and baptism into His church (i.e. THIS church) can we return and live with him forever.

"In the end, it's got to be both sides who decide to put doctrinal differences aside to seek for a higher level of understanding. We live in a world full of mislead perceptions blown out of proportion that result in hate and crime and war and death. Values and morals are shifting as religious institutions - Christian or otherwise - lose their foothold in society. The last thing we need is bickering and stubbornness between the individuals who call themselves Christian and who should be uniting to do good for Jesus' sake."

Yes, you're right that we have a lot in common. Yes, you're right that we should build on these commonalities for the betterment of our society and humanity. Yes, I feel it's petty to use these differences to split apart political candidates – or to vote based on someone's religious label without looking at their actual track record, stance on real issues, and experience qualifying for the office. Yes, I believe that the best people on this earth are spread about through many religions and not hoarded in mine or another. Yes, I believe it's puerile to focus on denigrating other religions instead of focusing on building your own.

That is why President Gordon B. Hinckley called on others to bring their good with them and see if we can add to it. That is why we should be careful about how we view people of other faiths. That is why I agree with you that we should band together to achieve common social goals – but not at the expense of our faith. We cannot soften our stance on doctrine. There is something fundamentally very different between our faiths. For when push comes to shove, I believe I belong to the “only true and living church” (D&C 1:30). That, as President Spencer W. Kimball said, “is an absolute truth.”

Predicting the Texas Democratic Elections

I was going to write this amazing post about the upcoming Democratic primaries/caucuses in Texas, but after researching it for a hour and a half, I realized that 1) I don't have the time right now, and 2) someone's already done it.

I'm not sure if I agree 100% with the outcome, especially since it's done by an open Obama supporter, but I think it's pretty close. In fact, if anything, I think Obama might win more delegates.

The key will be the caucuses. Over the last couple weeks, I've been working with some other students and the Harris County Medical Society (HCMS) to get a spokesman from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns to speak about the candidates' stances on medical care. The Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world, seems like the ideal place for such a discussion. Now seems like an ideal time, given the primaries are March 4th, and the Democrats seem like ideal candidates, since they're locked in a bitter battle for delegates.

However, all is not well. Clinton has a well-run organization in Texas. It was easy for a student to contact her campaign and get a staffer willing to do the meeting. Obama has no official campaign office. Everything around here is grassroots, and the student found no person with the permission or knowledge to come to our meeting. He even contacted Obama's national campaign headquarters and came away empty.

So, we're now seeing if the HCMS can come up with anything. With exams coming up, and the primary soon after, time is running thin.

But this story brings me back to my point that Obama will win lots of delegates in the primary because largely Black districts get more delegates than largely Hispanic ones, and various other demographic intricacies. However, Clinton's well organized campaign staff will do wonders at caucuses. It will be interesting to see how the cards fall.

The Texas Democrat's political process is incredibly intricate. Go to Election Inspection to get a decent overview of the situation. You can also go to this article by the Houston Chronicle. The writer of Election Inspection has a blog, Texans for Obama, which does the aforementioned good job at predicting the results.

The Ten Commandments of Political Pundits

Easily, the one thing that this election year has taught me over and over, is that you need NO knowledge or common sense to be a television political pundit. In fact, those two traits DISQUALIFY you from the job. The only way you can make it on CNN or FOX, is to state the absurdly obvious while passing it off as your unique insight, or to make outrageous comments (that will be proven incorrect a week later but never pinned on you) in order to incite a conflagration among illiterate voters that take your words as gospel.

Rule #2 of a Political pundit is that you must nod your head like an overstuffed bobble-head at everything your compatriots say, especially if they are of your same party affiliation.

Rule #3 states that no political poll used by pundits is allowed to be statistically significant. Anything within +/- 3% is automatically thrown out. Of especially good use are the utterly nonsensical polls -- those CNN polls of +/- 7%. That way, you can choose who you want to win while ignoring the 14% swing inherent in the results.

Rule #4 of political punditry requires all budding pundits to choose only 1 of 2 sources -- FOX or CNN. If you are a Democrat, then you can work as a Republican or Democratic analyst for CNN. If you're a Republican, you can do the same for FOX. In no way are you allowed to switch shows. No Democrat will work as a Democratic analyst for Fox, nor a Republican as a Republican analyst for CNN.

Rule #5 requires that all MSM outlets decide before the primary process who will win. All reports will be couched to shed favorable light on that candidate at the expense of others, regardless of actual outcome. This will prejudice viewers who would vote for other candidates to either stay home and not vote because their "vote doesn't count," or switch and vote for the pre-anointed candidate -- who was their second choice -- because the first choice "obviously" has no chance.

Rule #6: If the candidate from Rule #5 is winning an election with less than 10% of precincts reporting, you can declare him/her the winner and spend the rest of the evening talking about his/her landslide victory, even though he or she won by less than 5% of the popular vote. If your Rule #5 candidate is not winning, it is your right to reserve judgement until all 100% of precincts have reported as long as your candidate stays within 5% of the leader.

An addendum (Rule #6A) states that this principle applies to delegate counts as well. A pundit can declare the MSM Rule #5 candidate a winner in a state if either a) he or she wins the popular vote, or b) he or she wins the most delegates. If the candidate does not do both, a pundit can conveniently forget who achieved the other goal.

Rule #7 Every pundit must stick one barbed comment at the person in power of the other party per show (i.e. D's snipe President Bush and R's snipe Speaker Pelosi).

Rule #8 is the equal opportunity rule. Every political panel must include someone NOT Caucasian. This automatically makes every nonsensical word spoken equivalent to the views of ALL Americans, not just one ethnic subset.

An addendum to this rule (Rule #8A) states that equal opportunity extends to candidates too. Any candidate who comes from a minority group (women, blacks, libertarians, etc.) must have their platform thrown out the window and be judged solely by the percentage of votes they receive separated by racial background only.

Rule #9 requires that all campaign donations by political pundits must be confidential. That way, someone pontificating about the ineptitude of Obama can do so without people knowing he or she donated the legal maximum to Clinton the night before. If this information is found out, networks have an ethical responsibility to only air the info after 11pm and to quietly, without fanfare or notice, change the pundit's opining responsibilities.

Rule #10 states clearly that the only true political information you will receive from pundits comes on Comedy Central.

Romney's Out. Now What?

Should I spend my vote voicing my opposition to McCain, or trying to determine his conquerer?

Super Tuesday is over, and I've learned many things about America's electoral (electing? primary?) process. However, what I would have written will take a back seat for a few days while I come to grips with the newest word on the street -- Mitt Romney suspended his campaign.

First, what does "suspended" mean? In American politics, when you suspend your campaign, you're technically still in the race, but you aren't actively trying to get new delegates. On the Democratic side of the coin, that means you can decide how to use them -- recruit your own supporters and encourage them to vote one way, etc. On the Republican side, the states decide how to divide the spoils. So for Romney, it's really pretty similar to dropping out.

Now, what does this mean?

Well, unlike many voters this year, I placed lots of weight on experience over charisma. Especially executive experience. Why should you lead the only superpower of the modern era if you've never lead anything before? I mean, over the last year I've been the president of my school's American Medical Association (AMA) and Texas Medical Association (TMA) chapter. It's night and day different having to run the organization versus when I was just an officer the year before.


Based on that, here's how my candidate list stacked up as of yesterday:

1. Romney -- executive experience as governor, led Olympic games, church as Stake President, led Bain Capital
2. Huckabee -- governor of Arkansas
3. Paul -- Physician, years of congressional experience
4. Clinton -- never an executive, but saw her husband do it. some congressional experience
5. McCain -- lots of congressional experience
6. Obama -- some state senate experience and one term in congress.

With Romney gone, those are pretty thin resumes remaining.

Now things get fun. I could pontificate about the ramifications of Romney for hours, but I'll sum it up thus: I doubt that Huckabee can cover the ground remaining to catch up to McCain -- especially if some of Romney's delegates could end up in McCain's camp (i.e. all of Massachusetts, Maine, etc.).

Texas has an open primary. I could vote Republican, but here's my dilemma: I like Paul's premise (I am Libertarian, you know), but have issues with certain points (such as eliminating the Federal Reserve). I like Huckabee's health care plans, but haven't heard anything else of substance from the preacher. On both, a vote from me will have little effect on the end result. I chose long ago not to vote for McCain, due to his stance on Vietnam. Explaining that will have to wait for another day.

So I could throw my vote to Paul/Huckabee, or I could vote Democratic. What am I faced with??

1. a woman who seems greasier than a used car salesman, has almost zero executive experience, but is a woman (hey! I could make history with my vote), or
2. a man who says all the right things, but never anything of substance, has literally zero executive experience, but is black (hey! I could make history with my vote).

Why should you lead the only superpower of the modern era if you've never lead anything before?

On a healthcare front (I am in medical school) their plans are almost identical except Clinton wants a mandate to buy insurance and Obama says it's not needed and wrong.

Should I spend my vote voicing my opposition to McCain, or trying to determine his conquerer (yes, I feel either Democratic candidate will beat McCain in a general election)? My vote cannot be bought (legally), but it can be swayed. Should I vote Republican or Democrat? Paul or Huckabee? Clinton or Obama?

Right now I'm thinking Democrat; possibly Obama. Give me some advice. McCain schemed with Huckabee to pull West Virginia's 18 delegates from Romney. Where should my vote go?

2008 Nevada Caucuses

Well, the Nevada Caucuses are in the bag, and there's much to be learned from here. I'm going to focus on the Republican caucuses, because I find them more interesting than the two-person race that is the Democratic nomination race.

Nevada was a big win for Romney, and a vindication for everything I've seen in the races so far, namely:

1. The press loves McCain, and his victory in South Carolina gained much more press time than Romney's victory in Nevada.


2. Therefore, McCain supposedly moves into Florida with "strong wind at his back" (not my words, but the pundits on CNN) while Romney?


3. When voters cast votes based on issues and not likeability, Romney clearly leads the field


4. Ron Paul is a strong candidate, who will continue to gain momentum, and whose delegates may play a role in deciding the nominee.

The best political website I've found for following the whole Huckabee -- I mean hullabaloo -- is CNN/Election/2008. It's layout is very clean, and easy to follow. It does an adequate job for giving you the raw data on a macro scale that you'd need to follow the races.

However, CNN and every other site I've found does a bad job at describing things at the state level. I had to go to the Republican Party of Nevada's website and read their bylaws to figure out that each county can determine how they split their delegates. Now I hear that Florida is winner-take-all. Iowa divided their state delegates by percentage of state popular vote. Michigan gave delegate to the winner of each county (hence Romney won 39% of the vote, but took home 80% of the delegates).

So, when we look at Nevada by county, what do we find?

Overall, we can see that Romney did not win every county. Nye county was narrowly won by Ron Paul (34% to 33%).

In fact, when we look at Ron Paul's results by county, we can see clear support in the southern counties of Nevada.

Nye county is the largest county in Nevada and one of the largest in the USA. The Federal government owns about 92% of that land. Which two Republican candidates profess most strongly to reducing the size of the federal government? Paul and Romney.

Also, the county has a population of about 42,000 according to US government estimates (the 2000 census said ~32k). I think the county seems sparsely populated by individualistic people, tailor-made for Paul.

The largest town is Pahrump, about an hour outside of Las Vegas. It's one of the fastest growing towns in America, and predominantly because of people who want to work in booming Vegas, but don't want to live there. Again, I see individualistic in nature.

If we look at Romney's results we see he won every other county. By county, he clearly had the most support in the counties along the Utah border (Elko, White Pine, Lincoln, Clark).

Clark county, where Las Vegas is located, has a large percentage of Mormons. In fact, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which Romney belongs, has one of its temples in Las Vegas. Romney won Clark county with 58% of the vote. According to CNN, he won 94% of the Mormon vote statewide. So it makes sense that his strongest counties of support would be close to Utah, with probably high Mormon populations.

However, Romney did quite well in the counties on the other side of the state as well (Washoe, Lyon, and Douglas). These counties lie around Carson City and Reno. They also lie along the California border. This tells me two things. First, Romney gained a lot of support in the population centers of Nevada because of his strong economic track record. People in Las Vegas were worried about the economy, and when voters worry about the economy, they have voted for Romney in every primary/caucus so far.

Second, contrary to popular belief, Utah is not the state with the most Mormons in it -- California is. If Californian Mormons are politically active, he might have a strong, pre-formed base of support when the race turns to the West Coast. Just as Huckabee has to be seen as a favorite in the bible belt states because of his evangelical Christian background, Romney should be seen as much stronger in California than currently presumed. The results from the western counties of Nevada give us some inkling of that.

Huckabee got as close as 27% in one county, Mineral, but it is a very sparsely populated county and an aberration from his results as a whole. Huckabee might do well in the evangelical-laden Southern California, but he's iffy on California as a whole because I think he doesn't resonate with western voters, as shown by Nevada.

Giuliani is playing do or die in Florida.

McCain, surprisingly, didn't get any more than 22% in a county, but he did come in second in 9 counties (the most of any candidate). This confirms the one thing the other states have shown and pundits HAVE talked about -- he is a force in the race this year.

Thompson got as high as 18% in rural Pershing. I think he is a fourth place candidate at best, because of poor campaign management, but it should wake people up that he is not out, and might do well in Tennessee and Kentucky -- near his home.

Next up, Super Tuesday.

O Muse 2

Oh Muse, the best laid plans of Men are folly!

When I wrote my post, O Muse ..., I originally had it many pages long, but after reflection, truncated it. I feel the thoughts were best elucidated separately, although they do connect. As I pondered the (de-)evolution of blogging, I realized that I had seen this phenomenon before.

Blogging has changed like medicine. Once it too was a brotherhood. Physicians went through years of schooling to understand the mysteries of the body; heal people. The community respected them. If a physician got sick, he needn't worry about paying, for other physicians would treat him pro bono.

Then something happened. Physicians in California sold their souls to Kaiser Permanente, and their fellows in Dallas, TX sold theirs to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. In the name of the patient, these physicians sold their autonomy to HMOs. They thought,

"I can help my patient if I worry about the billing and not him/her."

The HMOs said,

"We will entice patients into preventative care if they know they have already paid for it monthly, instead of paying up front."

Oh Muse, the best laid plans of Men are folly! Gone went the direct payment to physicians, and the hidden became the cost of medical care. Instead of preventative medicine, patients demanded the "million dollar workup" for every disease, because, hey, they had paid for it. Physicians spent less and less time with patients, because they needed to see more and more to cover the overhead of their billing requirements.

And in the community's eyes, the physician became a well-read technician. Sure, more respected than a plumber, but in stature much like a nurse or a physician's assistant -- someone who looks at a patient, checks a set of boxes, and sends them to a machine (xray, MRI, blood test) that diagnoses the sickness. A glorified car mechanic.

Except that true medicine is so much more than that. Hence the crisis in Health Care today -- it is an identity crisis. Many talk today about the need to “fix” Health Care. Most propose some combination of patches that extend coverage, and change billing structure. However, the true solution will only come when physicians wake up from their self-imposed slumber, and throw off the dichotomy that afflicts them.

Health Care must be put back in the hands of the physicians. Patients must be in control of their own health. Blogging has followed much the same path, and similarly, bloggers must never relinquish their camaraderie. It is these bonds of friendship and acquaintance, although spawned first over the virtual web of cyberspace, that keeps the reader questioning reality. It keeps him aware of his surroundings; looking through others' eyes at things which may have been mundane before.

Only through our ever present desires to push how people view the world, to share insights into life, and to refute complacency, can blogging truly be constructive. It is for that end we must continually strive.

O Muse ...

Muse make the man thy theme, for shrewdness famed
And genius versatile, who far and wide
A Wand’rer, after Ilium overthrown, ...
[The Odyssey of Homer, trans. William Cowper (1791) Book 1, Page 1]

Today, after finishing my reading on the pituitary and adrenal medulla, I started blog surfing (blog-urfing? blurfing?) for the first time in many moons. Doug, at Virtual Doug, commented on his attack of the malaise that afflicts us all -- the lack of blogging.

He writes,

(It’s a record – a record I am not crazy about. This is easily the longest period of time of not writing s since I began blogging back in June, 2003. In 4 ½ years, I have never gone this long between posts. Even while living in Việt Nam, I usually posted twice each week.

Then, yesterday, he adds,

Too busy? No, though I am working 15-20 hours per week in addition to the 2-3 freelance photo shoots I do and in addition to seeing Mom almost every day.

Sick? Naw – I had a cold for a few days, but not a cold since December 26th.

No muse? Maybe I can blame her for not visiting me, but the truth is, I seem to have just stopped observing the world. (emphasis added)

How sad that Lady Muse has left us. I remember turning on my computer each morning and hopping over to Virtual Doug first, looking for -- wanting -- a post. There is something to blogging ... something different than what it used to be. A few short years ago to blog was to be part of a select crowd. It was a brotherhood. I felt a special bond with men I had never met, Vietpundit and Virtual Doug, and grew through reading their insights on this world.

It is a sad day if the Muse has stopped visiting Doug.

In their desire to ease the way people pontificate, platforms such as blogger have accelerated a divide among bloggers. Blogging has become mainly two sorts -- those who get paid to do it (the "blogs" on mainstream media news outlets, or those large "A list" blogs that make good money through advertising) and the diaries (those people who post their comings and goings for all to see with pictures).

Those "A List" blogs, like the Drudge Report, or Instapundit, have become mostly news aggregators. They offer little in the way of true personal insight into the things they post. The "Diaries" provide neat snapshots into the daily lives of people, but also rarely engender discussion and rumination.

It is a sad day if the Muse has stopped visiting Doug

The few blogs remaining, as descendants of those "think tanks," are truly a joy to read, and range from the well traversed (Volokh Conspiracy) to the sparsely traveled (Virtual Doug).

However, these blogs rarely make money, and often require lots of time to write posts. With the demands of life ever buffeting the bulkheads, sadly, tempus fugit and many, like Doug, stop observing life. Others fall into my category. We observe, but cannot write. Numerous blog posts are composed daily in our minds, but the demands of life limit the time we have in front of a computer. When that time comes, either it's not long enough to put the work on paper, or the post has slipped away into the ether from which it formed.

I will not retreat. Although my posts may be few, and sometimes they may be aggregatory or diary in nature, I will strive to keep this blog one that engenders conversation and debate, and education on life. That is, I hope, a noble cause.

The Bleeding Ear 3.0

Today I roll out The Bleeding Ear version 3.0.

Welcome!

For the few of you who have stuck with me as life has gotten crazy (med school and birth of child) resulting in fewer posts, you will realize that, yes, ngục giới has frozen over. I have commented time and time again how I am working on my blog ... trying to fix my blog ... trying to update my blog, etc.

what you see is TBE with a totally new engine

It has been my excuse for not posting for who knows how long. Most of you probably assumed long ago that I was a pathological liar (I'm sorry Susan, so so so so sorry. Will you ever forgive me? I haven't forgotten you, and I WILL respond to your email).

Well, it's finally here. Much work over Christmas break has finally put the finishing touches on my excuse. Yes, it still looks overtly similar to version 2.0. However, I promise you that it's different. If you still think I'm a pathological liar, visit my test website, trietstest.blogspot.com, or take version 3.0 for a test drive.

My journey started many moons ago when Blogger decided to move to layouts. "Blogger Beta" as it was called, put my "Classic layout" at a decided disadvantage. Sure, I could keep going as before, writing my own code, editing my javascript, piecing together hack after hack to get functionality written into Blogger layouts, all without support from Blogger if something went wrong, OR, I could make the perilous journey of learning the new blogger and entering Nirvana.

Some of you might ask, "what's the big deal?" I thought this too at first. I tried to just convert my layout over, but I had so many add-ons to my template, that it never read them right. Blogger sometimes thought I had more than one widget with the same name, my CSS never translated correctly, and eventually I was forced to accept the reality that my piecemeal blog was too complicated for a recreational HTML coder like myself to just "recreate."

And so, I treaded water for many moons, nibbling here or there, but never doing great things until I found firebug. It was introduced to me by Ecmanaut. Firebug allows you to look at a webpage, view its source code, and see exactly what goes where. As you scroll over code, it highlights that thing on the page. You can edit the HTML, javascript, or CSS and see immediately what the webpage would look like with your changes.

This lifesaver allowed me to pull up TBE side-by-side with my test blog, and see exactly what wasn't translating correctly from Classic Blogger to New Blogger. What had taken months, was finished in the two weeks of Christmas break (outside of when i was playing Guitar Hero III ... but that's another story).

yes, ngục giới has frozen over

So what you see is TBE with a totally new engine. Everything is in layouts, giving me greater flexibility. Freshtags is still around because many of my old posts are in that format, although I imagine eventually it will be phased out. There's lots of stuff in my sidebar, so everything "[+/-]" is expandable if you click on it.

I expect there will be a few bugs here and there. I haven't tackled comments at all, so you'll probably be wisked away to that ubiquitous, ugly blogger comment page if you wish to leave one. Otherwise, I expect it to drive well. Give it a test spin, and tell me what you think!

Who will you "Oprah"?

Man, he just went Oprah on her

Before the Holiday season culminated last week, all the candidates were out stumping in Iowa (and other states). This is all known and good (or bad). Barack Obama made news when Oprah Winfrey came out publicly in support of Mr. I'm-not-Osama.

Let's face it -- Obama has been rocked of late by baseless-but ingenious (in a sinster way) attacks on his character. Since the start of the primaries he has dealt with the "I'm OBAMA not OSAMA" issue. Then came this picture:

As this photo spread around the internet via email, this caption followed:

Respect
Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.
Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name)......the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....how in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief????

Obviously this is incredibly wrong. All it takes is a sane person going to Snopes to see that this is just another truth bent slightly with fiction. Still, it was compromising.

Also, another smear email campaign reported by certain news organizations alleged that Obama was a "radical muslim."

So, will Oprah's ... viewers vote as women, aged 55+ Americans, or Caucasians?

So what's a guy to do but combat press with press? Obama used his personal friendship with Oprah Winfrey and garnered her star power for support. Will it work? Oprah, more than any other billionaire, has the ability to mobilize apathetic potential voters to not only vote, but attend potentially indoctrinating Obama rallies.

MSNBC reports:

Oprah's audience is predominantly female, white, and over the age of 55. Nationally 7.4 million people watch Oprah daily -- about 2.6% of American households. Four percent of American women (about 5.7 million) watch her daily, compared with 1.2% of men (1.7 million people). Overall, 2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watch Oprah.

According to People-press.org survey results in 2004, Women identify as Democrats more than Republicans (37% to 29%) and those age 50-64 and 65+ identify as Democrats also (34% to 28% and 41% to 32%, respectively). That's an 8% swing in each of these three demographics. However, Whites identify as Republicans (34% to 29%, +5% gap).

So, will Oprah's white, aged 55+, women viewers vote as women, aged 55+ Americans, or Caucasians? That will determine whether her support impacts Obama's election hopes.

What Oprah did have the power to do, was cause emulators. After Oprah's support of Obama, Hillary Clinton announced the support of Barbara Streisand, and was seen in a (*gasp*) grocery store with always available celebrity-husband Bill and Magic Johnson.

Given all the celebrity hullabaloo, I'm coining a new term: "Oprah." It's a verb ("When will Clinton Oprah Obama?") and an adjective ("The Republicans are waging an Oprah campaign ..." and "The always Oprah Mr. Romney stumped today in Iowa...").

So, the next time a candidate tries to draw on the popularity of a multi-billionaire celebrity, just shake your head and say with me, "Man, he just went Oprah on her."


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What would you do?

For some strange reason, this song was stuck in my head all day yesterday. Yes, it's old. No, I haven't heard it on the radio in years.

I have no clue why it was stuck in my head. I found it on Youtube to quench my insanity, and one line really stood out.

"If God had a face, what would it look like? And would you wanna see, if seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like Heaven, and Jesus and the Saints, and all the prophets?" (1:55)

I don't wax religious on this blog much, but allow me some licence here.

How many of us have really thought about this question? To truly SEE God. It's scary. It's something I venture MOST people would opt NOT to do, even though it would solve a lot of questions. Why? You would have a perfect knowledge that He exists ... and that means following what he says, whether you want to or not. No more sinning a little here, or there, and in your heart of hearts, your darkened closets, rationalizing it away.

I'm a Mormon, and that makes the Mormon assertion that Joseph Smith actually saw God all that more awe-inspiring. If what Mormons say is true, Joseph took a step far weightier than it looks on the outside. And that means his message has far more "oomph" than someone who just "had a feeling."

On the other hand, if he's lying, he's a charlatan at best, deceiving countless people.

I believe in the former, and after pondering this question, am even more awestruck that he had the courage to see God. Truthfully, I'm not sure if I would. I hope I would. But that's a weighty proposition.

Closing a Chapter pt. 1

I sympathize for the dilemma that faces American women today

Last week my wife finished her maternity leave and went back to work. My wife had reservations about returning to work. She, like many women today, grew up expecting to work, gained meaning from her experience in the workforce, and enjoyed it. The housewife role is rapidly disappearing from US life, and is preceded by disappearance in little girls' dreams.

My wife was afraid she'd miss her child upon returning to work, yet she felt guilty every day of maternity leave for yearning to be working. Now that she's returned to work, she feels guilty for not missing him, but enjoys the sense of purpose that an 8am to 4pm job brings.

I sympathize for the dilemma that faces American women today. It would be hard to give up my dreams, my years of schooling, to stay home and raise children. Promises that, "you are doing a better work, raising your children. What you could achieve as one person, you're multiplying by successfully raising many outstanding children" sound incredibly trite and hollow when actually faced with the prospect that my dreams are being ended prematurely.

The other day I was reading a post on a friend's blog (which mysteriously isn't there anymore, so I can't link to it...but it's still in my RSS reader!) and she (I'm not using her name because there might be a reason why the post is no longer available) related accompanying her husband to a law function.

Anywho, while at the dinner, ...I tried to converse with some sense of grace and poise, while I attempted to look the part of a lawyer-to-be's wife, I started questioning...Would I ever feel at home all "dolled" up? Can I really be that kind of woman?...

This introspection caused me to view my wife's predicament more fully. Would she ever feel at home all "dolled" up at physician functions? Does she want to live that life? The answer, not surprisingly, is NO.

So I should change to accommodate her. How, I don't know. But I do understand that she wants to get a Masters in Public Health, and she wants to work for non-governmental organizations--preferably overseas. Balancing these dreams with the bonuses of being home to raise your children will be hard. I believe strongly that a mother in the home is FAR better than any child care agency on earth. However, I have faith both can be done--my wife's that amazing of a woman.

Medical Word of the Day (MWD)

While studying for Physical Diagnosis, I came across a word that peaked my interest, and since I'm living a pseudo-bachelor life right now, I had nobody to share it with.

Therefore, I have decided to share it with everyone, in my new (hopefully the first of many) post, Medical Word of the Day (MWD). MWD is not WMD (weapon of mass destruction), although sometimes it has the same effect on my life.

So, for all of you who want to be a doctor, answer me this (hint, I was studying the neurological exam, and focusing on cerebellar problems):

Medical Word of the Day: Dysdiadochokinesis

Dysfunction in performing rapid alternating movements. Movements are irregular in both range and rate.

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Elections

Is there anything that makes people happier than elections? College football polls, perhaps?

This week two important elections took place outside of the United States and Asia and therefore my expertise. However, I wanted to call people's attention to the obvious ramifications of it all.

President Hugo Chavez, lost two ballot measures 51% to 49% -- one to put the national bank under control of the president, and the other to get rid of term limits. If they had passed, these two referenda would have gone a long way to giving Pres. Chavez unlimited and perpetual control over Venezuela.

Chavez lost because of a concerted opposition effort from students at Caracas University. It says a lot when the young educated are against you and only the poor vote for you. Chavez still plans to push through changes that will allow him to suspend the free press in times of emergency and seize private property. This is why the United States of America must learn from it's mistakes in Vietnam in the 1970s and China during Tienanmen Square. The USA must give support to the students now, so they can solidify their support of democracy and capitalism and work to stem President Chavez's disastrous changes.

On the other hand, President Putin of Russia won his elections and therefore his referenda to help Russia become the URRP (United Russian Republics of Putin). He has steadily moved Russia away from Democracy, and Gary Kasparov, the opposition leader, didn't gain enough votes to stop him. To make things more muddy, his dictatorship also infuriates those that want to return to true socialism -- giving Russia two bad paths to tread.

America needs to vocally oppose Russia and Putin. Gone are the days were Russia wields the extreme power that America has and China nears. Gone are the days where we seem to worry about the United Nations, so why worry about it's veto vote? Demand democracy from a has-been country that wants to be. If we don't demand it, they will never achieve it.

I'm Alive!!!

That is my long excuse for not posting for two months

That's what I imagined my baby boy said on October 3rd.

Yes, I do have an excuse for not posting in almost two months.

As you can see, my last post was October 2nd, 2007. That's because, that night, after telling people at school he could come any day, I went to bed confident he wouldn't come until the weekend. About 3:30-3:45ish in the morning, I hear an,

"Anh. Anh! Wake up! I think my water broke."
*still groggy* "...ugh, what?? Are you sure?"
"I don't know. I had to go to the bathroom, and it just keeps coming."
"What color is it?"
"Clear, I guess..."
"Ok, ok...let's think...go stand in the bathtub for now so it doesn't get everywhere, and I'll grab the bags. What do we need to do now? Any contractions?"
"Ok...we need to call Kelsey-Seybold and let them know before we head to the -- ah!! -- hospital..."
"Was that contractions??"
"Yes, I think so.. --ah!! -- they're coming pretty close toge --ah!! -- already."

... a couple seconds later, "Anh, the fluid is clear, kinda rose-ish --ah!--" as she braced herself against the shower wall.

Flipping open the cell phone, i dialed the doctor's office (on speed dial). After punching all the requisite buttons to navigate the electronic forest I hear a voice on the other end say,

"Hello sir. How may I help you?"
"I think my wife is in labor."
"Ok. And did her water break?"
"Yes, about 15 minutes ago."
"Alright, and is she having contractions?"
"Yes..."
"how far apart?"
"I dunno...how far apart honey?"
"--ah!-- I think 4 minutes!"
"Yeah, she says 4 minutes."
"Already? Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Ok, we'll have the doctor on call call you back. If he doesn't call shortly, please call again."

I got off the phone and paced the room. My wife, still propped in the corner of the shower, continued to wince in pain every couple minutes. She grabbed her abdomen and said "ow ow ow..." then her face would relax as the tension and pain passed.

Eventually, I called back the receptionist -- the doctor never called. She paged the doctor again. Eventually, he called, and said they were ready; come on over.

I swung the bags over my shoulder and helped my wife get dressed. With her leaning on me, we went out to the car, backed out, and navigated our way out of the condo complex.

The hospital was only three blocks and five minutes away. We were at the front door by 4:30am. Popping out of the car, I handed the keys to the valet, grabbed the bags from the back seat, and raced around to the other side to help my wife out. Grabbing the ticket, I walked her to the elevator and up to the labor and delivery ward.

As told, the nurse staff was expecting us. The room was ready, and they wheeled her into it immediately. I set my stuff down and turned around to do the fatherly duties of filling out papers and paying the hospital.

The nurses were incredibly nice and skilled. My wife writhed in pain every couple minutes as I held her hand and shot pictures. Eventually, I stepped outside while the anesthesiologist placed the epidural and when I returned, gone were the contorted faces and cries! In front of me was a tired but smiling wife. Those epidurals truly are amazing.

By 5:45am my wife was dilated 10cm, and we had a choice--go with the on call ob/gyn or wait for our ob/gyn who was in transit. We opted to wait, and promptly about 6:30am he walked in. After taking a quick look at my wife, he gave the orders to prep and walked out.

"Push!"
"Push!"

After a couple pushes, she was ready. Our ob/gyn reentered, and

"Push!"
"Push!"

Those epidurals truly are amazing

Out popped the baby. Our ob/gyn deftly slid his two fingers under the umbilical cord wrapped around the boy's neck, freed him up, and held his wailing body to the world.

"Waa!! Waa!!"
"Do you want to cut the cord?" he asked.

Eagerly, I grabbed the scissors and cut in between the clamps. The doctor tied the knot, and the nurses whisked the baby over to the other side of the room to get weighed and scored. I followed.

"He scored an APGAR 9" the nurse said. "Let's see how much he weighs....5lbs. 14.5oz. Do you want to take a picture?"
"Of course! We've got lots of people who want to see this kid," I replied.

And so entered Braeden into the world, at 7:10am (after only 3 hours of labor) on October 3rd, 2007 and weighing in at 5lbs 14.5 oz and 19 in long.

That is my long excuse for not posting for two months. The birth of my first baby, exams the two weeks after the birth, and getting used to being a father and a student since then, has taken up almost all of my time.

Now, however, I promise to reclaim my life -- at least until exams in two weeks or Braeden needs to be held.