Abuse, the NFL, and Due Process

Recently, you can't go anywhere, read or watch anything, and not hear about the National Football League and its abuse scandal. Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancé. Greg Hardy beating up a woman. Adrian Peterson accused of child abuse by disciplining with a switch.

Somehow, this has turned into a societal referendum on discipline - spanking, specifically - and safety nets for abused partners.

This has made the American people into experts on abuse lately. The cynic in me says "This is wonderful," because, in my four years of taking care of abused children that came to the hospital, we were ALWAYS woefully understaffed with people that could properly tell abuse from non-abuse, and do a good forensic exam, or forensic interview.

The civic organizations we worked with for psychiatric care for patients and parents, the police and state who prosecuted perpetrators, were always horribly underfunded.

I see roughly one patient per week in the ICU with serious injury (or death) from physical abuse. But now, we have almost an entire nation who can accurately perform a forensic interview and examination via the internet. No more CPS write-ups, forensic exams, brain death exams, worrying about serum sodiums or intracranial pressures, getting ophthalmology to come in late at night, etc., etc.

The reality is, we have no increase in experts, on another example of America's penchant for self-righteous indignation without education. I am all for the discussion, when people take the time to educate on the situation, American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, etc.

But most people don't.

And as a doctor who sees this at least once a week, we must do our job to prove that what we see came from actions alleged. If we jump to conclusions, we do the child a disservice. I've seen more than one child come in with bruises consistent with abuse only to find underlying bleeding issues no readily apparent on a routine CBC.

So if people in positions to report or make decisions are going to highlight this, let them truly become educated too. It's better for the child and future children.

Secondly, I have serious concerns about our society over the last 1-2 weeks. "Innocent until proven guilty," must apply in ALL scenarios in this country, or we end up in the same situation the NFL is currently in - creating arbitrary punishments for crimes not properly vetted.

How many people have been exonerated from death row sentences by DNA evidence? Or new evidence? Or findings of police misconduct?

As much as we may feel certain that Ray Rice knocked out his wife, or Adrian Peterson abused his child, we must let the system play like it's supposed to.

Holding second grand juries is scary - because it's almost double jeopardy that our constitution forbids. If you are a strict constitutionalist, you should definitely oppose Adrian Peterson being tried again. Can we suspend or fire everyone in America when a crime is alleged? There are many spurious allegations out there, or ones done in good faith that still end up being wrong.

No, as much as it might hurt us to be patient, in a case like this we MUST be patient and not crucify the alleged perpetrator until the system runs its course so that the system is infallible, and justice without caveat can be served for the child and safeguarded for the next child. Otherwise, we're all just a modern mob with torches storming to Frankenstein's castle.

Finally, as an organization, the NFL has made a huge mistake with Ray Rice. In his case, the system has played out, he was convicted and given a sentence for a first time offender. Then, the NFL made it's suspension. Yes, it was woefully too lenient (IMHO), but when the video came out, you can't, as an organization, go back and produce arbitrary punishment again. That's where Goodell has major problems. he's just made his justice system COMPLETELY arbitrary. No, the NFL must stick with the punishment it doled, take egg on the face for doing it wrong, and set something correct up for the future.

My concern is not the child defended - yes! let's do that. CPS can take Peterson's child out of the home. We have a court system. Heck, it's here in Houston that it's happening. BUT, if America "educates" itself without true knowledge, then we are worse off than before. I'm glad people are talking, but the media needs to talk correctly. And due process must be observed or the next child isn't protected.

Apprenticeship in America

Recently, Cathay Pacific instituted a program titled "I Can Fly," which hopes to give juniors and seniors in high school 8 weeks of direct experience to aviation. Not flying, but aviation - learning about everything from passenger sales to airports, cargo to catering. This is a Canadian program, partnering Toronto with Cathay Pacific.

America lost it's apprenticeship culture years ago. Sure, we all read of our Founding Fathers learning watchmaking, or silver smithing, or printing at the hands of someone else. But by the end of World War II, America's government-subsidized public high school network was robust enough to provide basic education. People graduated, applied, and got jobs. Then they received on-the-job training.

As the economy developed and higher education became more important, that model persisted. Now, some companies are going back to Europe to study their apprenticeship systems. The hope is that large companies, like Siemens in Germany, can help counterparts in the USA close a gap where 4 million jobs sit unfilled although 10 million people are unemployed.

The problem is, this hasn't extended to one sector of the economy gravely hit by this labor shortage - health care. Physician training, specifically, is woefully inefficient - a byproduct of this stage-by-stage top-down, myopic, it's-always-been-done-this-way approach. Since the Flexner report in 1910 (see pdf), American medical education time has been seen as an empty cardboard box to be filled with whatever is possible until the timer dings. As medical knowledge advances, we try to shove more and more into the box faster and faster, without stepping back and reimagining the box itself, or the method of pouring.

"Then I wised up and got out while I still could."

It is time for a serious look at the ACGME, AAMC, and LCME - the accreditation bodies of American medical education. They are bloated dinosaurs that do not move fast enough to deal with the times. With expected shortages of up to 52K physicians by 2025, it's past time to look at other ways of educating future medical professionals.

We need to shorten medical education by at least 2 years. We need to decrease debt incurred by physicians in training. We need to change the culture to make medicine more family friendly. We need to increase responsibility given trainees to help them progress to self-sufficiency faster.

Perhaps we could learn something from Cathay Pacific. We should at least look.

2014 TBE Play For A Cause Winner: Baton Rouge Children's Advocacy Center!!

I'm incredibly sorry for the long delayed post. Congratulations to all who played in the TBE March Madness pool this year. It was a great tournament that hinged on an Elite Eight game. If Arizona had beaten Wisconsin, many possibilities would have remained alive. However, Wisconsin won, and that sealed the deal for Dr. Z and the BRCAC. Congrats!!

Below is the press release.

***Dated: May 9, 2014***

Congratulations to Dr. Zeretzke and the Baton Rouge Children’s Adovocacy Center!

The Bleeding Ear’s Play For a Cause March Madness charity pool (“TBE Play For a Cause”) was started in 2008 as a way to funnel a good time into good deeds. Two years earlier, while volunteering at an orphanage in Vietnam, I saw how much $100 – a relatively small amount in America – could do for needy children.

That first year we raised $100 for Heifer International. Every year we’ve had an increase in players, money, fun, and watched some excellent tournaments. This year we have raised $260 for the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center. Congratulations to all involved.

The Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center (BRCAC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “lessen the trauma experienced by child victims when abuse allegations are investigated, and to provide support during any subsequent proceedings within the criminal justice system.”

The BRCAC:

•Protects children who have been sexually and/ or physically abused and helps prevent further abuse.
•Provides therapeutic counseling during the time of disclosure and thereafter.
•Maintains and reconstitutes a healthy family by healing the scars of abuse
•Enhances community safety by preventing the perpetration of sexual/physical abuse.
•Coordinates the prosecution of the criminal cases

In 2013, BRCAC served 312 children who were sexually abused, physically abused, or had witnessed a severe crime.

We cannot be more proud to help support the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center.

Thanks,
The Bleeding Ear

Largest donation in the history of TBE Play For A Cause

Winner! 2013 TBE Play For A Cause!

Well, March Madness is far over, and the payments have finally come, so let's give credit where credit is due: congratulations to Julie and her charity, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance!

Unlike last year, the battle royale lasted until the championship game. Julie and James, long hovering in the middle of the pack, rose slowly and steadily as people's championship picks were eliminated. In the Final Four, James' wife was eliminated when Syracuse bit the bullet. The championship game featured Marc for Michigan and Julie/James for Louisville.

The game was exciting, as Louisville mounted a fierce comeback at the end of the first half to make a game of it, and pulled away just enough in the second half to seal the deal. BUT, that only eliminated Marc. We had to go to the tiebreaker - absolute value of game score guessed vs actual game score - to find out if James or Julie would be the winner. With an absolute value of 12 vs 18, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance won the day.

 The best part about everything is the $200 raised for ovarian cancer research and awareness. Together we all had fun and pooled resources to give a gift that can truly make a difference.

DIY: Idle Air Control Valve

Someone once said, "when you're poor, your save money and pay for it in time. When you're rich, you'll save time and pay for it in money."

Well I'm poor.

Lately my 1994 Honda Accord (4 door LX 4 cylinder) has been idling low - I mean really low - somewhere around 300-400 RPM. Besides the incredible shakes that make you think it will die at any minute, it has started dying as I back out of parking spaces. This problem happened when the engine is warm - starting in the morning with a cold engine got a decent response until the radiator fan came on.

Unable to pay for someone to diagnose and fix this for me, I scoured the internet. I found this post on Honda-Tech.com. People smarter than I had ran into the same problem.

**Now, sometimes all you need to do is turn the idle control screw on top of the throttle body and adjust the idle speed, but I figured my problem was deeper than that given my car's 260K + miles.

This post described how to clean your Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) which adjusts the amount of air let into the engine (if I understand it correctly). A clean IACV gives you better idling RPM and more fuel efficiency.
I'm not going to recreate the excellent "How-To" on Honda-Tech.com, but I will give you some thoughts.

There it is waaayyy in the back

A closer view

On opening the hood, I spotted the IACV well in the back. This made it incredibly difficult to get to - especially from someone like myself who's passably good with tools but not even remotely experienced with cars.

Yes, that's a battery

First, I disconnected the battery because 1. electricity runs through the IACV and you need to reset it after cleaning it, and 2. I don't want to die.

Darn black tube in my way

Ah! Much better!

 Second, I had to take the top off the air filter and disconnect the intake manifold.  I tried for too long to disconnect the IACV without doing that, and I couldn't reach it. It's WAY too crowded and small back there. Taking that big black tube out of the way made it MUCH easier.

Soiled shut

Once I got it off, I easily saw how right I was about the etiology of my problem.

After

Before

 I bought IACV cleaner from Autozone (although I've read that Carburetor cleaner would work fine .. don't know if there's even a difference) and this is what it looked like afterward (O-ring removed during cleaning so it wouldn't get damaged. Don't forget to put it back in!).







After putting it back in, I almost didn't check the radiator fluid. The resevoir was almost dry, because of the lost fluid from the tubes that run through the IACV. Topped it off after another trip to Autozone, and it's idling at 750 RPM like a champ!

The whole experience was awesome, because I realized I can fix a car without breaking it more, I saved tons of money, and it reminded me again how similar car repair is to surgery - without the malignant residency to go through...

Congratulations ASPCA!

This post is rather late in coming, but I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the results of our last "TBE Play For a Cause" March Madness pool.

Congratulations, Andres, and the ASPCA. They sealed the deal after the Elite 8, when UNC went down. Once the Final Four was set, nobody could up end them.

I asked Andres what made him play for the ASPCA this year. A love of pets? A soft spot for those less fortunate or unable to care for themselves?

"No," he replied. "I saw an advertisement on the ESPN website as I went to register."

Well, whatever your motivations, people and animals everywhere are thankful to all who played, and those who played are in awe with his great prognosticating skill. Until next year!

They will bark your name for years to come, Andres!

Vietnamese Communal Street Culture

A typical small street in Saigon with mom-and-pop shops

One of the amazing parts of Vietnamese culture is the "night scene." As in many societies - perhaps because of a lack of air conditioning and lighting - people typically take to the streets in the evenings and then retire early. In Vietnam this daily routine is codified as arising one or two hours before sunrise, starting to work about 6 - 7 am (sunrise), taking a siesta in the middle of the day, returning home about 5 - 6 pm, and hitting the streets. Because of the now "stable" electricity (rolling blackouts are the subject of another day), people often stay out past dark, but in general, the country goes to sleep about 9 or 10 pm.

Saigon stays out a little later than the rest, maybe due to the expatriate influence, greater electric stability, westernization - who knows. Anecdotally, the majority of people in the city still go to sleep at 9 or 10 pm like the rest of the country, but their are enough people in the city that a vibrant culture from 10 to midnight still exists.

A "hẻm" (small alley) during the day where most people live 

This street scene is enhanced by the communal nature of Vietnamese family culture and the living proximity of people in the country. Vietnamese society, like most Asian societies, live in large family structures. Typically three or four generations in a household. This creates a large network of closely related people to interact with on a nightly basis. Also, it manifests itself in gastronomical ways: family dinners are usually social affairs where many dishes are placed in the center of the table for people to share as they talk and joke.

Vietnam has a population density of 280 people per square kilometer, according to the World Health Organization. Ho Chi Minh City has an even higher population density - 9450 in 2006 - and according to Vietnamese research, the inner city (old Saigon) has approximately 30,000 people per square meter!*

The same alley alive around dusk as everyone comes home 

*In comparison, the United States of America's density of 34 people/sq. km, and the two most dense cities - Washington D.C. and Los Angeles - have densities of 3886 and 2750, respectively.

What all this close living does is create not only a "night scene" as thought of in America - clubs, bars, restaurants, etc. - but a small community "night scene" with local alleys (hẻm) alive with children running and playing, women gossiping, families and friends eating, and old men drinking coffee or beer and playing chess. These "micro-communities" are the true social structure of Saigon, and any visitor would be remiss to not experience it.

Vince and Linh

Travel blogs are nothing new, but I do enjoy perusing ones dealing with Vietnam to see other people's perspectives on my second (third?) home. In this case, the travel blog happens to include a good friend of mine, fellow white-boy-speaks-Vietnamese, adopter of Viet culture, Vince and his girlfriend Linh. So, if you want a fresh, biased-only-by-America, virgin view of Vietnam, this is for you. I'm too old and jaded now...

Check out http://vinceandlinhinvietnam.wordpress.com/ and tell them hi from me!

Lang Co Clinic

Three days of working in a rural clinic went by like a whirlwind. This is incredibly different than my previous medical experiences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), but, it really is about what I expected. The disparity in care (and life) is amazing here. Some stats from a Vietnam News article I read yesterday:

1. HCMC accounts from 21% of the nation's GDP (this is an improvement, I think, because it used to be 75%. Now Hanoi and Da Nang have grown tremendously, siphoning this off) including 44% of tourism dollars.
2. Average income is 2.4 times higher in HCMC than the rest of the country.
3. The city has an average economic growth rate of 11% over the last 25 years - 1.5 times the national average.

What does all this mean? It means if you live outside of HCMC (and definitely outside of it plus Hanoi and Da Nang) you are markedly poorer than the rest of the country. It logically follows that your health care will also suffer, since all the major hospitals are in HCMC or Hanoi, and you will have little if any ability to travel for medical services.

Consequently, clinic saw both run-of-the-mill malnutrition and parasites (probably 80-90% of cases) mixed with really interesting cases that had little to know previous medical follow-up.

In the three days I was in Lang Co, I saw an average of 40 patients per day. One young boy, about 2 years old, came in with his mother who complained about a large lump behind his left knee. On examination, I noticed he had a rather large (7cm by 5cm), non-tender, immovable, solid mass behind the right knee. Nothing noticeable on the left. Mother stated that the mass had been there since at least 3 months of age, and had gotten bigger as he had grown. A local physician had seen the child early in the course, performed no tests, and said it was totally normal.*

*(aside: this is common in Vietnam, where medical tools are scarce and money to pay for them more so - to do almost no tests, except an ultrasound of the abdomen which is done for everyone regardless of chief complaint because ultrasounds are so prevalent - and not explain to the patient anything. Although, in America we explain everything and the patient never hears or understands what we say, so perhaps that is just universal...)

So, I ordered some xrays of the bilateral knees and femurs and told the mother to return the next day. Early the next morning, in she walks with xrays in hand, showing growths on both femurs (left markedly greater than right). Luckily, one of the other physicians on the team, Mark, is an orthopedic surgeon, so I walked next door to get a specialist consult. He had the child walk, looked at the xrays, then declared it was most likely an osteochondroma - a benign tumor of the bone. It's monitored through periodic xrays and removed if it impacts function (walking in his case) or grows rapidly (small chance of becoming malignant).

Mother went away happily knowing a diagnosis, and knowing what to look for, and I moved on to the next patient - more worms.

In all, I saw probably three or four cyanotic heart lesions, a previously undiagnosed brain mass, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, hodgkins lymphoma not receiving treatment because of no money, cleft lip, and - jewel of the diagnosis crown - Russell-Silver Syndrome (stories for another day). Sleep was welcome each night. It's amazing how much good you can do with so little.

My First Clinic

Lang Co is a small hamlet between Da Nang and Hue.

This month I have two different medical experiences designed to let me see the disparities of care between rural and urban Vietnam. For four days at the beginning of the rotation,i will work in a small rural clinic in Lang Co, Vietnam with an organization called Vets With A Mission. They are a nonprofit organization that provides medical missions to Vietnam with a Christian background.

Today was my first day in the clinic. VWAM had their in country representative contact local leaders who sent flyers ands invitations out ahead of time to residents advertising them that we would be providing free medical care over four days. Of course the prospect of American physicians and free care is incredibly popular, and we saw 153 patients between four doctors: family practice, orthopedic surgery, chiropractor, and myself ( pediatrics).

A typical house in rural Vietnam near Lang Co

A clinic like this provides unique challenges. Many parents being their children just because we are American, even though their children have already seen doctors and received medications. Usually the normal Vietnamese doctor takes the week of because we make crowded and siphon patients. We also see children incredibly sick, who have not received care because their families cannot afford it.

The rural clinic where we practiced

Today was a "get the hang of it day," so I only saw 29 patients. Most children came for two reasons: inadequate weight gain and horribly rotten teeth. The chief complaint was " my child is a lazy eater." I am very good now at explaining that milk is not healthy in Vietnam when they mix sugar with it. This causes cavities, which cause pain, which leads to decreased eating and poor weight gain.

The communist government provides free care "in theory," but in practice those doctors are not respected, wait times are so long, that people don't see them. They go instead to private physicians, but often do not have the money to buy the medicines prescribed. So, in practice the Vietnamese have a very capitalistic health care system with two tiers, similar to the USA system, and very low access for the poor.

The waiting area on the morning of day 1

The flight over

Korean airlines is the best airline in the world. I hear that Singapore Airlines is wonderful also, but Korean Air is top dog. My wife says I love them because the stewardesses are hot. She is correct ( they employ incredibly good looking people), but that is not all. What sets them apart from the rest is their customer service.

Flying over this time was as enjoyable an experience as 37 hours of travel can be. I had an aisle seat near the rear of the plane and received prompt service for all my needs. More to the point, a few rows ahead sat two families with small children about the ages of my two. One family was just a mother and the kids, and I couldn't help remember my wife's ordeal with bringing our two to Vietnam just two sort months earlier, and how it was made light by the helpful staff.

Many times I saw a steward or stewardess sit with the children while mother stretched her legs or use the restroom. Nobody complained when the toddler got tired and cried. Instead, they immediately brought games, things to help the child sleep, and offered in any way possible to help the young mother in her defensive efforts.

Consequently, thirteen hours later, an entire plane unloaded happily, and with sanity and hearing intact.

Years ago, when taking my son as a baby, Korean Airlines helped us with formula after an idiotic Vietnamese official read a poorly translated copy of international flight requirements. Then, when his bad parents let him fall out of the bassinet, they helped us get to see a physician in the airport to make sure he was OK and not have to worry about flight arrangements.

So yes, Korean Airlines is the best airline in the world ... and it doesn't hurt that they're pretty too.

In-N-Out Burger and LAX

There are few things in life as amazing as a hamburger from In-N-Out. Anyone who has lived in California understands what I'm talking about. I think they secretly put drugs in the burgers because how else could they be so addictive? Seriously, part of the draw is the fresh - almost HEALTHY - taste of their burgers, and another part is the secret menu. It's so secret that even the menu posted online doesn't have everything that they actually offer. Each time I go, i invariably learn something new on the menu.

Well, when I booked my ticket to Vietnam, i realized that I would have about five hours at LAX before boarding my flight for Korea. This had me wonder on Facebook if it was possible to grab some delicious grub while waiting. Thanks to my friend Daniel, who pointed me to a forum about this exact subject, i realized I'm not the first ( and surely not the last) to think these same thoughts.

It looks like there's actually a pretty established way to get there. Following these tips, i walked about 25 minutes with my carry-on, to reach In-N-Out. On arrival, i found the line out the door, and the line of cars out the parking lot. Seems everybody loves In-N-Out. A little ahead of me in line was a middle aged Hispanic woman with a suitcase - i want even the only airport denizen there! LOL.

Of course the food was delicious, and I couldn't have asked for a better finals meal in America. I hear In-N-Out has finally reached Texas. Perhaps I'll be so lucky as to one day see it in Louisiana. We can only hope...

Tam biet,

Global Health Vietnam: An Overview

I have had this blog for quite some time, and have written extensively about my experiences in vie team. However, this trip marks another first: the first time i am an actual physician and responsible for treating people here. As a third-year pediatric resident, i have had many "firsts" medically over the last two years. Now i am the first resident from my program, Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital (OLOL), to do an international elective.

I set this rotation up in collaboration with my boss, Dr. Roberta Vicari, with the hope of establishing a perpetuating global health experience that helps those less fortunate, develops resident medical skills and empathy, and furthers the mission of OLOL.

So, over the next five weeks, i hope to blog various posts about my experience. Perhaps we will all learn about the Vietnamese, their culture, and their medical care together. I look forward to sharing this time with you, and maybe next time our roles will be reversed. Feel free to comment, question, or pontificate on my posts. Social collaboration is key!

Tam biet!

TBE Play For A Cause 2012

March Madness is here, and it is definitely mad.

This year the "TBE Play For A Cause" charity pool is larger than ever before, yet at least 5-6 stalwarts from years past are absent. Think how much we could have raised for charity if life wasn't so hectic this year right around Selection Sunday?

The tournament has had its share of upsets and fantastic moments, but not the "usual" upsets - the 5 vs 12 seeds and 7 vs 10 seeds upsets have been few and far between. Yet, this year we saw TWO 15 seeds beat 2 seeds when in the past 28 years (since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams) number 2 seeds were 106-4. Yes, that's a 96.4% winning percentage. Now it's 94.6%.

And so, with the first two rounds of March Madness in the books, the world took a collective breath over the last couple days awaiting the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.

So, this is a good time to introduce this year's charities:





ASPCA (Andres)
Children's Advocacy Center (Chrissy)
Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation (Dennis, 2009 Champion)
Harvesters (Nathan)
Invisible Children (David)
Make-A-Wish (Sara, 2008 Champion for Heifer International)
Ovarian Cancer Alliance (Julie)
Pan Can (Michael)
Red Cross Japan (Nahoko)
Shared Hope International (Triet)
Texas Children's Child Life (Marc)
Vittana (Matthew)

Worthy causes, all. After two rounds, these are the standings (points in parentheses):


1. Ovarian Cancer Alliance (440)
2. ASPCA (430)
3. Harvesters (410)
3. Invisible Children (410)
3. Texas Children's Child Life (410)
6. Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation (400)
7. Red Cross Japan (390)
8. Shared Hope International (380)
9. Children's Advocacy Center (360)
10. Make-A-Wish (350)
11. Vittana (340)
12. Pan Can (330)


Most people have Kentucky as champions, but Michigan State, UNC, and Syracuse are all picked as well, so it really is still anyone's game.

And THAT is what makes March Madness so mad. The Sweet Sixteen starts tonight. Let the games begin!

ESPN, "Linsanity," and Acceptable Racism in America

Recently, ESPN made headlines in a new sort of way - by firing an employee who made a headline with a racist double entendre. By now we mostly know the story.

Anthony Federico, 28, made the far more stupid gaffe of the two on Saturday night when he posted the following headline on ESPN’s mobile website: "Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin's 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets." The headline was posted at 2:30 in the morning, and then removed slightly more than a half an hour later when someone (finally) realized that it may be construed as an offensive remark. (link)

One interesting take says that,

By acknowledging this gaffe to such a degree, ESPN increased the social damage exponentially. ...

From a public relations standpoint, the response from ESPN was a no-brainer. Yet, we ought to care more about the public's continuing recognition of fake words created by hate-mongers. By ignoring pre-existing definitions and acknowledging ridiculous slurs in an effort to not be considered racist, the media does the exact opposite.(link)

That got me thinking about the collateral damage done by ESPN versus just quietly taking down the headline, and the phrase "the response from ESPN was a no-brainer." Everyone agrees that if "chink" is used in a racist manner, this is a horrible gaff and disciplinary action must be taken. But can we say it was meant that way? "Chink in the armor" is a common phrase used to describe a weakness in a previously perfect person.

Do media outlets have to fire people who make mistakes with ambiguous intent because they could be deemed racist?

What if the employee was African American? Asian? Does that change things?

Recently, the African American community in Dallas, TX protested a gas station owned by a Korean man.

The customer, complaining that the price of gas at the station was much higher than at other stations, demanded he be able to buy gas by smaller amounts than what the owner set as the minimum sales unit. The owner refused and told him to go to another station, to which the customer responded by telling the owner to go back to his country. The owner responded by telling the customer to go back to Africa.

That triggered a boycott of the gas station by the black community in the region, followed by them speaking out against Korean and other Asian immigrant communities....

The gas station owner publicly apologized on a Dallas radio program, attended by African American civic leaders like city councilman Eric Johnson. The Korea Society of Dallas also donated 500 winter coats to NAACP as a gesture of goodwill.(link)

It's ok for the Black customer to tell the Korean man to go back to his country, but it's not ok for the Korean to tell him to go back to Africa?

You can say it if you're black, but not if you're Asian?

I am incredulous that the Korean and the Korean community had to apologize, but the African American community did nothing in kind. I don't think you should get a free pass if you're African American or Asian. Both people were in the wrong here. But clearly society doesn't feel the same way. A person seems to be given more latitude to say hurtful or racist statements if they are a minority - whether by race, gender, or sexual orientation - and perhaps certain minority groups get more latitude than others.

So why does society do this?

I don't know the answers. Racism is hurtful for everyone involved, and should not arise from anyone's mouth. But it does seem like - at least on a cursory read - when dealing with racist sayings, in American culture not all speakers are created equal.

FBI Confiscates Websites

A few short weeks ago, the internet came to a stop - at least in some corners - and the very foundations of internet freedom shook because a small group of very greedy Hollywood men and women sought to keep yet another copper for themselves. SOPA became a rally cry, unleashing a firestorm of frustration by the masses who see the MPAA and other media moguls in Hollywood as out of touch, lecherous, avaricious elitists who prey on old women because their grandchildren downloaded a song or two from Pirate Bay.

Luckily, this sortie was repelled.

Prior to this, however, the FBI started a practice that has gone relatively unnoticed but is - in my opinion - just as unnerving ... it shuts down websites for illegal activity with warrants and without waiting for a verdict. A few years back, right before the super bowl, the FBI shut down ten websites that streamed live sporting events illegally. This year, it shut down 16 more.

*Now, I could go on about the morality or immorality of both the act of streaming illegally and the act of shutting them down, or the market forces and the need to evolve, but I will save that for another post...

But now, the FBI has moved to shut down file sharing websites such as megaupload.com. While the FBI used the pretense that the owners are part of “the Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale," other file-sharing sites have severely restricted their services - offering only file-hosting - showing, therefore, that they see it instead as an attack on file-sharing.

Which is truly a shame, because if the internet can be a place where the virtual storage unit is liable for what you or I place in our units, that jump to make sites liable for what we say (a la SOPA) is not too far off. And if they can regulate online before a case has even seen court, then how long before they move into the offline world? And all for what? So filmmakers can keep a few extra dollars?

Home Run by the CDC

Let me join the blogosphere in congratulating the CDC on a job well done. The recently published "Social Media: Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse" is an excellent example of the use of social media to convey a message and awareness of target culture to make the message meaningful.*

The CDC webpage starts with this:

We’ve all seen at least one movie about flesh-eating zombies taking over (my personal favorite is Resident Evil (External Web Site Icon. [rate:6.4] 78,991 votes), but where do zombies come from and why do they love eating brains so much?

...The Zombie Survival Guide identifies the cause of zombies as a virus called solanum.

While I agree that Resident Evil (the first one) might be my favorite movie as well, we need to thank the spread of the Zombie Survival Guide to image boards like 4chan.org. Many meme's start from its sundry (and not all safe-for-work) pages, including the infamous "you got Rick Rolled" meme.

KnowYourMeme.com explains the origins of a now ubiquitous Zombie Survival Sheet on 4chan.

According to the Lurkmore wiki the meme originated from the 4chan’s /k/ board, a board about weaponry, around the late October 2008.
The board began to be invaded by what they called “zombie threads” in which they were asked to give pieces of advice about the best weaponry choice and plan when facing a zombie outbreak. It was usually resulting in a division between those who wrote the most accurate response they could find and those who didn’t believe in zombies, leading to fiery arguments between the two.

...The 29th of October 2008, the meme went to /b/ where another zombie thread popped up. There, the picture began to be reused to fulfill the requests.
It then came back to the /k/ board, having more and more threads created.

Instantly, the meme expanded to other boards and other chans, mainly those that got a zombie board.
That kind of zombie threads, since then, are always present on a regular basis on 4chan as well as other boards.

It's now almost 24 hours since the CDC tweeted about zombie preparedness, and it's still trending worldwide. In the 30 seconds it took to snap the picture, over 100 new tweets mentioning the CDC zombie preparedness guide rolled in.



Two opinions on this PR coup by the CDC:

1. Whomever had the idea for this should get a raise and promotion. Good fresh thinking needed in the government.
2. This provides a great avenue to remind the public that the CDC isn't wholly comprised of staid, stogy professors sitting in laboratories doing esoteric research. It very much is comprised of smart and lively men and women who often live and do very interesting things. They are much more than the sparse natural disaster warnings that we read about.

For example, the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a 2-year postgraduate fellowship for applied epidemiology. Eyes glaze over? Let me tell you again. The EIS is a small group of people who leave at the drop of a hat to investigate outbreaks like SARS and Ebolla. They fly INTO the eye of the storm while everyone else wants to get away from the diseases. Pretty cool, eh?

Congratulations, CDC, on a job well done. Now, back to polishing my AA-12.



*I'll also add a shout out to President Obama, who, for reasons he's responsible for or not, has presided over a government that has made progress by leaps and bounds in the "use of social media" and "awareness of target culture" departments.

Osama Bin Laden Dead!

The death of Osama Bin Laden was announced hours ago by President Obama, and of course Americans have been rejoicing since.

The story developing about a small assault team of Navy SEALs storming a mansion in the suburbs of Islamabad, Pakistan would make a great Hollywood movie. And the remembering of 9/11 and its victims is well deserved.

However, the president said some truly amazing things in his short speech tonight. First, this tip came to his desk in August 2010 - 9 months ago. Over the last year (basically) that intelligence has been checked, rechecked, and corroborated. Plans have been developed, scrapped, redrawn and practiced repeatedly. Most importantly, people didn't know about it. In a city notorious for leaks, this information didn't.

In the day of 24hr news, Twitter, and Facebook, we want real-time status updates from all our politicians, including our president, about the fate and direction of our country. When things don't happen perfectly, or we take small set backs on the road to large gains, the people (incited by CNN or not) rise up inflamed. This is what happened in the Vietnam war, before the modern US political machine had a decent idea how to deal with 24hr news. President Nixon swore we were winning the war. The North Vietnamese launch the Tet Offensive and lose almost 80% of their effective army. Our military victory is a huge political loss because all people see is massive fighting and casualties in a country halfway around the world that their president just told them was won and on the road to resolution.

This reality cost Nixon the white house, plagued President Bush during his terms in office, and forces our leaders to always caution every success story with words like "it's gonna be a long fight" or "this is one small step in a larger effort." As the election cycle heats up, and people start asking "what have you done for me lately?" we need to remember this - that sometimes (maybe most times) the president has done a lot for us lately. We just aren't allowed to know it.

Secondly, President Obama mentioned he called the president of Pakistan and apprised him of the situation. This means Pakistan had no knowledge of the assault beforehand. Reports of Pakistani presence during the assault are currently elaborated as one intelligence official. This very easily is a euphemism for "CIA contact who is Pakistani."

This confirms how inept the Pakistani government is at investigating, and how strained our relationship is with the lynch pin of South Asia. We need a Pakistan that effectively helps us find and kill terrorists, and puts pressure on China. Without that, United States presence is woefully weak in the Middle East.

The rub going forward will be to see how President Obama works and strengthens the US relationship with Pakistan, and how much leeway voters give him for military and security issues he cannot discuss.

Now, let me join in with all the cheering and revelry:

TweetDeck 2.0 for iPhone

In the new age of microblogging, I spend more time tweeting than blogging. Twitter has become one of the most useful and influential companies in the world, although it has yet to turn a profit.

One of the reasons it has a hard time turning a profit is because it is often accessed by a multitude of 3rd part applications, and one of the most popular is TweetDeck.

TweetDeck smoothly integrates A user's twitter feed and facebook update feed. What it didn't have was a touch-screen friendly, iPhone-optimized interface. So, it was rebuilt from the ground up and now achieves both wonderfully.

I've been notoriously fickle about Twitter apps, preferring to sacrifice Facebook for less crashing, better access to links and pics, etc. with the native Twitter application. I've tried TweetDeck before, but crashes pushed me away.

TweetDeck 2.0 has solved most of these issues and made me an early, but not 100%, convert. However, I've already noticed some no-brainer wants for 2.1.

1. Position support - every other program changes when you turn your phone upright or on it's side. TweetDeck should too.
2. Timestamps - nothing I hate more than opening TweetDeck and not knowing if the "breaking news" tweet waiting for me was a minute or a hour ago.
3. Colors - you have themes on your desktop version. Bring them here!
4. Facebook comment fix - when commenting on Facebook, the screen doesn't scroll with you as your comment goes longer than the screen. Makes it really hard to write.
5. Hashtag bar - TweetDeck has a new wonderful follower bar for adding a twitter handle. Now duplicate it for hashtags.

Alright. Those are gimme additions. Add those and amaze me. For those looking to get onto twitter or get a new app, TweetDeck is on the recommended list.

Happy Anniversary

Thirty two years ago today my parents were married. As all of us married-folk know, marriage is a journey and an experience fraught with ups and downs, elation and depression, wonder, excitement, boredom, and contentment.

It is a testament to my parents' tenacity, strength, moral character, and love that they have made 32 years. The divorce rate in the USA is about half of the marriage rate (3.5 per 1000 people to 6.8 per 1000). And the probability of divorce is staggering.

"The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent, ... [and] After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent." (Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the United States. Series Report 23, Number 22. 103pp.
(PHS) 98-1998.)

Most sources quote the average length of marriage to be 7-10 years. So my parents have tripled this, and AND beat the 33% divorce probability at 10 years.

Wikipedia gives us this wonderful graphic about marriage and divorce:



This shows us that my parents chose a great state to live in for their marriage. Texas and east of the Mississippi river have a high proportion of counties with married couples. Conversely, the West Coast is dark blue - divorce! On the other hand, Texas is not the Southeast USA, whose inhabitants clearly have breakup issues, because they are the ONLY part of the country with high separation rates (yet low divorce rates). AND Houston somehow misses the high widow rates of Texas and the Eastern USA (the reason why both my parents are still around!).

And so I say "Congratulations!!" May you enjoy another 32 great years. In honor of your example and accomplishments, I leave you this gift, from one of my wife and my favorite relationship movies: