Peggy Ayers
I support our soldiers, but I do not support war. I can only justify war if our country is under attack on our own soil, when killing another human being would place our own people in jeopardy and killing the agressor would be imperative for saving self or another citizen. I am sad that our men and women of the services have to be "brain washed" to overcome their own moral values to do the job they have been sent to
POV - Soldiers of Conscience | PBS
www.pbs.org
When is it right to kill? In the midst of war, is it right to refuse? Eight U.S. soldiers today, some who killed and some who said no, reveal their inner moral dilemmas in Soldiers of Conscience. Made with official permission of the U.S. Army, the film transcends politics to explore the tension betw.....
If you have any children, friends or relatives serving overseas, please watch this documentary and you will be enlightened on their delimas.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Obselete Home Birthing
I suppose I should give my "Daily Log" a new name and call it "Peggy's Peeves", or something along those lines. It seems that my daily life is "lacckluster", so here I come to vent about lifes frustrations and changing times. It's better here than on FB where one sometimes goes fot this kind of content.
I find however, that adverse statements there generally raise the ire of some of my FB friends who disagree and end in a debate, sometimes aleniating them, but most of the time me. I don't like debating.....I LIKE WINNING.
I AM A WINNER
At least that is what I like to think, which also aleniates some. When I disagree with a post on FB, I do not remark except for a rare "I disagree" statement.
But today my health care peeve relates to "birthing". Isn't it amazing that I, and many others who were born in the thirties and forties are alive and well. I use the term "well" lightly as many others in my age group are on medications or have the usual conditions of aging. Back to the pregnancy and giving birth peeve. When I was born, as well as my six brothers and sisters, prenatal care was not sought. No sticks were dipped in urine to turn pink or blue. Women thought they were pregnant if they missed their menstural cycle and watched for other symptoms, nausea and beginning to show. And when the baby came it was delivered at home without a sterile environment and were delivered by a friend, neighbor or untrained "mid-wife". They performed the act depending upon their own experiences.
There was no additional cost, except to return the favor in some way. In todays' world they would probably serve jail time. In todays' world you will be expected to fork over, well I'm not priviligded to know. My last one was born over thirty years ago. Back then it was at least $3000.00. Today your employer is expected to pay for this expense, or welfare, or better sell the farm if you have no insurance and cannot qualify for welfare.
I am aware that home births and no prenatal care sometimes ended in an adverse situation, but maybe the "olden days" helped maintain population growth.
So I question this. Have we really "Come a long way Baby"?
I find however, that adverse statements there generally raise the ire of some of my FB friends who disagree and end in a debate, sometimes aleniating them, but most of the time me. I don't like debating.....I LIKE WINNING.
I AM A WINNER
At least that is what I like to think, which also aleniates some. When I disagree with a post on FB, I do not remark except for a rare "I disagree" statement.
But today my health care peeve relates to "birthing". Isn't it amazing that I, and many others who were born in the thirties and forties are alive and well. I use the term "well" lightly as many others in my age group are on medications or have the usual conditions of aging. Back to the pregnancy and giving birth peeve. When I was born, as well as my six brothers and sisters, prenatal care was not sought. No sticks were dipped in urine to turn pink or blue. Women thought they were pregnant if they missed their menstural cycle and watched for other symptoms, nausea and beginning to show. And when the baby came it was delivered at home without a sterile environment and were delivered by a friend, neighbor or untrained "mid-wife". They performed the act depending upon their own experiences.
There was no additional cost, except to return the favor in some way. In todays' world they would probably serve jail time. In todays' world you will be expected to fork over, well I'm not priviligded to know. My last one was born over thirty years ago. Back then it was at least $3000.00. Today your employer is expected to pay for this expense, or welfare, or better sell the farm if you have no insurance and cannot qualify for welfare.
I am aware that home births and no prenatal care sometimes ended in an adverse situation, but maybe the "olden days" helped maintain population growth.
So I question this. Have we really "Come a long way Baby"?
Monday, April 25, 2011
Health and Medicine
Today I am recouperating from a scheduled implant of two cardic stents that was performed on Friday, 22 April. I am feeling as well as can be expected, this is a total of 5 stents there. I have no complaints about having the proceedure, but it is the recommended additional proceedures following the implants that has me quite frustrated.
As a smoker of over 50 years and having had none of my 6 daily cups of coffee per day, and having been prescribed an additional blood pressure medication a week before the scheduled proceedure: Is it any wonder that my pulse rate dropped to thirty something during the proceedure. After the proceedure it is protocol to lay flat and not move the affected leg of the artery that was used for six hours,and not to raise the head for 3 hours. Again, Is it any wonder that the pulse rate would drop again?
However, the first drop of pulse brought forth an immediate reaction from the attending physician...quote is "You are setting on a time bomb" "You need to have a pacemaker" "Don't take anymore of that last pill that I prescribed" and the final "come to my office next week and we will put a Holter Monitor on you for 24 hours. I did not see or hear from my cardiologist after the proceedure was performed, but the person who came to my room to "get me out of there" was the physicians assistant for another cardiologist who would be implanting a pacemaker.
After getting home I checked the new pill against the ones I had been on for adverse reactions. I found that the one I was already on is a calcium blocker, the additional new one was a betablocker. The search showed that although sometimes the two are used at the same time, it is not recommended. And that another med that I have been on for a long time can also have a cross reaction.
I discontinued both blood pressure pills that day, and began checking my bp & pulse several times yesterday and today. My highest bp was 131/63 and pulse was 60-63 a normal range is 60-80.
It is my feeling that additional testing and proceeding with a pacemaker is not justified and will not follow these recommendations. Not to mention the thousands of dollars that would be spent by medicare and my insurance company. How many other test, proceedures and medications would follow? How many children, pregnant mothers and other acute patients could be treated with the thousands of dollars the above recommendations would have incurred.
Just a thought.....Maybe the informaton being put forth in the media about taking charge of your own health care isn't such a bad idea.
As a smoker of over 50 years and having had none of my 6 daily cups of coffee per day, and having been prescribed an additional blood pressure medication a week before the scheduled proceedure: Is it any wonder that my pulse rate dropped to thirty something during the proceedure. After the proceedure it is protocol to lay flat and not move the affected leg of the artery that was used for six hours,and not to raise the head for 3 hours. Again, Is it any wonder that the pulse rate would drop again?
However, the first drop of pulse brought forth an immediate reaction from the attending physician...quote is "You are setting on a time bomb" "You need to have a pacemaker" "Don't take anymore of that last pill that I prescribed" and the final "come to my office next week and we will put a Holter Monitor on you for 24 hours. I did not see or hear from my cardiologist after the proceedure was performed, but the person who came to my room to "get me out of there" was the physicians assistant for another cardiologist who would be implanting a pacemaker.
After getting home I checked the new pill against the ones I had been on for adverse reactions. I found that the one I was already on is a calcium blocker, the additional new one was a betablocker. The search showed that although sometimes the two are used at the same time, it is not recommended. And that another med that I have been on for a long time can also have a cross reaction.
I discontinued both blood pressure pills that day, and began checking my bp & pulse several times yesterday and today. My highest bp was 131/63 and pulse was 60-63 a normal range is 60-80.
It is my feeling that additional testing and proceeding with a pacemaker is not justified and will not follow these recommendations. Not to mention the thousands of dollars that would be spent by medicare and my insurance company. How many other test, proceedures and medications would follow? How many children, pregnant mothers and other acute patients could be treated with the thousands of dollars the above recommendations would have incurred.
Just a thought.....Maybe the informaton being put forth in the media about taking charge of your own health care isn't such a bad idea.
Friday, April 1, 2011
New Book, New Perspective
Well, maybe it isn't such a new book having been published in 06, and the subject is over 25 years old.
I'm speaking of "Angels to Ashes", the Largest Unsolved Mass Murder in Alaska History. The Author is Michael McGuire. I just finished it, and if you can get by the authors' misplaced on inappropriate "the"s, the occasional mis-statement of the accuseds' housing, and other insignificant entries, it does bring a new perspective to this very famous mass murder case in Southeast Alaska.
He brings in a new and additional suspect, and verifies his reasons for his determination of the facts.
I found his style of writing back and forth between time frames associated with the case sometimes difficult to follow, and his personal time between touching on the evidence that he found somewhat distracting, and the descriptions of his travels enroute to Anchorage very flattering and accurate, and yet a little boring.
Basically he does not totally disagree that the accused was innocent, but in fact believes that he was involved in a much lesser crime than the murders with a larger more organized group. His assessment seems quite plausable. However, thinking again of this horrendous event that took place back in the eighties I have wondered if in fact there were no other participants in the murder of his crew on his fishing boat, but could have been a murder-suicide-arson after a night of drinking and drugs. The murder of wife and kids (and other aquaintences) were rearely heard of back in those days, but certainly we are hearing of it more and more in the last few years.
A good book to read if you are at all interested in the Investor Murders and Arson that occurred in Craig in the early eighties.
I'm speaking of "Angels to Ashes", the Largest Unsolved Mass Murder in Alaska History. The Author is Michael McGuire. I just finished it, and if you can get by the authors' misplaced on inappropriate "the"s, the occasional mis-statement of the accuseds' housing, and other insignificant entries, it does bring a new perspective to this very famous mass murder case in Southeast Alaska.
He brings in a new and additional suspect, and verifies his reasons for his determination of the facts.
I found his style of writing back and forth between time frames associated with the case sometimes difficult to follow, and his personal time between touching on the evidence that he found somewhat distracting, and the descriptions of his travels enroute to Anchorage very flattering and accurate, and yet a little boring.
Basically he does not totally disagree that the accused was innocent, but in fact believes that he was involved in a much lesser crime than the murders with a larger more organized group. His assessment seems quite plausable. However, thinking again of this horrendous event that took place back in the eighties I have wondered if in fact there were no other participants in the murder of his crew on his fishing boat, but could have been a murder-suicide-arson after a night of drinking and drugs. The murder of wife and kids (and other aquaintences) were rearely heard of back in those days, but certainly we are hearing of it more and more in the last few years.
A good book to read if you are at all interested in the Investor Murders and Arson that occurred in Craig in the early eighties.
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