Archive for November, 2005
Abortion Debate
Thursday, November 10th, 2005Read more here. She presents all the sides.
I would be described as one of those extremists–I believe abortion is wrong even in cases of rape and incest. Why? The argument that a woman must live with the “raising of the chid forever” is stupid. Ever heard of adoption? In Texas you can drop a baby off at a hospital, fire or police department for 60 days with no reprecussions, no questions asked.
Almost all of the embarassment related to pregnancy out-of-wedlock is gone. But, women don’t want to be seen as so shallow as to give the child up for her own needs. Abortion is preferable–the need to not be embarassed trumps ending another life.
“I just died of embarassment.” Takes on new meaning.
France is Burning: Part II
Thursday, November 10th, 2005It is disturbing that the best news and commentary about the craziness in France right now is coming out of …… Brussels. Every one in the French and liberal wings in Western governments everywhere, including ours, want to ignore this. It undermines wrong-headed social policy. It undermines wrong-headed immigration policy. It undermines wrong-headed humanistic views–Maslow misinterpretted.
Looking at religion and culture and the problems: read more here.
Soduku Madness
Thursday, November 10th, 2005Mr. Dr. and I have never been trend setters, really. But we are part of a craze started in Japan and sweeping the world as I write this.
We get this magazine from both the U.S. and the U.K. called The Week. Recommended by my time-crunched sister, it is really the idiots guide to what happened in the world the last week if you’re too busy working to read.
I ended up with the UK version because I ordered online and it said “The Week”. Well holy Toledo, the price was much higher than I expected but oh well. Then, I found the US version which was considerably more affordable (shipping and all that).
Long story long, I’m happy that we get the UK version because on the inside back cover they have a crossword puzzle (bah!) and this math thingy called a Soduku.
Well the DH and I are totally hooked. He has beaten me every time…except once.
Oh, my rare win was soooo delicious. You see, they are rated in difficulty and this was rated the highest difficulty. For whatever reason, I blasted through it–got the method to the madness.
Not only did I finish first, I was done 15 to 20 minutes earlier than you-know-who. His pride was deeply offended. He is unbearable win or lose, but losing wins the bad attitude award.
My sore winning did not help his sore losing. To say that my one tiny triumph managed to find it’s way into every conversation goes without saying.
Now, he’s like the Soduku demon. We get one in the mail and he hunkers down drawing a grid. We have at least one competition a week. Believe it or not, I find this fun.
Try them, you’ll like them. They can cause brain pain, but the only way to lose is to quit. Don’t be a loser! Winners never quit!
Oil Company Profits
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005Three words for you: supply and demand. Ya gotta love hypocritical congressmen getting after Oil Companies for actually, finally, making money.
75% of the cost of a gallon of gas goes to the government. Like grocery stores, oil companies have very tight profit margins.
So, a confluence of things have happened to up oil prices: multiple natural disasters that have affected refineries (none have been built since the 70s–California rejected a proposal to build one a year ago), world consumption (read China and India) has increased wildly and a few countries control how much oil gets on the market (read OPEC).
High demand + low supply = High Prices
Congress needs to shut up, but they won’t. This charade is to demonstrate to panicky consumers who live check to check that they are “doing something about the problem” when they are doing nothing of the sort. They are covering their collective hineys so when it gets cold and the blue states get bluer and colder and scream about home heating oil prices the politicos can say “we did everything we could” and….”it’s Bush’s fault!!!!!!”
By the way, wasn’t the war in Iraq all about blood for oil? And, shouldn’t our oil prices be lower because of this? Just asking.
Colic in Babies
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005Changing a mom’s diet to lower allergy producing foods changes breast milk and reduces colic.
The only problem with this research? Most colicky babies drink FORMULA not breast milk.
Heart Trouble? Take B Vitamins
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005Medicine is finally coming around. Take Bs when you have heart trouble. And don’t stop!
B vitamins are water soluble (not fat soluble which the body produce) and flush out when you are stressed. We are all stressed all the time even you, you know who you are, who always protest, “but I’m fine!”
So take your B vitamins!
Hypertension and Caffiene
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005Being a Coke-a-holic and always trying to break the habit, I’ve found that my blood pressure goes down off the stuff.
I have posited that I’m chasing sugar when I’m off it, but other sugared drinks don’t feed the need.
I have posited that I’m chasing caffiene when I’m off it, but other sodas with even more caffiene don’t feed the need. Tea which has far more caffiene does not feed the need.
Could Coke still be putting cocaine in their products? That would up the blood pressure and the kick wouldn’t be able to come from anywhere else. Kidding. Only kidding.
It’s like the Mike Meyers skit, “It’s the secret ingredients in the chicken that make you want it and want it and want it. That Colonel with his wee beady eyes!”
That’s how I feel with Coke. (Not Pepsi. Not Dr. Pepper. Nothing else feeds the need.)
Science and Religion
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005The Dalai Lama and scientists got together again out West. Interesting findings always come out of these exchanges.
Psychiatrists firmly said that meditation cannot change brain chemistry of depressed people into non-depressed people.
Dalai wants to know if empathy for family and enemies activates same part of the brain. Interesting question.
My only beef with all this, doctors who would never parry with a Christian philosopher will pontificate with a Buddhist monk. Eastern religions has more cache.
Finally, the Dalai is heading to the East coast for another symposia and Chinese doctors (communists who may be “encouraged” to take this action by their government–the same government who has wiped out Tibeten culture) are boycotting the Dalai’s speech. I wonder how many of these Chinese doctors are American citizens? Be interesting to investigate, wouldn’t it?
Drug-Resistant Antibiotics
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005This approach may work to getting rid of them. It actually makes sense. Probably why it won’t be done.
A doctor or nursing carrying MRSA is what killed my son. The laughable part was that the doctors accused Mr. Dr. and me of infecting the kid–we probably didn’t wash our hands like we were supposed to. Ha!
MRSA didn’t follow me from my house. You get it at hospitals.
My other son is colonized with MRSA and was put in isolation at the hospital. A total blessing as it turned out.
Antibiotic overuse is a scourge. Avoid them if at all possible. Suffer with the virus. Suffer with the infection. Let your body fight it and develop immunity.
3000: Finding a Purpose
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005With my mom’s computer not working, my readership has probably dropped by half. Oh well. 3000 visitors have come by my blog. Hope they like it.
Originally, my blog was going to center on all things business. I’d spent time reading Tom Peter’s blog. Other blogs cover Tech, Law, Management, etc.
Business it turns out, is better covered by Scott Adams. He reveals more insight through his humor in his Dilbert cartoon than 1000 blogs covering stupidity in Business.
What do people struggle over? Compensation? Bad supervisors? Cut throat co-workers? Yes. Yes. And yes. The choices remain simple: look for another job, confront someone about the situation or suck it up.
Organizations struggle over motivation, retention, innovation, efficiency, excellence, focus, competitiveness, etc. These challenges are on-going. Little methods here and there, depending upon the current fad, help get them there.
I’m a doctor. I didn’t invent the human body, just like Peter Drucker didn’t invent business. While we can all use an outside perspective somehow, we should do our best to “know thyself”.
I’m a helper. My role with individuals and corporations is to give them the tools they need to succeed, inspire them to use them and help them “harmonize”–get congruent with the mission. Often that means reminding them of what they already know and encouraging them to do what they know in their hearts to do.
While this role can be important, long after I’m gone, the client must do the hard work for him or herself.
This blog then, doesn’t often focus on the obvious. I could talk about Six Sigma, Human Resource innovation (ha! is that a non-sequitor?), silos and boxes. Blah!
My real intent is to bring your attention to what I think is important. Broad issues that could have significant implications both personally and for business.
For example, if the EU gets its way and the UN ends up running the Internet, International Law not U.S. constitutional law will govern you. Have you thought about those ramifications for you or your business? How would you like to be held to the EU’s slander laws? Labor laws? Do you even know what they are? Thought not.
Another example, have you considered the impact that a worldwide flu pandemic would have on your business? Does your company make chicken soup? Does your company ship chickens? Do you live on a farm? Do you live in a closed-in metropolis where quarantine is virtually impossible? Are you a doctor? Are you prepared to treat dying people who are extremely contagious? Big businesses, could you still operate with half your staff sick and perhaps 10% of your workforce dead and the other 90% preparing a family-members funeral?
Yet another example: are you familiar with Sam Alito’s judicial philosophy? What would a strict constitutionalist say about “eminent domain” or “family leave”? Do you know? This will make a difference to you both personally and professionally.
How about ending the inheritence tax? Billionaire bridge buddies Warren Buffet and Bill Gates thinks that repealing it is immoral. I could not disagree more. For guys worth 40 billion giving away 50% to the government is no biggie, right? Even if Bill does what he wants and gives almost every penny to charity, his children will still be “set up”. You see, I trust Bill to know what to do with his money. I don’t trust the government. Right now Bill is funding all sorts of research that he and a bunch of smart people think is important. What would the government do? Build bridges in Alaska. Enough said.
What about forced vaccination? How do you feel about the government imposing vaccinations that are both untested and unproven to work? Do you like being a guinnea pig even if there is a pandemic? I don’t. But a new bill before congress is debating just this thing. I worry about liberties being taken away so we “all feel better” when no scientific proof documents effectiveness. I’m reminded of this every time I get frisked at the airport.
So, these broad issues have huge personal implications. The machinations of business will continue. Like people, businesses need to create, nourish, maintain and protect themselves. Individuals will decide how to do it. Businesses will decide how to it.
But the environment changes every day like never before. So many monumental changes external to our personal or business life are occurring. These changes will affect how we live our lives even if they seem far away.
Through this blog, I’m trying to share these big problems. You want leadership lessons? Watch Chirac deal with the riots, watch Bush deal with natural disaster and war.
It may seem at times that I’m beating irrelavent, long dead horses. Sometimes I do. But often my desire is to give attention to issues that will change your life and your business life–whether you want your life changed or not.
