Just one more message

Hi! This is Gye Greene, not Tall Guy. TG is off on walkabouts, and he asked me to take control of his blog (there's been some tacky comments on some of the postings, so he gave me his login; for convenience, I've merged his blog in to my Google account).

TG will come back eventually -- I presume! ;)

Meanwhile, I'm still blogging here.


ADDENDUM: Hm! By adding TG's blog to my roster, it's labelled all his old posts as being from me. Ah well; whatever.


--GG

The entry which is not an entry

Dear Readers,


As you have no doubt noticed, I have been incredibly in-active in regards to posting entries to my blog. My last entry was in late April of this year; it is now late November.

I could have posted entries, simply out of a sense of obligation. But, that is hardly the point of maintaining a blog, is it?

If I am inspired at a later date -- particularly when Gye Greene finishes his Dissertation, and we can once again engage in hijinks (musical, or otherwise) -- I will likely resume posting.

Until then... watch this space. On a quarterly basis, I suppose. ;)


--GG

Home births: opinion

This is easy for me to say, of course, as I do not have any children. And I appreciate the desire for a woman to have a midwife, rather than a doctor, attending one's birth. In fact, I support the use of midwives.

However -- unless you live within ten minutes of a hospital, I think having a home birth is a bad idea. Or, unless you are Madonna, and can afford to have a oxygen tank, an ultrasound machine, and a neonatal heart monitor in your bedroom. Otherwise, when things go pear-shaped, the necessary diagnostic equipment is simply not available.

It might be a more pleasant (or less unpleasant?) experience to give birth in your own home; it would probably also be more pleasant, immediately after surgery, to wake up in your own bedroom. But this is not how it works: After surgery, you wake up in a hospital bed. Why? Because the hospital wants to maximize the amount they can charge you?

Possibly. But more pragmatically, because they want to be able to monitor your condition during a potentially dangerous, transitional time, where they have the tools and equipment to (1) diagnose problems, and (2) immediately treat them, should they occur.


I wonder if the desire for home births reflects a touch of middle class romanticism: I highly doubt that villagers in non-industrialized nations would turn down the advantages of giving birth in a modern hospital, preferring instead to give birth in a small hut.

Well, maybe some might, if there were strong cultural or traditional reasons. Or perhaps if the hospital was sub-standard, by industrialized nations' standards.


My point is: Why turn down modern technological advantages? Why introduce unnecessary risk and uncertainty?

Even if 99% of births are routine and uneventful, one cannot tell ahead of time which will be the problematic one. Most people drive cars for several years without a road accident; does that mean they no longer should wear a seat belt?

And finally, if you insist on having a home birth: please, please, please have your infant examined by a trained medical professional, to ensure that your baby that appears to be healthy, truly is. This allows ''hidden'' conditions to be addressed in a pre-emptive manner -- while there is still time.


For another time: a missive on people without biological training -- in my perception, liberal arts majors and those without college degrees -- who refuse to immunize their children, based on their misconceptions of biological science.


--TG

Very short ''political orientation'' quiz

GG's dad sent this to several of us. It is a very short (ten items) self-diagnostic quiz, to determine where you are along two dimensions: Liberal/Conservative and Libertarian/Government Intervention.

I found myself fairly far along the ''Liberal'' end of the spectrum, and balanced between Libertarian and Government Intervention tendencies.


The quiz is here: http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html


--TG

Political ''Conservatives''

Under the American political system, the term ''Conservative'' is a bit of a misnomer, as one who was truly conservative would also be consistent in their views and behaviors, across all subjections. Or at least, one would think so.

I found this quote to be very insightful:

Why is it that [Conservative] lawmakers are gung-ho for personal responsibility and government abstinence when it comes to healthcare, welfare, and minimum-wage laws -- but they can't vote "aye" fast enough when it comes to intrusively legislating morality?

Its original context is here.


--TG

Reasonably good movie

Last night we rented the movie ''Fever Pitch''. In brief, Drew Barrymore plays a workaholic thirty-year-old, and Jimmy Fallon plays a thirty-something who is an extremely nice, very sweeet guy. The question arises: Why is he still available? What is wrong with him?

The answer is that he is obsessed with baseball.


Although it was billed as a ''romantic comedy'', it was not particularly funny. Although there were a few amusing moments, there were very few laugh-out-loud moments.

That said, it was a reasonably sweet movie, and reasonably enjoyable. It was a ''pretty good'' movie, and was in no way a ''stinker''. Thus, it was worth getting if you are at the video rental store and can't think of anything else. It might be of particular interest to those who are particularly enamoured with baseball.


--TG

Gadget for Gye Greene?

Although the LED is blue, not green, I still believe that Gye Greene would appreciate this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/8122/


For US$15, I think the price is very reasonable. :)


--TG

Missed the date

Well, that is sad: I missed the one-year anniversary of starting this blog. I just now went back and checked, and my first entry was on 6 March, 2005.

Ah well: 6 April can be my ''1+1'' anniversary -- one year, plus one month. :)


--TG