… so I say nothing. Still maintaining the blog here. By maintaining I mean making valueless entries like this one.

Incredibly bad mood for the past … weekish. Not really sure why. Well, that’s a lie, I know perfectly well why I’m in a bad mood but it’s one of those things you simply don’t blog about. Only I just did. Rules: I break ‘em.

Just petty bullshit from petty people, things that should be beneath me, but aren’t. Nothing major, nothing worth discussing.

I guess my message here is that I’m still thinking of this blog and both its readers. Hi, me. Hi, you.

The following statement was just made verbatim in my apartment.

“You know what I thought when I first saw this commerical? ‘You had to fuck this up, too? Really?’ I mean look at it. ‘You needed money so bad you had to fuck Tinkerbell, really?’”

It ain’t all angst and introspection, folks.

Ok, remember (you probably didn’t read it) that post I did on Wednesday about omg end of word swine flu shit? Specifically the part about how the CDC’s flu prediction methods were pretty much pin the tail on the number bullshit, and probably bullshit in the “wow is that a lowball” direction?

Well, even those bullshit low ass estimates are fun:

Based on the CDC’s model and expert predictions of a relatively mild H1N1 strain that could sicken up to 35 percent of Americans, the study found that 15 states would be at or exceed hospital bed capacity.  These include Arizona (117%), California (125%), Connecticut (148%), Delaware (203%), Hawaii (143%), Maryland (143%), Massachusetts (110%), Nevada (137%), New Jersey (101%), New York (108%), Oregon (107%), Rhode Island (143%), Vermont (108%), Virginia (100%) and Washington (107%).

Twelve more states would be between 75-99% of capacity (and seriously, 99%? That’s pretty much the same fucking thing as 100% in this case, isn’t it?).

My plans have changed from buying a coffin if I get sick to just not getting sick. I’m tougher than this fucking thing, but be forewarned: cough in my presence and I’ll shoot you in self defense.

Full article here with more scary numbers.

Not much more to say on this one, other than I’m not sure which is the greater emotion: fury or despair.

A homeowner says a Phoenix police officer shot him six times in the back during a 911 home-invasion call, and the 911 tape recorded the officer’s partner saying, “That’s all right. Don’t worry about it. I got your back. … We clear?” The family says the officers were not aware that the 911 call was still recording as they spoke about covering up the shooting.

Full article here.

Imagine I’m sitting in the student union at American University holding a gun to my own head forcing myself to write this, because effectively that’s what I’m doing. I can’t concentrate on anything, can’t take speed adderall because coke (zero, the black stuff in plastic bottles) costs $1.20 per liter (and come the fuck on) and I refuse to sit here and not do anything. So. Now that the stage is set for a scintillating read, I’m sure you’ll continue with bated breath.

H1N1 (to be an overly accurate horse’s ass, 2009 A (H1N1)) is on my mind. I have asthma. My father has COPD (like emphysema, only doctors can make you feel stupid by speaking alphabet soup to you). If either of us catches this swine flu shit, odds are not good. Probably slightly better for me (I’m 45 years younger), but you know? Not really great for either of us. Well, depending on who you believe. The WHO and the CDC have contradicted themselves on the issue, and the data sets they’re using are pretty flawed anyway.

More data out there than I care to go into, but the CDC, for instance, is tracking “confirmed and probable” cases. No distinction made between the two. That’s like the difference between Jim Bob saw a possum and Jim Bob thinks he saw a possum.

In July, the CDC said 40% of all Americans were likely to be infected with swine flu. That’s a big fucking number. How does the CDC determine these numbers? As it turns out, they might as well be guessing how many jelly beans are in a jar.

Quoting from Pundita (way back in May of this year):

The CDC has no idea how many deaths there are each year from the flu because the number is a computer-generated guess based on mathematical modeling — a model that’s been used for more than 40 years, and which needs serious updating.

As the CDC’s spokesman, Curtis Allen admitted a few years ago to medical journalist Kelly O’Meara, it’s not a “real” number. He told her, “There are a couple problems with determining the number of deaths related to the flu because most people don’t die from the influenza…We don’t know exactly how many people get the flu each year because it’s not a reportable disease and most physicians don’t do the test [nasal swab] to indicate whether it’s influenza.”

However, using the CDC’s own data, O’Meara managed to turn up that, “The greatest number of actual influenza deaths recorded since 1979 were 3,006 in 1981.”

That’s recorded deaths, not actual deaths, so who fucking knows. The number is bound to be higher, especially among infants, the elderly, and the “immuno-compromised” which is a hell of a word. Most flu deaths are probably attributed to pneumonia.

From Deirdre Imus writing for The Huffington Post in July:

Influenza is notoriously hard to predict, and some experts have shied away from a forecast. At a CDC swine flu briefing Friday, one official declined to answer repeated questions about her agency’s own estimate.

(That article I link to is worth reading as it makes you realize the CDC might be working just about as well as FEMA, and swine flu just might become that agency’s Katrina Event).

Internationally, the WHO really isn’t offering much in the way of comfort, either. The WHO declared swine flu as a phase 4 pandemic on 27 April of this year (a Monday). By Wednesday of that week, it was a phase 5 on WHO’s hit parade. It reached maturity at phase 6 (there is no phase 7) on 11 June. Based on what? Country-by-country reporting of the number of cases.

We’ve already seen how reliable that is in the US. Maybe other (smaller) European countries have better data collection and reporting systems (Jean Pierre definitely saw a possum), but I can’t imagine most of the second and third world countries providing much useful data (not a condemnation—they’re beleaguered, that’s all I’m saying).

In July, the WHO stated that “as many as two billion people could become infected.” Could? Awesome. I could shit myself if that’s wrong in a bad direction. That number would be a global analog to the influenza epidemic of 1918, which killed a third of the population of Europe (two bil’s about a third of the planet). In our much more crowded, connected, New York-to-Tokyo-to-Rome, world, this fucking thing could spread like … the common cold.

However, in August, the WHO said the symptoms of swine flu were usually no more severe than “regular” flu, and that most people who contracted it would recover. Cool! Crisis over!

Well uh maybe not. Before announcing swine flu was like regular flu, only bacon flavored, the WHO announced they intended to stop publishing data on the course of the pandemic, but would keep everyone informed when another country caught it.

WHO will no longer issue the global tables showing the numbers of confirmed cases for all countries. However, as part of continued efforts to document the global spread of the H1N1 pandemic, regular updates will be provided describing the situation in the newly affected countries. WHO will continue to request that these countries report the first confirmed cases and, as far as feasible, provide weekly aggregated case numbers and descriptive epidemiology of the early cases.

That doesn’t make a whole lot of fucking sense to me, but it could be consistent with a  “this data is useless and we’re not even sure what it means” situation. It’s a little troubling that they’re basically saying “let us know when you get it and how the early cases go, but other than that, we’ll call you.” Troubling because the latest research I’ve read on it (which may not be the latest research) indicates swine flu may have a mortality rate comparable to avian flu, because the two behave the same way (except for the whole swine flu being a fuck of a lot easier to catch thing). And what is the WHO basing the statement “most people who contract it will recover” on? Positive thinking? If they don’t track the later stages of the disease, we might be looking back on a world depopulated by “pneumonia.”

There’s a lot of other information out there, a lot of it goofy, but there’s enough credible material and second-hand “this is a weird thing I heard from my doctor” rumors floating around (here’s a good one: people in the UK are apparently being told, by NHS, not to go to their doctor if they think they may have swine flu. WAT?) to make me really wonder if we’re looking down the barrel of something that may be a hell of a lot more serious than we’re being told. And just maybe we’re not being told because it’s a hell of a lot worse than the WHO, CDC, etc. can deal with.

It’s got me worried. Especially since, you know … I have asthma (if you read that last link, you’d know why I’m basically writing my will if I catch this shit).

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/swine-flu-could-hit-up-to_n_244760.html

Yeah, cafepress.com is full of lame stuff and probably millions of dollars in copyright infringement lawsuits, and I’m sure the person making money on this “logotype with slogan” (as it would appear in the legal brief) isn’t the originator of the idea, but I implore any parents of very young children to buy one of these for the next family outing:

Hide The Bong Organic Baby Bodysuit – CafePress.

Obligatory Content In Otherwise Junk Post:

Richard Hayne, the founder (and now president) of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People is a politically conservative member of the Republican party. How conservative? He made some pretty heavy campaign contributions to Rick Santorum.

You know, Santorum. Former senator from Pennsylvania who said “In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality.” That guy.

Now, while I don’t give a fuck that either Richard or Rick are Republicans, I do think that anyone who essentially states that same-sex marriage is bestiality and/or lower quality hasn’t spent a lot of time around straight married people (straight, gay, into dogs: there are assholes at every party). I also think Santorum is the kind of dickhead who makes Republicans look bad, and Hayes, as someone who gave him money, may be as well.

I also think most of the hipper than thou crowd who shop at any of the above named stores ought to know where the “I Grew Hemp” dollars they’re spending on ridiculously overpriced shit are going.

Obligatory Political “Don’t Care” Statement:

I don’t like any politicians or political parties. I have friends from all over the spectrum who I agree with on a lot of shit (Less government? Good thing. Gay marriage? Good thing. Legalized weed? Good thing. Shooting motherfuckers who get in the way of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? AWESOME thing). I usually take it to more of an extreme than they do (no government, marriage as a legal contract between any number of adults of any gender, legalized everything (just don’t come bitching when you’re reduced to sucking dick for rock and if you steal my shit see:), shooting motherfuckers who infringe on the basic liberties of anyone else), but politically I’m all over the damn place, which is to say nowhere you can stick a flag or party logo. I’m not picking on Haynes any more than I’m picking on the shitheads who buy the trash he sells. And vice versa.

Christ, and this all started as a jokey post about some ridiculous baby garment.

I get ridiculous spambots signing up to my blog (if you’re reading this on LJ, it’s kriskane.com) every week. It reminds me that I wish more actual people read it on a regular basis, which means it reminds me I wish I wrote in it more on a regular basis.

I’m just usually so grumpy and foul-tempered I can’t imagine anyone would want to read me ranting about what dickheads county government are, how some of the freshmen at A.U. are dumb as a sock full of dog shit, how much I’d like to shoot that dude using his car horn as a doorbell in my parking lot IN THE FACE every Thursday night at around one AM.

Or the weepy melancholy “writerly” shit that I also write. It’s like the literary equivalent of John Mayer’s early stuff or Damien Rice or something, only probably not that good. Who gives a fuck, seriously?

No need to comment. I was just moved to post this for the sake of Tortouse_Q_Penis.

Fell asleep on the couch, in my clothes, last night. I’m too big to move, sleep too soundly to wake.

I almost never remember my dreams. When I do, I almost never like them. Even though last night’s (a blur already fading) weren’t unpleasant, they leave me feeling unsettled and anxious this morning, like I’m leaving something undone, like I need to call and offer an explanation for why I’m not there, but I don’t have anyone’s phone number.

It’s a curious and unpleasantly guilty feeling. A condemnation.

“Wit all þou sal bi halden vile, Quar-sa þou wendes in exile.” — Cursor Mundi

Facebook has a limit on comment length, so I couldn’t adequately respond to a question there. I’ll do it here, and zomg content.

I can’t, for the record, adequately respond here either (not enough time, today’s a work day, excuse number three), but I can at least be more verbose. Verbosity ahoy:

More ground to cover than I adequately can in a facebook post [hah, I wrote that before I knew about the limit], but I expected someone among my diverse group of friends to present a counter-position (which is why it’s always good to surround yourself with people who will disagree with you on one issue or another).

[TANGENT ALERT: I highly recommend John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, especially the bits about honing your argument on opposing viewpoints, or more importantly perhaps discovering your viewpoint is busted as fuck, son. It also serves to winnow out the crap in arguments, because as Mill said, "it is only by the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied."]

Prior to the lifting of Apartheid, there were two industrialized nations that didn’t offer some form of free nationalized healthcare: the US and South Africa. Now, it’s just us. Not addressing your points [addressed to the post on facebook, you'll have to go there to read it, but the position should be clear without doing so], but it’s an indicator.

Absent a cultural change that promotes (or hell, at least embraces) health and wellness, I think it’s a civilized society’s obligation to care for its members, regardless of their issues or how they came to exist. Until we have some sort of societal value system in place that enables people to pursue more healthy lifestyles and educates them on proper nutrition and exercise, we have to care for the fallout of the system we’ve had until now.

Tobacco and junk food, as industries, enjoyed de facto government subsidies in this country until comparatively recent times (and some would argue still do). In the wake of a governing system that allowed these industries to glamorize an often lethal habit and placed “fast food” as the easiest and quickest alternative to harried citizens (and the families they are charged with providing for), we’re bound by decency to care for those suffering from the unhealthy lifestyles our government (and by extension our own lack of vigilance) essentially foisted upon them.

I don’t use the word fallout accidentally: we allowed our society to basically blow itself the fuck up with all kinds of unhealthy predilections and necessities (how many hours does the average home owner work in a week?) while simultaneously allowing it to shove cigarettes and french fries in our hungry, stressed out faces (and I write this as someone guilty of the consumption of both, at least in the past).

I’m getting (ha) long-winded, but essentially my position is: we made the mess, we have to clean it up.

In a world where we’re educated on proper nutrition, encouraged to be healthy and given the means to achieve lifelong health and well-being from cradle to grave, my feeling (care for your sick, regardless) wouldn’t change, but my argument would have to, and its defense would become much more difficult. Thankfully, we ain’t there yet (I mean that ironically: I don’t have to defend my position in that world, yet).

I think a generational cultural change would have to take place before we could really consider smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, or eating junk to be squarely in the realm of personal responsibility. It’s no more our “fault” than the various neuroses and occupational ailments we suffer because of our fucked up “richest guy wins” system.

Bear in mind that I fucking hate government. I’m basically an anarcho-capitalist in the vein of Mad Max by way of the Molly Maguires. I wouldn’t want Uncle Sam to come cuddle me out of my addiction to nicotine and fried food; I’m much more likely to favor hiring a mercenary organization to torch every tobacco field and McDonald’s in the country (or, you know, doing it myself). But we’re stuck with the hand we dealt each other, and letting our sick (and our fat and our alcoholic) die, or go broke not dying, is no more just than allowing the insurance companies to grow more and more wealthy on the tide of our suffering (and don’t even get me started on those cocksuckers).

I still believe in the right to eat, drink, smoke, snort, shoot and suppository (omg I used that as a verb) any animal, vegetable, or mineral you want to, even if it’s lit dynamite. I still think society ought to care for someone who has made himself sick by sticking lit dynamite up his own ass. It’s a difficult and dichotomous position, and one that sidles right up to the logical conclusion that a responsible society punishes those whose actions impoverish that society, which is a position I disagree with in principle (cf. eat, drink, smoke, snort, shoot, stick in ass).

I don’t have a facile argument to support that position, or time enough to develop the idea further today, but for now? Health care is an inalienable right in a society wealthy enough to provide it, as far as I’m concerned, regardless of what ails you.

<obvious><cliche>Overdue for an update.</obvious></cliche>

Recently updated server software with the help of a couple of awesome shadowy men behind the scenes (as a member of the Shadowy Men Guild, it is an honor to serve alongside fellow members like them). As a result, I’m crawling out of a malaise of ennui (that’s enough French for one sentence) and I’m finally managing to reassert my dominance on that which surrounds me daily.

I’m optimistic about being able to get more done—things that are more important to me, like keeping in touch with people, updating this site more often, getting back to my writing (and maybe even my photography and general mad scientist projects, I dunno).

In the mean time, if any of the mystery people (do you guys have a guild, too?) who drop by to read this site wish they had access to more of my uplifting and inspirational writing (see the entry just preceding this one) on a regular basis, you can follow me on twitter.