Tyrion Style FTW!

Finally my nose is growing back! Dead skin sloughing appears complete. New skin emerging via secondary intention and EPICALLY GROSS. Looking forward to Tyrion Style FTW!

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Post-Post-Modern Capitalism

Finance is to our stagnant societies what the space race and the Cold War were to the Eastern Bloc countries of the 1970s and 80s – a huge cost that the state imposes on its public, with the result that cities and economies start to become tedious processions of the same.

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Borne Back Ceaselessly

So there’s a new Gatsby movie, full of crap fast-cut song-and-dance scenes ala Moulin Rouge. I like the way the director, Baz Luhrmann, is so very fakeGatsby when he says stuff like:

Luhrmann is taking quite a risk with his own Gatsby. His decision to film in 3-D has garnered more than a bit of skepticism. ”The idea of drama in 3-D is thrilling,” he says. ”You’re so absorbed in it. In 2-D, you tend to have to artificially create energy.”

So instead of being borne back into a horrid past where you had to use these simply awful 2-D techniques such as “dialogue” and “plot” and “timing” and “framing” to create “energy”, Gatsby is such a vacuous palimpsest that it enables you to move into a glorious, remorseless future. Much like Jay Gatsby’s fantastical mechanical juicer.

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Who Watches the Watchmen?

We do!

More here.

Vote DownVote Up (+2 rating, 1 votes)

Loading ... Loading ...

The Romance of Mental Illness

The Fantasy:

The Reality:

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Oligopoly and Regulatory Capture

This is what oligopoly and regulatory capture looks like2012 Cost per US Hospital Day:

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Shocked, Shocked To Find That Gambling Is Going On In Here

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned after an Internet cafe company that was her former consulting client was linked to an alleged illegal gambling racket … Operation “Reveal the Deal” uncovered what law enforcement officials described as a “sophisticated racketeering and money laundering scheme stemming from 49 illegal gambling centers operating under the guise of Internet cafes,”

The Oklahoma-based organization spent around $2 million on political donations over the same period … Governor Rick Scott ordered a thorough inspection of his own campaign-finance records to see if he has received any contributions from companies associated with Allied Veterans. Such funds will be donated to charity, he said. On Thursday, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry of Jacksonville took the same action. At least nine lobbyists and legislative advisers withdrew from representing [a linked Internet gambling company] … Tallahassee public relations woman Sarah Bascom said … the internet cafe lobbying “team” felt misled by the company. “We had no knowledge of any of this until Tuesday, when the media reports started coming out.

Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Texas Bans Shooting Immigrants From Helicopters

Well it’s just not sporting is it? You’ve got to at least give them a fighting chance to run for it.

Officials in Texas announced on Thursday that State Troopers would no longer be allowed to open fire on suspects from helicopters after the recent killing of two immigrants.

The policy allowing troopers to shoot from helicopters was the only one of its kind among law enforcement agencies in Southwestern border states … “I’m convinced that now, from a helicopter platform, that we shouldn’t shoot unless being shot at, or unless someone is being shot at,” McCraw said Thursday during his testimony before the state House Committee on Appropriations in Austin.

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...

Catatonia, FTW!

Just diagnosed catatonia in a patient who became unresponsive and got intubated, got a CT, then a CT stroke protocol, CT angio chest, MRI, spinal tap, continuous EEG, flagrantly extensive metabolic and infectious workup. Negative findings. Final simple diagnosis for the altered mental status? Lorazepam 0.5mg IV: Pt became responsive and conversant within 5 minutes.

Sometimes you just have to go old school.

Vote DownVote Up (+2 rating, 1 votes)

Loading ... Loading ...

Fancy an Appy?

Fancy an appy? That’ll cost you between $1,529 and $186,955. JAMA

By comparison, hip replacement seems like a bargain at only between $10,000 and $125,000. JAMA

Vote DownVote Up (No Ratings Yet)

Loading ... Loading ...