The hospital is owned by Dimensions Health Corporation.

The ID bracelet had a [...]]]> Joseph Wheeler, hurt in a car crash then misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George’s Hospital in Upper Marlboro, MD, beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid the surgery the cancer patient was scheduled for.

The hospital is owned by Dimensions Health Corporation.

The ID bracelet had a different name, appearing to be that of a woman and a birthdate that was 13 years prior to his own. In attempting to leave, the nurses called security, and the two guards that arrived literally beat him up, causing more injuries.

When superiors intervened, they seemed more interested in retrieving the erroneous ID bracelet. One woman, a possible administrator, is claimed to have offered a private room and the pain-killer of his choice. When Mr. Wheeler declined further treatment and declined to give up the ID bracelet, a guard charged him, injuring him further.

Personally, I’d have kept the bracelet too. It’s now proof that the hospital fucked up in the first place, then tried to hide the fact once they figured out the problem. Holding your customers illegally doesn’t work. Perhaps if the nurse that was first approached actually used her brains, this would have been avoided.

I wonder if this is the kind of “health care” envisioned by Obama and the Dems?

Full story here.

My laptop has a 500GB drive, partitioned out to boot however many OS’s I have on it at a given time (4 right now) as well as stashes for documents, etc shared between each OS, and my [...]]]> So, I’m here cleaning various partitions on my laptop. I decided that my 500GB drive needs some re-arranging.

My laptop has a 500GB drive, partitioned out to boot however many OS’s I have on it at a given time (4 right now) as well as stashes for documents, etc shared between each OS, and my home directory as used in Linux.

Our file server (Alyssa-Server) has over 2TB of drives, 2 250GB, a 640GB and a 1TB. The 250’s are mirroring each other, the 640 is for program installers, and the TB is for anime/movies. I may move my music there too.

So, since I have all this room just a Ethernet cable away, it makes sense to move the stuff I want to save off to the server (I have a share just for backups) to get it out of my way then bring it back in after I’m done massaging the partitions on Lazarus to make room to inflict even more Linux on her. (Girl laptop, guy name…read the post.)

However, in the process of moving back I nuked a directory by mistake. Oh shit, the server is running that on ext3, and EVERYONE knows that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to undelete on ext3.

Well, they better tell Carlo Wood his program is “unpossible” then. Mr. Wood (no relation) has written ext3grep, a program that makes recovering your nuked files possible.

It’s not for the weak. Let’s face it, playing with filesystems involves manly code, doing manly things, and it frequently likes to shoot users. I had to edit some source code, but it wasn’t bad.

My biggest issue was that no matter what I did, I couldn’t get ext3grep to ONLY recover files deleted after a certain date/time. I ended up editing the stage2 file (RTFM and you will know, Gwasshoppaw) to include only the directories I wanted back. It looks like someone has submitted a patch to exclude files not matching a given path.

It will take time to run. The partition I was playing with was 200GB large, and it took time to scan. However, once it’s done, it has stage files that it uses to work with.

You can download the source from the Google Group.

As a bonus, Gentoo types can “emerge ext3grep -av” though the ebuild is 1 revision behind; you may be better off just getting the source and compiling it without using Portage.

I attempted to understand, and I actually did learn something, and tried to relate some things from my past that happened [...]]]> I made a comment on a blog recently that deals a lot with the issue of racism, and on a particular post that was about being profiled regardless of obviously higher-status, because one was black.

I attempted to understand, and I actually did learn something, and tried to relate some things from my past that happened to me, not because I’m black, but because I was a teen or a twenty-something, or more recently, because I’m a big guy. (6′6″, 425lbs)

So I get one response that told me I knew nothing of how it is, ironically after telling me to look up “Opression Olympics.”

Told me to look it up, then engaged in some.

The other said “You’re playin’ cause it’s april 1st, right?”

So, my pathetic attempt to understand and show that I have some possible idea was met with hostility and derision.

Yup. Pissed me off. I stopped short of telling them to “Fuck Off” there, because that would be impolite.

But if “Juan” and “A.Smith” are reading this, you’re now on my blog, and here I will give you a wholehearted “Fuck YOU!”

I get many of the same reactions to my presence that was bemoaned in the post and responses that “People of Color” do. (Last time I use that phrase in this post.)

The only difference I can see, when women cross the street to avoid me is that their fear of me because of my size might be justified. If I was of a bit less sturdy moral character, I could probably use my size to my benefit, and profit.

But you took my post, belittled my experience and told me I couldn’t understand. Like what happened to me was in “A galaxy Far Far Away” from your own because you’re black.

I’ve tried to get it, to reach out, and I’ve been rebuffed.

YOU don’t get it.

To make people understand your problems, they first have to identify with them. Then, having some inkling of what it is you face, they are more willing to acknowledge your problem and help you fix it.

I may not fully get it, I don’t get discriminated against for my skin color. But I’m the “Dumbass” because someone of my size can’t possible be a good computer tech, “they too dumb.”

Or I’m the bully because people my size are always the bad guy. “He’ll break you with his fingers.”

I must have been a football player, or I should be a wrestler or a bouncer.

Those last 3 aren’t as offensive, but they are tiresome.

So I sampled that blog, but I won’t be going back. Except to see if my profanity-free response to what got tossed at me gets put on, or moderated out.

Me, I need traffic. Post away.

The answer by one student was so “profound” that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Question: Is [...]]]> This is an old jewel of an E-mail I received long ago.
—————————————————————————————–

The following is an actual question given on a University chemistry final exam.

The answer by one student was so “profound” that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law that gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that, if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.

Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell. Because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay constant, the volume of Hell must expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Sandra during my freshman year, that “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is endothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is extinct…leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being – which explains why, last night, Sandra kept shouting “Oh God!”

He got an A.

Like I said, Gotta Love XKCD! Original Here.

Number of gun owners in the U.S.: 80,000,000 Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups): 1,500 Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.0000188

Number of physicians in the U.S.: 700,000 Number of accidental deaths caused by physicians per year (all age groups): 120,000 Accidental deaths per physician: 0.171 (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Statistically, [...]]]> Something to think about…

Number of gun owners in the U.S.: 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups): 1,500
Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.0000188

Number of physicians in the U.S.: 700,000
Number of accidental deaths caused by physicians per year (all age groups): 120,000
Accidental deaths per physician: 0.171 (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Statistically, Doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

FACT: Not everyone has a gun, but everyone has at least one doctor. Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. (As a public health measure, statistics on lawyers were withheld for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical aid.)

******************************************* I am sending this to virtually everybody on my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count [...]]]> This was passed on to me by a friend on Facebook. I don’t know that it’ll happen, but I’d sure like to see it.

*******************************************
I am sending this to virtually everybody on my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. My friend and neighbor wants to promote a “Congressional Reform Act of 2010″. It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I know many of you will say, “this is impossible”. Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress – the entity that represents us.

We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House. These people will become American heros..

Thanks,

A Fellow American

***********************************

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11 .

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

******************************

Ok, if you like this, pass the URL “http://letthesmokeout.com/2010/02/how-to-fix-congress/” (no quotes) on to all your friends, and feel free to comment here.

“Always do right, This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
Mark Twain