First Looks category archive

Act now.

No, there will not be a repeat of the 1918 flu epidemic, if only because in those days there really was no such thing as “public health.”

On the other hand, the H1N1 virus is not just media hype. It’s been reported in over 160 countries (when I was a young ‘un, there weren’t 160 countries).

A cruise ship carrying dozens of victims of swine flu among its 5,000 passengers and crew has docked in the south of France, officials have said.

Sixty crew members have so far been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, while 70 of their colleagues were also showing signs of being infected, they added.

Rusting away in Phialdelphiaville:

Local philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest has pledged a $300,000 matching grant to help a nonprofit purchase the SS United States, the iconic Cold War-era ocean liner docked in South Philadelphia.

The record-setting 990-foot vessel, which has languished at Pier 82 for more than a decade, was offered for sale in January by Norwegian Cruise Lines for an estimated $20 million.

There’s more at the link.

According to the neighbor who heard it from the mail carrier who saw the whole thing, a garbage truck left the street with his little dumpster arms in the air. They snagged the power lines, bringing down the pole. This happened at about 12:30 p. m. The lights came on sometime during the night. Not having any plug-in analog clocks, I’m not sure how long the power, cable, and telephone were off. But it was at least eight hours.

The only non-natural sound on the street during that time was the generator at the house a few doors down; the previous owners fell for the Y2K panic.

The story doesn’t seem to have made the paper, since it didn’t involve a car running into a house.

Off to DMV to take care of some paperwork. In Delaware, they open on Wednesdays from noon to 8 p. m.

When I go there, my goal is always to get the clerk to laugh.

Off to drink liberally.

More literature here.

and meet with the Philadelphia Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society tomorrow evening at Triumph Brewing Company, Chestnut and Letitia, Philadelphia, Pa., 6 p., Tuesday evening.

While waiting, from the “I Can’t Resist Dept.,” learn about Republicanism by listening to Hour One of Radio Times for July 23, 2009 about “Why Do Couples Have Affairs?” (MP3). (Sorry, it doesn’t cover diapers, toe-tapping, or Congressional pages.)

Travelin’ coming to an end.

Not.

Some persons don’t pass the “stupid” test for gun ownership.

In Las Vegas, a two-year-old girl was in a critical condition after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their home, police said.

In South Carolina, a four-year-old boy was shot in the stomach by his three-year-old brother after the little boy found a gun.

Guns are nasty, smelly, dangerous things that should be treated with respect. There is an irony in that many of those who seem to want them the most respect them the least.

I have often thought that, were it not for the Iranian hostage-taking, Jimmy Carter’s presidency would be remembered far more kindly than it is. And that event had little to do with him directly.

And, yes, I was working on North Capital Street four blocks from the Capital Building at the time and saw the parade when the hostages came home.

Indeed, I have read numerous articles looking back on that event; the Iranian students who participated in the hostage taking have consistently stated that they might have taken over either the Russian or the American embassy.

CC considers Jimmy Carter from his take across the St. Lawrence River:

Jimmy Carter was vilified for being weak because he chose not to speak in threats, because he asked questions first instead of shooting. For some reason mysterious to me, the insane traitor Ronald Reagan is still held in high regard, venerated as a wise and brave warrior leader while Carter is sneered at by the mugwumps and ambulatory excrement of the right. What is it called when one sells weapons to a sworn national enemy? Oh, that’s right… treason. And yet the legacy of Reagan somehow persists despite Iran/Contra and his ugly war crimes in Central America. Reagan was an addled and unprincipled mass murderer while Carter is a thoroughly decent man of peace.

In an act more courageous than anything conceived in the poisonous heart of a Reagan or a Bush, Carter has actually chosen to live by his principles and by his faith. He isn’t a church whore , bending his knee for appearances, power and votes. He remains a man of conscience and commitment. Last week, while Washington’s “Christians” were shedding crocodile tears over their latest round of infidelities, lies and graft and angling for the ways and means to continue their wretched grasping for power, Mr Carter left them in his wake. Jimmy Carter, a true American hero, walked away from the corruption of the message in the book he lives by. Jimmy Carter left the Southern Baptist Convention and in a stirring essay in Australia’s The Age took a stand for the rights and future of women in the face of persecution and dehumanization as wrought by the world’s major religions.

As I said earlier in these electrons, I didn’t leave the Southern Baptist Convention. It left me.

Travel day.

At Vanity Fair.

As the old song says, “Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin’.

Over at Hacker Public Radio, JaneDoc, a practicing pediatrician, talks about electronic medical records.

It’s a fascinating listen, not so much because of the “electronic” part, but because of the “medical records” part. In the course of discussing the topic, she describes why doctors ask some of the questions they ask, what they record of their “patient encounters,” and why they record it.

You can follow this link or listen here (mp3–approximately 20 minutes long).

Click here.

Delta Air Lines Inc., based in Atlanta since 1941, is promoting itself as New York City’s “hometown carrier” with mojitos in Manhattan and sponsorships of the Yankees and Mets baseball teams.

Die and go to hell on Delta, you still have to change in Atlanta.

When he was a muggle.

This had to be one of the stranger songs of its era.

on Tuesday, at Triumph Brewing Company, 2nd and Chestnut, Philadelphia, Pa., 6 p.

Live charitably all the time.

James Wolcott:

So it would appear that the real reason Sarah Palin junked the governorship of Alaska was so that she could Twitter unfettered. Unbound by the inhibitions inherent in holding elective office.

Addendum, Later That Same Day:

Mudflats has more. Click through the image: