Tuesday, July 6

Random

The story on hospital hallucinations at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital reminds me of the time when 25+ years ago I was a chaplain in the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program there and the staff wanted me to go talk with a patient to convince him that there were not angels standing at the foot of his bed. So I asked the concerned nurses, "How do you know that there aren't angels standing at the foot of his bed and that we just aren't seeing them?" (Think about it -- where other than a hospital might guardian angels be more active?) They promptly went looking for someone else to help the patient with his hallucinations.

Beijing is in a heat wave -- highs at about 105° -- which is what we were today in Phoneix, but without their humidity. ~ link

Dr Richard Mouw on the "The Burqa and the Habit" ~ link

Italian farmers are protesting imports with Italian-sounding names. If it were France, they'd protest that the brand names don't sound French enough. ~ BBC News

If I were trying to sneak into the US I'd get a board and paddle north from Baja on a full moon evening, and then I'd ride a wave in with the early morning surfers -- low-key, under the radar, safer than the hot Arizona desert... ~ link

"The American Center for Law and Justice says the federal lawsuit challenging Arizona’s new immigration law is 'flawed' and a 'waste of taxpayer funds.'" That was exactly my reaction to SB 1070 when it was first proposed -- flawed and a waste of money because it's going to be tied up in court. They knew that was going to be the case when they passed the bill but they were just trying to make political hay -- feeding the paranoia they've created -- hoping it will further deflate the Obama sails. ~ Phoenix Business Journal

Governor Brewer is saying, "Now, Arizona is under attack in federal court from President Obama and his Department of Justice. Today's filing is nothing more than a massive waste of taxpayer funds. These funds could be better used against the violent Mexican cartels than the people of Arizona..." And, the governor's office was not complicit in this waste of money? Our shoot-from-the-hips cowboy approach muddles more than it helps. ~
KOLD

Highrock Church associate pastor Kenny Ye was killed and Dr Gary Parrett, a Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary professor was critically injured in a Korean bus crash. ~ link

600 million people worldwide chew betel nut, which is associated with oral cancer, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity ~ link

The US Post Office wants to increase the first class letter rate by 2¢ ~ WSJ

3 comments:

Bill Kinnon said...

If your talking about Fance, should you then write "Fench enough." :-)

I can't help it. I'm a smart a__.

captcha: pring

Carol Noren Johnson said...

Interesting about the betel nut. Had you heard of it Pastor Boydston? For seven years on a part-time basis I have been teaching classes for DUI offenders and wanted to know more. I looked up this psychoactive drug to find that one can buy it on eBay, that it is used by 10% of the world's population, that it does indeed have health risks and that it is the 4th most widely used addictive substance in the world. Hope America doesn't discover this buzz.

Brad Boydston said...

Betel nut is a big thing in the Western Pacific. Many of our students at PIU chew (It is not allowed on campus). On Yap it is more than a habit. It is a social pattern -- a behavior which functions as a cultural strand.