The View From the Outback© 2000-2006 Richard C. Rhodes
A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps. In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood. I am now a senior citizen, in my 7th decade. My experience was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries. That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. Some insights come from talking with ham-radio operators in every major country and such idyllic places as the Cook Islands. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 15 years. Since most visits to my pages come from searches, I am no longer trying to keep on a regular schedule for updating the Outback. Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic. December 23, 2006 Many of us warned you about Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Rep. Jane Harmon is an expert on intelligence and always seemed insightful and cogent to me. Yet, Ms. Pelosi appointed Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Rep. Reyes has already shown his lack of knowledge of even the distinctions of the parties involved in Iraq and/or terrorism. His resume shows El Paso Community College and Border Patrol Agent. Ms. Harmon's bio shows she has a law degree from Harvard, was a college professor, a businesswoman, and member of both the House Intelligence Committee (ranking member) and Homeland Security Committee. Ms. Pelosi's bio shows a BA from Trinity College and former work as a Public Relations Consultant. Too bad that Speaker Pelosi has some kind of cat fight going on with Rep. Jane Harmon. Jealousy? Whatever it is, it is not befitting of a Speaker of the House. C-SPAN asked Ms. Pelosi for permission to use their own cameras in the coverage of the house. Presently, the House cameras are fixed on the speaker's well and the podium. Pelosi said in her response Friday, "I believe the dignity and decorum of the United States House of Representatives are best preserved by maintaining the current system of televised proceedings." What a joke! Dignity and decorum my ass. Roving cameras would show the American public that the House chamber seldom has more than a few members present, that when they are there they are talking among themselves or reading during speeches and debate, and we would see the body language and gestures of the members which are now hidden from view. That's about the kind of start I expected from Ms. Always Smilin' When I'm Lying, when she said that this will be the "most OPEN and ethical Congress in history. Get the shovel, Zeke. We got a lot of manure to load on the wagon. December 20, 2006 Microsoft simply does not get it. I have written several times that if you want to save a Web page in Firefox, you have choices of Web Page complete, Web Page HTML only, Text, and All Files (? about this choice). Your last Save As choice is kept as the default until you change it. I usually use HTML only, since I normally don't care about saving photos, ads, and so on. In IE7, the choices are Web page complete, Web page HTML only, Web Archive single file (.mht), and Text. The Save As feature defaults every time to Web Archive single file (.mht). The Help says: To save all of the information needed to display this page in a single file, click Web Archive, single file. This option saves a snapshot of the current webpage. This option is available only if you have installed Outlook Express 5 or later. Plus, if you try to read a .mht file in Firefox, using Open With, you cannot do it. You are offered a choice to open it in IE7. Of course, you can read .htm and .html in any browser and .txt in any text reader (Notepad, WordPad, Word, WordPerfect, et al.). So, given IE7's Save As default of "Web Archive, single file," I virtually never use IE7 to surf the Web. In fact, I use IE7 only for a rare site that insists on using ActiveX and to run WindowsUpdates. Opera 9.1 (www.opera.com) is now out and a free download. It has joined IE7 and Firefox 2.xx by adding an anti-phising feature. Somebody will have to hold my head under water while they tell me the benefits of IE7 over Firefox and/or Opera, sticking a straw in one ear so I can hear their futile plea. December 20, 2006 When he retires as Secretary General of the United Nations in January of 2007, Kofi Annan will move to Switzerland. A cynic might say that is so he can be close to his secret bank account in Zurich. Of course, that is unfounded speculation. Those cynical thoughts might stem from reports in December of 2004 that Kofi Annan's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, a company with a large contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. (See Oil-For-Food scandal in general.) Mr. Annan was born in Ghana. From 1954 to 1957, Mr. Annan attended a Methodist boarding school in Cape Cod. He finished his undergraduate studies in 1961 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota - near where I spent much of my youth. He also studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Finally, he received a Master of Science (M.S.) degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management. His wife, Nane Maria Annan is a Swedish lawyer. So, his logical choices for retirement would seem to be Ghana, the United States, Sweden, or Switzerland. I too, would choose Switzerland, with fond memories of my visits there. And I don't have a numbered Swiss account. December 19, 2006 The much villified Microsoft has quietly started what we hope is a software pricing revolution. Their Windows Live OneCare program costs $49.95 a year and can be installed on up to three (3) computers. I have seen some other vendors following with "use on up to 3 computers." OneCare has antivirus, a firewall, anti-spyware, defragging, etc. Still, I prefer 3rd party utilities, thank you. Recently, I upgraded to System Mechanic 7 from version 6 (www.iolo.com). I was so pleased with version 6 that I paid for the program three times (twice at a discount) for my three computers. System Mechanic 7 now allows installation on up to three (3) computers for one price. It is nothing short of extortion to pay for the same program three times to put in on three computers in your home. Let's hope the "install on up to 3 computers" catches on. So far in 2006, I have spent $500 on 3rd party utilities to help protect, maintain, and backup data on my three computers. December 19, 2006 Every time those of us in the Outback read about another Mickey Mouse service being added to Cingular Wireless we get more upset. Now, you will be able to access MySpace.com on your Cingular phone. What a waste of resources. You see, out here, if you are more than about 5-7 miles north of the local Cingular tower, you cannot get a signal. You can die on a lonely road from a truck collision or a heart attack while vainly trying to call 911. Rural cell service in general gets short shrift, because it is not economical to put up a tower that may cost $500,000 and upwards with the small income stream from the relatively few rural customers who might be served. I have a Cingular GSM phone, which further limits rural coverage because it cannot access an analog tower. I carry an old Analog cell phone in my truck, which gives me more chances to reach a tower in an emergency. Even if your phone account is deactivated, you can still call 911 on any phone that works. But, starting in February of 2008, cell providers will no longer be required to provide analog service. It will be optional. To extend my cell coverage from the truck, I spent about $250 for a cell amplifier/preamp and an outside mag-mount cell antenna. I also have a VHF/UHF ham radio in my truck with which I can usually reach ham repeaters about 20-30 miles away - or reach hams in the area who monitor a national calling frequency of of 146.52 MHz. The sad story that the cell providers tell us about how uneconomical it is to put up more towers in our area falls on deaf ears. Telephone companies are required to provide landline services to rural areas at the same rate as in big cities. FedEx, UPS, et al., must drive these remote country roads to deliver a tiny package. They obviously lose money on these transactions. Since the cell providers are content to work their cash cow in the cities with stock quotes, TV via cell, MySpace.com, instant weather, and much more, there is only one recourse. The Congress and the F.C.C. must do something to mandate better rural cell-phone coverage. Some of the F.C.C. commissioners have talked a good show about better rural cell coverage for years. But, it is all hot air. On my Cingular bill, I pay a Federal Universal Service Charge of $1.12, and a Texas Universal Service Charge of $1.44. If we ever stop pouring money down the rathole in Iraq, the federal government can find ways to subsidize rural cell-phone tower building. The F.C.C. Web site says of the Universal Service Charge: "Although this fee is not required by the government, many service providers choose to pass their contribution costs to their customers in the form of a minimal fee. This money goes to a fund to assure telephone service to all households." Oh, really. Is my fee from a wireless provider going to help pay for my landline phone? I would love to see an accounting from Cingular of how my $1.12 is spent each month (Considering that Cingular has millions of customers. Do the math.) You can read an explanation of what the Texas Universal Service Charge provides to consumers at: http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/telephone/choice/txunivserv.cfm. I doubt than many young people can tell you what REA stands for, or what it really did. The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 was signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was of course, a Democrat. At that time, electricity was common in cities but largely unavailable in rural areas. REA provided funding to provide electricity to rural areas. So, without REA, we in the Outback might still be reading by candlelight or kerosene lamp. The lack of WiMax Internet or good cell-phone coverage would be the least of our worries. Congress and the F.C.C., are you paying attention? The story with broadband Internet coverage is just as bleak. Here in the Outback, there is no cable TV, thus no cable modems. DSL will not work this far from the telephone central office in the nearby town. There are no fibre-optic broadband cables running out our rural roads. BPL (Broadband Over power Lines) is controversial because of potential interference with radio services, and not very economical to deploy to single homes scattered all over the county. There is some Wireless, but it has very limited range. We need WiMax, but are not holding our breath. WiMax can generally provide broadband Internet in the range of about 30 miles. WiMax is deployed in Cambodia, but not in N.E. Texas! So, a few of us spend $80 a month for satellite Internet, with a maximum download speed of 1.5 Mips. And around $100+ a month for satellite TV (with HD!). Yes, most of us choose to live here rather than in polluted and crime-ridden big cities - with frantic traffic. But, more and more people are retiring to the country. Be aware that you will be second class citizens when it comes to cell-phone service, broadband Internet, and over-the-air (OTA) HDTV. Be prepared to turn your house into what looks like an NSA monitoring station with dishes for satellite TV, the Internet, and a tower with a high-grade antenna to pick up one or two HD stations (if you are lucky). At night, your AM radio will be a mass of whining and sputtering stations from all over the country, with four or five coming in clearly. This is great if you like the Midnight Trucker's program. Welcome to the Outback. December 16, 2006 Here is a perfect example of why so many men hate to go to the doctor. Two articles about Prostate Cancer, both published in the "Journal American Medical Association" (JAMA) come to opposite conclusions. The first article states that: In a study of nearly 600,000 men aged 70 and older who had been seen at dozens of VA hospitals across the United States, the research team found high rates of inappropriate PSA testing, even among men with multiple illnesses who were unlikely to survive more than 10 years. The older a man is, the more likely he is to develop prostate cancer. But, the older the man, the more likely he is to die of something else before the prostate cancer can even begin to cause symptoms. Treatments for prostate cancer can lead to serious side effects like incontinence, impotence, and bowel function problems, which can severely reduce quality of life. That's one reason no national organization recommends prostate cancer screening for men with a life expectancy of less than 10 years. The second article, also published in JAMA, states that: Elderly men with early prostate cancer live significantly longer if they receive treatment than those who adopt a wait-and-see approach. The study of 44,630 men age 65 to 80 years found that those who sought treatment for their prostate cancer with radiation or surgery had a 31 percent lower risk of death than those who waited. Even the oldest men between the ages of 75 and 80 benefitted from treatment, the study found. So, those two articles are a hell of a lot of help! Of course, the PSA is a simple blood test for an indicator that is present in Prostate Cancer. A digital exam can also be helpful in determining if cancer is present in the prostate. December 14, 2006 Several computer vendors are offering those who buy a computer with Windows XP installed a free or reduced rate to upgrade to VISTA when it becomes available in January to the public. You could not pay me to buy an XP machine now and later run an "upgrade" over the top of WinXP with a VISTA install disk. After years of accumulating a mass of conflicting and flaky XP files on your computer, you do not want to compound the error by trying to override those files with the new VISTA files. Every time I run an XP "registry cleaner." dozens, if not hundreds, of registry entries are no longer valid. With XP, I feel like I am sitting on a time bomb, with it likely to implode from confusion at any minute. The experts, and I, agree that the only sensible thing to do is wait until the new machines have VISTA installed, or if you buy VISTA for your old XP computer, format the hard drive and do a "clean" installation. Some report that the VISTA upgrade over an existing XP foundation went well, while others say it completely locked up their computer. At least one vendor is offering free telephone support if you buy and XP computer now and later install the VISTA upgrade. Hmmm. Is it possible that they think a substantial number of people will have problems if they upgrade to VISTA over the top of XP? Well, of course. If you must do something computerish for Christmas, give a Gift Certificate for a new computer "when VISTA is factory installed." Even then, expect some VISTA growing pains. I would shoot for about June-July of 2007 before I would even consider a VISTA installation of any kind on a home computer - unless you are a super geek. It will be a while before the popular device drivers and software get in sync with VISTA. A leading consumer watchdog group in France said it would sue Hewlett-Packard and two retailers to unbundle software from personal computers they sell. It appears that in France, as in the United States, it is nearly impossible to buy a "clean" computer from many vendors, that is, one on which only the operating system is installed, or with not even an operating system installed. Normally, I build my own computers and recently upgraded my main computer with an Athlon 64 dual-core 4600+ CPU, which makes it a very hot machine. But, I have been eyeballing the new HP desktop computers. HP puts a Symantec trial security package on the machine I am considering - and a group of Microsoft productivity software. I went to a lot of trouble to get Symantec security products off of my three computers, since they were resource hogs, flaky, and when I tried to uninstall them, Symantec Security suites trashed two of my computers. I don't want to buy a new computer and start on day one uninstalling Symantec and Microsoft products, with all the trash that may be left behind on the disk and in the Registry.
So, if they will not sell me a "clean" computer, which I am sure they will not, it is back to ordering parts for a new computer. Or take another look at a Mac. It will be January of 2007 before VISTA will be installed at the factory or is available on disk to the public. I upgraded my current Athlon to a hot dual-core CPU, and the computer already had 2GB of RAM. With my new 22-inch 16x9 format Samsung LCD monitor, and a second 19-inch LCD being run from a dual-output video card, I can comfortably watch and wait to see how VISTA does. HDTV over-the-air (Cat's Eye DTA-150, BeyondTV software) is spectacular with the new CPU and monitor. And no, I am not running Windows XP Media Center 2005 edition, just XP Home (that is a long story). Something that will no doubt shake out over time are the several - and constant - anti-piracy checks in VISTA. I had a WinXP install start capriciously telling me I needed to reauthorize XP. Finally, it said I had tried too many times to install XP on the SAME computer. The XP install disk became useless. Where is that limit written? You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait until the VISTA customers get tired of the several hoops they have to jump through to constantly "authenticate" their installation, and the inevitable bugs and flaws in the authentication system surface - some of which will surely disable most of your computer's functions until corrected. VISTA will be a lot more secure than XP, but the user will pay a price in constant nagging - until customers have had enough and demand changes. Or go for Linux, or buy a Mac instead. December 13, 2006 Sen. Tim Johnson (D, S.D.) was admitted to the hospital with a possible stroke. Even before the extent of his medical problem had been determined, the political and media vultures were speculating that if Sen. Johnson did not return to the Senate, the Republican governor of South Dakota would probably appoint a Republican to replace him. The Senate would be 50/50 with V.P. Cheney, being President of the Senate, able to break ties in favor the Republicans. In the Outback for October 5, 2005, I wrote an article entitled "Our Country is Being Run by Old Geezers." If you want to speculate about the balance of power in the Senate, read the birth dates of the Senators, and whatever you can learn about the status of their health. For example, I had forgotten that Senator Joseph Biden, Democrat of Delaware, who is likely to run for President, missed about seven months in 1988 after surgery for a brain aneurysm. I wish nothing bad for Joe. He is my favorite Democrat. In fact, he will be about the most knowledgable person one could imagine to become Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Also, there appears to be no rule that a Senator has to attend sessions of the Senate to stay in office. It is still vivid in my memory when an aging Strom Thurman would show up for hearings, etc., so feeble and confused that it was an embarrassment to him and the Senate. At least he showed up from time to time, but it was like he was a marionette being controlled by hidden strings. Pathetic. But, it is highly probable that one or more senators could be completely disabled or die any day from now until the 2008 election. Next, we should see articles and cable-news discussions of the ages of Senators and handicapping on who might drop dead first. You have to live in the country and watch the vultures swoop down on road kill to appreciate the mentality of the politicians and media who would bring up a potential successor when a man had barely gotten out of the ambulance at the hospital. December 8, 2006 I downloaded the entire The Iraq Study Group Report. After reading only 20 pages of the 160 pages, I had to stop. It was too depressing. Finally, you can read what an unholy mess things really are in Iraq. My one-word assessment for the prospects of a reasonable resolution: "Hopeless." If you have any doubt that the invasion of Iraq was the biggest U.S. political blunder in our history, read the Report. The situation in Iraq is many times more complex than our Vietnam involvement. In Vietnam, there were clear enemies. We just failed to recognize that war was probably not winnable, until we paid dearly in American blood and treasure. It seems clear to me that there will be no "solution" to the mess in Iraq during the rest of the Bush term. And that this debacle will cast President Bush as one of our worst presidents - when the history books of 50 years from now discuss the matter. But, don't hold your breath that a Democratic Congress or a Democratic president can "solve" the Iraq problem. It is beyond solving - and I am only up to page 20 of 160 pages! As I have said before, the "Bush Doctrine" of preemptive strikes is now in a very deep file cabinet. One has only to look our laws on self defense. You can't with impunity go around hitting or killing people whom you "think" might be going to harm you at some time in the future. Especially when the "threat" is only second-hand information that you can't verify. If you go back to earlier issues of the Outback, I predicted a terrible outcome if we invaded Iraq. I will search my archives and quote some the comments when I have some time. December 8, 2006 U.S. TODAY ran a photo of a sign on the door at a Taco Bell which reads "TEMPORARY CLOSED." One more reason not to eat at a Taco Bell. Do you trust somebody with your health and your life who does not know that the sign should say "TEMPORARILY CLOSED"? December 6, 2006 Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, et al.) is an anti-inflammatory. Maybe Kramer and Mel Gibson should be taking Ibuprofen. December 6, 2006 I noted in an earlier Outback about the incredibly short work week in the U.S House. Next year, members of the House will be expected in the Capitol for votes each week by 6:30 p.m. Monday and will finish their business about 2 p.m. Friday. We'll see how long the memebers will put up with this "long work week." Cardiologist Peter M. Langsjoen, M.D, Tyler, Texas, (with others) published an article in "BioFactors" (25 - 2005 -147-152) in which he descried a study of 50 of his new patients who were on statin drug therapy for an average of 28 months. All of the patients discontinued the statins due to side effects and began supplementation with Coenzyme Q10. The patients were followed for an average of 22 months, with 84% followed for more than 12 months. The prevalence of patient symptoms on the initial visit and on the most recent follow-up showed a decrease in fatigue from 84% to 16%, myalgia from 64% to 6%, dyspnea from 58% to 12%, memory loss from 8% to 4%, and peripheral neuropathy from 10% to 2%. Dr. Langsjoen, who is a specialist in Congestive Heart Failure, among other cardiovascular problems, concluded that "statin-related side effects, including statin cardiomyopathy, are far more common than previously published."
Dr. Langsjoen had written previously about the alarming number of patients he treated who were on statins and developed cardiomyopathy. The cardiomyopathy was largely attributed to the fact that statins deplete CoQ10 in the body. Dr. Langsjoen, and Dr. Julian Whitaker, in multiple petitions, were unsuccessful in getting the F.D.A. to require a "Black Box Warning" on supplies of Lipitor, Zocor, et al., that would warn of the potential of cardiomyopathy and suggest that supplementation with CoQ10 be taken along with all statins. Canadian health authorities require that statins sold in Canada carry a precautionary warning regarding CoQ10 depletion. Pfizer’s Lipitor® contains the following warning: The Effect on Ubiquinone (CoQ10) Levels “Significant decreases in circulating ubiquinone levels in patients treated with atorvastatin and other statins have been observed. The clinical significance of a potential long-term statin-induced deficiency of ubiquinone has not been established. It has been reported that a decrease in myocardial ubiquinone levels could lead to impaired cardiac function in patients with borderline congestive heart failure . . .” Definition of terms: (Sources are Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, The Merck Manual 17th Edition and www.nih.gov) Myalgia - tenderness or pain in the muscles; Dyspnea - an unpleasant difficulty in breathing, typically breathlessness or shortness of breath after exertion; Cardiomyopathy - is a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in heart muscle structure. It is often associated with inadequate heart pumping or other heart function abnormalities. Cardiomyopathy occurs in three major types, all of which affect your heart's ability to pump blood and deliver it to the rest of your body; Peripheral Neuropathy - Peripheral Neuropathy describes damage to the peripheral nervous system, which transmits information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body. More than 100 types of peripheral neuropathy have been identified .... Some people may experience temporary numbness, tingling, and pricking sensations, sensitivity to touch, or muscle weakness. Others may suffer more extreme symptoms, including burning pain (especially at night), muscle wasting, paralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction.... People may become unable to digest food easily, maintain safe levels of blood pressure, sweat normally, or experience normal sexual function. In the most extreme cases, breathing may become difficult or organ failure may occur. There is also detailed information about Peripheral Neuropathy at: www.mayoclinc.com. And at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000593.htm Fatigue and Memory Loss need no explanation. Memory loss from taking a statin is the subject of a book by a former Astronaut, Dr. Wayne Graveline "Lipitor: Thief of Memory." Wayne Graveline, M.D., has also published "Statin Drugs Side Effects - And the Misguided War on Cholesterol." (www.spacedoc.net) Now, continuing with comments from Dr. Langsjoen's article in "BioFactors." Once the initial patient screening was complete, Dr. Langsjoen took them off of statins and put them on a regimen of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) of 240mg a day. Although I did not ask him, I am reasonably sure that the patients were put on a CoQ10 in gel-cap form (probably BioQuinone Gold which is imported and provides maximum "bioavailability", that is, assimilation) - and not CoQ10 tablets or capsules available at health-food stores and mass merchandisers. (I am working on an article about various sources of CoQ10 and their relative "bioavailabilty," which simply means how much concentration of CoQ10 actually gets into your bloodstream. Dr. Langsjoen has a blood test where he can tell precisely the level of CoQ10 in your bloodstream.) Dr. L. identified a group of 50 patients who were taking a statin at the time of their initial visit to his office. They were each administered Echocardiograms, along with standard screening. Among the patients, the most popular statin was Lipitor (52%) and Zocor (34%). The average length of use was 28 months prior to the initial visit. Patients with Dyspnea had either myocardial dysfunction (decreased ejection fraction, disastolic dysfunction or both), or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Regarding Ejection Fraction: When your heart contracts (systole), it ejects blood from the two pumping chambers (ventricles). When your heart relaxes (diastole), the ventricles refill with blood. No matter how forceful the contraction, it doesn't empty all of the blood out of a ventricle. The term "ejection fraction" refers to the percentage of blood that's pumped out of a filled ventricle with each heartbeat. This measures the capacity at which your heart is pumping. Because the left ventricle is the heart's main pumping chamber, ejection fraction is usually measured only in the left ventricle (LV). A normal LV ejection fraction is 55 percent to 70 percent. Your EF can be measured in several ways, among them with an Echocardiogram. (You might want to explore the role of the Ejection Fraction in Congestive Heart Failure.) With the patients who were taken off the statins, fatigue and myalgia began to improve by the time of the one-month follow up. Memory loss and peripheral neuropathy improved more slowly over 6 to 12 months, with some patients having major problems with residual symptoms even after the one year follow-up. In the 84% of patients followed for one year after being taken off the statins, there were no heart attacks or strokes. In the Discussion part of the article, Dr. Langsjoen points out that in a Canadian study of 85,020 patients taking statins, 75% had discontinued their drug therapy by the end of two years. "We believe that a significant impairment in patient quality of life explains the documented poor compliance with statin-drug therapy." COPYRIGHT 2000 -2006 Richard C. Rhodes You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I beg your forgiveness for the many mistakes that creep in. Suggested Reading From Past Columns Click Here for Suggested Reading List Archive of Back Issues Media List of Addresses and e-mails Postal Service State Abbreviations, etc. Postal Service Abbreviations - Richard C. Rhodes End |