Kacie

I'm kind of hoping after this anniversary, we kind of move on from it.   No doubt it was exciting and changed the direction of the team and the future.  But we've heard every story from everyone involved ad nauseum.  Let's look forward to a new generation and make some new storylines.  

I think Leah Hextall is bad luck, in addition to just being bad. It's a toss up between her and Buccigross.  ESPN finally gets hockey back and this is what we get?  Longing for the days of Tom Mees, Gary Thorne and Dave Strader.  

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

Kacie, 

i apologize for getting into a “whose suffering matters more” dialogue.   

It all sucks.   

Ukraine matters because its the 44m people economy trying to join EU and is in the bullseye of Putin.  Yemen is the messy side of the messy side of the hot mess of the World.  

But the people in either place matter and the international community should hope that they give succor to all.  

It's cool.  For the record, I wasn't in any way trying to imply that the people of Ukraine don't matter.  Just that there are millions of others in insufferable situations and we should be as concerned about them as well.

Its about confronting my own biases as well.  Grew up in a very conservative household and drank the Kool Aid for many years.  The cops wouldn't shoot them black folks if they just cooperated.  If they just worked hard like we do and pulled themselves up by the bootstraps, they wouldn't be living with crime and poverty. We don't need affirmative action, they need to earn it like we did.  I'd like to think I've evolved over the years, but just when I think I have, I realize I still have a long way to go.  When I watched the Trevor Noah clip, my initial reaction was that it was more PC Bullshit.  Then after my conversation with my internet friend, I had to ask myself why does the Ukraine situation affect me differently than other equally horrific situations?  It's Putin, it's the economy, the threat of nuclear war, their heroic leader...maybe?  It's more likely that I'm relating to people who are more like me.  I'm not feeling for the people of Yemen or Afghanistan or Haiti, etc, as much because I'm not seeing myself in them.  I'm not relating on a human level.  I've been to Honduras on several occasions to provide services through a charitable organization and it lulled me into thinking that must mean I don't have biases or prejudices.  I'm honest enough to admit I do.  No, not everyone and everything is racist, but I need to do better and I don't think I'm the only one.

11 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

if there was a case that Americans would buy regarding who the 'good guys' were in Yemen, it would be a 1st step. You have the Saudis, led by MBS, who has come to be pretty universally regarded as a dirt bag, fighting with proxies for Iran, of whom we are also such big fans. Biden has taken us off the Saudi bandwagon, which might at least reduce the arms supply in that mess.

I would think the "good guys" needing help are the children being intentionally starved to death.  But that's just my woke opinion.

25 minutes ago, oblong said:

Chris Chelios’s son played for China in the Olympics.  He was allowed to do that because he played for the Chinese team in the KHL. Their rules allowed that.  

Right.  He played for the KHL team because that's what he had to do to qualify to be a part of Team China.  They didn't have a men's hockey program to speak of, but as the host country, they were given a spot in the pool.  So China allowed the North American players to play for their team based on certain criteria in order to expose the game in their country.

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

what kind of fool american would be in Russia right now? Did her team put her there? Sounds like daylight madness to me.....

....plays for a Russian team...../..sigh../

Most female basketball players have to go to Europe to play during the WNBA offseason because they pay substantial salaries there.  There are North Americans playing in the KHL as well.

Spoke today to a friend/colleague in Yemen.  Their situation is no less horrific and heartbreaking, yet the World basically doesn't care.  If you happen to see Trevor Noah's take on this, it kind of puts it all in perspective. 

5 minutes ago, pfife said:

a legit ass trcuker convoy!!

 

Those are probably the dumbasses who were protesting mask mandates and realized how stupid they looked and changed course.  They at least get credit for changing on the fly.  

The Ukrainians have done what the US Media failed miserably at.  They made those stupid assholes bitching about "muh freedom" because they had to wear cloth over their face or get a life saving vaccine look like total idiots.  

Yeah, Bubba, you were so brave to walk into the 7-11 in your tactical gear and assault weapon and berate the teenage girl who asked you to wear a mask.

Not easily "inspired", but damn those Ukranians are bad ass.

I just dislike Sean McVay more than I like Matthew Stafford.  

Whoever hired Biz for TNT deserves a raise.  His interview with Yzerman was entertaining.

20 hours ago, buddha said:

hmmm...i dont know what you actually think, but what you post on here is usually a pretty dim view of america.  the reality is that america is a pretty nice place when compared to most of the rest of the world.  that's not said in a "were the greatest country on earth" mumbo jumbo, but just a statement on how rich we are and how much space we have.  we take america for granted because we live here.  most of us wouldnt last five months in india without feeling homesick and pining away for an suv or a football game.

and like i said before, india has nit vaccinated 90% of its population.  47% is probably a doctored estimate too.

True, not many white, middle class or better Americans could.  I mean not the African American ones.  Too many in this country don't have a place to live or food to eat or medical care.  Doesn't seem like the USA is all that "rich".  

I thought this summed up the false perception versus reality very well:

“I asked Wharton students what they thought the average American worker makes per year and 25% of them thought it was over six figures,” Nina Strohminger tweeted late Wednesday. “One of them thought it was $800k.”

I'll never understand all the Blashill love from Red Wings fans.  Amazing how someone who has failed at all aspects of his job still gets so much support.  But, but, he has no talent.  How many coaches that get fired are loaded with talent?  As many good things as Yzerman has done, I just can't get on board with him keeping Blashill around for so long.

Heard Yzerman on with Stoney the other day and he seemed unconcerned about the team and felt they are exactly where he expected them to be.  

https://www.nhl.com/kraken/news/vancouver-canucks-equipment-manager-red-hamilton-searches-for-seattle-kraken-fan/c-329375328  

On the topic of malignant melanoma... Incredible story.  

Honestly, I don't really have an issue with the reduction of the quarantine.  They're not saying if you're coughing and feverish to go to work.  They're saying asymptomatic and a negative test.  I feel like more people will quarantine if it's only 5 days and not 10.  At the same time, I don't know of many in the general public who are getting tested if they are asymptomatic.  

I know of several people who just aren't getting tested because they don't want to miss work or be stuck at home for 10 days.   I'm at the point I really don't know what will work at this point.

The dumbasses are cutting off their noses to spite their faces.  This was posted on Reddit.  Speaks for so many.  Whether or not anyone will listen is something else.

My career of treating patients has ended

Heavy Content Warning

After more than three decades as a physician, the Q maniacs have succeeded in driving me out of providing care to patients. I, like many of my colleagues, am moving into medically-adjacent work, where we can continue to apply our training and decades off knowledge without ever having to come in contact with sick people.

I've been able to deal with the years of patients who attended Google Medical School, and the hours wasted explaining things such as why cinnamon cannot be used to treat diabetes, or that garlic and beetroot can't treat HIV. And Lord save me from essential oils.

COVID and Q finally proved to be the one of amateur "experts" that was too much for me. The horrific deaths are beyond what you might imagine. They emerge almost unrecognizable to their families. Since June, I have never seen a horrible case of someone who was vaccinated. I have seen people struggling to breathe through lungs that have hardened to near uselessness, begging us in their ignorance to give them the vaccine now. We can tell, almost without fail, which ones will die when they come through the door of the ICU, but we do everything in our power to keep them alive - BIPAP, ECMO, ventilator - knowing we are stretching out the inevitable. We use paralytics with ECMO and ventilators, then ease them off to see if they can function. And as the drugs wane, the look of terror emerges, the tears. We try to calm them, to swallow our desire to scream at them: This is your fault! This didn't have to happen! Often, their spouse or their uncle or neighbor is nearby, dying along with them. And we work hard for those rare cases where we can pull them back from the edge.

I could deal with all of that. What I can no longer handle is the screaming, not from the patients, but from the families. They are not screaming in anguish, or in recognition of how their foolishness has led them to this point. No, they are screaming at me. Because, you see, I am part of the global conspiracy to commit genocide. If only I would give 10,000 mg of Vitamin C - even though the body can only absorb a maximum of 100 mg a day, with the rest creating the world's most expensive urine - they would be saved. Or hydroxychloroquine. Or ivermectin. Those have never been studied, they assure me, and when I tell them they have been, they snap that I don't know what I'm talking about. I want, oh god I want, to tell them that if we are the ones responsible for killing their loved ones, then why the hell have they brought them to the hospital? Why throw them into our clutches? I know the answer: They know it is all lies. But their egos are so huge they cant bring themselves to admit it.

My breaking point came three weeks ago. I dealt with a particularly horrible case. This was a husband and father, 38 years old. A wife, two daughters, one son. All of age to get vaccinated, none vaccinated. If you could have seen his face, and the ravages left by both COVID and the time he spent prone on his stomach. An enormous clot kept reforming in his leg, and we had been forced to amputate his foot in hopes of keeping him alive. When he was awake, the look of terror in his eyes, the crying, the pain. It was nothing new. But the begging, over and over, "Don't let me die." And "Give me the vaccine." All I could tell him is "We won't let you" - although I never said we might not have any choice in the matter. And I told him, repeatedly, it was too late for the vaccine.

He begged me to bring in his family. A nurse called them, because they had never come to the hospital. They refused to wear masks, and so would not be admitted. The nurse told the wife that her husband was likely dying, and was begging to see them. All she cared about was masks. She would only come if she and her daughters didn't have to wear any.

The nurse came to me and told me the wife wanted to speak to me. I got on the phone and she ordered me to cure him with ivermectin and vitamin C & D. I explained to her, those do not work, they have been extensively studied and the amount of ivermectin needed to treat even mild COVID would kill a human being. Once again, I was told I was ignorant. I asked her to come down to the hospital, to bring her children, to at least wait outside. Somehow, she agreed.

The nurses were all busy, and I took over the role they usually perform, comforting the dying. I sat beside the man's bed. Through tears, he rasped out sounds I could vaguely understand as a question. I guessed at what he was asking, and assured him that yes, his family was coming. He was so frightened, and I could tell he knew death was unavoidable. I'm not religious, but I knew he was, and I talked about the comfort of Jesus as I held his hand. About a minute later, he coded. We tried to save him, but there was nothing to be done. He died.

Twenty minutes later, I heard from a nurse that the family was here, that they had made a ruckus down in the lobby demanding to be let upstairs without masks, and had been thrown out of the hospital. I consulted with a few colleagues who agreed to cover me so that i could speak to them in the parking lot. I took the elevator down, and asked security to point out the family that refused to wear masks. Fortunately, they had not left.

I stepped outside, went to the wife, and identified myself. I told her that I was sorry, that we had done everything we could, but her husband had passed a few minutes earlier. I did not manage to get the words of the sentence fully out of my mouth when I felt the fist strike my face and heard the screamed words "You murderer!" I fell backwards, tripped, and plopped onto the pavement, the back off my head striking asphalt. I vaguely heard the words being screamed about ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine and god knows what else. I heard "you could have saved him if you listened!" I tasted blood from the top of my lip. It took a moment to know it was seeping from my nose, which she had broken. My mask was getting wet, and thus useless. Security grabbed her. They were getting ready to call the police, but I knew if they did, I would become the next national target for the Q maniacs. I told them to just put her in her car. I wasn't going to press charges. I went back to the hospital.

I started looking for a new job the next day. I will never treat a patient again.

Thank God.

On 12/17/2021 at 12:59 PM, oblong said:

Strictly speaking just for covid on an individual level, there's no reason to be that worried about you or your family.  But collectively it looks like it's going to crash things in our hospitals which are already at a breaking point.   The people that work there have been at this for 2 years.  They really cannot take much more.  I wish there was a way to make that point known to everyone.  They can't have cameras in there to show what it looks like to see a lot of people on ventilators and ECMO machines.  This is where we are now prior to Omicron.  Yes the data suggests it might not be as bad as previous waves but it's not a sure thing as we don't know enough about who it has hit.   The speed of Omicron is the dangerous part.  Given where our systems are now an exponential growth of cases, even at a lower severity, could put us back to field hospitals and parking garages, etc.  The next 3-4 weeks could be disruptive.  I'm anticipating some virtual things as more people test positive and have to quarantine, or just simply have a cold(covid) but are not tested but staying away.

I'm not saying I know what the answer is because I don't see how it's avoided at this point. If you've had your booster then you'll pretty much be fine.  But a lot of people didn't and even a small % impact of severity will put a big stress on our hospitals.

I'd avoid things that can lead to injury more than I would crowds.  You might not have any place to go.

Prior infection as a defense against Omicron is looking to be useless, as could be the J&J vaccine.

 

 

Yup, this.  I'm cashing in my chips and leaving the table.   Politics and health care do not mix.  The same people who will call it a hoax, not wear a mask, not get vaccinated and call you names then want their life saved.  It's one thing too when it's the stupid patients, but the number of physicians, nurses and other health care professionals who have been brainwashed by all the right wing propaganda is sickening.  Having lockdowns and mandates at this point is useless.  If you can't get compliance, which we can't, it isn't going to do much.  All we can do at this point is get fully vaccinated and hope that we and our loved ones aren't one of the rare breakthrough cases.  

I'd love nothing more than to be able to blame this on the NHL's only unvaccinated player.  But the outbreaks amongst so many other NHL teams  who are fully vaccinated don't support the blame on Bertuzzi.  It'd be nice if we had more details like 5 players and coaches are in protocol and 4 are totally asymptomatic, one has mild symptoms.  But obviously can't do that.  

To be honest, as an introvert, I haven't minded playing the Covid card as an excuse to avoid large family gatherings, Holiday parties, work meetings, weddings, showers, asshole Trumper anti vaxxers, etc.  It's also been great for my OCD germophobia.  Not sure if I'll ever return from the dark side.

On 12/10/2021 at 5:03 PM, smr-nj said:

Mine, too! ( I was there yesterday)

*another agreement… wth is happening 

Spoiler alert.  It doesn't.  It makes patients feel better and patients feel their dentist is looking out for them and being "safe".  No real clinical evidence that a pre rinse of hydrogen peroxide or chlorhexidine reduces the risk of coronavirus.  The reality is though that it was never dangerous to go to the dentist because of COVID.  No actual documented outbreaks linked to dental offices.  

13 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

This is perfect.  I am picturing you typing madly with Fox news blaring on a black and white TV in the background.   Your wife Mom just brought you another beer. 

22 minutes ago, slothfacekilla said:

I'm not sure but I've enjoyed listening to her this broadcast from what I've heard.  Overall ESPN has been rough so the fact that she seems fairly natural at filling air makes me think she's the best they have.

Yikes, she's kinda making my ears bleed.  I think it's AJ Mleckzo?  I can't believe ESPN brought back hockey to subject us to this.  At least Bucci isn't doing PBP.  Ugh.  Can't believe we went from Gary Thorne, Tom Mees and Dave Strader to this.  

1 hour ago, Archie said:

I think avoiding the media is nearly impossible.  When you are in their position I don't think they are getting much help from anyone.  The last big case was the Landry case in Florida.  The media followed the parents of the boy all the time, flew drones over their home and used their neighbor's property to get closer.  A lot of the media act more like activists than journalists in these situations and I don't blame people for trying to avoid them. 

I don't think any of us have sympathy for the parents but think about the position they are in.  Their child will likely spend decades in prison being Bubba's girlfriend and he will never live a normal life.  They will go broke paying for attorneys and if they have any money left there will be civil suits from the victims.  Now they face years of jail time for themselves.  Even if they don't it will be hard for them to get jobs or be out in public.  They will have to relocate and the stigma will follow them where ever they go.  Their life is crap and their future isn't any better.

I really couldn't give a fuck what they or their son will go through.  I care about the parents and friends and families of those 4 children who were killed.  Imagine how they will have to live the rest of their lives.  

Also don't care what Brian Laundrie's piece of shit parents went through either.  They knew their son was a murderer and let him leave the home with a gun and lied to law enforcement.  

10 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Hate is very strong. I definitely have an inherent distrust though. Per the arraignment (I can’t find a recording or direct quote), their attorney was in constant contact with the clients throughout Thursday, and planned to meet them at 52-3 Court at 7:30am Saturday. Yes I believe that.

If the parent or bartender provided a minor with alcohol they’re guilty of a crime notwithstanding what else happened. Different. Here, the parents were not guilty of a crime (or at least have not been charged) except that their kid took the gun out of the home and did what he did.

Again, you're speculating to fit your narrative.  You don't know happened, if the kid "took the gun" or was given the gun and what all preceded the shooting. How many parents upon hearing of a school shooting, would call the police and be like, yep, that sounds like my kid?  The parents were obviously aware.

If they were staying at friends or relatives homes or at a hotel, it might be plausible that they weren't planning to flee.  

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/locked-sullen-crumbley-family-showing-003835309.html

37 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I said within that I did not know if it would be found to be involuntary manslaughter, and closed with saying it would be intriguing to follow. I am not standing on some pedestal saying that the parents are innocent and should be released at once, I'm saying that I don't know if this has ever been done before (going after the parents of a child perpetrator criminally), and that there is a strong defense to be made on that basis alone, irrespective of the evidence one way or the other.

If they wanted to go to Canada, or Florida, or Mexico, or virtually anywhere in the World, they were free to do so until about 2:00pm on Friday when the judge signed the warrant. If they planned to, why would they have hung out a 30-minute drive from the jail where they now sit? Based on the defense attorney's statements in the parents arraignment, McDonald was intentionally deceitful with the public in order to incite a manhunt. At the very least, she chose to wait until Friday afternoon to announce charges she likely knew would be brought at least 24 hours prior. I'm not willing to give her office the benefit of the doubt.

We get it, you hate prosecutors.  You're saying that the same people who would buy their deranged kid a gun, tell him not to get caught searching for ammunition at school and wanted to be grabbed by the pussy by Trump were going to make a well thought out escape plan in less than a day?  Yeah, they were totally planning on turning themselves in.  Can't believe you're still trying to play that card.  

If the kid had an alcohol problem and they bought him a case of beer and a fifth and handed him the keys to the car and he killed 4 kids in an accident, wouldn't the parents face charges in that case?  I get there isn't precedent in regards to murder, but I don't really see how this is much different.  Bartenders have been charged for serving visibly drunk patrons and not stopping them from driving.