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wSpring Tide |
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The tandem pull of the sun and the moon
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wThursday, October 11, 2001 |
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I find it supremely irritating that when you do a google search on Anthrax, your results page comes up with these sponsored ads for Cipro, touted as the "anthrax antibiotic."
Those ads reccomend you stockpile the drug.. "just in case." Yet, I can't help but wonder how sales of Cipro are going and how many people are pumping Cipro in their bodies, in the mistaken notion that it will somehow protect them, all the while creating Cipro resistant bacteria in their bodies.
Ciprofloxacin, in addition to being used for inhalation anthrax, is also used against bugs like E . coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, or Streptococcus pneumoniae -- all of which can cause respiratory infections. Its also indicated for urinary tract infections, skin, joint and abdominal infections. (RX List.com.)
In order for this antibiotic to work against anthrax, you need 3 doses of the vaccine, according to some talking head I saw on a news show. Only the military has the vaccine. Those who've been hospitalized with inhalation Anthrax (there's a 3rd confirmed case now) are being treated with Cipro as well other antibiotics. Its not an effective standalone treatment for Anthrax apparently. Do these ads and websites mention any of this? No.
But hey, commerce must grind on. Who cares about being responsible and informed? There's a buck to made here (or a pound, in the case of Cipro being sold by British companies).
Maybe I'm just ranting here... maybe no one is taking it as a prophylactic measure against Anthrax. It still strikes me as incredibly irresponsible of Google to accept these ads, and utterly gross of the british pharms selling it to use the "scare" to make a buck. Anthrax is not contagious. Its use as a "bioterrorism weapon" is sucky in its direct effects (not that many get sick) and primarily potent in the fear it creates in the population. Ads urging people to stockpile the drug, a drug that's not a standalone treatment, only help promote that fear.
You would have to be incredibly stupid to stockpile the drug thinking you could treat yourself. It just pisses me off seeing a company promote stupidity in the name of making a buck, and observing google supporting that stupidity, also in the name of making a buck.
But hey. Commerce must grind on.
posted by
Just Mary at 8:51 AM
7 comments
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wWednesday, October 10, 2001 |
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As part of my own curiosity, I've been reading a bit about Anthrax. I find it encouraging that a terrorist group in Japan was unable to use it effectively to infect a population. Its a wacky bacterium, however. I find myself curious about the endospore stage of its life cycle, apparently required for infection via inhalation. Here's a good tutorial from the University of Wisconsin, if anyone is interested. (I didn't find any life cycle information here, unfortunately -- apparently not much is known.)
As part of my overhaul of my house, I came across a book given to me by Brae a while back that I never got a chance to read -- Neuromancer, by William Gibson. Very cool so far, I'm really enjoying it. All the bio dodads in the story spark my imagination. Thanks Brae.
I still have Songs of Earth and Power in my "in process" section because I lost the damn book on the flight to Virginia last month. I had only 12 pages to go, dammit. I plan on going to a local bookstore and finishing it there. Terrible of me, eh?
posted by
Just Mary at 10:18 AM
5 comments
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wMonday, October 08, 2001 |
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Damn, I'm bad at keeping up with posting.
Sorry to all the netscape users... a js call gone bad made the page unavailable to NS users. IE will put up with all kinds of code errors and bugs and still render a page (Bugs.. its the microsoft way.) Netscape is much more "no-nonsense." But all fixed now. My thanks to Azriel for pointing it the unavailability of the page.
Not much new and exciting in the Life of Mary. Netscape users haven't missed much, I'm afraid. Decluttering of my house has been a major task of the past week. I'm almost ready to rearrange the rooms, giving myself a real office. The goal is deskspace in one location for 3 computers and a laptop. With room to write on the desk. Lofty goal, I know.
I have been spending a lot of time in reflection, thinking about family and past. I'll be glad when the next 3 weeks or so go by. Its just a hard time. Thank god it does get easier.
My major coping mechanism has been clanning my face off, I'm afraid. Lots of interesting things have been happening in the lands... but being that my main character is PM, if I told you about it, I'd have to kill you.
heh.
I did go out on an "unruly mob" rescue of Fat Alice. Seems the old gal fell in the glacier and toggled everyone and their brother for a rescue. So off I went with about 30 exiles.
Many of them fell and departed. It was pretty much a nightmare. But I did see why the unruly mob succeeds at times. As a fighter, you take a lot less damage, when inexperienced exiles are mob rushing the creatures and falling right and left. The unwitting sacrificial lambs allow the stronger and more experienced fighters to take less damage while killing the critters. And there is no taboo with leaving fallen behind, it seems.
So it was interesting to go, just to observe how things work in the mob. I had fun overall, but damn it took a long time. It was also interesting to me that when it looked like Elenis wouldn't be able to finish with us (he was leading) that Entil or Kpyn was deemed to be the best to lead the group on. I have more experience on Kizmia's Isle than all the exiles who were there put together. I didn't want to lead anyway... but it was still interesting to me to see that Althea wasn't regarded as a choice. No matter, really... just interesting.
So this week's tasks are to get more exercise, straighten out some financial matters pending, work a bunch and (hopefully) by this time next week have an office.
Wish me luck.
posted by
Just Mary at 6:53 AM
2 comments
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wTuesday, October 02, 2001 |
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I have this really great picture of my parents, taken on their wedding day. They are leaving on their honeymoon, dressed in street clothes, walking away from the camera to a car. Dad is lovingly looking at mom and smiling. Mom is looking over her shoulder and waving -- an excited 20 year old girl heading off on the big adventure of marriage, leaving her friends and family behind.
Theirs was not an easy marriage. That honeymoon they were going off on in the picture, was only to drive around the block to a shabby apartment, because they couldn't afford a honeymoon at the time. They struggled through their lives with their own issues. They made mistakes, they were mean to each other, they did terrible yet human things to each other, and went through serious financial hardship. But through it all, they stuck together.
October is the month my parents headed off on another adventure.
The timing of Mom's illnesses and decline are startling in how they mirrored Dad's. She started going downhill in February of '99. Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer that same month, six years before.
Dad, struggling with lung cancer, started chocking on September 25th, 1993 and was rushed to the hospital unable to breathe. The inoperable tumor that they said was in remission had invaded his trachea and was choking him. They put him on a ventilator in ICU.
September 25th, 1999, Mom had a heart attack and ended up in ICU. They considered bypass surgery, but decided she was too much of a surgical risk due to her diabetes and subsequent health issues caused by the syndrome.
My dad was finally brought home to die. On October 28th, a few hours before he died, my mom and he renewed their marriage vows. He couldn't speak anymore but squeezed her hand and nodded at the right times. He was cognizant and lucid, but very weak. After renewing their vows, he went to sleep and passed a few hours later.
We buried him on November 2nd.
In 1999, after her hospital stay, Mom got home much quicker. We knew we wouldn't have her around for many more years, but her death was quite unexpected. She was really doing well, all things considered -- mobile, able to be home with a nurse and health aide assisting her and pretty cheerful.
She was discovered the morning of October 29th, on her bed. A&E, a channel she only watched in her bedroom in the evening after she went upstairs, was on the TV. So we knew she died October 28th, same day as he did. It was also the same day of the week and like him, she was only 62.
That week before she died, she related to me a recurring dream she was having. Dad was with her in the living room, but he wouldn't say anything to her, in spite of her questions. He would just look at her and smile. Additional weirdness was that I was there too. Only I was dressed from head to foot in a black dress, wearing a witch's pointy hat.
Heh. She and I laughed about my dream outfit. She found it comforting that Dad was with her in her dreams.
We tried to schedule her funeral for the wednesday after she died, to give me a little more time to get back home to Minnesota. But we could only get the church for Tues. So I flew back on Halloween, the first flight I could get it together to catch.
Numb with grief, I didn't even realize at the time that it was halloween, nor was I thinking about her recurring dreams. I didn't bring a witch's pointy hat with me.
She was buried next to him, 6 years later on November 2nd -- the same day he was buried.
I believe with all my heart my parents are off together on yet another great adventure, continuing their marriage. Try as we might, we couldn't alter the death dance of William and Dolores. And so I have that picture framed, on display in my house. And I look at it and remember them and realize its us, the living, to whom my mother waves goodbye.
posted by
Just Mary at 6:16 PM
0 comments
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