I'M BAACCKKK!

OK, briefly:

I've been ill, but am fine now, thanks, I've moved, gotten a new computer, and a new innertubes server, the last being a major part of the delay. I also have new phone service with a different provider; Ill get an e-mail together later for those of you who wish to keep track of me off the tubes. If you have not been part of this elite group in the past, you may apply in the comments to this post.

Sorry for the delay; fighting the corporate powers is tedious, as some of you know from your own recent experience.

That is all.

Internet Disruption

Hi all, my Internet service has been interrupted due to the move. I'm fine and should be back online next week.

09/23 Tuesday afternoon

I'm back in person on the innertubes; thanks to my lovely and gifted lil Nimrod for the first part of this message, and to Mimi for letting you all know the trouble was with the Internet provider, and not me.

Tha-t-t-t-hat'a all, folks.

Blogger Down: Returns to Action

Dear all:

I have been in the West Haven VA Hospital since Thursday PM, but now (4:21 PM 09/15/08: Happy B'day, Mimi!) am back home. Symptom: "kidneys took the weekend off" says the Doctor, who had a nice sense of humor. I felt sluggish and w/o appetite Saturday, went to bed after church Sunday, skipped a meal or two, and passed out Tuesday AM getting up. At this point sanity and good sense dictated calling 911 to to be admitted; I chose to try to get enough strength to do it myself Thursday Noon. Thanks: I've already thought so, too.

Treatment consisted mostly of continuous hydration by IV for 72 hours, another 24 to make sure the kidneys were still moving towards "normal" levels with liquids by mouth, then discharge for follow-up Monday to make sure I'm ready to do the MRI that is still scheduled for the 26th. Explanations await the MRI, but tentatively, since I've had no major changes in diet or habits for over a year, the hypothesis is I got dehydrated, partly because of my Ileostomy (I have no colon, and cannot re-absorb liquids as efficiently as before, but that was 26 years in July), which avalanched. The Ultrasounds suggest "something" "or or near" the left kidney, but the indications are so vague the techs struggle to decide what to say about it.

For the time being, I'm well, but still a little puny (Alas! Not in size.) which will likely delay my anticipated move until at least the first of the month.

So what did you guys do this weekend? Divest?

Tomato Season

sometimes seems as if it will never come, especially with a cool, rainy Summer such as this has been. Nine pounds (8.98, to be precise) may seem like a lot at once, but after slow roasting half, and making Ratatouille with the rest, I may have to get a few more by Friday. Oh, yeah, Gazpacho: make that maybe five pounds more.

The Meaning of It All, Courtesy of Mr. Idle

The Expanding Universe song from "The Meaning Of Life"; click on the post title to view it.

Georgia On My Mind

My first reaction was, "Why does that dolt want to take over South Ossetia? Does he think the Russians won't intervene? Or does he think the Americans will intervene on his behalf?"

The historical background is that Ossetia, and the other autonomous areas Georgia attempted to invade, have been independent and at odds with Georgia since before the Russians showed an interest more than two centuries ago.

The economic context is equally plain: the Russians furnish Europe with oil and natural gas. With Ukrainian independence, Russia lost most of her Black Sea ports; Georgia provides an avenue for Caspian oil while leaving the Russians out, which gives other major interests (can you say "Exxon Mobil?") an opportunity to deal from a position of dominance.

The Georgian President clearly decided to end a long standing border feud, which may very well have included Ossetian irregulars taking advantage of Russian protection to engage in provocative acts. Unambiguous information about the deployment of troops and their potential on both sides is lacking; Georgia claims to have withdrawn, and to have been invaded by Russia, but, given the distances involved and the effective range of modern weapons, "withdrawal" and "invasion" mean relatively little at this point.

The Russians, to their credit, have already called an emergency meeting of the Security Council to intervene, which the U S later urged as if it hadn't already happened. The French are working "on the ground" to appeal to both sides for a cease fire. And contradictory statements as to the facts come from both sides, as civilians die, and flee, and weep.

"Great power" theory, developed in the late stages of Western Imperialism, does allow for the sponsorship of small, relatively weak states by the powerful. It does not follow that the powerful should choose whom they will sponsor foolishly, with only one factor predominating. Especially, it does not allow the weaker state to determine the course of the Great Power, by sending a brigade in support of other foolish adventures, nor to entice the Power into a conflict far greater than the interests at stake. The morons directing U S foreign policy appear to be committing both these errors here, at a time when their ability to back up such idiocy is grievously lacking.

A Little Late Night Fun

The dance group Pilobolus with a piece to The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City". If you're almost that old, but not quite, you may remember the group leader, John Sebastian, doing the theme to the TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter."