Ethic Soup

No, No, Don't Go Barney: Congressman Barney Frank Says He Will Retire

Today Barney Frank announced that he will not seek another term in Congress. Damn! Double Damn! I hate to see him go.

Frank, 71, was first elected to the House of Representatives 30 years ago, in 1980. The Massachusetts representative is truly one-of-a-kind -- as RRT News reported, Frank is "perhaps the most unique lawmaker currently serving in Washington." 

AMONG FIRST OPENLY GAY IN CONGRESS

He was one of the first openly gay members of Congress, coming out in 1987. During his press conference today, announcing his retirement, Frank talked about believing that his coming out was helpful to the cause of gay rights, saying  "the best antidote to prejudice is reality."

 

Elderly in Emergency Room Get Less Pain Relief

 

The elderly who go to a hospital emergency room in pain are less likely to get medication for it than younger people in similar distress, reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

An analysis of a seven-year national study of E.R. patient data concluded that of patients over 75 years old, who were in pain, only 49 percent were given pain medication -- compared to more than 65 percent of those under 75. The study involved information on more than 88,000 E.R. visits. The analysis did not include elderly people who were cognitively impaired or unable to report pain.

WHERE'S THE PAIN RELIEF?

There were no clear findings for the patient-age differences of the elderly receiving pain medication; however, researchers think one possible reason may be that emergency room personnel are concerned about adverse effects of pain medications for the elderly. Another explanation could be that E.R. personnel pay more attention to diagnosis in older patients and less attention to pain relief.

Hippocratic Oath: Old Classic Version vs New Modern Version

HIPPOCRATIC OATH

Classical Version

I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:

To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art -- if they desire to learn it -- without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

I will not use the knife,not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.

Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.

-- Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From "The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation," by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.

 

HIPPOCRATIC OATH 

Modern Version

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures (that) are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness my affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent  disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those wound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

 -- Written by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, in 1964, and used today in many medical schools.

Thanksgiving Family Reunions: Say a Little Prayer Before Relatives Gather

 

 

 

A Prayer Before Family Reunions

God, I will be seeing my family soon,

And it has been so long since I have been with them.

I am a different person now, and I am sure that they are too.

Yet, I still feel the same hurts that never went away,

The same wounds that never healed,

The same grudges that were never settled,

And the same anxiety of falling into old habits.

Fill me, Lord, with your peace, forgive my faults as I forgive theirs,

And help me love my family as I know you love them.

Bless our time together and strengthen the bonds between us

That we may grow in love.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

The above prayer (modified) was written by Diana Macalintal originally appearing in Today's Parish Minister, December, 2007.
 

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION

Washington, DC -- October 3, 1863

 

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful field and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

No More Late Nights with Smarmy Bigot David Letterman

  

I won't be staying up late nights, watching David Letterman on the Late Show anymore.

Letterman's physical appearance isn't a pretty picture to look at these days.

He used to be cute, with all of that thick curly hair. It's not just his receding hairline or all of the snow on his roof. Before he was an old man and had his bypass heart surgery, his smile produced little crinkles near his eyes, not those giant crows feet he's got now. But, that's not really the problem either. Though, a little plastic surgery couldn't hurt. He is a TV star, isn't he? I noticed during his nightly monologues that the camera didn't zoom-in for as many close-ups anymore.

PETTY DETAILS

The petty details discussed above, about Letterman's physical appearance, is an attempt to replicate Letterman's mean-spirited 'humor' about the physical appearance of others. Of which, I've had my fill.

Sadly, Letterman was one more old man who was anxious to pass on his genes by becoming a father in his senior years -- asking his live-in girl friend to become his breeder. No, no he didn't offer her marriage for her motherhood. Even guests on his Late Show would ask Letterman on-air: "When are you going to marry the mother of your child?" 

Football Coach Brands Bullying Victims 'Queer' and 'Cry Babies'

A high school football coach in Wyoming was forced to resign as coach following controversy over a sexist and homophobic questionnaire he gave to his teenage players called the "Hurt Feelings Report," reports the Casper Star-Tribune.

BULLIED KIDS AT RISK

This a time when bullied kids are committing suicide and massive campaigns to end bullying are emphasizing that kids must tell someone what's happening to them.

Yet, this sarcastic survey demeans any potential complainer who's been bullied in school as a "little sissy and "girly-man," while it calls the bully a 'Real Man.'

And, don't you know that's what the coach calls himself? Although, parents must have better descriptors.

Colorado Towns Ban Plastic Bags, Charge Fees for Paper Bags

   Mt Sopris visible from Carbondale, Co.  Photo: Flickr/Thad Roan/Bridge Pix

 

 

PLASTIC grocery bags are being banned and fees attached to paper bags in more Colorado towns.

 Preserving the majestic beauty of the pristine Rocky Mountains, formed between 80 million and 55 million years ago, is of great benefit to its residents and visitors. Who wants to look out their window at evergreens holding onto plastic bags that float by ? 

More importantly, protecting the environment from plastic pollution is the ethical thing to do.

Recently we reported on the new Aspen ordinance banning the city's two grocery stores from distributing plastic bags and ordering a 20-cent fee on paper bags.

Now, there are two more Colorado towns restricting or placing fees on single-use, carryout shopping bags. The hope is that the efforts will encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store.

 

Birmingham Alabama's County to File $4.1 Billion Bankruptcy: Largest Municipal Bankruptcy in Nation's History

 

                                          

For years now, we've had our fingers crossed for the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County -- 'Bama's most populous area.

CORRUPT MAYOR

We hoped that once Larry Langford, Birmingham's former mayor(pictured below, climbing out of a sewer), was convicted and put away in federal prison for 15 years, the county and city could begin to recover.

After sinking into crippling debt from an upgrade of its sewer system, Jefferson Co. has been been struggling to avoid bankruptcy since 2008; however, recent discussions on a debt restructure broke down. Another element in the decision to file bankruptcy seems to have been the Alabama Legislature's inability to reach a consensus on any way to help the county resolve its financial problems.

 

$4.1 BILLION BANKRUPTCY FILING

Sadly, yesterday, Jefferson Co. declared that it would default and seek Chapter 9 protection from creditors in a $4.1 billion filing.  This is the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

The biggest loss in the filing will be faced by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the investment bank which arranged most of the financing to revamp the county's sewer system.

POLLUTED WATER/SEWER RENOVATIONS

In 1996, a federal judge ordered the sewer renovations after  area waterways were found to be polluted. But, taxes that were going to be used to fund the enormous project were later declared illegal, reports Market Watch. 

Although municipal bankruptcies are rare, there have been 11 so far in 2011, including Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital, and Central Falls, Rhode Island's smallest city.

Not surprisingly, bond investors are nervous.

BELOW, READ MORE ABOUT BIRMINGHAM'S TROUBLES:

 

 

by Sharon McEachern

 

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Mayor Arrested: Langford Joined Jailed Mayors Club"

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Exposed to Unconscionable Degree of Risk: Sues JP Morgan Chase" 

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Mayor Langford Convicted on 60 Counts of Bribery, Money Laundering"

CLICK AND READ "Bama's Birmingham Votes to Replace Ousted Mayor: It's 4 mayors in 4 months"

CLICK AND READ "Out of the Sewers Into Federal Prison: Birmingham's Langford Gets 15 Years"

Jury Still Deliberating: Murder Trial of Dr. Conrad Murray in Michael Jackson's Death

CLOSING ARGUMENTS were made in the murder trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, last Thursday.

Judge Michael Pastor (pictured above) gave the jury long,trial-specific instructions to follow as they deliberate.

On Friday, the unsequestured jury began its deliberations. After working some seven hours Friday, no verdict was reached during the jury's first day behind closed doors. The jury of seven men and five women was released to go home for the weekend, to resume deliberations on Monday (tomorrow).

OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE

They have a lot of trial information to review. The jury listened to 49 witnesses over more than three weeks. That includes Conrad Murray's three young girlfriends and character witnesses including patients. Additionally, they heard from former employees of Jackson, investigators and medical experts for both the prosecution and defense teams.