This is way beyond simple anxiety...

Stardate 61492.2

I had a strange dream last night. I dreamed that I was visiting a hospital for diabetic education, where the entire session was dominated by an argument (a rather vociferous one, in fact) over why I wouldn't accept using a needle-based insulin delivery system.

That, in itself, wasn't what made the dream strange. The fact that said educator was Father Jonathan Morris (often seen on Fox News Channel and their weekday Strategy Room webcast) was. Add to that the fact that, in the dream, he was not his usual serene, soft-spoken self, and it's stranger still. Of course, me not being Catholic makes it even stranger...

Strange elements aside, the dream wasn't all that far off the mark. I've already informed my doctor that a needle-based insulin delivery system, be it a syringe or pen, is not an option. I don't care how thin the needle is, or whether it's coated in Teflon. It's still a needle, and I still need to jab it into myself and hold it there long enough to either push a plunger or trigger an automatic one. And it's that step, jab and hold steady, that I simply cannot do.

I mean, even the thought of jabbing a needle into myself is enough to give me an anxiety attack.

But there is an alternative: a jet injector system. Instead of a needle, a jet injector uses a stream of compressed air or inert gas to carry the insulin through the skin without breaking it. It's the real equivalent of Star Trek's hypospray.

There's just one thing wrong: My insurance won't pay for it.

Therefore, until that changes, insulin therapy is off the table, and NOTHING, not even a dream with Fr. Jonathan as the main character (which leaves me wondering why it wasn't Natale Del Conte, instead, since I'd have enjoyed it much more), will change that.

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

My review of STAR TREK

Stardate 61354.1

Last night, I walked ten miles (round trip) to the local cineplex to see the movie STAR TREK. Physically, that was a mistake never to be repeated anytime soon, but it was worth it.

On the way out, I stopped at Burger King, planning to buy one of the glasses, and ended up buying all four when I noticed they were on sale for $6.99 with the purchase of an Extra Value Meal. How could I pass up a deal like that?

Anyway, on to the movie. I won't give away any major spoilers, but the reader should proceed beyond here at one's own discretion.













Okay... So what's the same?

Not much. Spock is probably the only element that came through unchanged. "Spock Prime" (as he's listed in the credits) that is, played by Leonard Nimoy. He is the same Spock we grew up with.

Other than that, the only thing that remains unchanged are the names. Oh, and the fact that Kirk grew up in Riverside, Iowa.

So what's different? Like I said above, just about everything. This is definitely NOT the Star Trek we grew up on! So let's go character by character...

James T. Kirk: To put it simply, he's an asshole. A likable one, but an asshole nonetheless.
Spock: As portrayed by Zachary Quinto, this Spock is the most similar character to the one seen in classic Star Trek. He does have a few buttons that can be pushed, though. And there's something between him and Uhura...
Dr. Leonard McCoy: The "country doctor" is played way down, while McCoy's irascible side is highlighted. In fact, this version is almost a combination of McCoy and the character of Gary Mitchell (from "Where No Man Has Gone Before").
Nyota Uhura: Zoe Saldana turns in an outstanding performance. She's just as competent as Nichelle Nichols' Uhura, but has a better opportunity to show her range. Especially with the relationship between her and Spock...
Montgomery Scott: This guy is a real hoot! He's the ultimate grease monkey, exiled for doing something right out of one of my own fan-fiction stories...
Hikaru Sulu: As portrayed by John Cho, this Sulu is not the veteran pilot we saw in classic Trek. This Sulu is borderline incompetent, though he does have his moments.
Pavel Andreivich Chekov: This is another bit of comic relief. The Russian accent is even thicker than what Walter Koenig used, and he also personifies the fact that this is a much younger Star Trek, with the ages of nearly all of the characters revised a decade or more downward. (Though only to 17 in Chekov's case...)
Captain Christopher Pike: Really, the only competent one of the bunch, but I'm sorry to say that the character is a bit flat.
Amanda Grayson and Ambassador Sarek: Well-done, and worthy of Jane Wyatt and Mark Lenard, we don't really see either of these characters enough to make any judgments. The movie's plot cuts most of the dynamic that would have been there short.

As for the look of the Enterprise, that can be summed up as follows: Exterior by Airbus, Bridge by Apple, and Engineering/Shuttlebay by Dow Chemical.

All this said, I enjoyed the movie. In voicing my reservations over the last two years or so, I always maintained that the movie's saving grace would a kick-ass story, and I was right.

I will give away two big spoilers though...













The biggest laugh line of the movie was from Kirk, whom Spock had just marooned on the planet Delta Vega, where Spock Prime encounters him. In response to Spock Prime's line (quoting himself from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) "I have been, and always shall be, your friend," Kirk replies, "Bullshit!"

Oh, and that scene of Kirk in bed with Uhura? That's not Uhura. It's her Academy roommate, an Orion.

That's my take on it, and I'm sticking to it.

Abandoning the Republican Party.

Stardate 61331.8

With Arlen Specter's move to the Democratic Party, the conservative wing of the Republican Party has driven out another moderate.

Yes, Specter is more of a liberal than moderate, but the sentiment is the same.

A while ago, in an interview on Fox News' Strategy Room webcast, Republican Chairman Michael Steele stated, in the same breath, that a) there was a moderate wing of the Republican Party and b) they weren't really welcome, since there was no way the far-right's ideals were ever going to be compromised, and that the Republican Party was the nation's conservative party.

I wasn't real happy to hear that, not just because that was the answer to the question I emailed in. I felt betrayed by Mr. Steele. I was under the impression that he had been elected on a platform of reversing the trend toward ever-more radical conservatism. And the Republican party is not the conservative party. The Conservative Party is the conservative party. The Republican Party I knew before the George W. Bush administration was one that had a wide range of members.

Today, it seems that one's fiscal stance is immaterial to being considered a Republican. Instead, one needs to be fanatically pro-life and anti-gay marriage, and anyone who is less is considered a Republican In Name Only. Indeed, K.T. McFarland, who served in a number of Republican administrations, was called that not long ago.

For that reason, I find myself on the verge of leaving the Republican Party, after less than a year of membership. Indeed, I have found a party that more closely parallels my own political beliefs. That party is the Modern Whig Party.

I especially like their "Two and Out" policy. Any official elected from the Modern Whig Party serves two and only two terms, regardless of the office.

I joined the Republican Party because of what the Press was doing to Sarah Palin. I'm leaving it because of what it's doing to those of us who aren't that far to the right...

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

The Five Tenets of Conservatism

Stardate 61241.0

Every so often, I get into an argument with a bunch of right-wing conservatives who staunchly believe that anyone who doesn't believe in their religious-based social agenda isn't really a conservative.

Well, I have news for you. Not every conservative is religious. And not every conservative is in lockstep on issues like abortion, gay marriage or stem cell research.

Let me tell you the five tenets of conservatism, which we are in lockstep about:

1. Small government.

The last several weeks has seen a growth of government never before seen in our nation's history. The plans of the Obama Administration will put government in control of far too much of the day-to-day life of the average American, and will strip us of many of our civil liberties including some granted to us by the Constitution. We are agreed that this must be opposed.

We must identify and elect new representatives who will vote against such government growth and return this nation to a minimalist government. As Thomas Paine wrote, "The government which governs best is the government that governs least."

2. Fiscal responsibility

The last eight years saw spending run amok, but that pales in comparison to the spending of the Obama Administration. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama has committed to increasing this nation's spending to a level higher than all of his predecessors combined. What's worse, he has no plan on how to pay for such unchecked spending. He talks of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, but fails to realize that higher taxes equate to lower revenues. What's more, it will stifle job creation and economic expansion. We are agreed that this must be opposed.

We must identify and elect new representatives who will vote to control spending and do away with useless programs that do nothing but waste money. Representatives who will cut taxes to spur economic growth and balance the Federal Budget.

3. A strong national defense

The attacks of 9-11-2001, as well as those against the USS Cole and our embassies in Africa, indicate the continued need for a strong national defense and intelligence community. To do this, we must allocate money not only to update the time-worn weapons systems our men and women in uniform are using, but to support those very men and women, as well as their families. In past decades, our enlisted people made so little that in many states they qualified for Food Stamp benefits. Yet the Obama Administration is cutting defense spending while sending troops to Afghanistan, and canceling a number of new weapons systems that would make our military more effective. We are agreed that this must be opposed.

We must identify and elect new representatives who will support and fund our military forces to the fullest and reverse the cuts in manpower and effectiveness that past administrations have undertaken. The past two decades has shown that, while the Cold War may be over, there is still need for a strong, well-equipped military.

4. Free-Market Capitalism

The current financial crisis and the accompanying economic recession is being used by the Obama Administration as justification for the implementation of socialist doctrine and the introduction of policies specifically designed to undermine the free market. Union-friendly measures, such as the wrongly-named "Employee Free Choice Act" will drive more companies into financial trouble, at which time the government will either acquire a significant stake or provide financial bailouts, thereby preventing the bankruptcy reorganizations needed for these companies to recover. We have already seen this in the financial and automotive industries. "Too big or important to fail" is a misplaced rallying cry. We are agreed that this must be opposed.

We must identify and elect new representatives who will say no to bailouts. Representatives who will not allow labor unions and other special interest groups dictate policy and will allow the free market to function with minimal interference. Where regulation is required, such as workplace safety and consumer protection, they should focus not on new regulation, but on enforcement of existing law.

5. Secure Borders

The violence in Mexico that has crossed our southern border should be reason enough to improve border security, yet the Obama Administration and the Democratic majority in Congress are dominated by people who would rather grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and oppose any measures to stop the flood of illegal entry both from the south and north. Neither do they accept the fact that terrorists can use the same open borders to sneak into this nation to undertake attacks. Indeed, the Obama Administration is proposing that some terrorists currently detained at Guantanamo Bay be released into the general population, with government benefits! We are agreed that this must be opposed.

We must identify and elect new representatives who will authorize and fund programs to secure our borders. Representatives who will treat illegal aliens as what they are, law-breakers. Representatives who will treat terrorists as the military problem they are, rather than as a law enforcement problem, so that nothing like 9-11 can ever happen again.

You will note that nowhere in these five tenets is morality mentioned. Neither is religion. These tenets can be upheld just as well by atheists as they can by pious Christians. Yet there are too many in the conservative movement who are unwilling to concede this point. In addition, they place social issues such as abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage in equal or even superior import.

Perhaps now that I have shown what we do agree on, the things that divide us can be seen for the irrelevancies they are.

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

My Nights as Darth Vader, a/k/a Adventures in CPAP

Stardate 61227.6

I suffer from what's known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a condition in which the soft tissues of the upper airway collapse, causing interruptions in breathing. The brain, sensing a lack of oxygen, wakes up just long enough to restart breathing. In people like me, who require treatment to prevent hypoxia, this happens several times every hour during sleep, all of which are completely unknown to the conscious mind.

The result of this frequent "micro-waking" is that I am unable to stay asleep long enough to reach stage 3 and 4, or "deep", sleep. As one might imagine, this leaves me somewhat less than rested at waking. It also results in more frequently remembered dreams, but that is anecdotal rather than clinical.

The most common treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), other than changes in lifestyle and sleeping posture, is Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) therapy, which "splints" the airway open with a pressurized airflow. There are four main parts of a CPAP setup: The machine itself, which delivers the airflow at a prescribed pressure, a humidifier to prevent the various nasal and throat membranes from drying out, tubing to get the air from the machine to the humidifier and from the humidifier to the mask, and the mask to deliver the air to my body.

I first tried the therapy about four years ago, using a nasal mask like this:




I lasted about two weeks on it. The problem was the rubber piece on the end of it. Simply put, it sounded like a jet engine perched at the end of my nose. There was a bit of claustrophobia, as well, which is not something I normally suffer from. The fact that I suffer from nasal allergies and post-nasal drip, and thus often end up breathing through my mouth didn't help matters.

So I stopped using it, though the idea of trying a different mask did cross my mind from time to time, and I did discuss it with my doctor, yet nothing ever came of it.

Then I changed doctors, and my new doctor insisted that I try again. I insisted on a full-face mask as a condition of doing so. Last week, I was fitted for one like this:


The image here shows it being worn improperly. The bottom actually fits under the chin.

So far, this mask is far more comfortable than the nasal mask, yet I find myself taking it off after only a few hours, at which point I fall back asleep for several more hours.

I suspect there are two things keeping me from wearing the mask all night:

First, the pressure is likely set too high. Full-face masks do not require the same amount of airflow as nasal masks do.

Second, I'm simply not used to wearing it. I suspect, as I get used to it, I'll leave it on longer.

Fortunately, the new mask is far, far quieter than the old one, so I no longer have the jet engine perched at the end of my nose. Nor do I sound like Darth Vader. I do feel like him, though, with the breath mask covering my face like it does...

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

You're welcome to your religion, just like you're welcome to your spleen...

Stardate 61193.8

...and you should keep both of them to yourself. I mean, who, except a surgeon, has any business looking at your spleen?

I say this because there seems to be an increasing effort to force religious-based morality into the realm of legal issues.

The recent Proposition 8 brawl in California is a prime example.

What business is it of anyone who dictate who a person falls in love with and marries? So long as all parties are CONSENTING ADULTS, neither the government nor anyone else should have anything to say about it.

Has it ever occurred to you that the very people who offend you by staging gay pride parades are equally offended by the very presence of churches? Certainly, not all are, but there are some.

Just think about it. Every argument that can be made against an alternative lifestyle can also be made against a mainstream lifestyle.

For the record, I am not gay. Nor am I bi, poly or any of the several other types of involved in the human condition. But that is because I say so.

Too many people are relying on their religion to define what is and is not "proper", despite a myriad of historical data that shows lifestyles other than what is "proper" have been lived throughout human history.

More and more, people are on a crusade to limit themselves and others based on religion. I say the time has come to stop relying on myth and legend to define one's morality, and just start thinking. Put the book back on the shelf, tell the reverend to get a real job, and THINK for yourself.

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

So far, so good...

Stardate: Supplemental

I don't want to jinx myself, but it looks like CyberPower PC has lived up to their warranty.

Of course, there are a couple of things that make me think that they just sent me a new machine, rather than actually fix the one I sent to them:

The fan speed control knob wiggles, as if it's not attached properly,
The internal wiring appears to be routed differently,
The side panel fan wire was coiled (I had uncoiled it on the first machine so that I could take the panel off and get to the guts),
And the DVD burner seems a lot louder...

But, except for a single bluescreen that was most likely the result of some strange website code, the system has been remarkably stable.

Of course, I've also switched from IE to Firefox, which might have something to do with it...

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.