Sugarland: Steve Earle

Angioplasty Through the Wrist

Huh.

The best path to a clogged heart may be through the wrist. About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual route is to thread a tube to the heart through an artery in the groin.

Now a major study shows going through the wrist instead can significantly lower the risk of bleeding — without the discomfort of lying flat for hours while the incision site seals up.

Just one in 100 angioplasties is done via the wrist, and the approach isn’t for everyone. But Monday’s study promises to spur more specialists to use the method.

Style Matters

As some of you might know, I read almost exclusively non-fiction, and 70%+ history.  The latest book that I finished was Rick Atkinson’s “The Long Gray Line.”  This is the fourth or fifth book of Atkinson’s that I’ve read.  I consider him a brilliant writer, masterful storyteller, and informer extraordinaire. 

After finishing the book, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I moved into my next book: Rosamond McKitterick’s “Charlemagne.”  I have long been in search of a biography of Charlemagne that was worth a bucket of spit.  Most of them are so riddled with legend and conjecture as to be no better than a fairytale written by Andersen (not that there’s anything wrong with fairy tales). 

I’m about 50 pages into my new book and it is exceptionally detailed and excruciatingly sourced.  So far, it’s what I’ve been looking for.  But at the same time, it a laborious read.  Instead of cruising through it like a dolphin through the surf, it’s more like pulling a plow through rocky soil with a lame ox. 

It just goes to illustrate the incredible rarity of an author who can take detailed historical information and weave it into a story that’s a delight to read.  Atkinson and McCullough come to mind. 

I love to gain knowledge, but it’s so much nicer when it’s done in such an effortless manner.

Nadia Comaneci On Uneven Bars

Wow… just wow.  In many sports the level of performance has continued to improve over the years.  Swimming, basketball, etc. have become progressively better.  But in gymnastics, these performances would still put everyone else in the competition to shame. 

Here’s Nadia on beam.

Perry Approves of Armed Teachers

Man, I wish Wisconsin had a governor who respected the citizens this much. 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicated Monday that he supports a school district’s decision to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes start this month.

Trustees of the Harrold Independent School District approved a policy change last year to allow employees to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings.

“There’s a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives,” Perry said after a news conference in Austin.

Gig ‘em!!!

Video Editing Software

As the loyal 7 readers of this blog know, we bought a new video camera (Canon FS10) last month.  Yes, we’ve already seen it advertised for less than what we paid for it, but that’s the reality of buying technology.  Now we need some advice…

The camera records to a flash drive in mpg format.  It’s nice because you can burn it straight to DVD and the software that came with it is adequate for editing it for what we need.  The down side is that we’d like to upload videos to the web or email them to family.  We don’t have a good tool for converting them to .avi or something else.  This would also come in handy when I cover the Republican Convention in a couple of weeks. 

Can anyone recommend a good tool for this?  If it’s part of a more sophisticated video editing package, that’s fine, but we don’t want to spend too much. 

Suggestions?

Bus Strike Strands Medical Patients

Yea for mass transit!

A bus strike in Racine left riders stranded without notice this morning. Curtis Garner, executive director of the company that manages the bus system, said he was just as surprised.

Garner said he learned the strike started when he got a call from the head of the city’s transit service for disabled riders. Nine kidney dialysis patients missed appointments, according to the company that manages the city’s bus service.

Managers with the bus system are scrambling to take disabled patients to other appointments.

Drivers have been picketing bus stations since this morning.

Drivers have been working without a contract since July 1. The 93 members of the local Teamsters union are in a dispute over proposed changes by management in insurance coverage for retirees and the transfer of three dispatchers from union to non-union positions.

Taking It In Stride

I may get one of these tattoos soon.

Chavez Nationalizes Another Industry

And so it goes on...

Venezuela is proceeding with plans to nationalise its cement industry.

Multinational cement firms Holcim and Lafarge will sign agreements with the country to transfer shares of their local subsidiaries.

The country has begun nationalising industries, including electricity and gas, as part of President Hugo Chavez’s drive toward “21st-Century socialism”.

However, the Venezuelan government made no mention of Mexican firm Cemex, the country’s largest cement producer.

Details of the compensation talks have not been made public.

Tinkerbell Takes on “The Man”

These folks better not make my little girls cry

Cinderella, Snow White, Tinkerbell and other fictional fixtures of modern-day childhood were handcuffed, frisked and loaded into police vans Thursday at the culmination of a labor protest that brought a touch of reality to the Happiest Place on Earth.

The arrest of the 32 protesters, many of whom wore costumes representing famous Disney characters, came at the end of an hour-long march to Disneyland’s gates from one of three Disney-owned hotels at the center of a labor dispute.

Baby Humpback Thinks Yacht Is His Mother

Sad.

Australian media say a lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother.

The 1- to 2-month-old calf was first sighted Sunday in waters off north Sydney, and on Monday tried to suckle from a yacht, which it would not leave.

Rescuers towed the yacht out to sea, and the calf finally detached from the boat but still swam nearby, Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Channel 10 television news reported.

Musharraf Resigns

This was a long time in coming.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan’s beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday in the face of an impending impeachment motion by the ruling coalition government.

The former army chief and firm U.S. ally has seen his popularity slide over the past 18 months and has been isolated since his allies lost a February election.

“After consultations with legal advisers and close political supporters and on their advice, I’m taking the decision of resigning,” Musharraf said a televised address.

“My resignation will go to the speaker of the National Assembly today.”

Putting a Man on Mars

Remember how the Democrats ridiculed President Bush when he set a goal of putting a man on Mars?

The Orlando Sentinel reported on Sunday that the Illinois senator, Barack Obama, has revealed a great deal about his support of NASA.

The Democratic presidential candidate has called for the U.S. to lead the way in terms of space exploration, and wants to put astronauts on the moon yet again.

On top of that, he also wants to pursue the eventual goal of putting astronauts on Mars.

I guess Bush was just ahead of the curve.

Cowles’ Investment Expecting Uptick

Chuckle...

VCG Holding’s stock closed at $3.69 on Friday, down from its 52-week high of $15. Company officials have said they expect an uptick in business this month when the Democratic National Convention is held in Denver. The Lakewood, Colo.-based firm runs six strip clubs in Colorado. Overall, it owns 19 adult nightclubs and one “upscale dance club” in nine states, according to its Web site.

“The Chronicles Of The Obamessiah, Volume I: The Adulteress”

I can’t wait for the rest of the series.