Health minister won't meet with doctor who blew the whistle at Saskatoon ERThis is a huge story here in Saskatoon now.
Dr. Jon Witt was head of emergency at Royal University Hospital. He'd been saying, internally, that medical staffing in the ER was dangerously low. So last fall, right around the time of the provincial election, he worked out a deal with the health minister and the health region to improve staffing. Then nothing happened. Then in January Wittt wrote to the health minister complaining that the region has reneged on the deal. Then the letter was made public somehow, not by Witt. Then the staffing probltem was fixed. Then Witt was fired by the region for supposed incompetence. Then the staff and other ER physicians got solidly behind Witt and began agitating for his reinstatement. Then the health region began to say Witt was exaggerating, after all the hospital's chief of medical staff said everything was fine.
Then it got even uglier -- Witt released 88 cases where he said the patients were not treated at emergency the way medical practice guidelines say they should have been and they died in hospital less than two days later.
Oops! Well, the health region wanted a body count, now they've got one.
So now they're investigating, they say.
Its predictable that this health region's next step will be to fingerpoint the whistleblower -- I wouldn't be surprised if they now try to blame these deaths on Witt himself, as though it was his fault all along that medical staffing in the ER was insufficient. "See, we told you he was incompetent"
This is the same health region which has adopted the practice of cancelling surgeries at the end of each fiscal year, so their books look a little better, but also gave a $100,000 grant to the university's sychrotron and tried to hide it. This is the region that switched the ER doctors onto a new pay system then didn't pay them for six weeks.
And instead of the health region really looking at what it is doing, and perhaps even questioning the quality of advice it is getting from its top medical staff, the whole thing will likely just end up in court as a wrongful dismissal suit. Oh well, just cancel a few more surgeries to pay for it!
Today Witt said "unless health-care workers have confidence in their administrative leadership, the system really breaks down and when the system breaks down, the patients suffer"
So what can we do if the patients don't have confidence in the administrative leadership either?
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
April 9,2003 - fall of Bagdad; April 9, 2004 - fall of Fallujah, Najaf, Naziriyah,,,
Al-Sadr Loyalists Take Control of Najaf \And I read a few days ago on Jihad Unspun (which seems to be out of service now) where the Iraqi insurrgency is now describing Fallujah as a "free city".
Monday, April 05, 2004
Leno lines
Love this! Maybe Jay Leno is finally seeing the light -- when Kerry held a fund-raiser with Meg Ryan, Leonardo di Caprio, Jennifer Aniston and Barbra Streisand, Leno said 'That's the difference between Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic list of stars looks like the Oscars, the Republican list of stars looks like a bad episode of Hollywood Squares." And about the 9.11 commission "Actually, Bush & Cheney will make a joint appearance before the commission. They'll answer questions together ... and to make sure Bush is really answering they're going to make Cheney drink a glass of water while he talks."
mumble
Ralph Surette has some Advice for Paul Martin: In Washington, mumble and don't call him a moron.
The Second Coming
Robert Fisk writes "So come 30 June, dust off the flak jackets, lie low and - if you are a Westerner - stay off the streets and pray that American-paid Iraqis will protect you, along with the thousands of foreign mercenaries who have already been brought into the country."
Will this be The Second Coming
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
by William Butler Yeats
Will this be The Second Coming
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
by William Butler Yeats
86 days
The U.S. is sabotaging stability in Iraq - Naomi Klein
"With the so-called Sunni triangle in flames after the gruesome Fallujah attacks, why is Mr. Bremer pushing the comparatively calm Shia south into battle? Here's one possible answer: Washington has given up on its plans to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, and is now creating the chaos it needs to declare the handover impossible."
With any other government, this might be a theory, but I don't think either Bush or Rumsfield or Bremner is capable of such long range thinking! The handover is supposed to happen in 86 days, which is a lifetime as far as these guys are concerned.
"With the so-called Sunni triangle in flames after the gruesome Fallujah attacks, why is Mr. Bremer pushing the comparatively calm Shia south into battle? Here's one possible answer: Washington has given up on its plans to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, and is now creating the chaos it needs to declare the handover impossible."
With any other government, this might be a theory, but I don't think either Bush or Rumsfield or Bremner is capable of such long range thinking! The handover is supposed to happen in 86 days, which is a lifetime as far as these guys are concerned.
I used to have a mug
that said "GO, TEAM, GO (or at least don't embarass us!)" This story reminded me of that mug -- 7-0, guys! I'm embarassed -- and maybe I'm also a mug . . .
And now, your moment of Zen
My husband and I love The Daily Show with Jon Stewart We have often agreed that most Americans under 30 likely get all their political news from this show (I think the stats actually bear this out, to Jon Stewart's horror) -- but they could do worse. People who watch The Daily Show are likely better informed than anyone who watches Fox. Jon and the boys actually provide a fairly good review of everything important in the news, and the Bush administration gives them plenty of good targets to skewer every night. And then there are the bits like Samantha Bee's gay penquins . . .
No elections
In discussing the violence today in Iraq, Josh Marshall writes that the Shia are thinking "why not let their American and Sunni enemies bloody each other into exhaustion in the central Iraq and sit back and wait on the day -- not too distant, certainly -- when they would inherit the new Iraqi state? "
For once, I disagree with Josh. The Shia know, better than anyone, how unlikely it is that they will inherit Iraq -- they know they will have to fight for it. Chalabi or some other man with a mustache will take over as soon as the Americans let him. And because he know he could never be elected, he will find one reason after another to cancel any votes, until his milia (previously known as the Saddam Fedayeen) are strong enough for a military takeover.
My prediction -- there will never be actual elections (as we know the term) in Iraq. The only question is whether we will have a military dictatorship under Chalabi, or a theorcratic dictatorship under an iman.
For once, I disagree with Josh. The Shia know, better than anyone, how unlikely it is that they will inherit Iraq -- they know they will have to fight for it. Chalabi or some other man with a mustache will take over as soon as the Americans let him. And because he know he could never be elected, he will find one reason after another to cancel any votes, until his milia (previously known as the Saddam Fedayeen) are strong enough for a military takeover.
My prediction -- there will never be actual elections (as we know the term) in Iraq. The only question is whether we will have a military dictatorship under Chalabi, or a theorcratic dictatorship under an iman.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
August 11?
Yahoo! News - Panel to Ask Rice How to Fix Intel Woes and, I presume, why they haven't been fixed already.
Anyway, the point of my posting is to make a prediction -- that the 9.11 commission report will be released on August 11 -- this is the same day as the Olympic Games start.
Anyway, the point of my posting is to make a prediction -- that the 9.11 commission report will be released on August 11 -- this is the same day as the Olympic Games start.
Quid pro quo
9/11 kin: W butting in
The full-court-press from Gonzales toward any criticism of Bush at the 9.11 Commission shows a lawyer doing everything he can to protect his client. Thus I am suspicious about the Gonzales letter on the Rice testimony -- it implied that her testimony and the Bush/Cheney testimony issue were only coincidentally being dealt with in the same letter. Maybe this wasn't a coincidence at all, but a quid pro quo.
Here is my argument:
With the 9.11 commission, for the first time in his presidency Bush would have to answer questions about what he actually did to protect Americans before, during and after 9.11. Some of those questions would come from democrats, specifically Bob Kerry.
For Bush, who postures as brave, resolute, etc, etc, some of the questions would undoubtedly expose his lack of focus before 9.11, his fear on that day, and his ineffectiveness in handling terrorism since. The endless minutes in the elementary school show a man who, when confronted with catastrophe, froze and did nothing. There is no explanation for this that doesn't involve basic character flaws of cowardice and indecisiveness.
Hence his initial insistence that he would only speak to the commission chairs, and only for an hour. But as the Rice controversy heated up, his own position was also becoming increasingly untenable. Maintaining this posture would pit him against the 9.11 families and all of New York and risk exposing his fear of testifying.
So the uproar about Rice became an opportunity to change the ground rules for his own testimony, without making this change into a central focus for news stories.
With Cheney accompanying him, the dangerous questions about why he did what he did on 9.11, and why his administration was unfocused on terrorism before and ineffective after, can be punted to Cheney. Cheney can talk for so long in replying that the commission members will have little opportunity for any follow-ups.
So the facade of cooperativeness can be maintained, but with less risk that any uncomfortable or damning revelations will be made.
The full-court-press from Gonzales toward any criticism of Bush at the 9.11 Commission shows a lawyer doing everything he can to protect his client. Thus I am suspicious about the Gonzales letter on the Rice testimony -- it implied that her testimony and the Bush/Cheney testimony issue were only coincidentally being dealt with in the same letter. Maybe this wasn't a coincidence at all, but a quid pro quo.
Here is my argument:
With the 9.11 commission, for the first time in his presidency Bush would have to answer questions about what he actually did to protect Americans before, during and after 9.11. Some of those questions would come from democrats, specifically Bob Kerry.
For Bush, who postures as brave, resolute, etc, etc, some of the questions would undoubtedly expose his lack of focus before 9.11, his fear on that day, and his ineffectiveness in handling terrorism since. The endless minutes in the elementary school show a man who, when confronted with catastrophe, froze and did nothing. There is no explanation for this that doesn't involve basic character flaws of cowardice and indecisiveness.
Hence his initial insistence that he would only speak to the commission chairs, and only for an hour. But as the Rice controversy heated up, his own position was also becoming increasingly untenable. Maintaining this posture would pit him against the 9.11 families and all of New York and risk exposing his fear of testifying.
So the uproar about Rice became an opportunity to change the ground rules for his own testimony, without making this change into a central focus for news stories.
With Cheney accompanying him, the dangerous questions about why he did what he did on 9.11, and why his administration was unfocused on terrorism before and ineffective after, can be punted to Cheney. Cheney can talk for so long in replying that the commission members will have little opportunity for any follow-ups.
So the facade of cooperativeness can be maintained, but with less risk that any uncomfortable or damning revelations will be made.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
conspiracy theories
MSNBC - After delay, Sept. 11 panel to see Clinton papers: "A CBS News poll taken this week said seven in 10 Americans believe the Bush administration is either hiding something or lying about what it knew before the Sept. 11 attacks about possible terrorist attacks against the United States."
Its nice to see that all the White House bobbing and weaving over the 9.11 commission has done more than any conspiracy theory to convince the public that there is something fishy about 9.11.
Its nice to see that all the White House bobbing and weaving over the 9.11 commission has done more than any conspiracy theory to convince the public that there is something fishy about 9.11.
Another one from Bolton
Cuba 'bioterror threat to US'Has John Bolton ever been right about anything?
Friday, April 02, 2004
Avoiding trouble
Steven Clemons: Land of the Free?: "The combination of these factors - an increase in the visa fee and the greater likelihood of rejection - has only strengthened the perception that America has become less hospitable to foreigners in the aftermath of 9/11. "
Perception? This is not a perception, its a reality. About once a month, some new horror story hits our newspapers about some poor soul, usually Arab but sometimes just someone who looks a little like an Arab or has an Arabic pr Persian or Turkish name, who gets trapped at the border, or jailed in the US, or deported to Syria to be tortured, because they made the mistake of leaving Canada and got embroiled in border guard paranoia. As I understand it, too, international organizations of all kinds, like medical conventions, are avoiding the US exactly for this reason -- why subject their members to the risk of humiliation or worse at the US border, when they can avoid the problem by scheduling their convention in Vancouver or Toronto instead. Personally, I will never travel to the United States again if I can help it, certainly not as long as Bush is around, and many other Canadians feel the same way.
Perception? This is not a perception, its a reality. About once a month, some new horror story hits our newspapers about some poor soul, usually Arab but sometimes just someone who looks a little like an Arab or has an Arabic pr Persian or Turkish name, who gets trapped at the border, or jailed in the US, or deported to Syria to be tortured, because they made the mistake of leaving Canada and got embroiled in border guard paranoia. As I understand it, too, international organizations of all kinds, like medical conventions, are avoiding the US exactly for this reason -- why subject their members to the risk of humiliation or worse at the US border, when they can avoid the problem by scheduling their convention in Vancouver or Toronto instead. Personally, I will never travel to the United States again if I can help it, certainly not as long as Bush is around, and many other Canadians feel the same way.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Cheering Iraqis?
Yahoo! News - Bremer: Iraq Deaths Won't Go Unpunished
I don't think this is exactly what was meant when America was promised that its troops would be cheered by Iraqis.
For the boys in Iraq who were photographed cheering the deaths in Fallujah, the war has actually never ended -- this was just another battle, and this time they won.
I don't think this is exactly what was meant when America was promised that its troops would be cheered by Iraqis.
For the boys in Iraq who were photographed cheering the deaths in Fallujah, the war has actually never ended -- this was just another battle, and this time they won.
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