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Lecture Videos with Blogs
Special Invitations for RAS Korea Members
Dear members and friends of RASKB
Next week there will be a lecture on Tuesday (by me!) and an excursion to Sewang Brewery and Botapsa Temple on Saturday.
In addition, we have been sent two invitations for our members. Please reply as indicated below if you are interested in either.
Brother Anthony
In celebration of KBS Classic FM's 34th anniversary, the Korean Traditional Music Orchestra will be on stage next Wednesday, March 27th. The venue is KBS Hall, located in Yeoido (Address: 18, Yeoeuido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul). By subway, transit from National Assembly station (line 9, 국회의사당 역). The concert will begin at 8pm, please be there at least 30 minutes before to collect your tickets. Please RSVP to this email ( email@example.com ) by Monday March 25 3pm if you wish to come, giving your name, mobile number and the number of people coming and you will then be sent further details on where to meet, etc.
Traditional Korean Court Dance Workshop and Performance Opportunity
In this unique opportunity you can learn the basics of Court Dance and also have the opportunity to actually participate in a performance of this dance in October at one of Seoul's most famous palaces.
"Chun-aeng-jeon Workshop"
Dates: April – September (Every Saturday from 9am to 1pm)
Venue: Jongro Ward Office (behind the US Embassy)
Who: Anyone interested in learning Korean dance (First 100 applicants accepted)
What to Bring: Comfortable clothing, soft shoes/socks suitable for dancing (not tennis shoes) and "hansam" which are long, white sleeves (these can be purchased through the instructor)
Free of charge
What Will Be Taught: Basic Court Dance and Chun-aeng-jeon
※ Performance
Date: October 3, 2013 at 3:00 pm
Changgyeong-gung Palace, the courtyard of Munjeong-jeon hall
The Workshop will be led by the Court Dance "Chun-aeng-jeon" Preservation Society, under Professor Park Eun-young (who organized a similar performance in 2012)
For further information call: 02-746-9756 / 010-3139-4464 (may only speak Korean) or send an email to Ms. Suzanna Samstag email@example.com
Lecture Video: The Long-Forgotten World War II Prisoner of War Camps in Korea
Lecturer: Jacco Zwetsloot
As an (unwilling) part of the Japanese Empire, Korea was involved in World War Two. We have all heard of the conscripts, the forced labor, and the comfort women. However, fighting did not actually occur on Korean soil. Soviet forces arrived in Korea from Manchuria in mid to late August, and US troops made landfall in Incheon on September 8 1945 to receive the Japanese surrender and disarm and demobilize Japan's military.
One aspect of Korean history during that period that has been forgotten – seemingly by all sides – is the approximately 1,500 Allied Prisoners of War who were held in Korea from September 1942, only a couple of months after the last non-Axis foreign civilians had been forcibly deported from Korea by ship. The first Allies to be imprisoned here were British and Australian troops from the fall of Singapore. They were joined towards the end of the war by American soldiers captured in the Philippines, after they were initially held in the notorious "hell ships," as well as in Japan. In all, three camps were operated, run by Japanese officers and staffed by Korean conscripts and civilians. A few POWs died, but most were rescued and brought home in September 1945.
Jacco Zwetsloot will give a presentation about these camps and how their locations were recently rediscovered by himself and Matthew Van Volkenburg.
Jacco Zwetsloot describes himself as a "Jacco of all trades, master of some." In the past year he has worked as a business English teacher, translator, interpreter, simulation facilitator, corporate trainer, documentary cameraman and cataloguer, cultural lecturer, souvenir evaluator, radio commentator, magazine writer, voice actor, researcher, copy editor and tour guide. He is currently seeking a publisher interested in releasing translations of several North Korean comic books. He has a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Korean Studies from Monash University, and has lived in South Korea for over 12 years.
RAS March Newsletter
Dear members and friends of RAS Korea,
March is here and I hope that many of you will sign up for one or other of our excursions, now that the weather is warmer. It is such a good way of discovering Korea, in good company with enthusiastic guides! We are still working to improve our program, but for the moment here are the lectures, excursions and other events planned for the coming weeks.
As you may know, our office staff has changed several times over the past couple of years. As a result, our membership records are not fully reliable. We would like to check whether all paid-up members have received their membership card and we ask all our members to bring and show their RASKB membership card at the lectures in the coming months. This will help us improve our administration.
Our office is now completely transformed and offers a large variety of books about Korea for sale, many of them unobtainable elsewhere. In addition to RASKB publications, we now stock and sell most of the books published by Seoul Selection. RAS members receive a discount on book purchases.
Also in the office is our Library, its books are accessible to members wishing to consult them. Please phone before coming to the office, in order to check the opening hours.
Please tell us what other activities you would like us to offer, and take full advantage of the benefits of membership by coming on excursions at a discounted rate!
I look forward to seeing you soon
Brother Anthony
President, RAS Korea
This Week with the RAS-KB
Dear members and friends of the RASKB,
The cold weather is nearly over, spring is on the way at last!
Soon we will be sending out our full March program but first let me remind you of this this week's events.
Tomorrow, Tuesday February 26, at 7:30 pm in Somerset Palace, Jacco Zwetsloot will be giving a lecture
on "The Long-Forgotten World War II Prisoner of War Camps in Korea" which should be extremely interesting,
for almost nobody knows that approximately 1,500 Allied Prisoners of War were held in Korea during the Pacific War.
On Friday March 1, RAS Korea traditionally runs a bus to visit the memorial to Admiral Yi Sun-Shin at Onyang
then on to visit the nearby Independence Hall and museum, dedicated to the Koreans who suffered during the
Independence Struggle against the Japanese. If you want to join this excursion, please reply to this email very soon,
by Tuesday evening at the latest.
On Saturday March 2 at 4:45pm some of us will meet at exit 2 of Hongik University subway station
and go to meet a very famous senior Korean traditional musician, Kim Young-Jae, who holds "Living Treasure" status
for his skills on the Geomungo, and who also performs on the Gayageum, the Ajaeng and the Haegeum.
He will play for us and explain the characteristics of each instrument. After the performance we will go with him
for supper in a nearby restaurant. Please sign up for this visit quickly, it is free for RAS members!
For more details of these, please see our home page
RAS Lecture Video: Letters From Joseon by Robert Neff
This lecture will examine Korea - as seen through the eyes of Sally Sill, the wife of John M. B. Sill - the American Minister to Korea (1894–1897). Their stay in Seoul was during an extremely turbulent period of Korean history, a span of time that encompassed the Sino-Japanese War, the Gabo Reforms, the murder of the Korean queen, and King Gojong's subsequent refuge in the Russian legation.
Through the use of numerous pictures and the personal correspondences between the Sills in Korea and their family in the United States we will take a candid look of life in not only the American community in Seoul, but also in the Russian legation, where King Gojong and the crown prince sought refuge following the murder of Queen Min. We will also examine the rumors and speculation that plagued the daily lives of not only the Western community in Seoul but the Korean community as well.
Robert Neff is a writer and historical researcher of the Joseon era. He has authored or co-authored several books including "Korea Through Western Eyes", "Westerner's Life in Joseon" and his newest book, "Letters from Joseon" - which this lecture is based upon.
RAS Tour Recap: Korean War Remains in Cheorwon
On February 16th, the Royal Asiatic Society visited the DMZ and Cheowon to see Korean War remains and migratory birds. Our guide, Robert Koehler, introduced this area to many first-time visitors and shared his expertise of not only Cheorwon but also the history of the Korean War.
What sets this are apart from other areas of the DMZ is its location around Cheorwon, a place that was home to some of the fiercest fighting during the Korean War. As part of the Iron Triangle, the old city of Cheorwon was completely destroyed by artillery and advancing/retreating soldiers. All that remains of the city are a few building frames that miraculously were spared during the war. In fact, the local headquarters of the Workers Party of Korea (North Korea's ruling party), a few stones that were once a church and the remains of a police station are all that is left of this city. Most, if not all, of the trees and other plants were destroyed during the fighting and were only replanted during the 1970s.
What made Cheorwon a magnet for fighting is its location and importance as a place where tanks and soldiers can move without mountains impairing their journey. Standing on top of the Peace Observatory (directly behind the DMZ) and looking at the flat ground that is now part of the DMZ, one can truly appreciate the importance this area held as an invasion route to Seoul.
Aside from remains of the former town, visitors to Cheorwon can also see some great scenery and many migratory birds. Located in Cheorwon is the Seungil Bridge, sometimes called "Korea's Bridge over the River Kwai." There are many stories about who built it, with the most popular being that the bridge was started by the North and finished by the South Koreans. However, it was recently discovered that the bridge was started by the Japanese and later finished by the US Army during the war.
The area north of the line of civilian control is also a great place to spot birds during their winter journey. I was able to see many of these birds and many people enjoy taking pictures. We also enjoyed seeing some of the beautful scenery around the area.
This area did have a somber feeling surrounding it and, when you saw the remains of the city, you couldn't help but take a moment of silence. Newly married couples once walked up the steps leading up to what is left of the church. Visiting Cheorwon will give you not only the chance to see the cost of the Korean War to the people who lived but also the chance to see how its results are still impacting Korea.
Pictures and article by Patrick Wunderlich
Homer Hulbert Biography
By Brother Anthony, president of the RAS Korea. More information about the early history of the RAS can be found here.
Probably the most admired by later generations of Koreans, for his support of Korean autonomy, Homer Bezaleel Hulbert was born on January 26, 1863 in New Haven, Vermont, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1884, then entered Union Theological College. While he was studying there, the Korean government announced plans to establish a school in Seoul teaching English and asked the American government to send teachers. As a result, Homer B. Hulbert arrived in Korea in 1886 with a few others to act as "professor" in the Royal English School, where the sons of high officials were to learn English. However, seeing no future in his role as teacher of a narrow-minded elite with no interest in English, he left Korea at the end of 1891.
Appenzeller encouraged Hulbert to return as a member of the Methodist mission. The Methodists had established the Trilingual Press in Seoul, at the time in question under the management of the Rev. Franklin Ohlinger. In the summer of 1893, Ohlinger left for Singapore and Hulbert was invited to replace him at the press. He felt that his knowledge of Hangul would enable the Press to produce the general educational materials the country urgently needed. So he returned to Korea in 1894 to take charge of what was already a major printing house and in the years that followed he worked hard to improve its equipment. Early in 1892, encouraged by George Heber Jones, the Ohlingers had begun to produce the monthly Korean Repository, and although it was not published for one year after their departure, it was published again from 1895-8, with Appenzeller and George Heber Jones as co-editors. Hulbert became its editorial manager by virtue of his position at the Press and began to contribute articles about aspects of Korean culture and life.
In 1897, the King decided that Korea needed to train teachers who would teach in the western-style schools that were to be established across the country. He asked Hulbert to serve as the Principal of the Royal Normal School and prepare the necessary textbooks. Hulbert therefore passed management of the Trilingual Press (and the Repository) to another Methodist missionary, D. A. Bunker, who had formerly taught at the English School and was now head of the English Department at Pai Chai. Soon after the Royal Normal School was founded, its name changed to the Imperial Normal School with the proclamation of the Daehan Empire in the autumn of 1897. Later it became known as the Imperial Middle School.
In 1901 Homer Hulbert founded The Korea Review, which was very similar in format and scope to the Korean Repository. However, the editorial policy of the Review was perhaps more strongly oriented by its editor's vision than the Repository had been. His main ideas included the affirmation that Koreans were capable of the highest achievements but oppressed by ignorance; therefore widespread education conducted in Hangul was essential. The most controversial idea, one that he nourished almost to the end, was an idealistic view of Japan as a source and model of enlightenment and social progress, to which he opposed the Russian model of autocracy and stagnation.
Hulbert's positive vision of Japan prior to 1905 and some other of his ideas, as well his relatively outspoken manner of writing, were strongly opposed by another of the founders of the RASKB, the American diplomat Dr. Horace N. Allen. Allen was increasingly convinced that Russian domination in Korea would be better than a Japanese takeover, and his conflict with Hulbert reached a peak during the Russo-Japanese War (February 1904 - September 1905), during which Hulbert continued to maintain an idealistically pro-Japanese position in the Review, only criticizing the negative activities and attitudes toward Korea of individual Japanese. Allen's support for Russia displeased the State Department in Washington, who strongly supported Japan, and perhaps led to his being recalled in 1905.
Throughout the same period, Korean ministers acting without the King's permission were signing a series of treaties with Japan, a process that would culminate in the notorious Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty, signed by just five ministers on November 17, 1905. This gave Japan complete responsibility for Korea's foreign affairs, and placed all trade through Korean ports under Japanese supervision, in effect making Korea a protectorate of Japan.
It was not until the September 1905 issue of the Korea Review that Hulbert finally denounced plainly the Japanese plans for reducing Korea to a protectorate. Then, early in October, he left for the United States, secretly carrying a letter for the American President signed by the Emperor, asking the United States to prevent Japan from taking control of Korea. At the time, nobody in Korea knew of the conversations that had been held late in July 1905 between the Japanese prime-minister Katsura Taro and the United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft, during which the American encouraged the Japanese plans to take full control of Korea.
Hulbert arrived in Washington at almost exactly the same moment as the Korean foreign minister signed the Eulsa Treaty in Seoul, which the Japanese claimed was sufficient to ratify it. The pro-Japanese American government therefore refused to accept the Emperor's letter, claiming that the ratification of the Treaty was a matter of fact, even though the Emperor himself had not signed it. After trying in vain to alert American public opinion through the press, which was also largely sympathetic to the Japanese, Hulbert returned to Korea in the summer of 1906. By the time he returned, all the foreign legations in Seoul had been reduced to the level of consulates.
When Hulbert returned to Korea in 1906, the Emperor immediately asked him to prepare to go as his ambassador to the nations due to attend the Second International Peace Conference to be held in The Hague in June 1907. His task was to contact the major powers, asking them to support the independence of Korea. His role was to be secret, behind the scenes, and in April 1907 the Emperor secretly appointed three Korean representatives. They were all unable to gain access to the conference and Hulbert left The Hague only a day or so before the Emperor was forced to abdicate on July 19, 1907. He was succeeded by his feeble fourth son, who became known as the Yunghui Emperor, or Sunjong. On July 24 1907 the new ruler signed over control of the country's internal administration to Japan. On 22 August, 1910, the Empire of Daehan was annexed by Japan under the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, a final formality.
Hulbert knew that he could never again live in Korea. He made a final visit to Seoul in the autumn of 1909. He was there when the Korean patriot An Jung-geun assassinated the former Japanese premier Ito Hirobumi in Harbin in October. A year before, in March 1908, Korean nationalist patriots had assassinated Durham White Stevens in San Francisco. Stevens had been an American diplomat stationed in Japan since 1873 then became a Japanese diplomat in 1883. In November 1904, Stevens was appointed as adviser to the Korean Foreign Office. He was intensely pro-Japanese and advocated the annexation. Previously, in July 1907, an attempt had been made by some Koreans to murder George Heber Jones for having praised the Japanese police for putting down a nationalistic demonstration. All these violent expressions of Korean resistance only served to drive the foreign community in Korea, whether missionaries or diplomats, towards stronger support for Japan, since they reinforced the feeling that Koreans were a violent, anarchic people incapable of governing themselves. Hulbert continued to support Korea's wish for independence in various ways throughout his life. In 1949 he finally returned to Korea, by train across Russia, and died a week after his arrival.
Books etc by Hulbert available online
Homer B. Hulbert, The Passing of Korea (1906) PDF download
Homer B. Hulbert, The History of Korea, Volume 1 (1905) PDF download
Homer B. Hulbert, The History of Korea, Volume 2 (1905) PDF download
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 2 (1902) PDF of corrected text
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 3 (1903)
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 4 (1904)
Homer B. Hulbert (editor) The Korea Review, Volume 5 (1905)
Hulbert, Homer B. Korean Vocal Music. The Korean Repository, Vol. III (February,
1896), pp. 45-53.
Hulbert, H.B. The Geomancer. The Korean Repository, Vol.III (October,
1896), pp. 387-391.
Hulbert, H.B. Itu.
The Korean Repository, Vol.V (February, 1898), pp.47-54.
Hulbert, Homer B. Japan in Korea. Journal of Race Development, Vol.10, No.3
(January, 1920), pp. 270-277.
Happy Birthday, James Scarth Gale (February 19, 1863 – January 31, 1937)
By Brother Anthony, president Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch
The origional piece can be found here.
Born in Canada 150 years ago, James Gale was one of the founders of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch in 1900.
He first arrived in Korea in 1888, and studied Korean and Classical Chinese intensively. He and Mark Napier Trollope were two of the leading scholar-missionaries of the period, together with Homer Hulbert, who was forced to leave Korea in 1909.
Gale gave the very first paper presentation in the RASKB's history and served as its President in 1915, Vice-President 1923-7.
Richard Rutt published an extremely detailed biography of Gale filling the first 88 pages of his edition of Gale's History of the Korean People (published by and available from RASKB).
The following outline biography is based on that in the pages about the Gale Archive in the Library of the University of Toronto. See also the Wikipedia entry that I have revised.
1863 Born February 19th in the village of Alma, Wellington County, Ontario to John and Miami (née Bradt) Gale.
Why Scarth? Gale's uncle Alexander, when he was studying in Aberdeen before moving to Canada, met and fell for a young lady, Margaret Scarth. Then he moved to Canada and received no response to his letters to her. Ten years later, she wrote to explain that the aunt she was living with had intercepted his letters,and she had found them after the aunt died. Alexander wrote back inviting her to join him in Canada, which she did. They had a son, whom they called James Scarth Gale, using the mother's maiden name as a middle name, a common practice. The talented son died of tuberculosis a little before our James was born, so he received the dead boy's name in memory of him.
1886 Spent the summer in Paris, studying French. He spent some time visiting London on the way to France but did not much enjoy either country.
1888 Graduated from University College at the University of Toronto with a B.A. in arts. Registered at Knox College to study theology, but instead left for Korea as a missionary volunteer with the YMCA.
1891 Joined the U.S.A. Presbyterian Mission in Korea.
1892 Married Hattie (née Gibson) Heron, widow of his friend, Dr. J.W. Heron, who had died in 1890.
From 1892-1897 the Gales lived in Wonsan while Gale served as member of the "Board of Official Translators" of the Korean Bible. He worked with Henry G. Appenzeller, Horace G. Underwood, William B. Scranton, and William D. Reynolds.
1894 Published Korean Grammatical Forms (Seoul: Trilingual Press)
1895 Published a Korean translation prepared by his wife and himself of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (Seoul: Trilingual Press) as 천로역정 天路歷程 with illustrations in archaic Sino-Korean style.
1897 Published Korean-English Dictionary (Yokohama: Kelby) and Korean Sketches (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell) . Spent one year in Washington, D.C. where he was ordained by the New Albany Presbytery.
1898 Returned to Korea.
1900 Mrs. Gale and her daughters went to Switzerland where they remained for six years.
1903 Travelled via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Switzerland where he spent six months. Wrote and published The Vanguard (New York: Fleming H. Revell) Received an honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, from Howard University, Washington, D.C.
1906 Spent a year's leave in Washington
1907 Returned to Korea with his family. Mrs. Gale became ill and died the following year.
1909 Published Korea in Transition (New York: Young People's Missionary Movement of the United States and Canada)
1910 Married Ada Louise Sale, from England, who had grown up in Japan
1911 Birth of George James Marley Gale
1913 Published a. translation of tales by Im Bang and Yi Ryuk, Korean Folk Tales (London: J.M. Dent)
1917-1919 Edited (and wrote the contents of) the Korea Magazine, a monthly review, until just after the March 1 1919 Independence Movement, when it ceased to appear.
1918 Birth of Ada Alexandra Gale
1922 Published a translation of a work by Kim Man-Choong, The Cloud Dream of the Nine (London: Daniel O'Connor)
1924-6 Wrote his History of the Korean People, publishing it in installments in The Korea Mission Field.
1925 Published his Korean translation of the Bible prepared after rejecting the over-literal official versions.
1927 Retired from missionary work in Korea; went to live in Bath, England, his wife being British in origin.
1937 Died in Bath January 31st. Buried in Lansdown cemetery.
Published articles
Korean Coolie. The Korean Repository, Vol.III (December, 1896), pp. 475-481.
Trip Across Northern Korea. The Korean Repository, Vol.IV (March,1897), pp. 81-89
The Influence of China upon Korea. I:1-24. 1900.
Han-Yang (Seoul). II, part Il:1-43. 1902.
The Korean Alphabet. IV, part I:12-61. 1912-13.
Selection and Divorce. IV, part III:17-22. 1913.
The Pagoda of Seoul. VI, part II:1-22. 1915.
The Diamond Mountains. XIII:1-67. 1922.
A Shipwreck (Korean) in 1636 A.D. XV:3-22. 1924.
National Museum of Korea 2013 Schedule
Dear members of RAS Korea
The National Museum of Korea is continuing to offer us a special guided visit each month in 2013. Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com to sign up for the monthly tour. The tours will start at 7:00 PM and we will meet in the lobby of the National Museum (line 4, Ichon Station). See here for directions.
February 13
History in Glass: 3000 Years of Glassware from the Mediterranean and West Asia
March 20
Re-arranged Buddhist Sculpture Galleries (Permanent Exhibition)
April 17
The Peranakan World--a special exhibition
May 15
Buddhist Guardian Paintings of Late Joseon Period
June 19
A Painters Life: Kang Sehwang and His Literati Culture
July 17
Scholar's Studio, Sarangbang
August 21
Paintings of Joseon
(Genre Painting/Portrait)
September 18
Asian Religious Icons through Western Eyes
October 16
Insense Burners of Goryeo Dynasty
November 20
Silla, A Brilliant Country of Gold (Permanent Exhibition)
December 18
Taoism in Korea: Deities and Immortals
February Newsletter
Dear members and friends of RAS Korea
It will soon be February and we hope it will soon be much warmer than it has been!
In February Korea marks the Lunar New Year, which this year falls on Sunday February 10. The RAS has traditionally offered a very special trip to beautiful Seoraksan, over on the East Coast, during this holiday. Koreans enjoy family gatherings and the rest of us find ourselves with free time and not much to do. Seoraksan offers fresh air, lovely scenery, warm accommodation and a magnificent spa / hot springs. Those who want to go walking will have plenty of time to do so, while others soak in hot baths. Why not join us, with your whole family? The hotel rooms are booked, the bus is ready. . . . By leaving Seoul early on the Sunday, February 10, the actual New Year's Day, we can be sure of quiet roads. By coming back on the Monday we can also be sure of reasonable traffic. Because with the holiday falling on a weekend, most people will take the Tuesday off as well! See: http://raskb.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=d6bd78bcc645d037366d2f5e...
Then on Saturday February 16 we are running an excursion to Cheorwon, to the north-east of Seoul. There we will visit historic remains witnessing to the tragedy of the Korean War and we hope that there will be large flocks of migratory birds in the fields, some of them very rare and hard to see. Our leader wiill be none other than Robert Koehler, author of the wonderful Seoul Selection guides "Seoul" and "Korea" He knows a lot about this area, it should be fascinating. See: http://raskb.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d6bd78bcc645d037366d2f5e4...
On Saturday February 23, we have planned a trip to visit the potteries at Icheon, not far from Seoul. By this time spring will be in the air, we will visit some famous pottery workshops and give participants a view of the pottery-making process as well as visiting stores with a wide range of work for sale. See: http://raskb.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d6bd78bcc645d037366d2f5e4...
Finally, on March 1 we traditionally organize a visit to Onyang and the nearby Independence Hall. Here we will see the shrine to Admiral Yi Sun-shin and the memorial museum to Korea's Independence Movement many of whose leaders came from this area.
Our lectures in February will be on Tuesday February 12, when Dong-jin Kim will talk about Homer B. Hulbert, and February 26 when Peter Bartholomew will tell us about Joseon dynasty architecture, explaining how and when so much of it has been destroyed, He has many wonderful photos of what once was there.
This year we will continue to offer members a once-a-month guided visit to a gallery in the National Museum of Korea. Please visit our home page http://raskb.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=d6bd78bcc645d037366d2f5e... e=e673079159 or send an email replying to this message for more details.
I hope to welcome many of you at one or other or all these events.
With my best wishes
Brother Anthony
President, RASKB


text:
Component Test Plate for 334x Single Column Systems
2910-106 | Component Test Plate for Single Column Systems
Component Test Plate for 334X single column systems.
Lower Fitting: Mounts to base using 4 × M6 holes.
Upper Fitting: Use appropriate grip or fixture
Center hole for type O and D base adapters
Plate pattern: M6 thread holes, 25 mm center-to-center.
Capacity: 1 kN (100 kg, 225 lb)
Dimensions: 600 x 300 x 13 mm (WxDxH) - less 170 x 95 mm (WxD) removed from front right corner for frame control accessibility
Component Test Plate
The component test plate is a large plate with an array of tapped holes that is useful for securing difficult-to-test components for a variety of tensile, compression, peel or other testing. It can be used with most universal testing systems.
- Prodotti
- 8/28/2013

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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work to provide the funding for those helping hands that mend a
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All care at
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Copyright � - Kosair Shriners - All Rights Reserved -
Noble Darrell G. Waddell - Webmaster


text:
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text:
White Papers and Application Notes
A Study of the Effects of Mounting Supports, and Dissipation on a Piezoelectric Quartz Double-Ended Tuning Fork Gyroscope
A COMSOL model of a piezoelectric quartz double ended tuning fork gyroscope was implemented. The gyroscope has two detection modes; the first mode detects the angular velocity about a z-axis perpendicular to the tuning fork plane (x-y plane), while the second mode detects the angular velocity about a y-axis that is the longitudinal axis along the length of the tuning fork. Eigenfrequency analyses with geometric parameters were performed to maximize the sensitivity of the gyroscope. Frequency response analyses were used to simulate the response of the gyroscope to angular velocity about its z-axis. The Coriolis forces were treated as body forces in the COMSOL model. The sign and magnitude of the change in charge at the detection electrodes are proportional to the sign and magnitude of the angular velocity of the gyroscope. A sensitivity analysis was performed for the detection of z-axis angular velocity as a function of the silicon rubber adhesive thickness. The adhesive height would affect the production yields of this gyroscope.


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Kenmore has a Council-Manager government, being governed by a City Council consisting of seven Councilmembers. These Councilmembers are elected to a four-year term, and elections are held every two years. All positions are nonpartisan and at-large, elected by the entire city voting population. The Council passes ordinances, sets policies, and elects from its own membership a Mayor and Deputy Mayor for two-year terms.
If you're looking for a fun and impactful way to make a difference in your community, we encourage you to apply to serve on a City board or commission. The various opportunities include serving as an advisory body on policy matters relating to land use regulations and historic preservation. Expired terms and vacancies are advertised on our website. Appointments are made by the City Council.


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Spinning a sailor's yarn
Every year, the Pacific flows into poetry: at the Fisher Poets Gathering, mariners take to the stage to recite their poems
The sea is your enemy. The sea is your mistress. The sea wants to claim you. You cannot live without the sea. Four men in a bar down by the pier. Four nuggets of wisdom that they can agree on. The bar feels as if it's been here since the beginning of time. The men look as if they've stepped out of a Jack London novel. Behind the window, the Columbia River is a broad, commanding presence, flowing into the Pacific Ocean here – in Astoria in the northwest of the United States. The men have been sitting here for a couple of beers; everything that needs to be said has been said, and so Jon Broderick says, "Give us a poem, Geno, come on!" Wesley Eugene Leech, known to all as Geno, takes a sip, wipes the foam off his beard – and starts to rhyme. Melds verse to verse, sways gently back and forth, modulates his voice, keeping his eyes closed all the while. I miss the fish but I don't miss the fishing. Everyone in Astoria knows these lines. Every year, on the last weekend in February, Leech performs this hymn for the whole town, at the start of the Fisher Poets Gathering.
If you can't say it in 15 minutes then don't say it all
It is a large, seemingly incongruous event, and it attracts mariners of all ilk: captains, seamen, rope makers, divers, dockhands and stewards. The deep-sea fishermen, the dragnet fishermen, the gillnet fishermen. The former fishermen, and those who dream of becoming fishermen. They come from Oregon, Washington and Alaska, from Canada in the north and California in the south. Last year, there was even a skipper from Finland. The Gathering casts its nets wide, and attracts an entire industry at a moment when it just happens to have a little slack time on its hands: at the end of the crab season and before the salmon start leaping. It all started out small. A few friends, a few poems, a couple of beers – that was the first Gathering in 1998. Now, 80 and more artists perform, and hundreds come to listen.
The idea has grown to become a veritable festival. The main venue is still the Wet Dog Café, with other bars, pubs and museums booked as needed. Although there are also films, workshops and auctions, the beating heart of the festival remains poetry. Each fisherpoet has 15 minutes to perform his or her lyrics. "You don't need more," says Leech. "If you can't say something in 15 minutes then don't bother saying it all."
Back at the bar: Leech awakens from his recitation. His friends, Jon Broderick, Jay Speakman and Dave Densmore, clap appreciatively. Great, Geno! Atta-boy. You're a legend! Leech recalls his first performance. How, wracked with stage fright and doubts and drenched in sweat, he paced the train tracks down by the docks. Would people really want to hear his rhymes? Should he share with them what he had written for himself out on the ocean, between the waves, scribbled down, raw? Rhymes caught with a dragnet. It felt like giving away his intimate diary.
Fisherpoetry takes many different forms. It can be a diary, therapy, eulogy or an ode to joy. Take "Diver Tom", for example, a poem Leech wrote about his friend Tom the Diver. Leech first read the poem at Tom's wedding. He had written it especially for the occasion and had gotten a license to marry the couple. The second time Leech read the poem was at Tom's funeral. They had been out at sea together, at night; Tom dived down – and never resurfaced. An accident. On deck, Leech bellowed until he could bawl no longer. "Just because we're fishermen and write poems doesn't mean that they're only about 'fishing'. They are about so much more," he says.
The glasses are empty. The men pile into the pick-up, leave the pier and drive into Astoria. The town, established in 1811 at the mouth of the Columbia River, is the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. As early as the 1860s, gigantic factories were built here to can the abundant salmon. Astoria was the "Salmon Canning Capital of the World." In 1922, the town had a population of nearly 15 000, more than ever before – and never since exceeded. The red light district shone far over the ocean like a beacon and Clark Gable launched his acting career at the local theatre. Today, almost a century later, Astoria is still a fishing town, but the industry is struggling.
Fishing was the opposite of my upbringing, that's why I liked it
All that remains of the piers where the factories once stood tall and proud are wave-lashed pilings. Japanese freighters cruise off shore, making life even more difficult for local fishermen. The going price for a kilogram of salmon has dropped to a mere half dollar. The steep streets of Astoria may bear a superficial resemblance to those of San Francisco, and downtown is being prettified with bars and cafés, but many of the Victorian houses on the hill are falling down. The general sense of dilapidation and past glory is another reason the Fisher Poets Gathering so important for the whole bay: as an outlet for worries and concerns. As reaffirmation of self. We're still important. We are many. Nobody is going to put us down.
Jon Broderick, one of the men from the bar, cruises along the coastal road. Broderick co-founded the festival, taking the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Nevada as inspiration. Dammit if the fishermen didn't have the better stories to tell! Tales that told of everything. Broderick knew that from personal experience; he himself fished and wrote. In the Alaska Fisherman's Journal, in the chunks of poetry scribbled on can labels and crammed between the catch prices and weather report he found like-minded folks. Broderick called the people who had submitted poems, and most accepted. Broderick's real profession is teaching. He had just graduated from university, the ink still wet on his diploma, when he hitchhiked up to Alaska for an adventure and bumped into a skipper looking for men to join his crew. That is how Mr. Broderick, the high school teacher, became Jon, the fisher.
When Dave Densmore, the third man from the bar, counts the ships he has owned, it sounds like a list of past love affairs: Charlotte Bee, Cassandra Anne, Ronda. Fishermen are romantically inclined souls, you can tell by the names they give their boats. Densmore wrote his first poem when he was hung over sometime in the 1970s; it was intended as a joke. He's been through three divorces since, and turned each one into poetry. "I have two big passions in my life: fishing and poetry," he says. Densmore is sitting in the cabin of his sailing boat, a bear of a man; the open laptop in his hands looks like a pocket calculator. He wants to read another poem, but the barking of the sea lions starts up again.
This cacophony is the soundtrack of the town. Day and night, the sea lions bark and honk; they have become a problem for the fishermen because they get caught in the nets, tear into them, devour the fish. There are thousands of sea lions here, so many that some are caught, tranquilized and flown down to the Gulf of Mexico, only to return two weeks later – but that's a different story. There are many poems about the sea lions. Strictly speaking, quoting the poems on paper is frowned upon. Broderick, the co-founder, says: "This is about the spoken word. The lyrics must be bellowed out into the world! Printed, they are rigid. They lose their magic when they're printed."
Before the Fisher Poets Gathering was set up, the fishermen would read their notes over their VHF radios. They spoke about the catch in the hold, lost comrades, the beauty of the moon. And about the next prostate examination. Their last woman. About liquor. Leech started out this way, so did Densmore and all the others. The last fishermen out on the ocean were their first audience. Silent, understanding listeners.
At the Gathering fishermen who never wanted to be famous are stars. And when it's a fisherpoet's turn, he doesn't walk up to the stage, but gets up from his seat in the audience and recites. As one of them, for them. The poetry readings were interspersed with job announcements: a trawler needs a new mate, oilers required at short notice, good pay. It is the unique mood that gives the event its special charm, the feeling of going back in time, of timelessness. Anyone who plucks up the courage to step up to the microphone is greeted with applause. The festival's success attracted investors and promoters, who told Broderick they would bring the event to TV screens across the United States. "We'll make you twice as big," they promised. Broderick replied: "You don't need to throw wood on fire that's already blazing." It was a stubborn response, typical of a fisherman; the promoters didn't understand and left again.
Two days later, a training ship is moored in Astoria's industrial port. Thick fog sits on the bay, the sun shimmers dimly like a torch through a blanket. Leech is on board to teach the next generation. Everyone has on a life vest, including him – health and safety regulations. There is no one in the world on whom a life vest looks more out of place. For year, the sailing school wooed him, asking him to come and teach, but Leech had his own catch to take care of. A year ago, he finally accepted, nine days after signing off to look after his sick wife. Nine days of being a pensioner. Leech isn't the kind of man to sit around doing nothing. "Fishing was the opposite of the unadventurous upbringing my parents gave me," he says, "and that's why I liked it so much."
Leech writes by hand, on paper that looks like it was used to wipe down the engine. His friends have been on breakfast TV and made guest appearances at other festivals. Leech writes the best poems, but doesn't care whether anyone is interested in them or not. If someone wants to hear a poem, he'll read one. If nobody asks then he's not about to go chasing up an audience. Geno Leech gave the sea four decades of his life. He lives between Cape Disappointment and Dismal Nitch, over there, in Chinook.
Suddenly, the radar blinks. "I don't know what it is, but it's damn big," says the captain. "And it's right below us." After a few seconds of nervous silence a whale leaps up alongside the bows. The lads, trainee sailors and fishermen, dash over and take out their smartphones. Geno Leech remains alone on the port side, leaning up against the railing. He gazes at the gigantic fin, considers the whale underneath and says that he might write about it.
This story first appeared in Lufthansa Exclusive, the frequent traveller magazine. For more information about Lufthansa Miles & More offers, please click here.


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Kinda holding my breath today.
I cannot believe I'm going to find out the fate of Ted Lilly via a tweet.
That's just so...un something.
Yet here's this from the mobile device of Jason Stark, about an hour ago...
Well, we'll see pretty soon.
This magical season continues. Last night we watched "Anchor Man", then Wyatt and I killed some bad guys in "Borderlands", and finally I decided to watch the game.
So unlike most of you who must have turned off the tv right at that moment, I...turned it on.
Marshall was just getting yanked, and in came Cashner.
I stood in front of the tv for the half an hour or so of straight Colorado hits, unable to move. I've seen paintings by Bosch and Dali, I've been broadsided by a speeding '63 Chevy in my old Bug, and I just saw "Inception", but for surreality none of that stuff can hold a candle to the Chicago Cubs when they're in the grip of their own selves.
Holy Mother of God.
In the meaningless half of a meaningless season, the Cubs continue to....oh wait...
Ahh, I guess I'll just get back to waiting.
I'll keep putting up these tweets:
So, it's apparently over.Ted Trade here.


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The left side of this mountain has been subject to mining activity, which has affected vegetation cover and led to frequent landslides. The right side of the mountain has not yet been mined, and vegetation still grows. Chengqiangyan Mining Area, Qingping Township, Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province.
© Greenpeace / Ma Dong
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Sept. 11 museum evokes strong emotions
Obama helps dedicate 9/11 museum at Ground Zero; families of Fairfield County victims watch with pain, pride
Frank Fetchet, of New Canaan, stayed away from the somber ceremony at the new 9/11 Memorial Museum, but his presence is all around the 110,000-square-foot underground gallery that was dedicated Thursday by President Barack Obama as a symbol that says of America: "Nothing can ever break us."
Fetchet, along with his wife Mary, helped establish and lead the Voices of September 11th family advocacy group out of their New Canaan home following the terrorist attacks that killed their 24-year-old son Brad and nearly 3,000 others. The couple along with a team of volunteers have been instrumental in helping families through the often gut-wrenching process of determining how their loved ones will be remembered for generations to come.
"There's a sense of satisfaction that we've done something with some permanence to it," Fetchet said.
Over the past decade, Voices of September 11th has worked with 1,600 families and scanned more than 70,000 images as part of a living memorial project preserving photos, audio, video and other keepsakes in a digital format that will be part of the museum's exhibit on the 2,983 lives lost.
It's a project that Fetchet said served not only the needs of remembering that awful day, but also provided needed therapy to families suffering from the loss of those who went to work one day and never returned.
On a personal level, Fetchet wanted to tell the story of his son Brad who he described as athletic, modest, gifted and full of life.
"We didn't want to focus on his death," Fetchet said. "We wanted to focus on his life and in our case, he was a young man of 24, just a couple of years out of college and when we look back, we looked back at what shaped his character."
A treasured item in Brad Fetchet's remembrance is his personal journal emblazoned in bold letters with the quote: "You can tell the character of a man by what he would offer to someone who could offer him nothing in return."
Brad Fetchet graduated from Bucknell in 1999 and went on to work as an equities trader at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods which was headquartered in the World Trade Center's South Tower at the time of the attacks.
Frank Fetchet, a former IBM executive who now leads business development for Voices of September 11th, hopes that the new museum will inspire all those who pass through it to make a difference and to not let something like 9/11 happen again.
"It's an ugly story that has to be told for current and future generations," Fetchet said. "But it also tells the story of how the world came together and unified as one following the attacks."
It's a story Fetchet knows all too well and is still trying to find the emotional strength to visit the museum himself prior to its opening to the general public on Wednesday.
The museum's artifacts range from the monumental, like two of the huge fork-shaped columns from the World Trade Center's facade, to the intimate: a wedding ring, a victim's voice mail message.
Some relatives found the exhibits both upsetting and inspiring.
After viewing some of the exhibits, including a mangled fire truck and a memorial wall with photos of victims, Obama retold the story of Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old World Trade Center worker who became known as "the man in the red bandana" after he led others to safety from one of the towers. He died in the tower's collapse.
The president said the museum pays tribute to "the true spirit of 9/11 -- love, compassion, sacrifice."
"Like the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today," Obama said, referring to the way an underground flood wall that withstood the attack, "nothing can ever break us. Nothing can change who we are as Americans."
One of the red bandanas Crowther made a habit of carrying is in the museum. Crowther's mother, Alison, said she hoped it would inspire visitors to help other people.
"This is the true legacy of Sept. 11," she said.
Former President George W. Bush was invited, according to the museum. But Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said he was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.
Jonathan Best, of Stratford, said Thursday that he's unsure if he'll ever be able to step inside the museum. Back in 2001, he was in charge of Regional Medical Transport, which at the time was one of the largest ambulance companies in New York.
He lost several friends who were first responders trying to help people out of the buildings before they collapsed.
"When our family goes to the memorial site, I can't even get out of the car," he said. "Will I be able to go to the museum? Probably not. That smell of concrete dust on some of the exhibits will take me right back."
Best was no stranger to traumatic events on the day of the attacks; he was the director of emergency services in Bridgeport at the time of the L'Ambiance building collapse in 1987, and he developed some of the rescue and recovery techniques that were later employed in hours and days after the 9/11 attack.
"Our catchment area was the World Trade Center," said Best, who is now director of the Connecticut Department of Public Health Office of Preparedness and Response. "I got the call that a plane had hit the center. I was in the middle of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge when I saw the second tower explode.
"It was an amazing, surreal experience, and many of my friends never made it out," he said. "Jack Fanning, the battalion chief of Special Operations for the New York City Fire Department, was a very close friend of mine -- he had been one of the New York Fire Department responders to L'Ambiance Plaza. He was a friend, and a terrible loss of me."
Another friend, Ray Downey, the chief of special operations for FDNY, had worked with Best in a series of committees on structural collapse.
"I agonized over him because I knew that he had the knowledge to avoid getting caught. Then I was told later -- months later -- was the fact that he went back in to get his guys out. That's when the tower fell. I got some peace from that, but it was still a terrible loss."
There are tissue dispensers throughout the new museum, waiting for the inevitable tears that will flow from the eyes of visitors.
"It's going to evoke very powerful reactions to all who go there," said Deb Del Vecchio-Scully, certified in the field of trauma counseling, who has treated -- and continues to treat -- the close friends and relatives of 9/11 victims at her office in Fairfield.
"I don't think that there's any `moving on' for the families of those hurt by the attacks," she said. "They take steps forward, but this is not something that they'll ever be able to put behind them. For many, it's still September twelfth and the process of recovery and healing has not yet begun. There's no moving on for something this huge."
She said that many of the survivor families have been involved in the creation of the museum, so they'll know what to expect.
"But in spite of what you know about this, the museum will bring you back," she said. "It will be a powerful, significant event in the timeline of what the 9/11 attacks have meant to the world. They will tell the story by bringing the victims to life, and it will be very emotional for anyone to go to."
Brittany Lyte, Jon Lucas, John Burgeson and the Associated Press wire contributed to this report


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High profile real estate team looking for someone who is: motivated, competitive, enthusiastic, ethical, self-managed, and tech savvy to join our team as a full-time Buyer's Agent and provide unparalleled service and direction to clients.
Seeking someone who is always positive, a good communicator – both written and verbal; possesses strong computer skills (knowledge of real estate software programs beneficial), organized, has a good sense of humor, enjoys negotiating, and is a fast learner with an ability to think quickly on multiple levels.
As our Buyer's Agent, you will receive buyer leads from our heavy technology based advertising on over 50 websites as well as calls from our 800# call capture on nearly 200 listings. Last month alone our team generated over 1,000 buyer leads. Accountability for converting those leads is key to continued growth for our team.
We focus on quality customer service, going above and beyond, and technical innovation resulting in a fantastic base of repeat customers and referrals. We have a successful business model that delivers the best for our clients while providing excellent opportunities for our team members.
Only candidates with real estate licenses need apply. If you are aggressive in sales, energetic, currently possess an active Alabama Real Estate license, and look at Real Estate as your full-time career profession please email us to begin the application process.
Email firstname.lastname@example.com to apply!


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ESSAY- Slow down! Asking questions to map our future
Who are you to decide how many children God will give you?
That was the prevailing attitude in the United States well into the 20th century. Contraceptives– even information about contraception– was labeled as pornography and outlawed in the US until 1936, when Margaret Sanger's successful legal challenge overturned the law.
You weren't supposed to plan your family. It wasn't up to human beings to determine the appropriate number of offspring to produce. And if you didn't have the resources to feed another child, well, tough luck. A woman has a conjugal duty to serve her husband, and must welcome any and all pregnancies, even if the burden of more children would deprive or harm the family.
Don't ask questions. That's the way it is.
In 21st century America– right here in Charlottesville and Albemarle County– we have ourselves a controversy that's a lot like the old family-planning prohibition.
The new "Who are you to decide?" attitude is aimed at those would dare ask the question: How many people can relocate to Charlottesville-Albemarle and still allow us to maintain the character of the place?
Until now, growth in this community was seen as a force of nature, no more controllable than the weather. We were supposed to make room for all comers, even if doing so degraded our environment and raised our property taxes.
But then a few years ago an organization of upstarts arose: ASAP– Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population– founded by long-time local residents including Jack Marshall, Francis Fife, and Rich Collins. (Full disclosure: I'm on the ASAP Advisory Council.)
They had the audacity to ask, "How much growth can this area support?" and to wonder what the effect will be on our roads, our water supply, our air quality, our property taxes, and our quality of life, as more and more people pour into Albemarle County.
A few months ago, ASAP received funding for several studies to help answer their question. The money comes from Pittsburgh's Colcom Foundation, as well as Charlottesville's City Council, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, and contributions from ASAP members. The studies will be conducted by researchers in the area and around the country.
The reaction to the question– and to the public funding that will be used to arrive at an answer– has been passionate and polarized. ASAP's members, who number in the hundreds, are eager to support the preservation of what Thomas Jefferson termed the "Eden of the United States."
From the other end of the spectrum, people have written letters to the editor and called local radio talk shows to accuse ASAPers of "slamming the gate behind them" now that they've arrived, and trying to stop anyone else from moving here.
That's a lot like anti-contraception people saying that those in favor of birth control want to prevent all future births, when we just want to plan ahead and ask ourselves, "How many is enough?" Once we arrive at a rough number, we can decide, as a community, what to do about it.
That's what we're doing already, on a small scale, when we zone a parcel of land. If it's zoned commercial, then nobody can live there. If a parcel is zoned to allow, say, 100 homes, that means we're "slamming the gate" on the 101st family that would like to live in that neighborhood.
(All that really means is that the 101st family would have to wait for a house to come on the market in order to relocate to that neighborhood.)
I know what you're thinking: if the supply of dwellings is limited, won't that drive up prices and drive out anyone who needs affordable housing? As it stands now, in spite of the fact that the housing supply is growing, gaspingly high prices are driving low- and middle-income people out of the area.
Low-income housing doesn't spring up naturally in a desirable area like ours. It's a matter of public policy, of deciding together that we want this and making it happen, rather than hoping that a developer will say, "Hm, I think I'll minimize my profits by building affordable housing for low-income folks."
ASAP is merely asking us to pull back and look at the larger, long-term picture. Surely we can agree that it's better to say, "What should we do?" today, rather than lament, "What have we done?" a few decades from now.
It's not as though growth will go on forever if we don't intervene. There are three likely ways that growth will end:
We reach the limit of available water, land, or some other resource.
This place becomes so crowded and ugly that potential newcomers with a lick of sense will avoid it.
Or, we can be grownups about it and plan ahead to limit growth. (Imagine that! First family planning, and now community planning.)
Just as we now know where babies come from and how to prevent a pregnancy, we also know where traffic jams and pollution and suburban sprawl come from: they arise from a great many people inhabiting a limited space.
That's not the way it has to be. So, let's ask questions– and plan ahead.


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The term zoonosis (plural zoonoses) means a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. The name is derived from the Greek "zoi" or "zoe," meaning life, plus "nosos," meaning disease. An equine zoonosis is a disease that humans can contract from members of the equid family.
While there are a number of zoonoses, the good news is that horses spread relatively few diseases to humans. The majority of zoonoses involve other domestic species or wildlife. The bad news is that one or two of the diseases that we can contract from horses can be serious, even life-threatening.
An infectious disease is caused by a living organism or pathogen that invades and colonizes the host. Equine zoonoses are caused by a variety of pathogens–viral, bacterial, rickettsial, fungal, or parasitic (see "Equine Zoonoses on page 58).
Equine diseases are usually solely of veterinary importance. When equine diseases affect humans, those diseases also become a public health concern. From a public health standpoint, "significance" has a particular meaning. It reflects a combination of the clinical importance of a disease with the ease and extent to which it can be spread. For example, acute equine respiratory syndrome (caused by Hendra virus), first diagnosed in Brisbane, Australia, in 1994 has "considerable zoonotic significance." Although it is rarely transmitted to man, the case fatality rate is very high in humans who get the disease.
The Office International des Epizooties (www.oie.int), the animal health equivalent of the World Health Organization, categorizes animal diseases as List A or List B, depending on their significance. List A diseases are "Transmissible diseases that have the potential for very serious and rapid spread, irrespective of national borders; that are of serious socio-economic or public health consequence; and that are of major importance with respect to the international trade of animals and animal products."
List B diseases are "Transmissible diseases that are considered to be of socio-economic or public health importance within countries, and that are significant to the international trade of animals and animal products." In other words, they are serious but not as potentially economically devastating as List A diseases.
OIE List A diseases include such illnesses as vesicular stomatitis, African horse sickness, and foot and mouth disease (FMD). Examples of List B diseases are anthrax and Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis (EEE and WEE).
Equine zoonoses either primarily affect members of the equine family or affect more than one domestic species, including horses. In the above example, African horse sickness and EEE/WEE are equid diseases, while vesicular stomatitis and anthrax are multiple-species diseases. Prevention and management of specific diseases from a public health viewpoint depends on knowing which animal species are susceptible to them and could therefore be a source of infection for humans.
Methods of Transmission
One method of exposure to infection is by inoculation. In this context, inoculation doesn't refer to introduction of a pathogen into the body using a syringe and needle. Instead, it is when infective material–blood, saliva, pus, or other bodily secretions or excretions–from a sick horse comes into contact with a person's system through a break in the skin, either via a pre-existing wound or introduced by a bite or scratch.
Most people are aware of the dangers of the furious form of rabies–mad dogs out in the midday sun. On the other hand, horses and other species might exhibit a dumb form of rabies. This can present a problem for humans. Since one of the initial signs of the dumb form of rabies is esophageal paralysis leading to excessive drooling, a horse in the early stages of rabies can be mistaken for a choking horse. Sticking a hand in such an animal's mouth to check for an obstruction is very likely to expose a person to the rabies virus. The case fatality rate in human rabies is nearly 100% once symptoms appear. There is a means of treatment for the person accidentally
exposed to the virus if applied very shortly after exposure to a suspected rabid animal. There is none for the horse, however, even if exposure is known to have occurred.
Three other diseases that can be contracted by humans through inoculation on entry through broken skin are glanders, brucellosis, and leptospirosis. Glanders causes nodules and ulcerations in the upper respiratory tract and lungs, and is one of the oldest equine diseases known to be transmissible to man. It is primarily an equine disease, but it can also occur in carnivores, rodents, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Humans are not highly susceptible to infection, but if they contract the disease and are not treated, the case fatality rate can be as high as 95%.
While the usual method of transmission is inoculation, other possible routes of exposure are inhalation or ingestion. Horses exhale droplets of infective respiratory secretions, which can be inhaled into the respiratory tract of in-contact humans. It is similar to having a person with influenza or a cold sneeze beside you.
Other diseases that humans can pick up through inhalation include anthrax (List B, multi-species), brucellosis, and melioidosis, an undesignated OIE multi-species disease.
Brucellosis is not primarily an equid disease, but horses are susceptible to the causal bacterium. The bacterium is a common cause of fistulous withers and "poll evil," and it has also been shown to cause lameness, synovitis, and tendonitis. Infection is picked up through exposure to infective fluids or discharges, frequently from infected cattle. In humans, brucellosis can cause undulating fever, sweating, weakness, malaise, weight loss, and depression.
Leptospirosis can occur in many species, including horses, and it is especially common in regions with a warm, humid climate and alkaline soil. Transmission is by direct contact with infective urine, uterine contents, or tissues–putting farmers, veterinarians, and slaughter house workers at special risk of exposure. In humans, leptospirosis can range in severity from a mild infection to a fatal disease.
The final means of direct transmission of disease is through ingestion, or eating infected horse meat. One disease that a person can contract in this way is trichinellosis, and another is anthrax. Trichinellosis is a disease resulting from a parasite that is encysted in muscle tissue. Most people associate trichinellosis with undercooked pork. In the last 25 years, however, consumption of infective horse meat has been the main source of human trichinellosis outbreaks in Western Europe. The horsemeat implicated in the major European outbreaks since 1975 originated from countries outside the European Union: Romania, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, Mexico, Canada, or the United States. Trichinellosis usually occurs in wild animal species such as wild boar, bear, foxes, etc. It is unclear how horses as herbivores acquire the parasite.
Arthropod-Transmitted Diseases
Among the most important equine zoonoses are those that are transmitted directly by vectors, primarily mosquitoes or ticks. Horses contract these diseases when the vector, such as a mosquito, feeds on an infected animal, such as a bird, and then bites a susceptible horse. With the exception of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE), horses do not develop a high enough level of viremia (virus circulating in the blood) nor does the viremia last long enough for them to serve as a source of infection for mosquitoes. Because of this, the horse is called a dead-end or tangential host of the virus. Horses are considered dead-end hosts for EEE, WEE, and West Nile viruses. VEE, on the other hand, is transmissible by an infected vector from horse to horse or horse to human.
VEE is widely thought to be the most important equine infectious disease that is transmissible to man. Periodic outbreaks/ epidemics occurred in South and Central America until the early 1970s, when the "epidemic strains" of the virus seemed to disappear. However, in 1995, the disease reoccurred in epidemic form in Colombia and Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of equine cases and an estimated 75,000 human cases. Mortality in equine cases of VEE has been estimated at 19-83%, and the human case fatality rate at 3-4%. Humans become exposed after the disease has been established in horses; mosquitoes and possibly other types of biting flies are responsible for transmitting the disease. Outbreaks cease when the number of susceptible horses declines through mortality or immunization, or when mosquito populations decline.
EEE and WEE are also mosquito-borne equine zoonotic diseases. Both horses and humans are infected from birds via different species of mosquitoes. Human infections usually occur at least two weeks after the appearance of the disease in equines. Horses and humans are considered dead-end hosts of both viruses; neither species develops sufficient levels of virus in the bloodstream–nor for a long enough period of time–to infect mosquitoes. However, humans can catch either disease from infective brain or other tissue/fluids from equine cases. While many cases of human infection are mild, encephalitis can occur, usually in the very young or the very old. EEE can cause severe disease in any age group, with a fatality rate as high as 65%. WEE is usually seen in young children, with a fatality rate of 3-14%.
Japanese encephalitis occurs as a significant zoonosis throughout much of Asia, extending as far south as Papua New Guinea and the northeastern tip of Australia. The number of human cases of this disease worldwide has been estimated at 50,000 per year and rising, with a case fatality rate as high as 25%. Although usually considered a dead-end host, the occasional horse might develop a viremia of sufficient magnitude to infect mosquitoes.
West Nile virus is a close relative of Japanese encephalitis and is a recent newcomer to the United States, causing disease and deaths in humans and horses since 1999. (See www.TheHorse.com/wnv for more information on West Nile virus.)
Multiple Species Diseases Spread By Various Routes
Some diseases, such as vesicular stomatitis (VS) and anthrax, can be spread by several routes. VS is a viral disease primarily of horses, cattle, and swine. It is of particular importance because the clinical signs are indistinguishable from those of foot and mouth disease (FMD), one of the most highly contagious and economically devasting diseases of any species. The primary route of infection for VS is through the bite of virus-infected, small biting flies. Exposure also can occur through inhalation or inoculation, or contact with the saliva, vesicular fluid, or epithelium of infected animals. Infection in humans and susceptible animals is often sub-clinical. In other words, an individual can develop antibodies but no clinical evidence of infection.
Anthrax is potentially such a lethal infection that it has been used as a biological warfare weapon. It is an acute infectious disease of nearly all warm-blooded animals, including horses and humans. In horses, death usually follows two to three days after exposure. In developing countries, anthrax continues to account for livestock losses and human illness and death. Horses are less responsible for spreading the disease than other domestic species such as cattle, sheep, and goats, but cases of human disease have been contracted through the ingestion of infected horse meat.
Some pathogens lie dormant in the soil for years. Exposure can occur through stepping on a nail or scratching one's hand on a barb-wire fence; the spores can thus gain entry to the body, multiply, and produce specific toxins. Tetanus and melioidosis can both be spread in this way. Horses are a major source of the anaerobic bacterium that causes tetanus.
Finally, the route of transmission for some diseases is unknown or has "not yet been fully established." Acute equine respiratory syndrome caused by Hendra virus is an example. The reservoirs (sources) of this virus are species of fruit bats that can be infected with the virus. However, no one has yet confirmed how the virus gets from the bats to horses or humans. In humans, this virus causes severe disease of the lower respiratory tract or encephalitis. Since there is a very high fatality rate in humans, it is considered a highly significant zoonotic disease even though there have only been a few recorded cases of human infection.
Regardless of the route(s) of transmission, certain equine diseases can be spread from horses to humans. Horse owners need to be aware that a sick horse might be infected with a contagious disease that the owner, farm worker, or vet could contract. A small number of such equine zoonoses have the potential to cause significant human illness and even death. So observing caution and good hygiene around sick horses is advisable.


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The stated goal of the left as quoted my MSNBC's Melissa Perry:
"…we've always had a private notion of children, your kid is yours and totally your responsibility. We haven't had a very collective notion of these are our children. So part of it is we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families and recognize that kids belong to whole communities. "
This is a show about the fight for the parents sovereignty in the home and how CommonCore, CSCOPE, and a plethora of other schemes are trying hard to take away parental rights.
Each week we will cover news and activism by parents, educators, and activists. Join Jennifer Montrose (AL), Dan Wilson (FL), Rodney Stanhope (CA) and Scott Osborn (CA) as we discuss the latest happenings and open up a free speech dialogue around the nation. We welcome you to call in and join the discussion!
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text: DE Da'Shawn Hand of Woodbridge, VA, considered the #1 player in the class of 2014, will attend USC's junior day Saturday. His coach, Karibe Dede, will drive Hand to Columbia Friday and they will stay thru lunch on Sunday. "He's excited for several reasons," said Dede, a former Auburn linebacker who faced the Gamecocks in Columbia during his career. "It's a great program and staff. And when you have a kid like Jadeveon Clowney who plays the same position, you look at it and say this is a program which has the means to develop a player of that caliber. He's also excited about playing in a great conference." Dede was just hired as the coach at Woodbridge seven weeks ago and has been trying to assist Hand his father in the recruiting process. And he's shared his experience at Williams-Brice Stadium with Hand. "The introduction at South Carolina is one of a kind," he said of the 2001 entrance. "That place is electric. I told him it's definitely a place you want to go to on gameday." Gamecock defensive line coach Deke Adams has taken an active role in recruiting Hand. The relationship dates back to last season when Adams was at North Carolina. "The familiarity between him and coach Adams presents a positive bond and relationship," Dede said. "Of all the people that's recruited him, coach Adams has gone about things the right way. He's genuinely interested in Da'Shawn. Coach has really reached out." Hand has also visited Alabama, Michigan and Virginia Tech. Hand has also mentioned Florida in his top five but his coach says is not limiting himself to just those five schools at this point. "He will go to as many schools as he can and then decide on official visits," Dede said. "We want to give him exposure to as many places as possible." The coach added that Maryland is also a possible visit for Hand, and he said other visits will be set up as schools reach out to them and invite them to campus. Dede said Hand has no leader and there is no timetable for a decision.


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Six Sacred Considerations in Solidarity with Idle No More
by: Claire Bohman on January 22nd, 2013 | 16 Comments »
I first heard of the horrific attacks on First Nations people by the Canadian government from Clyde Hall, a Shoshone elder. I had seen a few things on Facebook but I did not understand the potential to strip Canadian First Nations people of their sovereignty until Clyde laid it out in plain English. As he explained in detail the implications of the law that was on its way to passing in Canada, the danger of this legislation began to sink into my body. If this legislation passes, the Canadian government will cease to recognize First Nations treaty rights. The potential of which is that Canadian First Nations potentially could lose the rights to their land, among other things. Furthermore, ceasing to recognize the treaty rights of the First Nations is a move towards an erasure of indigenous identity and another attempt at genocide. If this legislation passes in Canada, it's just a matter of time before this kind of legislation comes to the United States.
Native people across North America have been organizing a peaceful movement of resistance called "Idle No More". A lot of my friends have been asking me, what is this movement about? Idle No More was founded by First Nations women and has gained significant momentum through the leadership of Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskit First Nation, who has been on a hunger strike since December 11, 2012. Her demand is that the Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov David Johnston meet with First Nations leaders to discuss treaty rights. The resistance is spreading like wildfire and I recently had the honor of joining with hundreds of First Nations people and their allies in Oakland for a Round Dance in solidarity with Chief Spence and Idle No More.
As a descendent of colonizers of this land, I have often struggled with the knowledge that my ancestors played a role in the genocidal attacks on first nations people of this land. As a descendent of settlers and a person with white skin privilege, what is my place in First Nations struggles for liberation? As a non-Native person who feels deeply connected with the land, how do I honor that connection? How can we as non-native people who love this earth be supportive of the movement in a way that does not reproduce systems of inequality and the generations of colonization that runs through our blood?
I struggle regularly with these questions. I do not propose to have the answers. But, in this time of great change as waves of resistance spread across the land, I would like to share with you some things that I have have learned through the resistance that I have have been honored to be a part of over the years.
1) We must learn to follow the leadership of first nations people. This is a movement led by First Nations people. Those who are most directly impacted by decisions made by people in power must be leading this movement. Part of how colonization and white supremacy works is by instilling in white people the belief that their opinions and voices are more important than others. Too often, I have seen white people get involved with justice struggles led by people of color and quickly begin speaking loudly and often in meetings and decision making processes. Part of being an ally is learning how to be a follower. This is not our movement to lead, this is a movement in which we are to follow. This is not to say that our voices are not important or that we should be silent. Just check yourself as you get involved and keep checking yourself. We must be humble, connect with the earth, and listen to our brothers and sisters.
2) We must not seek to imitate or colonize indigenous spiritual traditions. This is hard. Many of us come from blood lineages that are no longer connected with the earth based spiritual traditions of our ancestors. Because of this, the "culture vulture" can emerge and give birth to "Native American Shamanic" trainings led by non-native people disconnected from any tribe, elder, or actual lineage. We must enter into support of this movement with consciousness that we are guests in ceremony. Just because you have danced a round dance in the streets with first nations elders does not give you the right to bring a round dance back to your spiritual community. So you learned a native song at the action. This does not mean you should sing the song in another context or teach it to someone you know. Many native songs are only sung in certain contexts or with permission. Respect the traditions don't make assumptions.
3) Respect the people, respect their ways. Native traditions vary widely from tribe to tribe. Many of the Idle No More actions are being held in a ceremonial context. Often in a ceremonial context there is protocol and different people have different roles. Look around and notice how people are interacting with one another. Are people holding hands and hugging or are they more generally less physically interactive? Are people making eye contact with one another? How are people interacting with elders? Try to respect the culture and follow along with the way people are interacting.
4) Don't make assumptions about someone's spiritual orientation. Many First Nations people identify as Christian or with other religious traditions. There is a long history of Native American people taking Christianity and transforming it into a tradition that is relevant in their cultural context. This has been a fundamental element of resistance for some First Nations people. For many First Nations people, Christianity has been a foundational element of the genocidal attempts on their ancestors. Bottom line, spirituality and resistance to genocide and colonization is complex. Respect the way others have found divinity. We all hold a piece of the truth.
5) We must be compassionate and humble. Solidarity is not easy. Racism and colonization thrives on the pride of those in positions of power. We are going to stumble. We are going to make mistakes. We have been raised in a racist world and even with the best intentions we are inevitably going to act in ways that reflect the racist context in which we were raised. Unlearning generations of colonization can not happen overnight! We must be compassionate with ourselves and with each other. Don't hesitate to name racist behavior when you see it and please be compassionate when you speak about it. Focus on the action that the person did, not the character of the person.
6) Consider committing to this movement for the long haul. The healing of this land is deeply connected with the liberation of the descendents of the ancestors of this land. If we are to be in a good way with the land, we must be in a good way with the ancestors and the spirits of the land. Colonization is the voice that tells us that one life is worth more than another. Colonization is the weapon that drove our ancestors away from right relationship with the earth and each other. Coming into right relationship with each other is critical for the healing of the earth. And one of the best ways we can return to right relationship is through the long slow work of relationship building.
So much is at stake in this moment. This latest land grab at Native land is connected with attempts to develop the Tar Sands Keystone XL Pipeline. If you care about the earth, if you care about stopping the tar sands, if you care about leaving earth that our children and our children's children can live in, please get involved with Idle No More and support the leadership of First Nations people in this movement to protect our sacred mother earth.
To learn more about how to get involved with Idle No More, go to http://idlenomore.ca/
Claire Bohman aka "Chuck" is a priestess and witch in Reclaiming, an herbalist, and a community organizer. She is a Deans Scholar at the Pacific School of Religion and draws on over 15 years of activism and over 20 years of magical practice in Reclaiming and the Unitarian Universalist Pagan tradition.


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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Customer or Patient?
With the advent of medicare/medicaid medicine inched away from being a fee-for-service business to a heavily subsidized and endlessly intricate mystery wrapped in an enigma (apoligies to my hero). Used to be a doctor could hire a secretary and a nurse and open an office and do well if he was good and his patients liked him. Okay, that's business. Now I would challenge anyone to show me this Horatio Alger MD. I know there are boutique practices that cater to those with great insurance or great bank accounts but these are more a curiosity than an alternative to the current system.
As I have stated elsewhere, in the Emergency Department we collect about 30% of what we bill. Recent statistics show that each Emergency Physician in the country gives away about $150,000 in free health care a year. This is because of the unfunded federal mandate called EMTALA, and ED physicians are not the only ones affected. If you are a surgeon, for instance, and you want to practice surgery, then you have to have priveleges at a hospital. This is not true for all surgeons, oral-maxilofacial surgeons can skirt this, but let's just speak about your genergal surgeons, vascular surgeons, chest surgeons, trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, hand surgeons, urologic surgeons, gynecologic/obstetric surgeons, and pediatric surgeons. These folks have to take call for the hospital at which they are priveleged. When they are on call EMTALA impacts them too, for if any patient comes into the ED with an emergency surgical condition... appendicitis or an open fracture for instance... that patient is now theirs.
Never mind that with many of these patients the surgeon will not see a red cent for their 3am call to the hospital for emergency surgery. Never mind that they are forced to give hours of their valuable time in these patient's care. Now understand also that these surgeons have practices and have scheduled elective procedures for which they will be reimbursed. Now these reimbused procedures are cancelled for the emergency procedure. No wonder they hate the Emergency Department. I'm not saying, nor would they, that the emergency patient should not receive their operation or should not receive care, I'm simply pointing out that this is not a business model.
It grates on me therefore that the business-minded amonst us are still trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Believe it or not the administration of most hospitals and ED groups care most about postitive customer feedback (see the prior posts on "Press-Gainey Scores"), and less about good outcomes.
So in medicine, which already resembles a huge ponzi scheme run by the government and insurance companies, the physicians themselves are daily bombarded with ways to improve ''customer service''. Never mind that 70% of our ''customers'' are not paying a dime for their care... they still get to fill out surveys about whether their care was timely and caring. A single angry patient, even one in the country illegally, can get a physician called to the carpet because the physician was ''rude'' or ''didn't explain things'' or a host of other complaints having nothing to do with whether they were treated correctly for their complaint.
Here's another wrinkle, if you are a ''customer'' whose sole purpose is to obtain a prescription for narcotics which you can then use or sell on the street at great profit, and you don't get it because you are proved to be a liar and have 30 prescriptions at the local Walgreens for oxycontin written by different physicians at different facilities within the past year, and you receive a randomly distributed ''survey'' you too can get your treating physician in trouble. Physicians have no counter to this, instead we are treated to lectures on improving our "customer service".
For what purpose? In a fee for service environment where we were truly compteting for dollars that would go elsewhere okay! I get it! When half my salary is going into a deep dark hole anyway why the hell should I care about this? When all our beds are full, the waiting room is full, the hall beds are full, and three patients are dying how am I supposed to give warm fuzzies to the mom who brought in her healthy kid for a ''fever'' that we can't document and a ''rash'' that I can't even see?
Most physicians do not organize, picket, or complain outside their professional circle. We are a beaten bunch. My solution is to never look to see whether a patient has a job or insurance... I treat everyone the same. If I'm not slammed I will hold your hand and explain things to you, if not, you may see me for two minutes. Still, it is painfully obvious many times that the arrogant SOB/DOB who is not sick is in the ED simply because we are ''free'' has no intention of ever paying for their care nor any means to (though they can still afford their cigarettes because 'my husband buys them for me'- no shit!). I challenge anyone to point to another profession where its practitioners are forced by federal law to provide their unique skills for free. Sure, lawyers are expected to do some pro bono work, but they are not required to do so unless their firm demands it.
I challenge you to go to a grocery store, gas station, department store, lawyer's office, mortgage company, or utility company and demand their products or services because you ''have to have them to live'' and see if you get them if you do not pay.
Solution? I don't have a viable one, but I do know that, as I have mentioned before, the country as a whole will eventually get what they pay for. If medicine, perhaps the most intellectually, emotionally, and physically demanding profession that exists, ceases to be attractive to our best and brightest then the quality of our healthcare and physicians (currently at least equal to the best in the world) will plummet. It's not rocket science, if you want to increase use and demand for a sevice then just mandate that it be free.
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I always thought those surverys went straight into the garbage. I had no idea anyone looked at them. I make a point to write a letter to an actual person when I find an amazing doctor or get wonderful care, but I almost never send back the surveys. Maybe I will start if I think someone is reading them!ReplyDelete
Sorry for the late comment, I recently found your blog, and it is great reading. For radioactive girl, many, if not most hospitals use their PressGaney scores as one of the measures for bonus/incentive payments to their staff. This can range from senior management (who clearly benefit big-time in this area), employed docs, all the way down to environmental service workers. So, you should complete those surveys honestly. As far as EMTALA goes, this certainly can be improved upon. I think the ER docs truly take a beating in this area. And a topic about which too much can never be written...I believe most of the general public do not fully understand the financial and clinical impact on physicians and hospitals due to this law. (I've worked in financial management in hospitals for many years, so I'm pretty tuned in to such matters).ReplyDelete
ER docs still make more on average than PCP's. So even though you give away so much free care, you still do better than PCP's. And ER docs at my hosital do twelve 12 hour shift a month = 144 hours. PCP's do usually 40 hours a week x 4 wks plus weekend coverage > 160 hours a month, So its less per hour.ReplyDelete
So don't feel so bad.
two things, and no offense intended.
1. i believe we make more because we routinely do high rish procedures and manage critically ill patients. also, while you are correct about the number of hours worked between pcp and er i would argue that the circadian disruption of all manner of different shifts makes our 140 hours a lot harder than those hours workded on a regular schedule.
2. i don't make this argument because i don't like my salary. i do. i don't care so much about that though i would always like to make more. i care about working in a madhouse run by clowns with "customers" who have learned how to abuse, and routinely abuse our so-called system.
- Anonymous8:15 PM, February 17, 2008
I considered medical school for a long time; I like helping people and I'm good at math, bio, and chem. Because patients are treated as customers, EMTALA, and frivolous lawsuits I've decided not to go. Society certaintly is forcing out many of our brightest. Right now I'm a senior chem major, I can think of at least 6 others who have opted out of medicine for the same reasons.ReplyDelete
i sympathize with your decision. i think it is wise. at the same time i do think medicine is a great profession and can not continue in it's current state. it might be a great counter-intuitive or contrarian play right now. when i finished me school the word on the street was that anesthesiology was finished as a specialty and none of their programs filled. now it's one of the best specialties to be in in terms of remuneration and lifestyle. still, i think you are wise. best of luck.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous9:29 PM, December 07, 2008
I accept your challenge. Utility companies are required by law to provide certain services (heat in mid winter for example)so that their customers wont die even though the customer isnt / doesnt / cant pay.ReplyDelete
Get off your high horse
- Anonymous8:10 PM, December 13, 2008
ya, but i bet it is not a commonality. Some poor souls have been known to accidently burn down their houses, apartments, trailors by lighting candles because electric is shut off. too sad.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous12:21 AM, August 09, 2009
true story:ReplyDelete
so I am caring for an illegal in El Paso at a government hospital and he had been in a wreck while driving here. He had no insurance. Furthermore he had not a pot to piss in nor a door to throw it out. So I asked him (he did speak English)what would have happened if he had been at fault. He said that the other guy "had insurance". I asked if he knew the guy's premium would go up. He looked baffled. After a few minutes he said..."shut up, you Americans have it so good over here you don't even know how good"...after all of the expensive stuff was done finally another civilian hospital took the guy. We were not even allowed to call the Mexican authorities on the guy.
So that is how the rest of the world views us I believe. They hate us until they need us. It is like that too with the people that voted for the president. The young crowd will love the system until they get placed in que at the end of the line when they are older.
To answer the question as to whether they are customers or patients let me leave you with this...a customer pays for services rendered. In my opinion if you are not paying then you are not a customer. Also, since the ones that aren't paying are likely the 40% of the population not paying taxes then they again can't say they paid for it in their taxes.
Remember the adage "those that can do; those that can't teach"...whether true or false it speaks of the academics that sit in their offices teaching medicine and maybe rounding once a quarter while they suck their hospital paycheck and work on their next publication. Don't try to steal from those of us out their that actually work for a living...Problem is that the government is asking those pukes how to fix the issue. They need to ask guys like me and you, with boots on the ground, how to solve it.
Youtube "Reagan on Socialized Medicine"...he says it best and he says it all...
Nope, they are not customers....they are patients...and since they are patients your model of not caring about the bill is the most ethical in my opinion too...it would however be nice if those we "served" had some respect for the man or woman who holds their lives in the palm of our itty-bitty hands...
Maybe we can some day soon realize that this holding hands nursing model of caring for patients and singing ballads over marshmallows and coco is not appropriate. Let's get back some good old fashion tort reform and bring back paternalism in medicine! Nice!
Thanks again...