Burlington Free Press: Jobs cut as FAHC reorganizes managers

Its about high time that Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) finally began cutting away at the fat where the fat lives, closer up to the top, where it always rises! (er, as in the cream always rises to the top and, the cream is where most of the fat is found of course [smile])

What took them so long?! Go figure!

One can only just hope FAHC will not simply be (eventually) increasing the salaries of the managers kept on, as well as the new additions possibly too, in this management reorganization of theirs; which would of course undo anything gained on the financial side -- as some are hoping, as is indicated within this particular Burlington Free Press (BFP) article (here).


For additional information concerning these matters, visit:

BFP FAHC Special Archive

FAHC Renaissance Project


For recent blog posts of mine concerning these and related matters, read:

Thursday, September 02, 2004: Jeff Danziger Editorial Cartoon re: Bill Boettcher's Yacht

Thursday, August 26, 2004: [FAHC]: Hospital's financial health ailing

Wednesday, August 25, 2004: The Hunt for Kittiwake

Saturday, August 21, 2004: Bill Boettcher got $750,000 and all I got was this lousy blog

Suicide Survivors

Groups form to bring light to the issue

Must-read article concerning suicide published in today's (Monday, August 30, 2004) edition of both the Rutland Herald (here) and Barre - Montpelier Times Argus, here.

For additional information concerning such matters, visit:

• if you are thinking about suicide ... read this first



• Vermont - Suicide Survivor Support Group information



• Vermont Suicide & Crisis Hotlines listing



• Vermont Psychiatric Survivors (VPS)



• Suicide Prevention Resource Center



• Suicide Prevention Action Network



• Samaritans (United Kingdom)



• NHT's Alternative Mental Health Resource Page

Make My Day!

Would you like to help make my day just a little bit brighter and possibly bring a huge smile to my face?

Do you think my blogs and blogging deserves to be nominated in a contest that recognizes best blogs?

If so, then please consider nominating the Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog in the:

Washington Post's Best Political Blog Contest

Right wing. Left wing. Indifferent. Irreverent. There's a blog for every taste, opinion and attitude. washingtonpost.com's 2004 Best Blogs - Politics and Elections Readers' Choice Awards is your chance to speak out and vote for your favorite politics and election blogs.

From now until September 3, we'll be taking nominations from the blogosphere on the best weblogs from this political season. Whose rants could give Dennis Miller a run for his money? Who's making the best use of the technology? Who will be around long after the hype has died down?

[...]

Mark your calendars
Nominations begin: July 26, 2004
Voting begins: September 27, 2004
Winners announced: October 25, 2004

[...]

Read the Washington Post's Best political blogs contest informational page in full, here.

If you should proceed to do this, please make sure it is for my unofficial Vote4Nader blog and, *not* this particular personal blog of mine, even though I do get political here as well sometimes -- the blogging I do on Norsehorse's Home Turf is of course not the same thing as being an outright political blog.

Thank you in advance for any consideration you may give to nominating Nader blog of mine in this best political blog contest.

Nominate the Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog today!

[FAHC]: Hospital's financial health ailing

Wow, is this timely or what?!

Speaking of Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) and, since what the article is about as well as the financial ails now faced by FAHC relate somewhat to the general nature of what my previous blog posts (i.e., The Hunt for Kittiwake and Bill Boettcher got $750,000 and all I got was this lousy blog) touch on, I wanted to call my blog's visitors attention to this article published in this morning's (Thursday, August 26, 2004) edition of the Burlington Free Press (BFP) (here):

Hospital's financial health ailing

Fletcher Allen asks regulators for 10 percent rate hike

By Candace Page - Free Press Staff Writer
Published August 26, 2004

Fletcher Allen Health Care will have a difficult time meeting its financial goals next year even with a 10 percent rate increase, Chief Executive Officer Melinda Estes told state regulators Wednesday.

"It will be very challenging to meet this budget. We will have to run a very tight ship," Estes said. "In slow months we will be under tremendous pressure to cut costs."

[...]

The hospital has been struggling to absorb the financial impact of its $367 million Renaissance building project, which has left the institution's balance sheet in a "distressed" situation, several regulators said.

[...]

Read the entire article, here.

Of course, as the article points out, the matter at hand is how FAHC will pay for its world class performance, which will be Bill Boettcher's and the former FAHC board's lasting legacy, monster of a Renaissance Project;
one that Vermont's health insurance rate payers as well as possibly tax payers and their grandchildren, etc., will be paying off for years to come.

No one ever bothered to ask if it could afforded, let along if it was needed or even justified.

Yet now Vermont is stuck with what has become a, now only just slightly downsized, humongous white elephant.

Amazing, simply amazing. Outrageous is a far better term for it however.

Hey, ya' know, it could always be named Boettcherville!

Doesn't that sound like a more fitting name for FAHC's Renaissance Project?!


For additional information visit the following:

BFP's special FAHC archive, here.

Vermont Health Care Administration Public Oversight Commission

Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration (BISHCA)


*Note*: added graphic (via here [edited]): last upupdated on Thursday, August 26, 2004 at 4:32 Pm [EDT].

The Hunt for Kittiwake

*Another Update*


Bill Boettcher,
former CEO of FAHC,
Skipper of the Kittiwake.
If you are a new visitor to my personal blog (i.e., short for Web log), including someone who came surfing in after being referred by this week's (August 25, 2004) edition of Peter Freyne's Inside Track column (scroll way down to the sub-heading of Boettcher’s Cruise, in which yours truly and this particular blog of mine was mentioned) published within Seven Days:

Welcome.

Interested in learning more concerning blogs and blogging? If so, visit my links page on the subject, here.

Of course, if you are either a regular reader of this blog or are otherwise someone who has visited here at least once before and, are revisiting yet again:

Welcome Back.

For anyone who does not know what Seven Days is, it is a weekly alternatives news, arts and entertainment publication out of Burlington, Vermont.

To read the previous blog post I blogged on Saturday (August 21, 2004), after having read the Burlington Free Press (BFP) article published last Friday, it is available here.

The BFP article has been recently archived within their Special archives concerning Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) and FAHC's Renaissance Project and is now available here.

For those who may be looking for the photo previously posted of Bill Boettcher's world class performance yacht Kittiwake, I am including it here:


(Photo via here)

If you have not already done so, make sure to visit Latitudes and Attitudes Magazine as well as the Valiant Yachts Website.

Lastly, for those new to this blog of mine or for those who are just not yet use to either my unique style of writing or my extremely dry sense of humor, it may help to read to my Blog Description.

As this same blog description was also audio blogged as well, if the computer you are using has the capability, you may also listen to it too:

In addition, to learn a little more about the blogger behind this blog, visit my about me page.

Thank you for visiting and reading my personal blog.

Enjoy!


*Update*:

Read another recent (Thursday, August 26, 2004) and related blog post of mine, here.


*Another Update*

Check out this blog post of mine posted on Thursday, September 02, 2004: Jeff Danziger Editorial Cartoon re: Bill Boettcher's Yacht


P.S.

By the way, the photo of Bill Boettcher that is plastered on the milk carton is via here (FAHC, The Sun,12/13/2000, No. 22).

The milk carton itself came from the one found on this excellent Website (right-hand column, about mid-way down the page): Gov. Howard Dean for President: a Satire, more or less, since 1998.


*Note*: last updated on Thursday, September 2, 2004 at 3:51 PM [EDT].

Scream

*Updated*

Just came across this item of hot news about a daring daylight robbery of two of Edvard Munch's most famous paintings from the Oslo Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway from today's online edition of the Toronto Star:

Scream bagged in brazen heist

[by] KRISTIAN KAHRS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

OSLO, Norway — Armed men stormed into an art museum today, threatened staff at gunpoint and stole Edvard Munch's famous paintings The Scream and Madonna before the eyes of stunned museum-goers.


Associated Press
Edvard Munch's famous paintings
"The Scream," shown in this undated
file photo, "Madonna" and others
were stolen from an art museum
Aug. 22.The thieves yanked the paintings off the walls of Oslo's Munch Museum and loaded them into a waiting car outside, said a witness, French radio producer Francois Castang.

Police spokeswoman Hilde Walsoe said several armed men threatened a museum employee with a handgun, demanding the two paintings, including one of four versions of The Scream - Munch's famed depiction of an anguished figure with its head in its hands.

[...]

The stolen Madonna was painted in 1893-1894. It depicts an eroticised Madonna with a blood-red halo in a dark, swirling aura. Munch later produced woodcut lithographs with a similar depiction.

There are four versions of The Scream. The Munch Museum has two of them - including the stolen one; a private collector owns a third, and the fourth is on display at Oslo's National Gallery.

"They were all painted by Munch, and they are all just as valuable," museum spokeswoman Jorunn Christoffersen said. "Still, these paintings are not possible to sell, and it is impossible to put a price tag on them."

It was the second time in 10 years that The Scream has been stolen. In February 1994, the version on display at Oslo's National Gallery was taken and remained missing for nearly three months. Police ultimately recovered the work - which is on fragile paper - undamaged in a hotel in Asgardstrand, about 65 kilometres south of Oslo. Three Norwegians were arrested.

At the time, investigators said the trio tried to ransom the painting, demanding $1 million from the government. It was never paid.

Munch, a Norwegian painter and graphic artist who worked in Germany as well as his home country, developed an emotionally charged style that was of great importance in the birth of the 20th century Expressionist movement.

He painted The Scream in 1893, as part of his Frieze of Life series, in which sickness, death, anxiety and love are central themes.

The National Art Museum owns 58 paintings by Munch, who died in 1944 at age 81.

Read the entire article, here.


*Update*

After having blogged this particular blog post, I went back to my blogging and related work on my Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog.

Later, while doing that, I received an e-mail from someone else from Vermont concerning a commentary they wrote in support of the Nader/Camejo 2004 Presidential campaign that was published today on the Press Action blog (here).

Eventually, during the course of visiting that particular blog, I happened upon this piece of interesting commentary written by art critic and underground activist Richard Oxman concerning today's heist of the two paintings by artist Edvard Munch: What a Scream!

It is such a small world, isn't it?!

Bear guzzles 36 beers, passes out at campground

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.

[...]

It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge.

Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.

They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.

Read this entire offbeat (short) news story, here.

[via evhead]

It was just too funny to resist blogging a post about that one.

Bill Boettcher got $750,000 and all I got was this lousy blog

(Photo via here)

Kittiwake, a Valiant 50-foot world class performance
cruising yacht, under sail. The Kittiwake, whose port
of call is listed as being Charlotte, Vermont, is owned
by William V. Boettcher, the former Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC)


*Yet Another Update*
[last updated on Thursday, April 28, 2005: added a link to my most recent blog post on the subject; see below @ *Yet Another Update* ]

[*Note*: There was *no* photo published along with the Burlington Free Press article, in either their online or print editions]

Burlington Free Press (BFP)
Burlington, Vermont
Former hospital CEO finds smooth sailing

Yachting magazine features spread on Boettcher's boat

By Stephen Kiernan
Free Press Staff Writer

Published August 20, 2004

The latest issue of "Latitudes and Attitudes" magazine features a story on a "world class performance cruiser."

Photos taken in Puget Sound of the 50-foot boat, made by Texas-based Valiant Yachts, show the vessel under sail, plus the main berth, galley, living room and electronic instrument area.

The pictures also show the stern, which reveals the boat's port of call: Charlotte, Vt.

The boat belongs to William V. Boettcher, former chief executive officer of Fletcher Allen Health Care, according to Valiant officials. While he was CEO, Boettcher spoke often of the boat he was having custom-made for himself.

Boettcher resigned two years ago amid a controversy that would claim the positions of many top executives and board members at Vermont's largest hospital.

The scandal involved allegations that Boettcher and other officials deceived regulators about the financing for a $55 million parking garage., and withheld information about the true cost of the $364 million Renaissance Project.

Fletcher Allen paid fines of $1.3 million as a result of the Renaissance Project scandal. A state and federal criminal investigation in the case remains ongoing.

Boettcher's severance package included a $750,000 retirement payment.

A new Valiant 50, depending on the amount of specialized equipment, ranges in price from $550,000 to $650,000, company officials said.

[...]

Read this entire must-read article, here (please note however that the link to this particular will only lead to this article for a period of seven days from the actual date of publication [i.e., 8/20/2004], as the BFP does not archive regular articles for beyond a week).

For additional information concerning these and related matters, go to:

• Burlington Free Press FAHC Special Archive, here.



• Latitudes and Attitudes Magazine



• Valiant Yachts Website



• Fletcher Allen Health Care Website



• Fletcher Allen: Renaissance Project Website

By the way, after all this with FAHC finally broke wide open (and Bill Boettcher was called back by the FAHC board of director from where he had been yachting on his boat out in the northern Pacific Ocean off of Canada or wherever he was and then he resigned with his big severance package in tow): Peter Youngbaer, the executive director of the Vermont Coalition of Disability Rights (VCDR) [who gave me advance permission to use his name here],

Bill Boettcher,
former CEO of FAHC
(via here; FAHC, The Sun,
12/13/2000, No. 22) had an excellent tee-shirt made up that said in big colorful bold letters:



Bill Boettcher
got $750,000
and all I got
was this
lousy t-shirt

Peter had brought his new tee-shirt along with him for show and tell when he attended the next FAHC board meeting, which is what he made the shirt for of course.

While it did not go over well with the board members present, it received plenty of laughter and Peter even got applauded from others in attendance, if I recall correctly from what I was told from certain people who were at the meeting.

Later, someone else had a small batch of knock-offs of that same tee-shirt made and kindly offered me one. It has been well worn by me over the last two years too, in fact the colored letters are beginning to fade quite a bit now.

Anyway, when I read the BFP article about the latest sighting of Bill Boettcher's yacht, I promptly located that particular tee-shirt and put it on, in fact it is what I am wearing as I am blogging this of course [smile].

Yet another tee-shirt that I have, this one also commemorating the longstanding battle between FAHC and Vermont's mental health community over FAHC's (now former) plans for its psychiatric unit(s), was obtained from the Vermont Association of Mental Health (VAMH).

That tee-shirt reads (however, the shirt actually features bold upper case letters):



Don't Mess With
Vermont Advocates for Mental Health
and
Substance Abuse Services

It just so happens that I had worn the VAMH tee-shirt the day before, as these type of shirts are usually only worn by me when there is an event that may be related to the issue the shirt is about or when I am down to my last clean shirts, the latter of which was the case yesterday (Thursday).

For some of the history and background information concerning this particular aspect of things, go to:

• Psychiatric News (May 18, 2001; Volume 36 Number 10; p. 9): Vermont’s New Hospital: Progress or Step Back?



• Psychiatric News (November 16, 2001; Volume 36 Number 22; p. 15): Psychiatrists’ Protest Raises Stakes on Unit’s Future



• Psychiatric News (June 7, 2002; Volume 37 Number 11; p. 1): Coalition Succeeds in Killing Controversial Vermont Hospital Plan



• Psychiatric News (June 21, 2002; Volume 37 Number 12; p. 1): Psychiatrists and Activists Make Big Difference in Vermont



• Psychiatric News (September 20, 2002; Volume 37 Number 18; p. 10): Hospital Gives Up on Plan To Segregate Psychiatric Care



• Psychiatric News (December 19, 2003; Volume 38 Number 24; p. 5): Psychiatrists, Advocates Secure Final Victory in Vermont



• Barre - Montpelier Times Argus (November 19, 2002): Dean says Fletch Allen management 'crooks'



• Seven Days (Burlington weekly alternative newspaper): Inside Track column, by Peter Freyne: Enron Medicine

(the above Inside Track column by Peter Freyne was from 2002 of course; exact date of publication is unknown. as this particular edition was published when the column was not yet archived, the column was cached and is hosted on this excellent site here)


*Update*

Fun Stuff: Search for Bill Boettcher and his 50-foot yacht the Kittiwake (in vain) from the comfort of your computer using these Webcams! [smile]:

• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Puget Sound Area Traffic Cameras Webcams



• Seattle Loftcam: Puget Sound Webcam



• Seattle: Eye of the Needle Webcam: Located on the roof of the Space Needle, 600 feet above Seattle. This Webcam can zoomed and moved around at will. Awesome!!! In fact, check out 3 notches to the right of -90 degrees West & zoom in (i.e., +), to the max possible and, in the upper view mode. Lots of Yachts, including sailing ones! Then try going 3 notches to the right of 0 degrees, max zoom in (i.e., +), however this time in the lower view mode. Yes, even more fancy Yachts.



• City of Seattle Traffic Webcams

Enjoy!


*Another Update*

Read another recent (Wednesday, August 25, 2004) blog post of mine on the subject: The Hunt for Kittiwake


*Yet Another Update*

Read another (Thursday, August 26, 2004) and related blog post of mine: [FAHC]: Hospital's financial health ailing

Plus, check out this blog post too (Thursday, September 02, 2004): Jeff Danziger Editorial Cartoon re: Bill Boettcher's Yacht

*Most Recent* (Wednesday, April 27, 2005): Bill Boettcher Gets 24 Months @ Federal Vacation Resort & Spa Center


*Note*: last updated on Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 4:58 PM [EDT].

An Open Letter to the Organizers of the *First-ever* Americans with Disabilities 2004 National Convention

*Updated*: with corrected contact information for convention organizers


On Monday (August 16, 2004) I received an e-mail from someone on my e-networks with a forwarded message announcing the first-ever Americans with Disabilities National Convention.

This convention is being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 18, 2004, where -- according to the convention's Website -- thousands are expected to attend because:

In this election year, people with disabilities want the candidates to know that our issues belong in the political forefront.

While a convention like this is good news to me, I have grave concerns that from what I could gather from what little information is available on their Website so far that they appear to be only inviting President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry.

Rather quickly, believing that there is still plenty of time for them to either provide more information if they have invited the *other candidates running for President*(1) in the general election or, if they have not yet done so, they could invite each of them to the 2004 convention: I wrote and send them an e-mail late the same day (Monday).

*(1): (i.e, only those 2004 Presidential candidates such as, for example, whom the Citizens' Debate Commission would consider as a candidates eligible for one of their organized debates when and if they were to hold one. read their criteria developed by the Appleseed Citizens' Task Force on Fair Debates, a project of the Appleseed Electoral Reform Project at American University Washington College of Law.)

Though I am sure the convention organizers are fairly busy of course, as I do not want to take the chance of them not getting around to my e-mail and the requests I have made within it, I am openly posting the e-mail of mine exactly as was sent to them below.

Whether you are a person with a disability or a friend, family member or service provider of someone who is or not and no matter who you may support as your chosen candidate for President in 2004 (if you have even reached a decision or are leaning toward one yet), if you believe that such a convention of Americans with disabilities should be fully non-partisan in inviting candidates for political office to their convention, please contact the convention organizers asap.

If you should be so inclined, the convention organizers contact information is as follows:

New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities


Mailing Address:
New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities
PO Box 700 , Trenton, NJ 08625-0700


Location:

Mary Roebling Building
20 West State Street, 7th Floor
Trenton, New Jersey
Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday

Telephone: (609) 292-3745
Toll-Free (Message Only) 1 (800) 216-1199
TDD (609) 777-3238
Fax (609) 292-7114
Email njddc@njddc.org

An Open Letter to the Organizers of the *First-ever* Americans with Disabilities 2004 National Convention

Major Concerns re: Americans with Disabilities 2004 Convention


Dear Americans with Disabilities 2004 Convention Organizers:

While as a person with disabilities, whom is an activist and has been very politically active as well, I welcome a national convention of, by and for people with disabilities such as you have in the works; it is with grave concern however that I am compelled to write to you.

Any organized national convention like this of, by and for people with disabilities should not be partisan in nature in any fashion whatsoever, whether it were by default or design: i.e., perceived or in actuality.

Such a convention should strive to be non-partisan in every fashion, both in spirit as well as in its true sense.

As it concerns the 2004 election and any candidates whom you invite whom is seeking election (or re-election) for (or to) any political office, please have this be done in a strictly non-partisan manner as it concerns the national convention for people with disabilities and any delegates whom may choose to attend and participate.

Right up front, in addition to what I have already mentioned about myself above, I am an Independent who is also a supporter of the Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo 2004 Presidential ticket: http://www.votenader.org/

In fact I even am the blogger of an unofficial Nader blog: http://vote4nader.blogspot.com/
-- "An *unofficial* blog in support of the 2004 Independent Presidential and Vice Presidential campaign of Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo, blogged for informational purposes by an Independent activist. This particular blog is *not* affiliated with the official Nader/Camejo 2004 campaign, nor does this blog or its blogger receive any funding from it."

The fact is that there are indeed several other candidates running in the 2004 Presidential race besides President Bush and Senator John Kerry or, even Ralph Nader for that matter.

No matter how certain people or even this particular convention's organizers may personally feel or believe about the 2004 Presidential race and what it at stake with it, those attending such a national convention deserve to hear from all of the candidates whom choose to actually attend.

Even though it may have not been necessarily by direct design, it is not a good or healthy start or sign to fail to be inclusive (even by default) and have only President Bush and Senator Kerry invited to be there.

If you have already invited the other 2004 Presidential candidates, that is good and to be commended, but it would then be important to include a link to each of their
Websites (including a photo too, if there is one available) as well. In addition, it would also be good to then include a way for people to write to them, as you have up for people to send letters to President Bush and Senator Kerry to urge them to attend the convention.

If you have not yet invited the other candidates, I suggest you do so asap. It is not too late.

Plus, what if only one or neither Bush or Kerry were to show up, at least then -- if other candidates showed up -- people in attendance at the convention would have an opportunity to hear directly from those Presidential candidates who bothered to attend -- especially since people usually do not get much of a chance to hear from or about such candidates in most cases.

As people with disabilities, we need to be a role model about the inclusiveness we as advocates, activists and ordinary citizens advocate and agitate for on a daily basis on every level of community and government concerning the rights and lives of people with disabilities.

How better to do that than by being inclusive of each candidate for the nation highest political office. Is this not the message we hope to send?

Do not convention goers deserve to hear from these other candidates as well? I certainly think they do.

Though there are of course those who do not take any but Bush or Kerry as serious contenders for the office of President, mostly due to their huge war chests and campaigns or because of how the Presidential debates are currently structured, it is vital that we as people with disabilities ensure that people have the opportunity to hear from all candidates running for President, not merely those considered to be the major ones.

Should not people have the right to choose and decide for themselves come the November general election?

Some may believe that only Bush and Kerry should be there because they will be the major candidates and the only one to debate each other, however in case you are not already aware of it, here is information about a Federal court judge's decision on late Thursday (August 12, 2004) on such matters (even if it may not effect this year's debates, it should still be heeded seriously):

Federal Court Rules That Commission on Presidential Debates is a Partisan Organization: http://www.votenader.org/media_press/index.php?cid=152

The case was Hagelin et al v. the Federal Election Commission, Civ. Act. No. 0400731 (August 12, 2004): http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04-731.pdf

For more information, the Citizens' Debate Commission is at http://www.opendebates.org/

While the convention may not be intended to be the same as a debate between the candidates necessarily (unless you hope to have the candidates debate that is) and would be more along an informative line, it would still be important to have any of the Presidential candidates there on equal terms as any other, no matter who they are or how major a candidate they are considered.

It is my hope and request that you address this matter and consider acting upon my above suggestions asap.

Sincerely,

Morgan
Morgan W. Brown
Montpelier, Vermont, USA

If you have made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my open letter and for your interest in these matters of critical import.

It is my hope that, if you are so inclined, that you will both pass the word around about this matter by sharing this information with others -- including by, if you have an established blog, blogging about it if you have a blog and linking to this particular post of mine if you do so -- as well as contacting the convention organizers asap, while there is still time to do as I am requesting they consider doing.

Thank you in advance for any consideration you may give to this crucial matter.

Convention Center Information:

Atlantic City Convention Center
One Miss America Way
Atlantic City, NJ 08041
Phone: 609.449.2000
FAX: 609.449.2090
info@accenter.com

PS

As I have just realized that I had mistakenly sent my above mentioned e-mail on Monday to the wrong e-mail address when I thought I was sending it to the convention organizers, I wanted to note that fact here and also mention that I will be e-mailing it to them shortly.

That said, this does not take away from these concerns and being two additional days late now, makes getting this matter out in the public eye through the means of an open letter even more crucial. My apologies for the error as I was confused by the information available on the Website and had not yet come across the information until only recently.

*Note*: corrected contact information for actual convention organizers: last updated on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 at 5:43 PM [EDT].

Press Action: Come November 2nd, What Will It Be for the Next Four Years? Burger King or McDonald's?

By Morgan W. Brown

What’s that sucking sound?

Yes, it’s the sound of yet another United States presidential election going down the drain as usual.

All brought to you by the major corporate political parties of the Republicans and Democrats, thanks of course to their little dog and pony (rubber-stamping) show conventions as well as their big fat cat financial contributors, who send them tons and tons of loot.

Read full article -->

Because:

For more concerning such matters, visit my Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog.

The Defiant One

The above linked blog post on Call Center Purgatory, is a definite must-read in my opinion.

This is particular is what I personally view as being Anonymous Cog's best blog posts to date.

The fact is however that they have actually blogged several excellent posts of high quality, rich in its deep, honest and sincere substance as well as being just a really good story, such as this one happens to be.


An Anonymous Cog
(via #1 Free Clip Art, here)


Call Center Purgatory is a blog which I visit as well as read on a regular basis and strongly recommend others do so too.

Read my blog profile of AC: Call Center Purgatory blog, which I blogged two months ago over on my Blogaholics Anonymous blog (that is temporarily on hiatus).

Highly Recommended: CNBC's McEnroe Talk Show

*Updated*


Myself, I am not one to do a lot of watching of television talk shows, though I may on occasion catch a little of one or two here and there when a TV is available to me anyway.

Recently, just last week actually, I watched the show (August 3rd, 2004), when Howard Dean was the featured guest and I believe that tennis legend [as well as International Tennis Hall of Famer (class of 1999)] John McEnroe's talk show is a rather good one, definitely worth watching.

If I had access to a television with cable (as CNBC only is available in this are via it) more often than I am now limited to (i.e., on those occasions when I can manage to arrange to hole up to rest, heal and clean up) , I would be a loyal viewer is possible for me to currently be.

The fact is that although I was never a big fan of watching tennis on television, unless I was in need of falling asleep anyway, McEnroe was among the few who could get me glued to the TV to watch his games and not because of what were considered his antics either. He was that good, at least in my opinion.

To my way of thinking, along with his superb talent and play, McEnroe brought a sort of working class ethic as well as plenty of raw heart, guts and passion to the game as well as the ranks of professional tennis during his years of active play.

John McEnroe is a very interesting person as well as having a dynamic and energetic personality. He certainly is someone who speaks his mind and does things in his own unique and talented fashion and I am glad that he finally has his own television talk show. It is about time.

In fact CNBC's McEnroe had Ralph Nader on as a guest on the show's second night of airing (the July 8th episode).

During an online news search this afternoon, I came across a Reuters article on Yahoo (here) today (Thursday, August 12, 2004) about the show's rather poor performance so far and am glad to learn that CNBC will keep supporting the show, because the McEnroe show is definitely well worth it in my opinion.

This excellent photo (below), which features Ralph Nader with John McEnroe on the show's set during taping, accompanied this same Reuters news story that concerns CNBC's McEnroe talk show and its poor performance among TV ratings so far.


[...] McEnroe is seen with Independent presidential
candidate Ralph Nader (L) during a taping of CNBC's
'McEnroe' show in New Jersey on July 8, 2004.
(Dave Allocca/Reuters)
[here]


And, from the Website of CNBC's McEnroe talk show, the following photo was found:


Ralph Nader's July 8th appearance on
CNBC's McEnroe talk show
(here)


It can of course take a lot of time for any given television talk show to gather a loyal viewing audience.

My hope is that CNBC will continue supporting the McEnroe show as I would like to be able to watch it whenever I have access to cable TV (usually when I hole up to rest and heal at a place I sometimes stay at when I can). I just wish I could have caught the show when Ralph Nader was on it.

Anyway, if you get CNBC on television and even if, like myself, you usually never watch television talk shows much if ever, I highly recommend watching CNBC's McEnroe.

Once a person watches it, they should not be surprised if they end up becoming a loyal viewer of a television talk show with a style of its very own.


*Note*: Made several edits, mostly minor in nature, for the purposes of clarification and readability: last updated on Thursday, August 12, 2004 at 9:12 PM [EDT].

Blogging Live from the Athens 2004 Olympic's

[via Blogger's most recent Blogs of Note, dated August 6, 2004 ]

Scott Goldblatt's Athens 2004 Olympic Journal.

Yet another 2004 Olympic blog of his can be found here.

3rd Year Med Student's Psychiatric Rotation 101 -- Illustrated

Just came across this

... illustrated story of a 3rd year medical student working at a psychiatric hospital pretty much details why sometimes our mental health system in the U.S. leaves something to be desired. Throw a medical student in with patients who have serious mental health needs who has little to no training and apparently only minimal supervision. Nice.

[via Dr. John M. Grohol's World of Psychology blog, here]

For those who may wonder about authenticity, check out this particular blog post here of Michelle Au's, who describes herself as a Pediatrics resident in New York City trying to get used to the idea of calling herself "Doctor" without using those finger air quotes.

Even more of Michelle Au's fine and, highly recommended, cartoon work can be found online at: scutmonkey.

Read her about me page, here. Visit her main (or introductory) page, here.

Is it real or, is it Prozac?

*Updated*


Ever wonder why so many Brit's, including none other than the (almost) ever-smiling Prime Minister Tony Blair, appear to be so happy and content as well as -- at times -- overly compliant [Tony Blair and his loyal followers anyway - (as in, wherever thou goest President Bush, I shall follow along with thee)] these days?

Me too.

Hmmm?!

It is enough to cause one to question ...


Is it real or,
is it Prozac?


After coming across this particular news item (here) on Dr. John M. Grohol's blog, World of Psychology, I may have happened upon one possible reason as to why the latter could just prove to be the case:

Stay calm everyone, there’s Prozac in the drinking water

It should make us happy, but environmentalists are deeply alarmed: Prozac, the anti-depression drug, is being taken in such large quantities that it can now be found in Britain’s drinking water.

Environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the revelations, describing the build-up of the antidepressant as ‘hidden mass medication’. The Environment Agency has revealed that Prozac is building up both in river systems and groundwater used for drinking supplies.

[...]

Read the entire article in the online edition of The Observer, here.

Yet, amazingly enough, I never did give a thought to the possibility that there could be something within their drinking water however.

In his blog post on the matter, Doc John had added:

What’s next, Haldol in our Coke-a-cola?

Hmmm. Scary thought. Hey, don't go giving them any ideas, okay Doc?!


*Note*: Made several edits -- mostly minor in nature, along with a few additions, for the purposes of clarification and readability: last updated on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 12:00 PM [EDT].

Cats & Dogs Conquer the Web

While there are many pet lovers who have Websites and blogs that either mention their pets or are devoted solely to them, Catster and Dogster are Web page communities offering current or former cat or dog owners a place online where they can provide a page complete with photo's and other information solely devoted to their feline and canine pet(s).

[via evhead]

Heading Out

Towards the end of my previous, lengthy, blog post I wrote (here) that on Tuesday (August 3, 2004):

... I am heading off to stay for a week someplace I hole up in when I can for as long as possible. This provides me with a place to rest and clean up, sleep in and get lots of privacy.

Actually, as it turns out, I was just able to arrange to head out that way today to begin my week-long stay.

And so, as I also had mentioned:

Of course, as some of the regular readers of this blog may be all too well aware, sometimes I do not even come into town at all and, as a result, do not get online for days at a time, sometimes longer.

This is due to my staying put when I really need to, once I have a place to stay in for a couple or more days. When it is for longer, it is even better for me of course. It is something too when I am off-line for a long spell, since I usually have lots to do online and when I am up to it anyway, it helps me cope with my situation a little better, sort of anyway.

[...]

That said, I have things to do in town that will case me to come in, so I will most likely be online sometime during part of the day as well as later in the week or otherwise whenever I am up to coming into Montpelier, getting online and doing the personal errands and other things I will have to get done.

If you have not already done so and if you are so inclined, make sure to check out my Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog, where not only was it completely redesigned over the weekend, but I have just added a great photo that if you have not seen it yet, you have to check it out (here).

Have Completely Redesigned and, Once Again, Begun Blogging my Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog

Have spend a good part of this weekend using the very good and plentiful online access I have had available to me of late to do a complete redesign of my Unofficial Vote4Nader Blog.

Actually I only started on it last evening (Saturday, July 31, 2004), after my first blog post, which was my first since way back in May. Then all of this morning (Sunday) and some of the afternoon was spent on other things.

One thing that helped a lot I think, was that I ended up being surprised by an offer a really good breakfast yesterday morning that gave me some much needed fuel and energy to get through the day in a little more solid fashion.

Then the fact that I have this place to myself -- for now anyway as well as the online access (broadband) being truly great most times when I have the time, energy and access to it here anyway, helps a lot as I am really slow and make tons of mistakes over and over.

So I am often having to redo stuff over and over again, more than some might believe. Plus I do not know as much about doing this as some may assume either, as I am clueless when it comes to the techie end of things.

The best I can manage to do is a little tinkering here and there and, if I am lucky, it may work and not mess everything up, which I have done several times. So I have to redo stuff more than some may believe. :-) [smile] (light laughter, as I pull my hair out)

That aside, I am quite pleased with how the redesign of my unofficial Nader blog came out, as I was able to accomplish to my satisfaction most of what I had previously envisioned doing, even if it has taken me quite a lot of hours to do so.

Mission accomplished! (applause)


It is really late now, so I have to get off-line soon and head over to where I am staying tonight, sleeping on a friends couch, before it gets much later.

Am badly in need of some sleep and also have to eat, as I never got around to having anything for supper, since I was deep into doing my blogging (re)construction work on that particular blog

On Tuesday (August 3, 2004), I am heading off to stay for a week someplace I hole up in when I can for as long as possible. This provides me with a place to rest and clean up, sleep in and get lots of privacy.

Of course, as some of the regular readers of this blog may be all too well aware, sometimes I do not even come into town at all and, as a result, do not get online for days at a time, sometimes longer.

This is due to my staying put when I really need to, once I have a place to stay in for a couple or more days. When it is for longer, it is even better for me of course. It is something too when I am off-line for a long spell, since I usually have lots to do online and when I am up to it anyway, it helps me cope with my situation a little better, sort of anyway.

One of the reasons I find my online work helpful is that I am not so isolated and have people to communicate with whom may have some interests in common, as I do not have all that many people around here I can say that for at times and those whom I do are usually far to busy or stressed out with their own lives and stuff.

So if I go quiet once again for a spell, as far as my blogging and e-mailing goes during some of this week and the next weekend anyway, the fact is I am most likely resting, healing and doing okay.

Speaking of it being August, I cannot believe that it is already. Yet I am glad about it in a way, because July and the two months before it were real tough one's to get through. Though, yes, I survived; if it can truly be called surviving, which is something I would like to be well beyond by now.

NYC Policeman Suspended for Being Compassionate

Must-read article published late last month in the New York Times concerning a:

Cop suspended for refusing to hassle homeless

by David Gonzalez,
The New York Times

June 26, 2004

As someone who believes Jesus Christ can be seen even in the grimy faces of those living in the city's shadows and crawl spaces, Police Officer Eduardo Delacruz says he obeyed a higher authority when he refused to arrest a homeless man in November 2002.

On the beat, however, the police commissioner trumps the Almighty, as Officer Delacruz learned when he was suspended for his action. Charged with refusing to comply with a lawful order, he faces a departmental trial in late July that could cost him his job and pension.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Officer Delacruz described himself as a religious man -- with an unblemished record -- whose attempts to temper his job with compassion collided with the department's zero-tolerance policy on homeless people. His lawyers argued that the department's homeless policy gave officers far less flexibility in negotiating with them, resulting in arrests for the most minor of infractions.

"I did not want to compromise my position," he said. "Now I was facing something that was hard to do from the beginning, which was locking up the homeless without giving them a fair chance."

Officer Delacruz, 39, has already served a 30-day suspension without pay and has been transferred out of the Homeless Outreach Unit. His wife and five children are uneasy about the future. What sustains him, he said, is his faith.

"What did St. Paul say? Fight the good fight of faith," he said. "I'm fighting for peace. To get back my life. I still have to deal with the possibility of being fired. All for doing something I believed was right."

To the Police Department, an order is an order, and officers are not given leeway to choose which ones they follow.

[...]

[mention of the above article, via a post on The Homeless Guy blog]


The original article can be found at the New York Times Website, here and is entitled: When Faith and Duty Collide.


This follow-up article published within the July 29, 2004 edition of the New York Times: Officer Tried for Refusing to Arrest Homeless Man [registration required].



Officer Eduardo Delacruz, walking
his dog outside his Staten Island
home yesterday, is sticking to
his principles.
(NY PostPhoto/William Miller)
[November 30, 2002]
(via here)


In addition, archived on the Common Dreams Website is yet another article, this one a reprint published in the Saturday, November 30, 2002 edition of the Los Angeles Times, originally published in the New York Times [photo above]: NYPD Officer Suspended After Refusing to Arrest Homeless Man.


For additional information regarding government sanctioned harrasment of people solely due to their housing status -- i.e., living homeless -- check out the following resources:


Illegal to be Homeless:
The Criminalization of Homelessness
in the United States. The 2003 report
includes the "Meanest Cities" in the U.S.
National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH)


The link above goes to a PDF version of the *entire* 2003 NCH report, accessible onle via a Adobe Acrobat Reader (Free software to view and print Adobe PDF files).

Certain *portions* of the exact same report can also be found on yet another NCH Web page, accessible in html format for easy viewing online, here.


National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project: In response to increasing civil rights abuses, NCH is coordinating a locally-based national movement to protect the civil rights of people who are homeless. Find out what you can do to help prevent and combat the violation of homeless people's civil rights.: (NHCROP)


Bringing America Home: the Campaign: This national, broad-based initiative is dedicated to the goal of ending homelessness. The Campaign is founded on the principles and action of public education, grassroots organizing and support for progressive policies and legislation. It is founded on the principles that people need affordable housing, livable incomes, health care, education, and protection of their civil rights. The Bringing America Home Campaign is composed of a variety of efforts that address these causes of homelessness ...



Hate Crimes: The 2003 Hate Crimes/Violence report, Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness.



The American Criminalization of Poverty: What do you get when you cross a booming national economy with homelessness? Fewer homeless people, right? Wrong. What you get, apparently, is not only greater homelessness, but also enactment, and greater enforcement, of laws and policies that criminalize poverty and homelessness. It is important to examine such public policy as a means of social control, instead of social change or improvement: by Dave Oehl: Peacework Magazine, February 2000


Outlawing Homelessness: Article by Kristen Brown: Shelterforce Online, Issue #106, July/August 1999: National Housing Institute (NHI)


The Criminalization of Dissent: A statement about the Santa Cruz Camping Ban & Conduct Ordinances: We of the Santa Cruz I.W.W. hold that recent attacks on poor, homeless and activist street communities are not merely the result of a local aberration. These attacks are part of a national effort to manage the radicalization and social protest of an increasing number of people experiencing poverty.: Industrial Workers of the World


Civil Rights: Challenging the "Criminalization" of Homelessness: The Civil Rights Project monitors and advocates nationally against local laws that "criminalize" homelessness by making it a crime to perform life-sustaining activities in public areas-- even when there are no private spaces available to the homeless person to perform these activities.: National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP)


The Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness: the plan that challenged America to change its thinking and pursue steps to go beyond managing homelessness to ending it in 10 years: National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH)


What You Can Do to Educate Yourself About Homelessness & Homeless People: Nothing beats talking directly to people who are or who have been homeless. You can arrange to meet with clients when you visit a facility or visit a location where homeless people congregate. Since there are many causes of homelessness we suggest that you talk to many homeless and formerly homeless people. This will increase your understanding of the issue and how we can end it.: National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH)