The Complication Edition

Most of you know by now, but there are still a few who haven't heard yet, so I'll repeat some info here at first and then try and update everyone where the situation stands today. A few weeks ago, Shell had an issue that required her to receive another ultrasound. This ultrasound revealed a complication with the pregnancy. The diagnosis is "vasa previa". Here's how it is described: (the squeamish may want to pass over the medical talk) Vasa Previa is a rare (1:3000), condition in which the fetal blood vessels, unsupported by either the umbilical cord or placental tissue, traverse the fetal membranes (bag of waters) across the lower segment of the uterus between the baby and the cervical opening. There are different types of Vasa Previa: Multi-lobed Placenta and Velamentous Insertion of the umbilical cord. Velamentous Insertion of the umbilical cord - Normally, blood vessels run from the placenta via the umbilical cord to the baby. Velamentous Insertion means that these veins travel across the amniotic membranes before they come together into the umbilical cord. Velamentous Insertion happens in 1-2% of all pregnancies. This is a delicate arrangement, but doesn't necessarily pose any threat (or symptoms, for that matter) during pregnancy. Multi-lobed Placentas - The lobes of bilobed and trilobed placentas are separated by a membrane and are of equal or near equal size. There is no certain information on how multilobed placentas are formed. Because a bilobed placenta in one pregnancy is followed by greater chance of bilobed placenta in subsequent pregnancies, it is possible that some multilobed placentas are genetic in origin. The umbilical cord most often inserts into the membranes between the two lobes of bilobed placentas but in about one-third of cases it inserts into the larger of the two lobes. Okay so now that we know what it is called and what happens here's some good news: The fact that we've received the diagnonsis ahead of time is a huge advantage. The pregnancy will not proceed as normal, instead Shell will be hospitalized at some point in the early third trimester (which beings at 28 weeks) and she and the baby will be constantly monitored. They will aid the baby's development, focusing on steroids to speed up the lung development, to insure the baby can survive for an earlier delivery. At some point, likely around week 35, they will perform a C-section to prevent the baby from dropping down and causing distress in the vessels. Most of the time this problem isn't detected until the baby is well on the way though the labor process and the rupture occurs. The way Shell and the baby will be cared for, they will simply rescue the baby before it can move into position. In the coming few weeks Shell will have another ultrasound which will determine the extent of the problem, and then we'll consult with an OB to determine how soon she will be put in the hospital and whether she can remain at home in bed for a certain portion of the early third trimester. The new ultrasound will likely be a color doppler ultrasound to show blood flow and directionality and give us a close-up of everything. Suffice it to say, the last few weeks have been stressful. Shell has been incredible however and has remained calm and confident. The baby is bouncing and kicking and letting us know its okay. Actually the other evening I had my hand on Shell's belly and felt the baby kick. Shell has reduced her activity level, though she is still working, she's on desk duty and at home she is couch or bed bound just trying to take it as easy as possible. Here either Shell is reading to Dixie or vice versa...I'm just not certain :) As you can see, Shell is doing fine and loves to show off her belly :) So what else is happening? I'm trying to finish up the semester, getting my remaining papers done and taking my finals (or as the Canadians say "writing my exams"). I had my first one yesterday and I'm not sure how I did because to be honest my head hasn't been in University with everything that has happened. I'll be glad when my last final is over and I can just concentrate on Shell, the baby, the house and work. We had a lovely dinner last weekend with Steve and Tara at the Cambridge Keg. After having to reschedule it a few times it was wonderful to finally be able to spend some time with them. The meal was great and Tara I'm sure had the perfect spot picked out in the restaurant, next to the fireplace...ah ambience. When we got home we had to make a special gift for Tara who loves Dixie so we took this picture for her Not to be outdone in the cute department, Willow and I played catch in the backyard today, the first sunny day in a week: As you can see...playing catch is hard work and very tiring And just to show you I don't just take photos of my wife and dogs...here's a nature photo for you. The tulips are blooming :) Well thanks to everyone in the last few weeks who sent along message of love and support. Everyone has been so wonderful...even Alex and his frightening Bozo hair :p Oh and I've written a couple of political essays for you in case you've missed reading them: The 2008 Election and Filibuster Myth Busting As always I welcome your comments and questions. Until next week, Cheers

Filibuster Myth Busting

Who ya gonna call? (Now I've got that stupid Ghostbusters theme in my head...and hopefully so do you!) Here's a rule of thumb when you navigate the political waters: When the Republicans all start saying the same thing repeatedly, it's time to investigate exactly what they are saying as they are likely parsing their words for a very important reason- that reason is they are probably lying. Much has been written about the filibuster and the changes the Senate Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist is proposing. Myth #1- The 'Nuclear' Option Of late the GOP has tried to insinuate into the argument that the phrase 'nuclear option' is a Democratic spin tactic used to scare the electorate into thinking the GOP is doing something drastic. Fact #1- The phrase 'nuclear option' actually comes from the mouth of former Senate Majority leader (and REPUBLICAN) Trent Lott who referred to rule changes as a nuclear option during the filibuster of Miguel Estrada in 2002. Mythbusting #1- The Republicans were trapped by their own demagoguery and realizing the phrase 'nuclear option' made voters believe they were radically changing Senate rules decided to slander the Democrats This lie falls under the rubric "Bold Face Lie". The sort of lie that rests on the lack of confidence in the listener to search the historical record. Myth #2- Judicial Filibustering has never occurred before. Frist put it this way: "In February 2003 the minority radically broke with tradition and precedent and launched the first-ever filibuster of a judicial nominee who had majority support." Fact #2- Lyndon Johnson appointed Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the late 60s. The nomination was filibustered. More recently, the GOP filibustered Clinton nominee Richard Paez. One of the Republicans involved in the filibuster?? On March 9, 2000, Frist participated in a filibuster of Richard Paez, President Clinton's nominee to the Ninth Circuit. Mythbusting #2- What??? Yes see this falls under the parsing words section. Frist and the GOP say that Clinton's nominees weren't blocked, as 10 of Bush's nominees have been and that all of Clinton's nominees received an up or down vote. Technically this IS true. Why?? Because those GOP Senators who wanted to block Clinton nominees, and filibustered their votes, were unable to stop 60 other Senators from voting for cloture (the process that ends debate and sets up the up or down votes). So actually what bothers Frist and the GOP rule changing crowd is that they can't muster 60 votes to bring about cloture NOT that judicial nominees are filibustered. Hence the rule change that would reduce the number of cloture votes necessary to end judicial filibusters. Myth #3- Democrats are blocking Bush judges out of partisanship Fact #3- Democrats have actually allowed votes on over 219 of Bush's nominees to the courts, only 10 have been effectively filibustered and of those ten 3 have been removed from the process (so only 7 of Bush's nominees are currently being blocked). Mythbusting #3- 219-7 wow THAT'S some nasty partisanship. In reality, the minority party is using Senates rules which have been used before, to not allow the most right-wing judicial activists from being put on permanent positions on the bench. This is one of those hypocritical lies where you accuse someone of doing what you are doing. The right wing of the GOP proclaim they are tired of judicial activism, but what they are really tired of is LIBERAL judicial activism...RIGHT-WING activism is just fine with them. Myth #4- Changing the Filibustering Rules is a 'Constitutional' Option. Fact #4- While it is completely within their constitutional rights as the majority party to change Senate rules (since the Constitution does not place legal limits on Senate rules procedures), those who framed the Constitution feared above almost everything else, the sort of one-sided control the GOP is currently attempting to install. Mythbusting #4- So the real evil today's society is activist judges...Here's what Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist #78: The independence of judges is equally requisite to guard the constitution and the rights of individuals from the effects of those ill humours which the arts of designing men, or the influence of particular conjunctures, sometimes disseminate among the people themselves, and which, though they speedily give place to better information and more deliberative reflection, have a tendency in the mean time to occasion dangerous innovations in the government, and serious oppressions of the minor party in the community. So Hamilton is clearly articulating the necessity of the judiciary to confront the overreaching tendency of activist legislation. This is the checks and balances of the Constitution. The judiciary checks the rampant "ill humour" designs of Congress violating the Constitution, and the legislature checks the judiciary by advise and consent of their appointment (and the power of impeachment). Yet the advise and consent, and the impeachment power have a higher threshold (super majority votes) to insure against political retribution and ultimately the independence of the judiciary. It would seem to me that Mr. Frist, Mr. DeLay, and their friends like Dr. James Dobson and his right-wing fundamentalist relgionists seeking a theocracy could do with a refresher course in the Constitution. Ultimately Frist and his friends might succeed in changing the rules in the Senate if they have the simple majority votes. Yet the hubris of a certain faction of the GOP that believes their birthright of rule will result in continued control of government will eventually cost them because at some point either soon or in the future they will again be the minority party and will be forced to live under the extreme rules they today create.

The Sunburn Edition

It's been such a lovely week here in So. Ont. sunny and warm-ish. I even have softball practice this Sunday. I guess this 'end of winter' isn't just a mirage after all. Last weekend we had a little cookout for my USA300 class and both my profs, Rick and Chris, as did my pals Alex and Jen. Renee, who has had Rick as a prof before as well came out for a little reunion. Luckily the backyard was in semi-good shape and though we're overdue for building a deck, the patio managed to suffice. It is still too early for the garden, though we do have a few little buds starting to peek through the grounds. Alex of course never misses a chance to mug for the camera: Dan and Trish, Mike and Zara came later and we had a nice evening watching Harry Potter and raiding the ice cream freezer in the basement. I was probably a poor host by then as I was fighting my spring cold AND a wee bout of sunstroke I think I received earlier in the day. I looked like a tomato and I felt like a stewed one. Sunday was our 2nd anniversary and we spent the day relaxing and recovering from the party. Shell sat outside and lounged with Dixie. I got her a necklace and earrings that she really loved and she got me the golf lamp for my golf room. Right now my mother-in-law is probably shaking her head and laughing at such a decorative nightmare (I know this because her daughter did roughly the same thing when we first saw it at Home Depot)...but I LOVE IT!!!! Tuesday Shell and I had another midwife appointment. The baby's heart rate was 144 and all the test results for potential problems came back with great numbers so we're feeling pretty good about everything. Want to see a pregnant lady?? Since classes are done I had Monday and Tuesday off and spent a great deal of it out in the sun with dogs. Dixie was looking in the neighbor's yard for Sheba, the Doberman that lives next door. While Willow and I played frisbee until she eventually wore out Of course by the end of the day Will was just exhausted and collapsed in a pool of her toys in front of my office door So life rolls merrily along as I prep for my finals and work in the ice cream mines, try to keep up with the house and yard, and look after my wife and the little gator. In the meantime I'm doing lots of reading. I'm just finishing Jeffrey Toobin's book about the Starr Investigation called "A Vast Conspiracy". I've read several books on the Clinton scandals and by far this is the most balanced. Toobin pretty much takes everyone to task but in a clear and legally informed manner. I've got lots of stuff I want to read this summer as well. There's a Nixon book Shelley bought me a few months ago, and a few things I have to read in prep for my research trip to South Carolina. I was listening to Tony Kornheiser this morning and they were talking about a party last night in Maryland at George Will's house that was attended by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and Vice President Dick Cheney. An emailer wrote in to ask: "If Angelos, Selig and Dick Cheney were all at this party, who was guarding the gates of Hell?" Now THAT'S funny!! So did anyone catch Tiger win his 4th Masters? Shelley actually watched a bit of it with me on Sunday, she had just popped in downstairs and sat down when Tiger hit the chip in on 16. She nearly jumped out of her chair. What a fight Chris DiMarco put up though! He's one of those second tier players that will likely win a major at some point because he's really good and a streaky type of golfer, so he could get really hot on a weekend and win a Masters or a US Open. It's time to get back to studying... Cheers

2008: A Look Ahead

I decided the other day that I hadn't written anything meaningful, politically, since last November. There has been a great deal to write about but I didn't have anything significantly thought-provoking beyond just my personal commentary on issues of the day (and just how pretentious does that sound anyway). Since I know many people skip over my old end of post political commentary I decided to just throw some small essays up individually, as I had done sporadically in the past, on a more regular basis. Considering that politics is what drives me, and I've enjoyed bridging the gap between my Canadian readers and my American readers, I'll try to do some more comparitive studies in the future as well- though I must confess that my knowledge base in Canadian issues is not as well grounded as I'd like it to be (at least historically base knowledge). I thought I'd start sort of where I left off, with a look ahead to 2008 and the next Presidential election, especially since there has been some significant movement on the part of many players. The GOP is more intriguing so I'll begin there. For the last six years, every word from the Vice President was rather forceful that he had no ambition to seek the Presidency. But lately there has been some minor rumbling that perhaps he is rethinking this position. A Cheney run would instantly stall many other GOP plans since he would take up a sizeable portion of fundraising that many are counting on in an 'open' race. A Cheney nomination is hard to predict since his health would be a chief issue, but to many die-hard Bush supporters it would be seen as securing the Bush legacy. For the moment, the safe presumption is that he won't run, but he remains a factor. The leading candidate is probably Rudy Guiliani. He, and probably he alone, has enough to win despite some of his more moderate positions that clash with the right-wing religous conservative base. The more pro-life, pro-evangelical candidates he faces early in the process the better since a split in that vote, alongside his moderate "voice of reason" stance could lock up the nomination rather easily. By the same token, the less moderate GOP faces in the race, the better his chances as well. If Sens. McCain and Hagel opt not to run, Guiliani can run to the center and place himself in an excellent position for the national campaign. The rest of the field reads like a who's who of Republican Senators. Current Majority Leader Bill Frist (TN) is almost assuredly running. He has already announced that he won't seek re-election in 2006, and will likley focus on the nomination without the baggage of 2 years of Senate votes that other candidates will endure. Frist has been pushing hard to gain the confidence of the religous right base of GOP primary voters through his role in the Schaivo case, and his insistence on changing the filibuster rules in the Senate to push through Bush's blocked judicial nominees, and perhaps open the way for a more right-wing nominee to the Supreme Court. Because of the grass roots power of Evangelical conservatives in the GOP, Frist has a strong hand to play in the race. Rick Santorum (PA) is another Senator who has practically announced his intention to run. Santorum is the darling of religious conservatives and probably has more bona fides with them that does Frist. Santorum, however, faces re-election in 2006 and is likely being challenged the very popular pro-life Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. A Santorum loss would probably doom his chances for the party nomination. George Allen, Jr. (VA) is mulling a run as well. He too could battle Frist and Santorum for right wing votes in the primaries. Allen also faces re-election in 2006 and looks safe unless current Virginia Democratic Governor Mark Warner challenges him (Warner himself is mulling a presidential bid). John McCain (AZ) looks like he could challenge once again. The darling of the moderates in the GOP and national independents, McCain is a lightning rod. In my opinion he represents the strongest potential nominee to take on the Democrats in the general election, but his individuality and status as a non-ideologue dampens his chances to win his party's nomination. Likewise Chuck Hagel (NE). A moderate mid-western Republican, Hagel is seen as too willing to compromise (a true uniter not divider) by the far right-wing. A McCain-Hagel ticket I think has the potential to be unbeatable in a national election. But the GOP base which selects the nominees would have to prove a heavy dose of pragmatism that in the last few years has been absent. Outside possibilites are Jeb Bush and Condi Rice. The Democratic field is clearly led by Senator Clinton (NY). If she chooses to run, which looks more likely as time passes, she is the prohibitive favorite. She's extremely popular with the left wing base of the party, and has the fundraising capability of putting herself several steps above her opponents. A large field could work in her favor, splitting the "anybody but Hillary" voters, but could also turn out to be a chance to pile-on (similar to what happened to Howard Dean in the lead up to Iowa). Clinton's chances are very much tied with her fellow New Yorker Guiliani. In current polling she loses New York to Guiliani which makes winning the electoral college extremely difficult. John Edwards has been running for the nomination from the second the networks called the election for Bush. In a large field, Edwards faces the same problem he faced in the 2004 primaries- too many alternatives. In my post-mortem of the 2004 race, I noted how the candidacy of General Wesley Clark doomed Edwards chances, by splitting the conservative Democratic votes and keeping Edwards from earning Oklahoma and perhaps some other states in the race against Kerry. The sooner the race becomes Edwards versus Hillary the better for him should people decided Clinton can't win a national race against the GOP. Sen. Evan Bayh (IN) is a conservative Democrats who hails from a traditionally Republican state. A proven winner among independents and conservatives, Bayh is the sort of Democrat who would do better outside of the party nomination. If Hillary is deemed to radioactive, and Edwards seen as a failed national candidate, Bayh could secure some support. Sen. Joe Biden (DE) is a talented politician with a disarming personality. In practice he's very much like a Democratic version of John McCain. Unfortunately he offers little in the way of electoral math coming from a small state in the mid-Atlantic. In my opinion, though I like Biden a great deal, he'll never win the nomination. Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) another centrist from the midwest, Feingold has little national exposure other than his name attached to the key piece of campaign finance legistlation. Gov. Tom Vilsack (IA) was considered for the Vice Presidential slot in 2004. Though he probably lacks the sort of national name recognition that Clinton and even Edwards have, the fact that he hails from the first caucus state means he has a step on the rest of the contenders. Gov. Ed Rendell (PA) is a popular governor from a large state. In any other election cycle he would make an ideal candidate, however in a crowded field, dominated by Clinton, this might be the wrong time. Other notables Govs. Mark Warner (VA) and Bill Richardson (NM) Heading into the election in 2008, clearly Guiliani and Clinton dominate the field. Many in the media salivate at the match-up, which was supposed to happen in 2000 until Guiliani dropped out when diagnosed with cancer. That contest that never was actually led to Guiliani's remaining in the Mayor's office on 9/11 which brought him to instant national exposure and popularity. A Guiliani vs Clinton presidential campaign would probably cost the Democrats New York and throw off the electoral count to the benefit of the GOP, making it virtually impossible to win. Of course Clinton is married to the greatest politician of the generation and if anyone can overcome conventional wisdom it's a candidate named Clinton. For the first time in many years New York would be a swing state (THE swing state). At least it would be interesting to watch.

The It's A ......? Edition

What else to expect from my child? The baby was swimming and jumping and kicking and waving arms, everything except showing us the money shot. So we don't know and likely won't (save another ultrasound) until he or she makes their appearance in a few months. I'm throwing things open to votes, so far I have 3 votes for a girl, 1 vote for a boy. It was really amazing to finally see some movement and see the heart actually beating. Classes are done for the semester for me now and I've got some papers to finish in the next 2 weeks and then I have finals at the beginning of May. Then it's all about the summer and working and doing some research for a paper for next year. This weekend we're having a get together for my USA300 class. Lots of really bright people who are interested in America!! It was a wonderful class, with incredible discussions that staked out different opinions, and usually (looks at Alex) was conducted in a civil manner. We're very much looking forward to having some new friends over and also 'Hey Kids, it's going to be sunny and warm!!!' Shelley had a break in her constant sickness to actually work on another reno project. We finally got the basement done. WOOHOO. There's some still little bits unfinished, like frames for a lot of the pictures, but it is so cool down there now I just never want to leave :) So here's some before and after renovation pictures I think you'd agree that it's quite a dramatic change! Here's some special bits that Shell put in for me as well My putting green- The bar- I guess you can see the theme :) I absolutely LOVE it. Well this Sunday Shelley and I will celebrate our second anniversary (or I should say our second AMERICAN anniversary since we will also celebrate our second CANADIAN anniversary in August). As should be obvious to everyone, I'm disgustingly in love with my wife. She's my partner, my beloved, and my hero. She works so hard so that I can go to school and chase this dream. She puts up with a torturous commute so we can live in a quiet little town. She does everything she can for our little growing family. She's the best and as I've said a million times before- I'm one lucky man. So Happy Anniversary to my sweet Baboo :) A few other notes of congrats: A happy anniversary to James and AJ on Monday! Congrats to Tara who is officially an RN!!!! (Tara, I've got this little pain in my shoulder...) :P How 'bout my Tar Heels!!! Until next time, Cheers

The April Fools That Almost Was Edition

As anyone who knows me well can attest...I like a good joke. Some will say I *AM* a good joke, or a bad one God played on the world years ago...but let's leave my parents and their insults out of this. No I do love a good joke. Especially when they are well played and of course at someone else's expense. You know what I say, "If you can't make fun of yourself...make fun of other people" (It's my *way*) Dating back to last year I began formulating a wang-doodler of an April Fools joke. You can't wait until the last minute to pull your prank...just look at the 2000 election! No. Great fool playing takes months, even years to be successful...see the 2004 election!!! Anyway, I had decided that my vict...er, "jokee" would be my father-in-law (who is now reading this and writing me out of the will...sorry, Dad) See I figure of everyone in the world he, above all others would really appreciate a good prank (is the sucking up working??) Such a wise and intelligent person as he, would see the care and love put into the prank and therefore feel the level of respect that one must have to play such a great joke on another (okay I think I've carried the sucking up too far haven't I?) So the joke was going to be this...I was going to convince my father-in-law that my wife after working on her current show, and given its subject matter, had decided that we were going to move to Florida to go to Clown College!!! This was pure genius because it followed all the great points that a true April Fool prank needed: Rule #1- Just far-fetched enough to get the person to be disbelieving at first (this is called 'baiting the hook') but then sickeningly real when the 'joker' plays it completely straight ('reeling in the fish') Rule #2- A "somewhat" plausible idea. I mean if I said she wanted to be a LION TAMER then clearly the ruse would crumble because as everyone knows my wife is afraid of lions...or that could be me. I get confused. The point is that while strange, Clown College is SOMETHING she could be good at. You should see her in floopy shoes and wielding a seltzer bottle...it's frightening...frighteningly FUNNY!!! At this point I break in to remark the obvious...that merely being married to me is, in itself, a daily session of Clown College, but I digress... Rule #3- Good acting on the part of the joker (this is where my skills on the stage come in handy...who can forget my starring role in the Point O' View Elementary production of The Emperor Has No Clothes?!?!) Rule #4- Hmmm...how to broach this one...the uh..."gullibility" of the jokee. (see I'm screwed again with the will thing) Finally, Rule #5- Props and here is where my plan derailed. See I was going to contact the Ringling Bros Clown College in Tampa and get information and brochures and application materials. I was going to make this look as legit as possible (and full disclosure...when I brought up the topic initially with my wife she did not, repeat NOT, try and talk me out this gag...though she 'might' have been asleep in the car when I told her about it...but I think she was on board and just merely maintaining "plausible deniability") Well, as it turns out...R&B closed down the Clown College several years ago in 1997 (which by the way is the same year Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz helped found the Republican thinktank, Project for the New American Century...hmmm clown training-ground closes down, neo-cons form policy group...coincidence? you decide.) Anyway, long story short...I couldn't get props for the joke. And if there's one thing I learned from the genius that is Carrot Top...there's just no 'funny' without a good prop in your hand. So I gave up my brilliant plan to fool my down-to-Earth, work ethic father-in-law that the apple of his eye had lost her freakin' mind and decided to join the circus!!! The universe had conspired to crush my grand design. But...as it turned out it was all for the best. He probably would have NEVER believed the story once Shelley got pregnant. So instead of hours and hours of hilarity that would have ensued from my big April Fools joke, I'm going to be a Dad instead... Which is probably God's ultimate April Fools prank on ME! Thanks, God! I'm writing you out of the will!!!! Cheers