Japanese Impersonators do "We are the world"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36w-CyqCO1A

Star Wars, as interpreted by a 3 year old

Bless.

Political Wives

Yet another sex scandal has "rocked" US politics - surely they would be used to it by now, and all this "rocking" would be unneccesary.

Anyway NY Govenor Eliot Spitzer, who campaigned strongly to ban prostitution when he was District Attorney, was found to be spending huge amounts of money on high class escorts.

That in itself is no big deal. A lying politician? I'm shocked.

It's poor Mrs Spitzer, who despite any actual feelings, has to publicly stand by her man, as have Hilary Clinton, and many other wronged political wives. In no other profession would the wife, who had just been cheated on, be expected to put on a brave face and smile for the cameras, supporting her no-good piece-of-poo husband. Indeed, even in the article in The Age (click here), it seems Mrs Spitzer does not even have a given name. (I had to eventually go to Wikipedia to find out her name as it was in none of the news articles I read. Her name is Silda.) Poor woman.

So Mrs Spitzer stands there while a contrite Govenor Spitzer resigns and apologises.

As a reward she should be able to flog him publically. Then again, perhaps not: he might like it.

"Woman sat on toilet seat for two years"

A woman in Texas has spent two years sitting on the toilet. Her boyfriend would ask her if she wanted to get up and she would say "maybe tomorrow". He would bring her food and water. TWO YEARS!!! Her skin had grown around the seat. The boyfriend finally rang an ambulance - and they had to cut the seat off and send it with her as it was attached to her body. Her leg muscles had atrophied. See The Age article here. The boyfriend has not explained why he took two years to call.

The questions I have are:

1. TWO YEARS?!?!?!?
2. What made him suddenly decide something was wrong?
3. Why didn't he just pick her up, like 729 days earlier, and remove her from the toilet?
4. Why wouldn't she move? Was there some medical event that occurred whilst on the toilet that was never treated? A stroke maybe? Or was it just a really good book, and she couldn't put it down?
5. Where did he go to the toilet?
6. Why did no one else move her from the toilet or even notice her lack of presence? Did they have no friends? Family? Visitors?
7. Why did he collude with her, by bringing her food and water? And not for a brief period of time - but for TWO YEARS!!!!!

I just don't get it.

Public Versus Private

After spending 8 hours last Friday waiting in Private hospital waiting areas, waiting to get Debra a bed (she had an infected toe), I have noticed some similarities and differences between public and private hospitals.
Sames:
1. Your very existence is an annoyance to every employee of the hospital.
2. If you need to attend two different departments within the same building, they will be as far apart as possible, requiring maps, directions, a small packed lunch and bread crumbs ala Hansel and Gretel to find your way out again.
3. The bigger the hospital, the better the coffee. I would never upset my Zouki coffee overlords by suggesting Hudson's at Knox Private did better Vanilla Lattes, but they did have a third size cup, as big as you would get at a proper retail outlet. It wasn't the trough of coffee I have always dreamt of, but it was close. And it was very nice. But Zouki coffee is the best of course, and my weekends would be unbearable without it. Yay Zouki.
4. Hospital food is hospital food, regardless of where you are.

Differences:
1. Magazine quality. In a public hospital waiting area you will find New Idea, Woman's Day, Take 5, That's Life. If you are in a really classy public hospital you may even find a Marie Claire. In a private hospital waiting area there are magazines I had never heard of - Golfing Digest, Architect Monthly, Vogue Living. In a really low class private hospital, you might find Marie Claire. It seems MC swings both ways.
2. Obvious differences in clientèle. It seems if you afford private health insurance, you can afford clean thongs.
3. You might be looked at with the same disdain, but at a private hospital they will see to you a little faster, because there is actual power in your complaints.

So Debra is home now - five days in Ringwood Private. Her toe is better and hopefully it will be a while again before I have to be reminded of the joys of being on the "wrong" side of the healthcare system, public or private.