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Who Killed Natasha Richardson?
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Mar 31, 2009 5:11 pm
1990 Views
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The stage and film star Natasha Richardson died recently from what coroners now report should have been ridiculously easy medical treatment to save her life.
As was widely reported Ms. Richardson fell and struck her head while skiing on a beginner's trail at a resort approximately one hour's drive from Montreal, Canada. As is typical in these cases, Ms. Richardson initially declined medical treatment but fell ill an hour after the incident.
Ms. Richardson was driven to a local hospital where doctors decided that they were not equipped to treat that level of injury (they had no MRI equipment) and she was then transported by ambulance to the regional hospital which was about an hour away. By the time Ms. Richardson arrived at the regional hospital she had become un-conscience which is said to be key in these cases.
While at the regional hospital doctors determined that she had a subdural hemorrhage (bleeding on the brain) that was too far gone. It had been 6 hours since the accident and once she fell into a coma the chances of survival were minimal.
It must be noted that Natasha Richardson arrived at the local hospital in Quebeç awake and responsive. But there was no air ambulance available to her. According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, the entire province of Quebeç has no air ambulance service available and their health ministry has no plans to acquire any.
All this in one of Canada's more densely populated provinces. All this within minutes flying time of Canada's second largest city.
No one will ever know with 100 percent certainty, but it seems extremely likely that had this accident occurred in almost any part of the U.S.A., Natasha Richardson would be alive today. CT and MRI scanners are much more widely available in the United states than in Canada.
Under the CanadaCare system they have decided to have such diagnostics more centralized. That means Canadian patients are required to travel to the larger regional medical centers.
I do not write this to attack our Canadian brothers and sisters. I have no problem with them. I have a problem with their system. And I have a problem with American leftists and other naive citizens who want to copy the system of that country and others.
I have said that there is room to improve the American system of health care. Our politicians need to work on making health care more affordable and easily available to all. But the idea of nationalizing our system is absurd and simply not thought out. Those who propose to have the government control our most precious commodity, our health, are playing with fire.
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10
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☑ He Touched Your Ass
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Mar 30, 2009 12:27 pm
2727 Views
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Okay, here's the set up:
You are standing on a very crowded bus. By luck, a hottie is pressed very close to you. Suddenly you feel his hand on your butt. You know no one else can see this.
What do you do?
☐ A. I do nothing and let him have at it
☐ B. I grab his hand and push it away
☐ C. I tell him out loud to stop
☐ D. I pull the emergency brake
☐ E. I get off at the next stop and hope he follows
☐ F. I start groping his bum
☐ G. I quickly jot down my number and give it to him.
☐ I. Other (please explain)
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20
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The Henry Street Blues
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Mar 25, 2009 7:59 pm
2058 Views
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George Weber, the ABC radio network and former WABC radio announcer was found dead this past weekend in his Henry Street apartment. His body was discovered half nude and had approximately 50 stab wounds. He would have been 48 yesterday.
Henry Street in Brooklyn is a very well known residential street running from Brooklyn Heights in the north through Cobble Hill and Carrol Gardens and into Red Hook to the South. The entire street is considered to be a very desirable address.
Henry Street looks like well, Brooklyn. With it's Brownstone homes its just how you pictured Brooklyn. Especially in film. And the street and surrounding areas have been used in countless movies through the years.
My grand parents live in the Cobble Hill section of Henry Street but it happens that the grocery store and bakery they shop at are in Carroll Gardens a block away. So I wind up going that way an awful lot when I visit them. My grand parents pointed George Weber out to me on his stoop several years ago. It's not that he was a big star or anything. but it was interesting to see him after hearing him on the radio only a few hours earlier.
One weekend when I was around 16, I was in the Mazzola Bakery (this place is awesome. It is also famous from the Movie Moonstruck with Cher and Nickolas Cage) picking up loaves of italian bread for lunch. And into this tiny bakery walked George Weber. I don't know why I said it but I said to him, 'hi Mr. weber. Nice show yesterday'. And I hadn't even heard the show. lol. Just as I thought how dumb I would look if he told me he wasn't even on the air yesterday, he turned to me and said, "well thank you young man. Are you from the neighborhood?".
My gay-dar went off right there. LOL I told him I was just visiting and paid for the bread and left. But from then on we did greet each other in passing. I never felt George Weber ever hit on me, but he did make it sort of obvious that he was gay.
This morning it was announced that the nearby 76th Precinct had arrested a 16 year old boy for the killing of Mr. Weber. Of course every citizen must have his day in court but the evidence, according to the press, does look conclusive. They found the boys info on Weber's computer. They met on Craigslist. And the kid apparently got cut in the struggle so his blood is in the apartment.
The press has not mentioned whether George Weber was aware that the boy was only 16 and what, if anything the boy agreed to do with him in the apartment.
It seems this case is the talk of the town for now. My grand parents as well as many in the neighborhood are shocked. No one there can recall of ever hearing of a murder in that area even though this was once Gambino crime family territory.
I suppose we will find out what really went down in that Brooklyn Brownstone last weekend. It's pretty sad though and it makes me think of how dangerous it can be hooking up on line or in person. You never know what psycho case you may wind up with in your house.
Guys, be careful out there.
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King Arthur and the Black Knight
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Mar 18, 2009 11:26 am
1840 Views
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People either love or hate the humor of Monty Python. Either you get it or you don't. I happen to love that British style of humor that is so silly (or stupid), that's it's hysterically funny.
In the cult film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the lead character, King Arthur is hopping around on foot through the forests with his escort on imaginary horses. They meet the infamous Knights Who Say "ni" who as their name says, will shriek "ni" until their prey obey their demands.
Just the idea that grown men can act so preposterously, is what makes the humor of Monty Python's Flying Circus so funny to their fans.
Others simply roll their eyes at the idiocy of it.
What brings me to Monty Python at the moment is something that has been occurring on this site for some time now and I think the Holy Grail movie is a perfect metaphor of it.
In the movie, King Arthur is confronted on his journey by one of film's villains, the Black Knight who threatens, rants and hurls insults at him. In their fight with broadswords, the Black Knight gets one arm lopped off. Instead of giving up the fight he continues his arrogant rants and verbal attacks whereby he gets a leg chopped off.
Still cursing (and fighting) the severely wounded knight winds up on the ground with just a head and torso refusing to give up and still cursing and ranting at King Arthur.
As I said, it reminds me of a situation on OP at the moment.
And if you're not familiar with Monty Python, there is plenty on the web to see. The imagery is very scary seventies but despite that there is a small following by my generation. You'll either cringe, or fall off your chair laughing.
Just as you do here on this site. LOL
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6
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A Visit to the Hospital in Germany
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Mar 13, 2009 12:43 pm
1839 Views
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In 2003 my parents took me to Europe for a few weeks during summer vacation. We got to see some of the countries in central Europe. The sights, and tastes from that trip will never be forgotten by me. In my opinion, the world owes Europe a debt of gratitude for it's past achievements in science and and culture.
Naturally Europe's tourism lives off the accomplishment of the past. But the modern glass structures of cities like Frankfurt are less impressive to me over there on the Continent than they are in America.
Main-hattan, the nickname for Frankfurt because it lies on the Main river, could easily be Toronto with it's large bank towers concentrated in the downtown area.
There is very little of "Old Germany" to see in Frankfurt outside of on strip of buildings on the famous Römer Platz (Roman Square) with it's half-timbered architecture and even the remains of Roman baths from 2000 years ago. But other than that, Frankfurt along with most of the major cites of Germany is often repetitive, grey, concrete slab structures. Naturally WWII is the main reason for this.
Of the 10 largest cities in Germany, there is one exception to this. The city of Nuremberg in Franconia northern Bavaria, is the only big city in that country that made a concerted effort after the war to bring some of the old glory and medieval flair back. So, much of the old walled city is really worth seeing. But once outside of the walled old city, it reverts back to the typical German monotone, austere, grey concrete.
Part of our trip that year was dedicated to visiting some of my dad's old military buddies who were either still on active duty there or had stayed behind as civilians after the Americans withdrew when the Cold War ended.
My father had been stationed in the city of Erlangen which is 12 miles north of Nuremberg. I noted in my diary the story of the mayor of that city who demanded in a letter to President Ronald reagan, that he remove our armor brigade from that city because the tanks were an inconvenience when they went on maneuvers. I was also told the President Clinton made sure that the U.S. installation in that city was the very first one abandoned in the post Cold War draw-down.
in 2003, Germany had a 12% unemployment level and the eastern part of Erlangen was still virtually empty largely because of the effects of our withdrawal in the early 90's. I bet that mayor regrets sending that letter. lol
The ex-Army buddy my dad wanted to see was in the hospital in Nuremberg for a minor procedure when we were there. His wife said it would be ok for us to drop in and visit at the hospital.
We arrived at Nürnberg Klinikum Nord on Prof.-Ernst-Nathan-Strasse. It is a complex of several building, not one large hospital facility. Together with Nürnberg Klinikun Süd it is the largest medical facility in Germany.
A few of the various clinics and patient wards on the grounds are post war. Some not. The building we were visiting was not new. It was built in the old Kaiser days of the late 19th century.
One interesting site was the old above ground air raid bunker left over from WWII. It is used as a storage facility now but was used to hold patients during air raids. The hospital was heavily damaged during the air attacks of 1944 and 1945. The city of Nuremberg which infamously held the Nazi rallies was a major target for the RAF and USAAF during the war.
The 2 story building we were visiting had a dank, castle-like atmosphere with small almost slit-like windows. It had the look of hospitals I've seen in old black and white movies. We entered the room and met my dad's friend. He was doing well but regretted not getting treated in the U.S.. Maybe part of his frustration was that he was in a 5 man room. Almost all the rooms had 5 beds. Even in the more modern wards.
There were no toilets or showers in the rooms. The patients all had to either use a bed pan or walk down the hall to a lavatory and a shower room. There were 2 sinks in the room.
There were no TV's at the beds. Not even a common TV for all to watch. We were told that patients could call a TV rental service and they would bring a small TV with an antenna because the hospital didn't have the 27 channel cable service offered to most Germans. There were phones available but they looked like something out of the 1970s.
My dad noted this typical day's meal for a patient with an unrestricted diet:
-Breakfast, 2 slices or brown bread with margarine and jelly, 1 yogurt, coffee or tea
-Lunch, the one warm meal of the day with a meat and vegetable.
-Supper, 2 slices of brown bread with margarine, 2 slices of deli meat, 2 slices of cheese, 1 tomato or pickle, 1 apple or kiwi, coffee or tea.
Although this building as I said was old, the 5 man rooms are typical in Germany. Hospital rooms with toilets and showers are rare in Germany.
Of course these are the public facilities that every German is guaranteed under their nationalized health care system. If you want a level more typical of What we have in America, you have to buy private medical insurance which is costly. Top doctors and private rooms with all the accoutrement's are usually offered.
Considering the extremely high taxes already paid by working Germans, it is ironic to have to pay extra for a standard that any medicaid patient in America would expect at no charge.
Keep in mind that Germans typically pay 50% and more of their incomes to the nanny state.
There is much more to this question like who gets care in Europe and who is denied it. Especially with the elderly. The National Health Board in Britain recently attempted to deny elderly patients treatment for macular degeneration (a condition of the retina). They attempted to deny medications until one eye was blinded before attempting to save the remaining eye. There was such a public outcry, that the board had to withdraw is rule.
There is a good chance that Americans will face dramatic changes in our health care system. We are about to let the government nationalize it. The same government that can barely run the post office and does a lousy job with our veterans in the VA.
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7
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300 EMPorians and Growing
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Mar 12, 2009 4:09 pm
1788 Views
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"Come in and find out"
An Emp hottie
The Emporium has now achieved ed 300 members. Since the beginning of the 2009 that is a six fold increase. We are by far the fastest growing chat group on the site.
But let it be known we are not against any other chat group. We grow because we are a fun bunch of dudes who do not rant, bully, or tolerate drama.
Although the Emporium is oriented toward TWINKS we are made up of only ONE chat group with ONE chat room for ALL. We do not have special sub-groups for the "more desirable". We do not discriminate by age, but by behavior. If you want trouble you don't belong with us. If you're hunting, you don't belong with us.
For these reasons and more is T.W.I.N.K.S. growing day by day. Click on the link to read our cover page for more details and to join.
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4
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☑ Rate the President
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Mar 9, 2009 3:02 pm
3050 Views
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President Barack Obama has been in office for approximately 6 weeks. Although it is very early in his presidency, how do you rate his job performance so far?
Since this is a non-electronic vote. please comment below.
☐ A. Excellent
☐ B. Very good
☐ C. Good
☐ D. Fair
☐ E/F. Poor
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38
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This is the Emporium/This is Not the Emporium
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Mar 1, 2009 8:19 am
1931 Views
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THIS IS THE EMPORIUM
  chicagoslim
 GuitarPlayer09bubba252
The Emporium is a group of carefree TWINKS and their FRIENDS who enjoy chatting about their experiences and the day's topics. We are often musically entertained by our hottie DJs bondageboy8705 and sexy4500. Naturally our members are free to surf around the site and pop in and out of our chat room as they wish.
SoHo's Twink Emporium has no hunters or prey. This includes the sponsor and the moderators.
THIS IS NOT THE EMPORIUM
We do not threaten and ban our members if they do not leave other groups
We do not bore our chat members with constant rants against other groups
We do not comb the member's lists of other chat groups and e-mail their members to quit their group and join ours
We do not contact members pictured in group blogs to coerce them away from their group
We do not promise our members a "cyber-buddy" to keep them enticed
The Emp is a fun room with fun guys. We are oriented toward TWINKS but at the same time we are not ageists. In reality, character and decency are far more important to us.
Interested? Click HERE to join.
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8
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☑ Pick Your Favorite Sex Position
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Feb 27, 2009 6:18 pm
2381 Views
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Yes I know there are HUNDREDS of sex positions, but I would have gotten bored making them all. LOL
So here goes. Of these choices below, which is your favorite sexual position?
O 
O 
O 
O 
O 
O 
O Other (please specify)
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To link to this blog (SoHoKev) use [blog SoHoKev] in your messages.
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