The Quitter

Something inspirational, for a change. With a tip o' the hat to The Art Of Manliness

The Quitter

By: Robert Service

When you’re lost in the Wild, and you’re scared as a child,
And Death looks you bang in the eye,
And you’re sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and . . . die.
But the Code of a Man says: “Fight all you can,”
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . .
It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.

“You’re sick of the game!” Well, now, that’s a shame.
You’re young and you’re brave and you’re bright.
“You’ve had a raw deal!” I know-but don’t squeal,
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don’t be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit:
It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten-and die;
It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight-
Why, that’s the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each grueling bout,
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try-it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

Oh, Lovely...

From the Wall Street Journal (4/18/09):

WASHINGTON -- Two Chinese-based firms shipped contaminated heparin to the U.S. between 2007 and 2008 and one company lied to federal health regulators about their role in the matter, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The contaminated heparin, a widely used blood thinner, didn't reach any patients because the FDA stopped all the shipments at the border, according to FDA spokespeople.

I get a dose of Heparin at the end of each chemo cycle to insure that the catheter in my neck doesn't get blocked with coagulated blood. Nothing like these kinds of stories to re-affirm one's faith in modern medicine. :p

How They Get Away With It.

Bill Moyers interviews William K. Black

I think I speak for many when I express myself thusly:

Will it come to this?

(Again, hat tip Chaos Manor)

To urban hunter, next meal is scampering by

Beasley, a 69-year-old retired truck driver who modestly refers to himself as the Coon Man, supplements his Social Security check with the sale of raccoon carcasses that go for as much $12 and can serve up to four. The pelts, too, are good for coats and hats and fetch up to $10 a hide.

Homo evolutis, landmines, and what everyone forgets about evolution

Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/463

(hat tip Chaos Manor)


My only comment is that there is something that most people forget about evolution--it has nothing to do with progress. Mr. Enriquez makes a number of assumptions in the end of his lecture that are not scientifically derived, but are faith-based: that the universe exists for a purpose, that species evolve into better forms, that new species must necessarily supplant old species, and that evolution is good.

There is nothing wrong with having faith--it's an important part of our psychology and intellect, and because we hold certain things to be true on faith we have been able to accomplish amazing things, such as civilization and science. The problem arises when we want to believe things are true, even in the face to the contrary facts--we've seen this in such things as Young Earth Creationism and Global Warming, in Socialism and Eugenics. We lose our ability to be objective far to easily, and the words "What could it hurt?" are far too often followed by "How were we supposed to know?". Mr. Enriquez may believe that the Transhumanist wave of the future is inevitable, and he may be right--be neither he nor I nor anyone else knows that for a fact, and we all need to stop in our race to answer the question "Can we do this thing" to answer the more important question "Should we do this thing?".

The future is a choice we have to make--or the future will be chosen for us. Failure to think this through will lead us from dancing in the fire to tap dancing on landmines.

Igor Revisited.

Well, I just spoke with the liver specialist--there's good news, and there's bad news. The good news is that I do not have to undergo surgery next week. The bad news is the why I don't have to undergo surgery next week: based on the results of the PET scan and CT scan that I underwent in January, the liver specialist has determined that the cancer is in both sides of my liver, and that surgery would not help me at this time. The plan now, after speaking to my oncologist, is to resume and complete my chemotherapy program, then see how the cancer has responded. I will probably have to undergo surgery at some later date, but it's best to let the chemo do its work first.

Igor is proving to be tenacious.

I have to confess, when the doctor told me that the cancer was in both sides of my liver, I felt a thrill of terror. I'd like to think that I can face this with some dignity and restraint, but I'm hearing those dry bones squeak by a little too often for my comfort. I'm not Randy Pausch, folks--I've got things to do yet, and the thought of not getting them done before it comes time to punch out the time clock fills me with a terrible sadness.

I also have to confess a certain level of anger; up until today, I was led to believe that the cancer was limited to only a portion of my liver, and that this ordeal might be over before the end of the year. Now I find out things are a bit more serious. Shouldn't the specialist been consulted before I was taken off chemo? Granted, all I've lost is a week or two, but given how hard it was to schedule the liver consult, why couldn't they complete the course first? And why hasn't there been any follow-up scans? Shouldn't the most recent data be available for the specialist to examine before surgery was scheduled?

Ah well--water under the bridge.

I suppose I should be thankful--at least I have health insurance. And a job--for now.