I hate going to the airport. Not so much because of the crowds or the delayed flights. I hate going through the security inspections. I hate having to get nearly undressed and then worry about whether my cell phone or computer will get stolen at the other end of the X-ray machine if I don’t get through the metal detector quickly enough. I hate having Swiss Army knives that I neglected to remove from my pocket before leaving home confiscated by the government, with no way to get them back.
I understand the necessity of the airport security (and I presume they auction off all those knives and other peraphernalia to reduce the government’s debt). I only mention all this because I fear the MRSA crisis is going to degenerate into something similar. My health club already has the disinfectant gels prominently displayed at the check-in counter. What’s to keep them from wanting to look over my hands and feet? Maybe do a nose swab?
I imagine there’ll be some new machine that will do instant readings on nose swabs, and then a red light will start blinking if I test positive. Aside from the embarrassment, there will be all the groans from the people behind me being delayed getting in. “Geez, why can’t that guy get rid of his staph germs before he comes to the club?”
Oh, and the machine will cost $50,000, requiring a $20 monthly increase in dues.
Then, in order to get back into the club, I’ll have to produce documentation as to how often I washed my hands in the previous 24 hours. Or maybe I’ll be able to automate the documentation by having an RFID chip attached to my ear that will keep track of all such cleansings ($1,500 to install).
The same kind of thing will go on in the schools. They’re already being fumigated and sterilized. So don’t be surprised if one of your children comes home with a note: “We regret to inform you that Sally tested positive for staph germs today. Unfortunately, she cannot be allowed back into school until you can provide laboratory test results confirming that she has been clear of such germs for at least 72 hours. Have a great day!”
It will all be part of the government’s new “War on Germs”. I’m not just making this stuff up. The drumbeat has begun in the media. “Declare War on Bacteria,” declares a Harford Courant editorial, which states in part, “Some health care settings have reduced the number of cases drastically by screening patients for the bacteria, isolating them, sterilizing equipment and making sure staff and medical personnel wash their hands frequently, especially between patients.”
The hospitals’ approach will then be "a model." If they can do it in hospitals, why not at health clubs, at schools, maybe even in restaurants and office buildings. And as long as you already have to go through a security search to get into the airport, why not add a staph infection screening. Get two searches for the price of one. Maybe for an extra fee, they’ll measure your blood pressure, take a blood test, and see if you’re a candidate for laser eye surgery.
Or was I just dreaming this stuff last night?
It was noted in our hospital that UPMC, a large Pittsburgh hospital system, made the "heroic" choice for zero tolerance of nosocomial infections, and lo and behold, they virtually wiped them out. (Now I don’t know just how true that isa measuring such things is complicated by myriad factors, and statistics of course lie like dogsbut UPMC likely at very least produced improvement in their infection control.) But here’s the thing: as soon as the decision was made in our institution to accept nothing less than a zero nosocomial rate, out came the community-based patient education materials, all loudly and aggressively promoting a sanitized ("wash your hands"), vaccinated ("stamp out the bug"), doctor-regulated ("regular check-ups") life.
It’s the feedback loop Daniel Quinn wrote of (as Don Neeper pointed out the other day). If it doesn’t work, do more of it. In medical care, that’s not only the standard, it’s the highest standard, and if you have a dissenting opinion, you’re lucky if only marginalized.
Daniel Quinn notes that unbalanced systems collapse. I think this one already has, and we simply havent recognized it. And as long as we can keep tickling our biological processes enough to avoid a massive multi-bacterial plague, well never have any reason to notice it.
We all know that its more than difficult to fight the good fight against the awful systems that dominate our lives. We all must also know that there will never be an end to the struggle. God bless the Niewendorps and the Smiths and the Nolts and all the others that sacrifice themselves to oppose these hurtful, noxious, freedom-stealing systemsI really dont know where they get the fortitude to battle so hard. I, for one, get tired just reading about them, and with each additional story of injustice and reactive resistance, I long more for peace and quietude.
Certainly true peace will be found only in the next life, but here we are living now. How can we optimize? One way, I think, is to take time for the revival offered by peaceful contemplation of good things. I started a blog the other day that will hopefully help do that. Ill be delivering up a semi-occasional, summary peek at some commonplace (or not) yet very satisfying aspects of daily life. Its called mundanedaily.com. My goal for the blog is to offer a place where one can back away from the stove for a moment, take a deep breath, revive and replenish. Visit, if you like, and if you do please offer feedback for improvement.
And as always it is being conducted fraudulantly under the guise of "for your own good". It is 24/7 cradle to grave surveilance, a microchip in every wrist, and FORCED plans citizens must pay into, again for "their own good". Is is extortion,and it’s shills HATE true liberty, THEY know best how you should live and they are going to see to it that you have NO choice, but to comply witht THEIR WILL.
Thank God there are STILL citizens who value the Liberty and Privacy our forfathers/mothers DIED for and these brave and honest patriots will never give up, never give in to tyranny no matter where they find it.
God Bless.
T.A.
But I’d like to point out that having an anxiety attack will only make you, er, susceptible to the bad bugs.
Look at the bright side: in China you can’t take a shower with your eyes open for the fear of getting an eye infection.
We have it so good here. Of course there are problems and drawbacks. My mom came here from Russia for a month and is now depressed to be back. She thought she was in heaven.
So let’s enjoy the positives, bitch about the negatives (it’s good for you too, the French do it all the time) and in the end, give a Gallic shrug and maybe even eat that occasional croissant.
But,I think the big concern though is that, this is rapidly changing. It’s fine I guess to shrug it off Certainly things can always be worse.and quite well may be.The pendulum swings back and forth. I simply advocate citizens staying reasonably informed and active, So many mistake "freedom for free".History hs shown us some of the worst abuses have come from so called "leaders" against their own citizens.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/us/21border.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Authoritarian countries try to control citizens by making it difficult for them to travel abroad. That’s on top of being able to lock citizens up outside the country and throw away the keys. Each new outrage, while not unbearable by itself, is another test by the authorities. Oh, no objections there, let’s move on to the next one. By the time the masses of people realize the extent of the abuses, it’s too late to do anything.
David Gumpert
In any case, unfortunately in our days, technology makes it ridiculously easy for anyone to know who and where you are. The days of being able to drop off the map are pretty much over, let’s face that. So, yes of course, the whole liberty and privacy bit goes away pretty much.
In any case, I don’t know about the frog analogy. I just know what I see. When I mean ‘we/you have it so good here’ I am not getting on a soapbox, I am just stating the fact. I have lived in Russia, I have travelled and I have been able to compare. Granted, there is no way to feel better about certain things just because you know ‘that children in Africa are starving’. Negative does not a negative a positive make. However, I am incredibly grateful that I am here and I have been given all the opportunities I have encountered. The U.S. may have issues, but so does the rest of the world. We are all human and, by default, a bit messed up.
So let’s enjoy it while we can:-)
Let’s face it: life is dangerous. That’s why I ride motorcycles, heheh.
They say this superbug lives on the skin and in the nose, but is not deadly until it enters the blood stream. So, if people are washing their hands 100 times a day then why aren’t they washing their nose!!?? The rest of the world understands the benefits of nasal irrigation. But, we’re not there yet.
I work with a company that manufactures an all natural nose wash. Let me say first: Any washing is better than no washing!! Even snorting salt water out of the hands (not really washing, more of a spray or mist) is better than nothing.
Washing the nose with a hypertonic (saltier than the body) buffered saline solution kills any bacteria or bug it touches. Not only will it kill the bug, it will actually remove the bad junk that is in the nose and sinuses, and it feels good. It’s about as common sense as whashing the hands or brushing your teeth. If you wash your nose within 6 hours of exposure then you can usually kill whatever is harvesting on those sensitive tissues. Your nose and sinuses are dark, moist, enclosed areas and easily harvest the growth of nasty, harmful stuff, WASH IT OUT!!! AND YOU WILL GET SICK LESS AND YOU MAY KILL OR REMOVE THIS SUPERBUG, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT CAN"T HURT YOU TO WASH. There are a few products out there that work. The Neti Pot is the original, NealMed Sinus Rinse is more modern, Nasopure is my preference. It is affordable and comes with pre-mixed hypertonic buffered salt packets. Kids can use it and you can take it to the airport with you and wash on the plane. But, ANY WASHING IS BETTER THAN NO WASHING. Trust me, if you start washing you will thank me later, it really works!
hoopla of acting as if they are doing something serious in response.
All the cleaning, washing, disinfecting is quite temporary and of very limited value. Better
than nothing, but not much better from a medical perspective.
Better solutions are in widespread use in Canada, in Singapore, in hotels through SE Asia, and in
hospitals, schools, universities, condos in USA and CA.
Yes, I am directly involved in that.
And as you might expect, knowing anything of Virginia politics and the "good old boy" way things
are done in this state, in particular — Henrico County officials and Culpeper officials,
including all of their school board members, stand out uniquely as having eschewed any
communications, any meetings, anything period, to learn about what really works, as opposed to
what what some "good old John" has been doing for the last 100 years. It is truly quite sad, in
my opinion, when practical solutions are offered but simply ignored.
More info is at these sites: http://tetradgroup.com/healthysafe or
http://ecoasisnetwork.org/healthysafe
Also a short YouTube video clip:
Dr. Martin J. Dudziak
TETRAD Technologies CSO
martin@tetradgroup.com