8/13/24

 Tuesday, August 13, 2024

1942 The Manhattan Project commenced with the aim of developing an atomic bomb

2004 Hurrican Charley devastated Punta Gorda

In bed Fell asleep during Rachel Madow's program, woke at 9:30 or so when Geri went to bed and I followed. I woke around 2 a.m., up and out at 2:30.  Woke Lilly who moved to the living room.  I nodded off between 4 and 4:45 when  I let Lilly out again.

Prednisone, day 94. 10 mg., day 1/28.   I took the 10 mg. at 5 a.m. with a few saltines.  I took my other 11 morning meds at 6, total meds = 12, not counting the HCT and  3Xdaly misoprostol which I have stopped taking.  Also, no Tylenol, which I have also stopped taking.  Otherwise, I would be taking 20 meds every day,  Polypharmacy is when you take five or more medications a day, which can cause harmful drug interactions and side effects.  I can't remember the last time I took only 5 meds per day.

NSFD EMTs were at the MacGregor's house 2 nights ago, again, leading me to think that John MacGregor had another terrible pain condition, and wondering, in Nancy Pelosi's terms, whether it was an episode or a condition.  I haven't seen him out on his regular daily walks, either alone or walking their dog Dorothy, for several days, which is not a good sign.  He and I are very close in age, 1941 pre-Pearl Harbor babies.   He's a very good neighbor and seems to be a very good man, still bearing some impediments of his childhood polio, and I hate the thought of his suffering. 

Misanthropy and philanthropy.  The more I think of human history the more misanthropic I become.  I read and see what is happening in Ukraine/Russia and in Israel/Gaza/Iran/Lebanon and I think back on all the wars and other aggressions that have blighted mankind from our beginnings.  I think of Hannah Arendt's statement about not being ashamed of being German, but rather of being human.  Rachel Maddow's recent podcasts and book make it clear that we had many Nazis and fascists in the United States before World War II and it's clear we have many such people now.  I think of the Jewish man on I documentary I watched a few months ago who said his father divided the whole world into two groups: Jews and Nazis. You were either one or the other.  But I think too of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: 

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained”  The Gulag Archipelago

I think of the elderly Black man I chatted with yesterday as I walked from the parking garage to the VA hospital for my knee s-rays.  I asked him how he was doing, and he answered in superlatives.  "If I was doing any better, they'd have to give me something for it."  I told him he brightened my day and wished him well, a wish he returned to me, and for a few moments we were friends, looking at each other eye to eye and blessing and encouraging each other.  I think of one of my core beliefs, that we are all surrounded by saints and miracles, people acting out Matthew 25: 31-46, and the breathtaking, awe-inspiring  beauty of nature, 

Is there an opposite of misanthropy?  Linguistically it would seem to be philanthropy, love of humankind, but that isn't quite the commonly understood meaning of philanthropy.  Indeed, in the U.S. at least, "philanthropy" may be occasioned by self-interest, e.g., to obtain tax deductions or seek the praise of others or to get one's name on a campus building or in the credits of a PBS program.  The Ford Foundation was founded by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, a notorious anti-semite, hardly a lover of mankind generally.  What should we think of the Sackler family's extensive philanthropy funded by sales of Oxycontin and oxycodone?.  But if philanthropy isn't the opposite of misanthropy, what is?  Altruism, Pollyannaism, humanism, benevolence, godness, goodwill, or perhaps loving-kindness.  Benevolence seems to be the closest to the opposite of misanthropy but maybe we need a neologism, perhaps the archaic philanthrope for a person with affection and goodwill for all others, or perhaps a Candide. In any case, I am going nowhere with this line of thought butI am feeling might sour about our species in my old age.  The Ukrainian War has been going on for 30 months now (ignoring the 2014 seizure of Crimea) and the Gaza War for more than 10 months. Will either war ever end?  Do wars ever really end, just change shape?  Gaza we know is part of our modern Hundred Years War between Zionist Jews and Palestinian Arabs, 100 years and still counting.  The Ukraine War has turned into mutual slaughter, reminding me of the trench warfare in WWI.

Haditha.  I caught up on episodes 4 and 5 of the In The Dark podcast from The New Yorker.  Gruesome, reminiscent of My Lai, except it was Marines, not soldiers killing the civilians: men, women, and children.  None of the six Marines was prosecuted for the murders.  I'm waiting to learn more about the coverup by the Marine Corps and the DOD.

Excursions.  In the morning, I drove up to Costco to get my new eyeglasses readjusted and get my sunglasses repaired/reassembled.  In the afternoon, I drove Geri to Mount Sinai to be examined by her orthopedic surgeon.  He aspirated 4 cc. of fluid (painfully) and ordered an MRI.  It's unclear what comes next - waiting for the MRI results.

My knee pain.  Secure message from Dr. Cheng: "Mr. Clausen, your XR shows mild degenerative changes (as you would see in osteoarthritis). The best thing to do at this point is as we had previously talked about getting into PT to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee, I will go ahead and enter this order.  /es/ JEFFREY CHENG  STAFF PHYSICIAN, PHYSICAL MED "  I don't know what to think about this but it sounds like I will be living with this pain for the rest of my life and that it will only get worse with age.  No suggestion of any pain reliever.  I need to think about this.  It's discouraging.

Anniversaries thoughts:.  My Uncle Bud worked on the project.  He and Aunt Mary lived in N. Mexico.

Hurricane Charlie: I used to fantasize about living next to a canal in Punta Gorda.