I’m not THAT gullible

I’ve been an RN for a while now. I know what pee looks like. I know what vomit looks like. I also know what water looks like. If you hand me a urine sample cup full of tap water, can you at least make it WARM tap water? Some for vomit. No, I do not believe you just vomited up an emesis bag full of cold water. Is that ice floating in there?! The fake retching for the last two hours hasn’t persuaded me either.

Not Feeling the Bern

I have quite a few friends who are advocating for Bernie Sanders. I can’t stand the man, for so many reasons.

He is pro-war. He has no problem with military intervention, anywhere in the world. He doesn’t want American boots on the ground. He just thinks we should fund more rebel groups in the area (that never backfires), continue dropping bombs, build the F-35 (he’s a significant backer), continue using drones to murder whoever the government says needs murdering, and continue economic aggression against other countries.

He wants to increase labor costs, increase investment costs, limit foreign investment, increase regulatory costs, increase the national debt, increase energy costs, limit development overseas increasing production costs, limit imports, and continue inflationary policies. The economy is going to do great!

He supports the war on drugs. He states he supports “decriminalization” for drug use. This is code for arresting people and incarcerating them in involuntary treatment programs. Either way, he’s still asserting the state has the right to violently abduct people for what they choose to do to their own bodies.

He is opposed to an individual right to self defense, and supports widespread confiscation of civilian arms. For someone who claims to be “for the People”, he sure seems to like concentrating power in the hands of the few.

He is all around opposed to individual liberty, and seems to view people as no more than components of their race, gender, or the Almighty State.

Of course, he’s still better than Clinton.

A friendly reminder from your local ER nurse

If it isn’t enough of an emergency to come in during the Superbowl, it isn’t enough of an emergency to come in AFTER the Superbowl either. Priorities, people!

Not a peds nurse

Is there anything worse than the high pitched shriek of a two year old? Damn, do I hate that sound. It doesn’t make me want to help the kid, I just want to make the sound stop! Yes, I know the kid has a quarter stuck in his esophagus (Do they have to try and eat everything they find?!), but that sound makes me want to rip my ears off. Can I just give the kid some Versed already?

PTSD

We’ve had several veterans brought in to the ER lately with suicidal or homicidal ideation. These men are largely in their 30’s, and are haunted by the wars in which they have fought. I’ve watched a man sob after a severe flashback. I’ve listened to stories of bodies torn apart by machine guns. I’ve seen scars caused by a 12 year old with a bayonet, who the man then shot in the face. I’ve seen the clean, straight cut marks on the abdomen that the man inflicted on himself years later.

What did these men sacrifice their bodies and minds for? Does anyone truly believe that the Middle East is any better off now than it was before we ‘liberated’ Iraq and Afghanistan? Instead, terrorism and extremism are stronger than ever. These men were sacrificed for nothing. If our politicians want a war, let them spend their own blood and money fighting it.

A friendly reminder from your local ER nurse

When I ask what brings you in to the ER tonight, do not start with, “Well, back in the 70’s….” If you’ve had your problem since before I was born, I have a hard time believing it’s an emergency tonight.

Newest Purchase: A Scary Black Rifle

Bought a new firearm a couple days ago – A S&W M&P 15 Sport. It’s my first AR15 style rifle. I’ve only taken it out once, and that was a cold, windy day – so I didn’t fiddle with it much. Nothing like 30+ mile an hour winds to make shooting interesting! Now I need to get the iron sights zeroed, and start saving up for all the accessories to go with my new toy.

Someone asked me why I needed an AR. My answer was “Target shooting, and pissing off liberals!” So now I need to find a balancing way to piss off conservatives.

A friendly reminder from your local ER nurse

1. The gun is always loaded
2. Only point the gun at something you are willing to destroy
3. Know your target and what is behind it
4. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire

By following these simple rules, you can avoid visiting me in the ER at four in the morning after shooting yourself in your off hand. Additional solid advice: Don’t clean your handgun at four in the morning after being awake all night studying for a final and drinking.

If you neglect this advice, be sure, the nurses and police officers are laughing at you out at the nurses station.

The inspiration for this post was fortunate enough to avoid tendon, bone, and nerve damage, and should regain full use of his hand.

The Republicans suck, and no I won’t be voting for them

People keep telling me I should back “The lesser of two evils,” suck it up, and vote Republican. Ain’t gonna happen with the current slate of candidates. I am not a conservative. I am a minarchist/anarchist (depends on what day you ask me) libertarian. Both parties believe in expanding the control of the state over individual’s lives. Both parties support foreign wars. Both parties support locking people up in cages for victimless crimes. Both parties believe their mandate is to fix the USA. Trump even went so far as to say the USA “needs a strong leader.”

I don’t want a strong leader to help America. I have seen plenty of what government “help” brings, and I want no part of it. I just wish there was a “none of the above” option on the ballot. Give me that, and I’ll show up to vote. Hell, I’d vote in the Republican primary too, just so I could vote against Trump twice.

Obama’s Address to the Nation

Obama spoke to the nation this evening about the grave terrorist threat that is confronting us. Just a few of the things he said that jumped out to me:

“Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11.” Think this was started by Bush – they are aware that terrorism is a tactic, right? The world has had problems with terrorism for as long as there has been civilization. There is not one concrete enemy, “The Terrorists.” The Charleston Church Shooting was terrorism. The Planned Parenthood shooting was terrorism. If you attack innocent people for a political end, and are a non-state actor, you are a terrorist. Strangely enough, since ISIS is a de facto state at this point, I’m not confident the most recent shooting actually does count as terrorism if they were operating as part of ISIS.

“As we’ve become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society.”  I don’t think we have become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11. It is possible that the FBI, CIA, NSA, and TSA have been thwarting these complex attacks left and right. But since this is the most secretive administration in history, who knows? Maybe there just aren’t that many people willing to blow themselves up for a cause, and keep it together while immigrating to the USA and accumulating the means to do so. You need a very special kind of fanatic to manage that.

” First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies — including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL.” Yeah, how’s that working out for ya? In June 2014, ISIL was estimated as having 4,000 fighters. Now it’s estimated at 20-30,000. So if we accelerate our efforts, ISIL should have the Middle East pretty well under their control in a few years.

“Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we’re deploying Special Operations Forces who can accelerate that offensive. We’ve stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and we’ll continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground.” It hasn’t worked so far, so let’s do the same thing we’ve been doing – only harder!

“Since the attacks in Paris, we’ve surged intelligence-sharing with our European allies.” You weren’t already sharing all the relevant intelligence you had?

“Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process — and timeline — to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war.” Oh, good! We have begun to establish a process to set a timeline with the community and leadership to establish ceasefires for a resolution to… which part of the Syrian war again? Are the ‘moderate’ Islamic extremists going to be in charge?

“To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.” *pulls off the Obama mask* My god, Obama has secretly been Dick Cheney this whole time! If it’s a matter of national security, who has time for “due process”, and “rights”? Look, this has nothing to do with guns. We shouldn’t have a secret government list saying who does and does not have certain rights and privileges. At all. Ever. If they are known terrorists, arrest them. Charge them. Provide them with fair legal representation. If convicted, incarcerate them for the rest of their miserable lives. If you can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they are guilty, then you are required by law to let them go. I’m sure they have a copy of the Bill of Rights in the White House somewhere.

Well, that’s everything that pissed me off. I actually agree with some of his comments. I know a decent number of Muslims personally. They are, one and all, horrified at the actions of ISIL. While none of them are refugees from the current conflict, several came here as refugees from past wars in the region. Then I’ve heard people at work and online say that “those people are all the same, and we need to kill them all before they kill us.” That is the mindset of mass murder, terrorism, and genocide, whether the thought comes from a member of ISIL or an American.