Doctor Offends Fat Patient

The headline reads "Doctor in trouble for calling patient obese." Something this outrageous had to be investigated. The details of the situation are even stranger.

Doctors are expected to be professional and treat every patient as an individual. Even more, they are expected to diagnose problems and issue solutions. Therefore, when an overweight person comes in for a checkup, the doctor ought to say, "If you don't lose some weight, it's going to kill you." Dr. Terry Bennett of Rochester, NH, did exactly that. Now he's facing disciplinary action because the fat woman complained about being offended.

At least other overweight patients are supporting Bennett. Mindy Haney is a patient of Bennett's who lost 150 pounds. Hearing the truth about her weight initially turned into anger at the doctor, but she soon realized she was only angry at herself. In an interview, Haney said, “What really makes me angry is he told the truth. How can you punish somebody for that?”

If Bennett gets more than a slap on the wrist for his comments (he has already apologized to the lady), then our PC society has gone too far. Why can't we call a fat person "fat?" It's bad enough that they don't want us calling a black person "black"--it's "African American."

Northwest Problems Continue

As if it isn't enough to have the mechanics union go on strike, Northwest experiences mechanical trouble in Guam. Yes, the strike is in its fifth day and I have just gotten to reporting about it. Also, the incident in Guam is equally dated.

Northwest claimed that it would be business as usual if the mechanics striked. The increased number of cancellations may prove otherwise. Because the flight attendents and pilots did not strike, they utilized temporary mechanics to keep planes airborne. However, had the multiple unions solidified their efforts and striked together, Northwest would be completely grounded. To anyone who had already purchased a ticket on NWA, the current situation lets them breathe a sigh of relief.

Some say that the temporary mechanics have a larger workload than expected because union mechanics laxed on their duties (a "union slowdown") as the strike possibility became imminent. Regardless of what caused the nose gear to break off this NWA plane, it has poor timing because of the changeover in mechanics. As Alanis Morissette asks, "Isn't it ironic?"

We'll see how this situation progresses. It looks like both sides have dug their trenches and do not plan to compromise anytime soon. Therefore, if I fly within the year, I'm likely not going to fly Northwest.

Plane Crashes

In the past two days, I've seen news about two plane crashes, one in Cypurs and another in Venezuela. Just like that 270 people are dead, yet the airline industry continues flying. NASA experiences two shuttle explosions in 30 years but they ground the program to spend billions to fix the problems. Well, NASA has flown fewer than 150 flights (30 for Discovery is the most for one shuttle), and a single airport can send out that many in a day. Therefore, the probability of being in a plane crash is still much lower than a shuttle crash. Either method of transport is relatively safe, though. You just don't have a very good chance of survival in a shuttle crash.

Jet mechanics work on more planes and see a large variety of problems. If they don't fix it perfectly, the plane can probably still make it to it's destination to be looked over again. With a shuttle, mechanics work with theoretical problems and fixes. They'd prefer nothing goes wrong so they don't have to try their repairs. It would be nice to see private companies creating new space transport vehicles. NASA created the shuttle in the 70's and merely modified portions of it to adapt to their current needs. It is time for a massive overhaul. History of planes show their advances from the single engine prop plane, biplane, seaplane, and multiple prop plane to the jet plane, massive 747s and A380s, and Concordes.

How my thought progression moved from two plane crashes to rebuilding the space shuttle, I'll never quite understand. But I find it amazing that people are intrigued by every plane crash. (With shuttles it's understandable.) No one ever says, "I thought that problem was supposed to be fixed by those million dollar repairs." Yet officials study the information from the flight's black boxes. Boeing and Airbus continue manufacturing planes to satisfy airlines' demands because people keep wanting to fly. NASA is so worried about their limited (but billion dollar) problems, but people keep flocking to the airports even after the news reports the latest crash. You know what, it's not going to stop me from flying, either.

Three Wives Create Trouble

"I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

I'm sure that's exactly what went through the minds of Jean Grafton, Denise Harrington, and Lyndsey Hutchinson when they visited their husband after his triple bypass surgery. However, none of them knew they were married to the same man until they visited the hospital at the same time. Bringing the situation to light, Melvyn Reed confessed to bigamy, complete with four months in prison and a 70 pound fine.

A London native, Reed married Grafton in 1966, Harrington in 1998, and Hutchinson in 2003 without getting divorced from his previous wife/wives. Seeking annulments, Harrington and Hutchinson have been advised by lawyers that their marriages were never valid.

Nerds Make Better Lovers

This article is nearly two months old. A friend linked to it from his blog. However, after the subject came up in conversation this weekend, I sought out the link to add it here.

These quote comes from Spencer Koppel, a self-proclaimed geek and creator of "Geek to Geek" dating service. "I think geeks are more successful. They're happier in the work they do. And they're pretty faithful people, because they're certainly grateful for anything they have."

E. Jean Carroll, the love and sex advice columnist of Elle magazine, adds this observation: a girl couldn't do much better than a less-than-perfect male specimen. "We've all been to bed with the guy who is worried about what he looks like, checking the mirror before he gets in bed," she said. "The nerd, gloriously, stunningly, perfectly, is into the woman. That right there is very stirring, sexually."

Truly, this claim is based solely on opinion rather than hard, scientific evidence, but I it explains some attractions of the average guy. Hey, viewers of reality TV saw Anna choose Average Joe Nathan over Jock Rocky in the most recent season.