When I recovered from the shock of learning that my Mom had acute myeloid Leukemia, I set to work on learning more about it, and trying to find what part I could play.
It was evident early on that my Mom would need a bone marrow transplant to survive more than one or two years. AML is a vicious disease that can only be repressed by intense chemotherapy. It comes back, and the chemo treatments quickly lose potency. So I saw the part I would play, and knew it would be a lifetime endeavor.
With the help of Pat Conlee of the National Marrow Donor Program, I began to learn about the bone marrow registry. I worked with Conlee, my Father and friends and family to put together a bone marrow drive for my mother in Victorville, Calif. But I knew that was not to be a one-time effort, and that the NMDP needed help from wherever it could find it.
As I learned about the NMDP, one fact struck me extremely hard. For Caucasians in need of a bone marrow transplant, 88 percent find a suitable donor. For African-Americans, that number tumbles to 60 percent.
While any person of any race can be a suitable person for anyone in need, the simple fact is this: ethnicity matters when it comes to bone marrow. A Caucasian person has a much better chance of getting a match from another Caucasian. An Asian person has a much better chance of being matched with another Asian. An African-American has a better chance of being matched with another of African descent.
According to the NMDP, there are just 11 million people on the bone marrow donor registry. And that's not in the U.S. That's in the world. In the U.S., there are five million white people on the registry. There are 500,000 blacks. There lies the difference between the 88 percent and 60 percent figures.
This is a call to the black community. The National Marrow Donor Program needs you. And those of African descent need you even more. They are literally dying for a better representation of blacks on the bone marrow registry.
To put a face to issue, let me point to my friend Emru Townsend. In December, Townsend - of Montreal - was told that he had AML, as well as a disorder called monosomy 7. He was told he needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. He was also told that due to his African-Caribbean heritage, his chances of finding a donor were much less than if he were white.
But Townsend did not waste his time with self-pity. He immediately began to champion the cause, and his efforts to get more blacks on Canada's bone marrow registry have been covered in newspapers, radio and on television. He is a true inspiration, going so far as spending days working to get his message out while he is receiving chemotherapy. And he is still without a matching donor. His site - HealEmru.com - tells his story and has valuable information on how one can get on the bone marrow registry.
"After everything I've learned, I just can't believe that everyone is not on the registry," said Townsend. "It's just such an easy thing and it's so important to so many families."
In the U.S., one of the reasons for the lack of donors of all races is likely the cost. It costs $52 to get on the registry, but that amount falls to $25 for African-Americans due to the need. But even if an African-American doesn't have a dime to spare, if they want to get on the registry, they will not be turned away. But this is why donations are always eagerly accepted by the NMDP to help defray the costs of the tissue typing necessary.
The process for donating is simple - all it takes is a few swaps from a person's inner cheek, filling out some paperwork, and it's done. If you are called as a potential match, you will be given a battery of tests (free of charge) that will see if you are in good health and able to donate. The donating process consists of taking some marrow from your spine (under local anesthesia) and does not entail an overnight stay in a hospital. Generally, some minor discomfort for a day or two is the full price that has to be paid for saving a life.
For my allies in the POC blogosphere, and anyone else interested in helping, I humbly request that you write about this issue in any way you deem fit. Discuss your thoughts on why blacks are so underrepresented if you like. Discuss the issue from any angle you wish. But please discuss it. And register. And try to get more people of African descent onto the registry. Lives are literally in the balance.
Helpful Links
- The National Marrow Donor Program: Here you will find a plethora of information on the bone marrow registry, including how and where you can register. They can also be reached at 1(800) 627-7692.
- Jes Us For Jackie: Rapper Nelly's ongoing effort to get African-Americans involved in the bone marrow donor registry. Nelly's sister died from Leukemia, unable to find a donor.
- Emru Townsend's site: Townsend
has worked tirelessly to create a site that has information on his
plight, as well as information on bone marrow drives throughout the
U.S. and Canada. [Emru Townsend lost his battle with leukemia on November 11, 2008]
- The Caitlin Raymond International Registry: An International bone marrow and cord blood search and donor recruitment center.
- African-American Community Health Advisory Committee: More information on the need for African-American marrow donors and information on how the process takes place.
- Asians for Miracle Matches: Non-Japanese Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders are also underrepresented on the marrow donor registry. A3M is trying to change that.
If you have any other questions, such as how to put together a bone marrow drive in your community or anything else, feel free to contact me at wkwolfrum(at)gmail(dot)com.
-WKW
]]>What next?
]]>Gaza is now reaching a flash-point as a direct result of Israel's policies of containment, restriction, closure of crossing points and of all access points to Gaza by air, sea and road.
These short-sighted policies that deny most human and civil rights are, astonishingly, endorsed and paid for by a Democratic administration!
There is no other conclusion to be reached other than that AIPAC has ultimate control of both the White House and Congress.
In which case, Professors Mearsheimer and Walt were correct in their conclusions.
]]>It's Time for America to Stop Claiming to be a Great Nation, and Start Becoming One
I want to begin this article by thanking Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her responsible Democratic colleagues, and one Republican, for standing up for the American people in their historic passage of the health-care bill in the house. I've bitterly criticized Speaker Pelosi in the past, and I'm still smarting over her "impeachment is off the table" stance during the Bush administration, but she stepped up to the plate in a very big way in this, the most significant legislation that the house has pasted in a generation. So thank you, Madam speaker.
But that said, now is the time for progressives, Democratic supporters, and all citizens who care about a congress "of the people" to also step up to the plate - not by weeping and begging the Liebercrats in the Senate to do what's right by the people, but by showing them the consequences of not doing so.
The American people have been so disengaged for the past generation or two that all of our threats, negative polls, and protestations are hitting what has become a tin ear in congress. It has become clear that when many in congress have to choose between the best interests of the people and the possible loss of corporate largess, the people's interest will come up short every time.
Joe Lieberman is a prime case in point.
After being forced into a corner, Lieberman has publicly thumbed his nose at a 47% margin in favor of a public option in health-care by his own constituents - and that's after they dramatically saved his career in the 2006 election. Even after what Lieberman did in the 2008 election to the Democratic voters who supported his vice presidential bid in 2000, that sets a new standard in unconscionable ingratitude, even for him.
Not only has Lieberman indicated that he's going to use "his power as one senator" to defy the will of the people who sent him back to the senate, but he invited other Democratic senators to join him. This blatant act of treachery towards the people MUST be roundly and publically slapped down by ALL of the citizens of this nation if "we the people" expect to remain at all relevant. Our failure to do so is to sign off on a precedent that effectively changes the very character of America - from "we the people," to "we the sheep."
Lieberman's treachery has brought America to the proverbial fork in the road. Historians will one day look back and define this one act as the point in American history where either the American people finally stepped up to the plate to re-take control of their government, or where America surrendered to corporatism and became just another corpo-banana republic.
Thus, it is not enough to simply criticize Joe Lieberman as just another self-serving politician. His treachery strikes so directly at the heart of the character of this nation that it is incumbent upon the American people to ensure that his name, and his ilk, lives in infamy in the annals of American history. His treachery must be used to draw a line in America's sand, just like with Benedict Arnold, to let all future demagogues know that they cross it, not only at their own risk, but at their GUARANTEED demise.
So as I pointed out in an earlier article, since a senator cannot be recalled, the citizens of Connecticut should add a scarlet letter to Lieberman's name by passing a state resolution apologizing to the American people for sending such a man to the senate, and demanding that he resign. Then the Democratic Party should strip him of his chairmanship of the Committee on Homeland Security, and banish him from the Democratic caucus. Thereafter, if the Republican Party chooses to embrace him, they will also clearly define who they are, and what they represent.
Thereafter, the people should turn their attention to the 39 other Libercrats in house, as well as those in the senate. We've got to make them understand that the people have spoken. The American people want comprehensive health-care with a public option - period. So as far as we're concerned, all of the arguments against it are nothing but meaningless distractions designed to protect the insurance industry to the detriment of the American people.
We must come together to make it clear to every American that all of the Liebercrats in the house and senate are clearly reading from a prepared script. They complain of "government-run health-care." Medicare is also government run. Do they want to abolish that as well? Lieberman complained that "the cost is too great," and he didn't want to do that to America, but did he worry about the costs, in both monetary and human terms, when he advocated the invasion of Iran?
If it was up to Lieberman, we'd not only be involved in two, but three wars. He and his fellow Liebercrats had absolutely no problem with that, nor did they have a problem with voting to fund the senseless and totally unnecessary war in Iraq. They funded that "off budget," because it greased the pockets of the military/industrial death machine.
But only now, when the "pedestrian" concern for American lives are the issue, do they rediscover their fiscal responsibility. But of course, that couldn't possibly be because it entails taking money away from their corporate patrons in order to benefit the average American:
Was cost an issue when congress voted themselves a $93,000 increase in "petty cash" . . . each, then a month later gave themselves an additional $4,700 raise? And let us not forget, that they did this while their constituents were suffering the loss of homes and jobs, and the country was in the midst of the deepest recession since the great depression.
Was cost an issue during the Bush administration when these "fiscal conservatives" committed to building an embassy in Iraq that's rivaled only by the Vatican in terms of size and opulence? It's by far the largest embassy in the world, built on 104 acres of land, and it has been estimated that it's going to cost a billion dollars a year just to maintain.
Their concern for fiscal responsibility also seemed to come up missing in action when, according to a Post article, the Defense Department's inspector general says that the Pentagon "cannot account for almost $15 billion worth of goods and services ranging from trucks, bottled water and mattresses to rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns that were bought from contractors in the Iraq reconstruction effort." And the article goes on to indicate that "The Pentagon did not have the proper documentation, including receipts, vouchers, signatures, invoices or other paperwork, for $7.8 billion that American and Iraqi contractors were paid for phones, folders, paint, blankets, Nissan trucks, laundry services and other items."
The article also points out that "the inspector general found deficiencies in accounting for $5.2 billion of U.S. Payments to buy weapons, trucks, generators and other equipment for Iraq's security forces. In addition, the Defense Department spent $1.8 billion of seized Iraqi assets with "absolutely no accountability." Where was their concern for America's fiscal vitality then?
It's time for the American people to stop whining, complaining, and threatening. It's also time for us to stop simply accepting the status quo as "just the way things are." While it is true that it is the way things are, it is only that way because we allow it. So it's past time for us to stop allowing it, and start taking immediate action against these disingenuous, self-serving rogues.
We shouldn't say another word to these foot-dragging senators. Even before they get the chance to vote, we should start organizing to get rid of all those senators threatening to vote against comprehensive health-care, right along with Lieberman and his 39 cohorts in the house.
A great nation protects its citizens, so it's time for America to stop claiming to be a great nation, and start being one.
Eric L. Wattree
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
]]>In the six years since combat operations began in Iraq, Fort Carson -- the country's third-largest Army base, with 22,000 active soldiers on duty -- has become its own kind of killing field. Before Kevin Shields was gunned down, at least three other Iraq War veterans from the base had been arrested for murder, and a fourth had committed suicide after killing his wife. Since then, at least five more GIs at Fort Carson have been arrested in connection with murders, attempted murders or manslaughter. All told, the military acknowledged this summer, 14 soldiers from the base have been charged or convicted in at least 11 slayings since 2005 -- the largest killing spree involving soldiers at a single U.S. military installation in modern history.
Spurred by public outrage, the Army conducted a six-month study into the Fort Carson killings, examining the medical and combat histories of the 14 accused soldiers. Like Bressler, nine of the vets served in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, which suffered a casualty rate in Iraq eight times higher than other Fort Carson units. The Army's 126-page report, released in July, marked the first time the military has ever acknowledged the significance of combat in the behavior of returning veterans. There is, according to the report, a "possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes." But in classic bureaucratic language, the study fell short of calling for any real specific action beyond a need for more studies.
"We don't have enough data yet to determine any cause-and-effect relationships," Maj. Gen. Mark Graham told me before stepping down as commander of Fort Carson in August. "And even if you could identify high-risk soldiers, what are you going to do? Lock them up? What you have to do is watch their behavior."
In fact, that's exactly what Fort Carson failed to do. The story of how a once-promising infantryman like Louis Bressler wound up in prison for taking part in two murders reveals as much about the Army's negligence as it does about Bressler's mental decline. Despite the heavy fighting seen by their troops, the base's commanders were completely unprepared to treat and monitor soldiers suffering from severe combat trauma. A third of all staff positions in the behavioral-health unit at the post's medical center, Evans Army Community Hospital, were left unfilled in 2007, at a time when the base was experiencing an all-time high in PTSD cases. Soldiers suffering from serious delusions were often sent off with a handful of pills and never returned for additional treatment. In one case, a mentally disturbed vet who imagined himself to be an "alien dinosaur-like creature" allegedly raped and killed a teenager after reportedly being declared fit for duty by a Fort Carson psychiatrist.
"It's no surprise that these murders happened at Fort Carson, as opposed to another Army base," says Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The failures of leadership we've seen there border on dereliction of duty."
And for you who have not taken the time to introduce yourselves fully to combat-related PTSD, I behoove you to start at this blog and work your way through it:
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Afghanistan, Iraq Veteran Army Suicide Rate Continues to Climb; PTSD Timeline Update
And for a broader understanding of the clinical nature of PTSD, outside of the combat military, and it's various forms, you may wish to go to the Mayo Clinic site and work you way through it:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
What lurks out there across America. and the associated acts will is only going to get worse if folks don't understand the true nature of the condition of PTSD and assist those who may not even realize they are in it's grip...
~OGD~
I am open to ideas on how the Fort Hood tragedy can become a force for peace. If we are not pro-active, we cede issues raised by Fort Hood to the neo-cons. You can be sure that they will milk this slaughter for evey drop to advance their pro-war agenda.
IAEA found nothing serious at Iran site: ElBaradei
Thu Nov 5, 2009 4:26pm EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5A13KW20091105
I had been anticipating the results of the UN inspection, and when I read the article I thought jeez, this is news. But no, it was not news.
Many of us have held the fear that maybe "the big one" was going to drop. Every time the news cycle gets bored, they are back to "Iran is building a bomb", boogah, boogah! If the US won't drop the big one by God Israel will go it alone! Cheney and the gang played this card to escalate the perpetual war machine till the bitter end.
Now it seems that maybe Iran isn't very close to weapons grade enrichment, and the "secret plant" isn't even close to the boogie man it has been billed. For one, I am relieved. You would think it would have gotten some attention. Alas, it is not much for news folks. Not enough boogah, boogah.
Google search results with the Reuters title left our main stream media oddly quiet, but as I suspected, Juan Cole does consider noteworthy. http://www.juancole.com/ (Nov 7 post).
]]>
The focus now shifts to the Senate, which has a reputation of being much more conservative than the House. Many Senators such as Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have already openly stated that the House bill or anything like it is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. And the Democratic Whip in the Senate, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), has implied that the Senate might even have to delay legislation until 2010 because the votes are currently not there for the bill Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) recently released. Meanwhile Republicans in both houses continue to demonize reform and conservative Democratic Senators continue to either threaten reform in general or demand further concessions from leadership.
All of this seems to suggest that in the end if we are to get any kind of reform passed that it will be a quasi-Republican bill with no Republican support that hinges on leadership requiring progressive Democrats to bite the bullet to satisfy conservative Democrats once again.
When pro-choice Democratic congressmen left Speaker Pelosi's office infuriated about the decision to put the Stupak amendment up for a vote they knew that while they were free vote against the amendment when it came to a vote for the overall bill that they were expected to put aside their principles and values and vote "Aye" for the Democratic bill. When will SpeakerPelosi, Majority Leader Reid, and President Obama make their conservative colleagues do the same?
From the beginning progressives understood their place in the debate and were willing for the sake of the party, because they knew that all Democrats would rise or fall on the issue of health-care reform, to vote for a bill were some aspects of the bill went against issues they deeply cared about. They understood that inspirational speeches from the President were never directed towards them, but rather their colleagues that were willing hold up reform simply to get what they wanted. In the early days of the debate almost all progressives gave up on single payer, even though it would be undoubtedly better than what we will ever end up with, and settled for a diluted public-option, because leadership told them they would have to. They stood by as their leader, President Obama, transitioned from a fierce advocate for change to a shrewd politician seemingly willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of simply passing a bill.
Progressives understood that in this debate, and all the ones previous in the Obama Era, and seemingly all the ones from here on out, that they would have to be the grown-ups in the Congress and do for the American people what conservative Democrats are refusing to do: compromise for the sake of the greater good.
Meanwhile Blue Dog Democrats in the House and conservative Democrats in the Senate have blatantly made it clear that they are willing to hold up reform so long as it takes for leadership to give them what they want. They have largely been successful in their efforts, because many of them come from conservative districts/states, and leadership has determined that in order to hold on to majority status that it would be in their best interest to succumb to these leaders rather than side with the majority of their caucus. This adds another layer of frustration among progressives, as the majority of the caucus in both chambers are supportive of provisions such as the public option or disapproves of such measures like the Stupak amendment.
To
make matters worse, President Obama has consistently refused to put
significant pressure on conservative Democrats to vote for a bill that
the majority of the caucus (and the American people) supports, while
the base that elected him (and undoubtedly the same base that will be
responsible for re-electing him) has seen him remain silent on the
substantive issues, such as a woman's right to choose, and the public
option.
The president and the Democratic leadership's actions so far do not come to a surprise to many. Throughout the debate over health-care reform the President spent much of his time with conservative Democrats trying to craft the various bills to meet their favor assured that progressives would be with him no matter what. With all eyes on the Senate now many political observers have noted that while the majority of the Democratic caucus, some thirty-plus Senators, are in favor of the Public Option the decision as to whether or not the Senate will even pass a bill with such a provision it has been determined to be in the hands six senators (Bill Nelson (D-NE), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Mary Landrieu (D-AR), Joe Libermann (D-CT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Kent Conrad (D-ND)), all of whom have gone on the record as being opposed to the public option.
Both the president and Majority Leader Sen. Reid have publicly stated their support for the public option (the president most staunchly in July 2009), both have hinted that if push comes to shove they might be inclined to remove the public option in order to get the support of the six conservative Democrats who currently are holding up reform.
While many, including President Obama, have stated that the nature of politics is to compromise, it is worth pointing out that what has taken place here during the health-care reform debate has not been compromise but rather a political hostage situation.
Progressives have begun to fight back in some areas. Particularly in the House of Representatives where after the passage of the health-care reform bill on Saturday with the Stupak Amendment included, Rep. Diane DeGette (D-CO) submitted a letter to the leadership containing the list of forty pro-choice Democrats in the House who vow to vote against the final bill after it goes through conference if it includes the Stupak amendment.
Quick to make their intentions also clear forty anti-choice Democrats have stated that they will vote against any bill that comes from conference without the Stupak amendment.
House
leadership and the president will have to side with one of the opposing
groups. Conventional wisdom suggests that President Obama and the House
leadership will maintain the double standard and force Rep. DeGette and
other pro-choice Democrats to vote for the bill in exchange for other
assurances; however, what remains to be seen is whether or not Rep. DeGette and the other pro-choice Democrats will succumb
to the pressure and let through legislation that sets women's right
back thirty years for the sake of appeasing the minority of their
caucus.
The U.N. General Assembly also encouraged President Karzai to press ahead with "strengthening of the rule of law and democratic processes, the fight against corruption (and) the acceleration of justice sector reform" and Pope Benedict XVI to press ahead with "abstaining from pork products, eating matzoh on Passover, rejecting Jesus, and keep wearing the beanie because it's kind of like a yarmulke. Plus the retro look is very cool."
Encouraged by its success in Afghanistan and Vatican City, the U.N. then launched a tour de force of unanimous resolutionizing, including the following declarations:
But the night was not without discord. An attempt to encourage the Afghan candidate Abdullah Abdullah to accept the election results and change "one of his names" was thwarted by a faction of developing nations led by former U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who argued that the U.N. should take its "head" out of its "tuchus."
Cross-posted at dagblog.com
Joseph Chez
November 9, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. However, it is befitting to note that while we celebrate the downfall of this shameful wall of tyranny, existing walls of oppression are being built today -with little or no opposition from western democracies. One glaring example is the concrete wall that the Israelis have built surrounding the West Bank, shamefully enclosing Palestinians and depriving them of basic living standards and freedoms. Ironically, the Nazis in WWII walled a Jewish quarter in Krakow Poland under the same pretext of security for the homeland, but, history has determined otherwise.
So what were the reasons of building the Berlin wall and why did it crumble? As History now chronicles, in post WWII, Berlin became a divided city, mainly under the control of Western powers and the Soviet East Block. In East Berlin, the Berlin Wall was erected beginning August 13, 1961 under the decree of East German leader, Walter Ulbricht, in order to keep its people protected from the West, its influences and its freedoms. The decree for closing the border for travel restrictions between East and West Berlin was intended to last until 1989.
In 1985, a new Soviet leader rose to power in then, Soviet Russia. Mikhail gorbachev successfully rose to power because of his own political credo of bringing change to the nation's economy as well as his wish to bring an era of openness. Hence, the Soviet Block began a period of Perestroika (open market concepts) and Glasnost (freedom of expression). Soon Poland requested a waiver from the Kremlin to open its borders with the West for the exchange of goods and services. The Soviets saw that as an opportunity to test Perestroika and allowed it. What resulted was a massive and frenzied flood of Levy jeans, Nike sneakers and Beatles music records that began to pour into the Eastern block. However, profiteering became rampant as jeans were being sold in the black market in Russia for up to $500.00 and there was no end. Thus, Mikhail Gorbachev decided to implement Perestroika through out the East Block.
In June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan was visiting Europe for a summit to discuss with other European leaders the American vision of a missile defense for Europe, the so called Star Wars Missile Defense System. However, part of his trip also included a visit to Berlin to give a speech about the virtues of Western democracy. We now know of course of his famous statement he made, asking Soviet Russia's Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
In November 9, 1989, the Easter German government's decree for closing the borders had come to and end and Mikhail Gorbachev did not interfere, and instead, allowed it to happen. Perestroika at last!
Thus, we celebrate with the German people on this historic reminder of shameful acts invoked in the name of security. But we should not forget that the human spirit does not recognize any legitimacy in walls of tyranny, but will find ways to make perpetrators conform to human decency and freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever." A true statement guaranteed by history.]]>Our detective was hard at work in his office, trying to sort things out. Now we have three more murders outside of Pierre and just outside of a giant stag.
We are all just poor players on the stag.Jeeeeeeeeez I am so glib.
How can I just ignore what goes on two hundred miles from here, when I have a corpse with its poor head bitten off? We gots real problems, Langdon mused.The DNA demonstrated that some strange mammal had eaten the head of this poor NORTHCO employee that has never been catalogued. It has tracks like a stag but musculature more reminiscent of a raccoon. But it really left no prints. Not even in the blood. It was like the monster had just vanished.
Something is happening here and we do not know what it is, but it has to have something to do with this NORTHCO.
The raccoon came up funny. The DNA examination of this critter went off the charts. They found too much manganese; too much acidity...whatever that means; although, there was no nuclear threat discovered in any of this testing. No radiation poisoning and yet there was certainly evidence of 'glowing' in the forest as well as at the site of the murdered huntsmen.
Sally. Get me George on the phone in legal and see if Frances the Talking Mule is out there.
Frances was the medical adjunct to his Bureau. She had to carry packages between private medical suppliers as well as various coroners throughout South Dakota. If there was any time he needed a mule it was now. Officially, his office was in Brookings County but each little county lie Deuel or Minnehaha for instance all had their little part time coroner. And local politics became an extremely important consideration. Unlike himself, Frances had tact.
Ten county coroners did not even have PC's and ten more coroners that did have PC'S did not have the faintest idea how to use them. But they all had Xerox machines thank God. Ha
Good morning Frances.
Oh top of the morning to you Langdon.
Frances, I need you to get all the information you can on these hunters and get somebody to follow up on this stag. I mean this is bizaare. Try to get most of the information of how the testing is going and such without driving out there. At least at the start. I also need follow up on the information about these DNA findings in the local murder here. By the way how are you doing?
Well Langdon, other than some suicidal thoughts, not too bad. We have been on the phone with and in the pc with Pierre and the information is coming in slowly. This will heat up. Any time hunters are being killed and gutted there is public pressure for finding out what the hell happened.
I figured you were on this Frances, but I also need you to check with other counties and see if there has been any eye witness accounts of strange happenings in the woods. If there have been other accounts of strange things glowing in the dark, I wish to know about it. If hunters have reported threats, I wish to know about it. Hell half these coroners hunt big game, find out if they have any personal experiences that might be relevant here.
Langdon, I have never seen anything like this really. I mean we have seen cases of mange, and talk about mighty mites. Oh and lately, there have been sightings of armadillos; armies of them. I can only tell you that I am staying on this.
Good thank you Frances. Now I am heading out for an interview with someone from NORTHCO. Is there anything that strikes you about NORTHCO itself over the last ten years? Do you know that I still do not know what NORTHCO does?
I had a brother-in-law that worked there. I do not know if this has anything to do with anything, but their employment system alone is weird. Nobody at NORTHCO has any children. I mean there are something like 1500 employees and there has never been an issue over daycare, because there is no need for it. Health insurance rates are very low there. And my brother in law worked there for six years and he used to laugh that he had no idea what NORTHCO produced, manufactured or serviced. And there are more than one facility. There are four or five or something. That is all I got.
Well that gives me something to think about; thank you Frances.
Langdon packed up and had plenty to think about on his drive over to meet with Frank. Just before he left he reached into the lower drawer of his desk and took a pill from his 'stash'.
Meanwhile Frank had just gotten back from the NORTHCO Medical Center. It was just after ten o'clock. EEG, EKG, MRI...Three hours of that crap and it was all he could take.
As he sat down to drink his home made espresso, he glanced at the news papers. But he could not shake this specter of Dr. Cliché from his mind. Frank had refrained from bringing up his name following that strange conversation with Melanie, whoever the fuck she was. I mean between the epileptic seizures and his memory lapses, he could find himself in stir with Algie real soon.
And with these memory lapses, with this life in the twilight zone, he now has to let a chief investigator from the state into his home and this cannot turn out well for Frank. The more he thought about all this the more Frank realized that he must find a way out.
A way out of NORTHCO. A way out of South Dakota. Just a way out. He can work on where he wishes to go in later. I mean if you are lucky enough to get out of an existential jail, you must come up with a way to introduce yourself into some other milieu. Ha
He owned his home outright although buyers would not be easy to find. The worst case scenario would be renting out the home to one of the apartment dwellers; people farther down the corporate ladder.
Frank had about two hundred grand in his TC accounts. He had another half million in stocks and bonds.
I could start a new life with this. I mean you find a modest home in a modest burb. Hell what do I really need anyway. It is not like I need a lot of funds for nights at the opera. A couple weeks in Vegas with a tight hold on monies taken there would allow him more entertainment than he had seen in years anyway.
Hell, Frank could even take a year off. Pick up a masters in education or something.
He just was not going to stay in this hell hole any longer.
SHELTER FROM THE STORM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oPS_C1TKg&feature=PlayList&p=8A181E651155013B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=42
Just as his anger roiled inside his damaged brain, the door bell rang.
Hello, Frank?
Yes, you must be Mr. Langdon.
Langdon is just fine. May I come in?
Frank realized he was just leaving this high level investigator standing at the door.
Of course Frank said while showing his guest into the living room and onto the sofa.
A little coffee?
Why yes. Thank you.
Frank had put a tray on the coffee table and Langdon did not hesitate to poor a cup and add a little cream.
Nice place here Frank.
Same as everyone else Langdon, as Frank rolled his eyes.
Well certainly not everyone, but I must admit meaning no disrespect, this is a place of little boxes on the hill top. Langdon was seeing if he could get this guy's goat, but he could see that was not going to happen. Humility like this could prevent the kind of disclosure he was looking for.
Frank, you know about Thomas and Algernon?
For sure.
Well there are strange happenings in these here parts as one hunter put it couple days ago. And I believe some of this strangeness might be related to NORTHCO. Now my information has it that you are pretty high up, that is a member of management with NORTHCO.
True. Ten years.
What is your exact position there Frank?
I am Vice-President in charge of personnel and finance.
Oh good. Then maybe you can tell me. What the hell does NORTHCO do exactly?
We are a defense contractor. We do business directly with the Department of Defense and indirectly through other contractors.
Okay. I got that. But what is it you do for the government and its contractors?
That is confidential, top secret I am afraid.
So you are going to tell me that for some reason having to deal with corporate confidentiality you will withhold vital information in a murder investigation....Langdon's voice was getting louder and louder.
Hey, relax. You want to go out on the porch for a smoke?
Ah, yes.
And we can speak off the record for a few minutes?
Sure, why not?
They both grabbed their coffees as Frank led them to the porch. Frank immediately saw two roaches had been left in the ash tray. Covering the top of the ashtray as he grabbed it, he told Langdon to sit down and he would be right back. Returning with a clean ashtray and a lighter, he sat down with Langdon, offering him a Marlborough from the fancy cigarette case.
Forget corporate confidentiality for a second Langdon. I evidently do not even have a high enough security clearance to tell you what you wish to know. I know that NORTHCO deals with weapon systems. Only because I came across a few contracts by accident one day. I know or deduce that NORTHCO has dealt with genetic testing of animals because I saw a contract involving NASA and because I have seen some animals at our facility.
But, between you and me, I do not plan on being at NORTHCO much longer. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT NORTHCO DOES. TEN YEARS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO.
I think you might consider a subpoena from a state court seeking records over there. And you should serve it on Mr. Sphincter. Some have said that I am number three over at NORTHCO. Sphincter is my direct supervisor and frankly, I have never seen HIS boss.
And get this. There are four other NORTHCO installations across the country and there is a Mr. Sphincter listed at each on the them.
Now if you let on that you received information from me; that is when you speak with Sphincter, I will be through and I will no longer be able to help you.
Now I am not a lawyer--thank the good lord--but I guarantee that Sphincter will get a federal order voiding your state subpoena. NORTHCO attorneys will claim that its records must be kept secret on the basis of national security.
I will tell you that there are at least three floors of warehouse beneath the building. What they do down there is anybody's guess. I will tell you that whatever they deliver or take out of that hell hole, it is dangerous to humans and other animals. How do I know this? Because it is certainly dangerous to the pavement. Road crews are brought in at least a couple times a month to repair damage done to the entryway to the warehouse.
Now I am in charge of the second and third floors of the center with some responsibilities involving the first floor. But I also have just discovered that there is a fourth floor. You cannot, I swear, make out a fourth floor at this facility by looking at it from the outside.
I will also tell you that I have violated at least seven provisions of my employment contract by even meeting with you today.
You might consider hooking up with the FBI on this one Langdon.
Frank took a long toke off his smoke and as both looked out the window toward the pond, four armadillos scooted past. They were followed by a mangy looking Bear that appeared to be foaming at the mouth.
The she-bear's eyes appeared to glow.
(For previous episodes go to:
http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
You may look forward to a new episode every Monday and Thursday...unless one or more of my limbs starts to glow)