About a week ago, I, along with some friends, read a shocking article in the SF Chronicle detailing a plan by the Contra Costa County DA to stop prosecuting misdemeanors and certain drug felonies. To quote the article, "People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift, trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear," but that "prosecutors will still consider charging suspects with certain misdemeanors, including domestic violence, driving under the influence, firearms offenses, vehicular manslaughter, sex crimes and assault with a deadly weapon." The full article is here.
Hey criminal breathren, want a new hard drive? Go to Contra Costa County's Best Buy and steal one! You won't be prosecuted! Hey rapists, want to grope people? Go to Contra Costa County! If it's not too egregious, no one will prosecute you! Need a place to stay? Just sleep on any private property in Contra Costa County! The police won't prosecute you for trespassing!
You get the idea.
Of course, we were skeptical when we read this. No DA in his/her right mind would do this. Yet, this was an article in the Chronicle. They wouldn't even do this on April Fools Day. I later checked Google News for more news, and found that this was indeed, shockingly, true.
I checked for updates on the situation every few days to see how the major public outcry would affect the DA's decision, and to see if Contra Costa County would spiral down to what may be later referred to euphemistically in the history books as "America's Dystopian Experiment of the Economic Crisis of 2009."
Fortunately, as another Chronicle article (and many other sources) later reported, this was all a huge bluff that DA Robert Kochly engineered to force the Board of Supervisors and the general public to recognize law enforcement's need for a basic level of funding, even during economic downturns.
I do feel sympathetic for Kochly and his strained organization.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The REMIX Culture
This is one of Lawrence Lessig's classic speeches. I'm sure most people who read this already hold the viewpoint that copyright law needs a major overhaul, so this video will just be a friendly and clear reminder of why that is true. For those of you who believe that copyright law needs no change, hopefully this video will explain why so many people believe firmly that the current system is broken.
The highly ironic part of this is that Warner Music has issued a DMCA take-down notice on the presentation.
Really?
The highly ironic part of this is that Warner Music has issued a DMCA take-down notice on the presentation.
Really?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Nasal Adventures: A Timeline
Thank you everyone for your help and concern regarding the 5 ER visits the last week or so. I feel like I owe a lot of you in many ways after this is all over, but for now, I think I at least should give you an update on what is going on. Here is the approximate series of events:
Friday, March 27: I started bleeding in my right nostril in the morning while I was cleaning my room and watching the last few episodes of Battlestar Galactica. It stopped about an hour. It then bled several more times that day, and the episode that started at 4:30 or so caused me some concern because it wasn't slowing down. I was supposed to preflight a road trip for the CS106 section leaders at 6PM, but I decided that I probably couldn't go, and went to the ER. With some magic (nasal clamps and cream), the ER stopped the bleeding, and discharged me.
Saturday, March 27: At around 1AM, it started bleeding again. I eventually decided to return to the ER at around 3AM. While waiting in the examining room, I started to feel faint and called out to the attending staff. I then remember feeling warm and bright and paralyzed while several people called out "Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, are you with us?" before passing out. I woke up on a hospital bed as a nurse was putting in an IV of fluids. There were lots of leads coming from my chest and arms and legs, going to a monitor and an EKG. My blood pressure slowly crept from a low 80-over-40 to a much more normal 100/80. They examined my nose, told me I should just apply Bacitracin to it for the next few days until they make an "urgent" ENT appointment for me, then discharged me at around 7:30AM. Chris got back mid-day Saturday, and was surprised to hear of my ordeal. I started bleeding again at 5 or so, and Chris took me to the ER at around 7. They decided to put a Rhino Rocket up my nose--an extremely unpleasant and painful procedure. The nurse called the Rocket a "nasal tampon"--it essentially is a tube of material that doesn't stick to blood that the doctor can stick into your nose and inflate. Then, when the Rocket gets wet, it expands, applying pressure to bleeding. Just when you think they've stuck the thing as far up as it can go, seemingly brushing against your brain, they push it even further. Then, quite surprisingly, after they put it in, I fainted again. Same routine. I was discharged about two hours later.
Thursday, April 2: I followed up with the ENT and got the Rhino Rocket out. They then put a tiny camera in my nose, and game me these sweet goggles so that I could follow along what was inside my nose while the doctor examined. My left nostril was like the Amazon river basin, but surprisingly, was not bleeding. The right nostril had a pretty big vein protruding, which the doctor cauterized, then sent me on my way with lots of instructions. I thought I was all done.
Saturday, April 4: I had some very minor bleeding on Thursday and Friday, but the ENT doc told me that was to be expected. However, there was another episode of unstoppable bleeding on Saturday starting at around 5PM in which I was continuously swallowing blood. Jessica took me to the ER at around 7, and I was discharged at around 10PM after they put another Rhino Rocket in my nose. Back to another uncomfortable few days.
I went to bed almost immediately. At 3AM, I woke up to go to the bathroom, and suddenly felt dizzy and faint after urinating. Andrew Rominger walked in just as I was leaning down to try to get more circulation into my head. I don't quite remember what happened after that, but I felt all my muscles weakening, and when I came to, I was sitting on the toilet, and Andrew had called 911. My feces were on the ground, but they were mostly just the blood I had swallowed. I could barely lift my head or speak, so I told him to get Jessica from my room who could explain things to the paramedics when they came. I spent the entire ambulance ride with a blood pressure hovering around 65/40. At the ER, they put in two IVs to give me about 4 liters of fluid and some drugs to counter the waves of nausea I was experiencing. After a blood test, they found that I had lost about 50% of my blood the past week putting me well within the range of anemia, which clearly explains my fainting and frequent feeling of cold. Hence, I spent until 11:30AM or so being monitored and receiving two units of blood transfusions. Jessica stayed with me the entire night. Most of that time was spent talking semi-lucidly to Jessica, or sleeping. I was discharged at around 1:30, and Micki drove us home. My parents flew in at around 6:30PM, and are helping me with life in general.
I'm scheduled to see the ENT again on Wednesday. Until then, there's nothing to do but continue to ride the painful rhino rocket and sleep 14 hours a day. Thanks everyone who have helped in this ordeal so far, especially Jessica, Chris, Andrew, and my parents.
Friday, March 27: I started bleeding in my right nostril in the morning while I was cleaning my room and watching the last few episodes of Battlestar Galactica. It stopped about an hour. It then bled several more times that day, and the episode that started at 4:30 or so caused me some concern because it wasn't slowing down. I was supposed to preflight a road trip for the CS106 section leaders at 6PM, but I decided that I probably couldn't go, and went to the ER. With some magic (nasal clamps and cream), the ER stopped the bleeding, and discharged me.
Saturday, March 27: At around 1AM, it started bleeding again. I eventually decided to return to the ER at around 3AM. While waiting in the examining room, I started to feel faint and called out to the attending staff. I then remember feeling warm and bright and paralyzed while several people called out "Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, are you with us?" before passing out. I woke up on a hospital bed as a nurse was putting in an IV of fluids. There were lots of leads coming from my chest and arms and legs, going to a monitor and an EKG. My blood pressure slowly crept from a low 80-over-40 to a much more normal 100/80. They examined my nose, told me I should just apply Bacitracin to it for the next few days until they make an "urgent" ENT appointment for me, then discharged me at around 7:30AM. Chris got back mid-day Saturday, and was surprised to hear of my ordeal. I started bleeding again at 5 or so, and Chris took me to the ER at around 7. They decided to put a Rhino Rocket up my nose--an extremely unpleasant and painful procedure. The nurse called the Rocket a "nasal tampon"--it essentially is a tube of material that doesn't stick to blood that the doctor can stick into your nose and inflate. Then, when the Rocket gets wet, it expands, applying pressure to bleeding. Just when you think they've stuck the thing as far up as it can go, seemingly brushing against your brain, they push it even further. Then, quite surprisingly, after they put it in, I fainted again. Same routine. I was discharged about two hours later.
Thursday, April 2: I followed up with the ENT and got the Rhino Rocket out. They then put a tiny camera in my nose, and game me these sweet goggles so that I could follow along what was inside my nose while the doctor examined. My left nostril was like the Amazon river basin, but surprisingly, was not bleeding. The right nostril had a pretty big vein protruding, which the doctor cauterized, then sent me on my way with lots of instructions. I thought I was all done.
Saturday, April 4: I had some very minor bleeding on Thursday and Friday, but the ENT doc told me that was to be expected. However, there was another episode of unstoppable bleeding on Saturday starting at around 5PM in which I was continuously swallowing blood. Jessica took me to the ER at around 7, and I was discharged at around 10PM after they put another Rhino Rocket in my nose. Back to another uncomfortable few days.
I went to bed almost immediately. At 3AM, I woke up to go to the bathroom, and suddenly felt dizzy and faint after urinating. Andrew Rominger walked in just as I was leaning down to try to get more circulation into my head. I don't quite remember what happened after that, but I felt all my muscles weakening, and when I came to, I was sitting on the toilet, and Andrew had called 911. My feces were on the ground, but they were mostly just the blood I had swallowed. I could barely lift my head or speak, so I told him to get Jessica from my room who could explain things to the paramedics when they came. I spent the entire ambulance ride with a blood pressure hovering around 65/40. At the ER, they put in two IVs to give me about 4 liters of fluid and some drugs to counter the waves of nausea I was experiencing. After a blood test, they found that I had lost about 50% of my blood the past week putting me well within the range of anemia, which clearly explains my fainting and frequent feeling of cold. Hence, I spent until 11:30AM or so being monitored and receiving two units of blood transfusions. Jessica stayed with me the entire night. Most of that time was spent talking semi-lucidly to Jessica, or sleeping. I was discharged at around 1:30, and Micki drove us home. My parents flew in at around 6:30PM, and are helping me with life in general.
I'm scheduled to see the ENT again on Wednesday. Until then, there's nothing to do but continue to ride the painful rhino rocket and sleep 14 hours a day. Thanks everyone who have helped in this ordeal so far, especially Jessica, Chris, Andrew, and my parents.
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