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The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Mar 7th, 2010 at 12:02:30 PM EST
Masked gunmen rob poker tournament at Berlin hotel | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 06.03.2010
Panic ensued at Germany's largest poker tournament Saturday afternoon when gunmen broke into the event held at a Berlin hotel and stole some of the prize money. 

Up to six masked men carrying guns entered a poker tournament at a five-star Berlin hotel Saturday afternoon, bagged a portion of the prize money and fled, according to police.

The robbery took place around 2:15 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Potsdamer Platz, where the European Poker Tour had begun a few days earlier.

No shots were fired, although some visitors and players were lightly injured amid the panic, police said.

According to reports by the daily newspaper BZ, the robbers made off with up to 800,000 euros ($1 million) in prize money.



The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Mar 7th, 2010 at 12:18:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not a wink of sleep for me, unfortunately. I just returned from 4 hours in emergency trying to find out why my ankle is giving me Old Harry. Feels like a bad sprain, but here was no incident to create it. Still a mystery - some kind of non-bacterial inflammation. Voltaren for the swelling - panacod for the pain. And a send off jab in the buttocks for good measure...

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 01:25:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Try to keep your ankle elevated & stay off it as much as possible for the next few days.  

FYI, for those weird pains and swellings we've found a old fashioned Castor Oil pack works as well as anything.  Take a piece of wool flannel, douse it in Caster Oil, wrap around the swollen area, and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap to keep the Oil from getting everywhere.  Every couple of hours slobber the flannel with more Oil.

by ATinNM on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 01:33:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I can do the laptop-in-my-leather-recliner most of this week, but I'll have to be in the studio this afternoon. There's codeine in the Panacod so I'll try to keep it sensible.

Castor Oil sounds interesting, but it is toxic (only use on unbroken skin). My mother had a very nasty swelling from a mosquito bite in the archipelago (you can take that however you like). My mother-in-law brought the inflammation down with slightly crushed cabbage leaves wrapped round...at least they didn't do any harm ;-)

In solidarity, we all wore vegetables that day. Luckily it was on the island, far from prying eyes.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 02:00:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
far from prying eyes.

sure?

omo sapiens...

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 09:18:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
My sister, who is a chiropractor, says it sounds like possibly arthritis (or, less likely, a circulatory issue, in which case it would tend to be bilateral), depending on what other symptoms you may have had in the recent past.  For example, have you been under a lot of stress recently?  Are you working unusually hard?  Are you eating well, drinking enough fluids, getting enough sleep, etc.?  It may have been a condition that had been building up for a while that just kind exploded due to some random little thing in the last day or so.

If it is arthritis, apparently you shouldn't ice it.  Maybe a little bit of mild heat, and then massage it upwards (towards the heart).

If your skin is really dry in the extremities (e.g. ankles and feet), that would also point to arthritis.

Could be an old injury (like decades old) that is causing incipient arthritis now.

Anyway, this is me paraphrasing what she's telling me over skype based on your one comment, so take it with a big grain of salt.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 04:15:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Marco, thanks for your care. And thank your sister too. I had sciatica a year ago and the pain was similar (bloody awful!). No stress, working hard - but at what I enjoy, and everything else seems normal. I am 66, so I am expecting to fall apart in the near future - especially after a lifetime that has included rather more unusual wear and tear than the norm. Documentary film-making is a very physical activity.

Arthritis is unknown among all my blood relatives.

Anyway, the bum jab has removed the pain for the moment.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 05:28:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
wise woman, your sister.

here's an experiment a chiropractor had me do 30 years ago, in Ca.

you get 2 cheap bathroom scales, and climb on with one foot on each. shut your eyes, and try to balance yourself. then look down.

the first time i tried this there was a 20lb difference!

then, watching the scales, adjust stance till they are even, and observe the subtle changes in your energy field as you do so.

as you go through your day, the subconscious will do the rest, and you will even out.

it is possible, tho' not certain by any means, that this pain in your ankle, sven, is your body trying to adjust your symmetry, for greater health.

it could be that while you're healing up from this, you will put more weight on the other side, and save yourself sciatica later on...

btw, arnica gel is made exactly for these types of odd 'sprains'. i find it pleasant to use, and free of side effects, unlike yer volterrans.

arnica used internally can be very helpful too, placebo or not, lol.

getting it up will help stopping swelling from blood pooling, and gently testing and expanding your range of motion around the joint, always stopping short of the points where discomfort turns to pain, will help the circulation and keep tendons and muscle insertions from atrophying during the healing period.

cabbage poultices are good medicine!

good luck for a swift recovery, looks like you may have a little more time to blog!

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 05:44:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
From my sister back at you:

the "melo" chick (or dude) is wise too! yeah, arnica gel is good stuff. Also the cabbage poultices too.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 09:00:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The double scale trick is excellent! I know I have uneven weight distribution - it's been a source of lumbago in the past when combined with great exertion in flexing the back and lifting or sawing. The ex's cousin is a sports doc and he first pointed out that a little kink in my spine was causing the problems.

I'll check out Arnica gel. I try to limit my intake of synthetics as much as possible - e,g I refuse antibiotics unless the doctor demands that I take them. I also have a fairly high pain tolerance, but last nights pain was not endurable. There were some rather choice swear words blueing the Tusby air in the early hours, although the singing daughter was remarkably calm when I woke her up to help me get to the hospital.

Interestingly I was, for the first time in my life, able to watch the Oscars live in the waiting room at ER. The show definitely had an analgesic effect.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 09:01:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

School Lunches in France: Nursery-School Gourmets

Americans struggling with obesity epidemics have for years wondered how the so-called French paradox works: How does a nation that ingests huge quantities of butter, beef and cakes keep trim and have such long lives? It could be the red wine, as some believe. But another reason has to be this: in a country where con artists and adulterers are tolerated, the laws governing meals are sacrosanct and are drummed into children before they can even hold a knife. The French don't need their First Lady to plant a vegetable garden at the Élysée Palace to encourage good eating habits. They already know the rules: sit down and take your time, because food is serious business.

In his new book Food Rules, Michael Pollan states in rule No. 58: "Do all your eating at a table." French children quickly learn that they won't be fed anywhere else. Snack and soda machines are banned from school buildings in France -- a battle that is now raging across the U.S. And France's lunch programs are well funded. While the country is cutting public programs and civil-servant jobs to try to slash a debt of about $2.1 trillion, no one has dared to mention touching the money spent on school lunches.

Public schools in France are overcrowded, rigid and hierarchical. And parents, who are never addressed by their first names, are strongly discouraged from entering school buildings, let alone the classrooms. I cannot tell you what my child learns, paints or builds on any given school day. But I do know that on Feb. 4, he ate hake in Basque sauce, mashed pumpkin, cracked rice, Edam cheese and organic fruits for lunch. That meant stuffed marrows and apples for dinner. The city of Paris said so.

I know what my kids learn, paint or build on any given day.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 04:25:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Hush now, you'll disturb the foreign correspondents.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 04:48:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Jerome a Paris:
parents, who are never addressed by their first names

That would of course make all the difference.

Americans crack me up.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 05:28:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
On the other hand, my understanding of how school lunches were fighting against obesity was that they were not so good food, not conducive to asking for seconds. Although it may have changed nowadays.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 05:32:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
At 12 in school (founded 1444 - for you Yanks), Matron commanded the kitchen to produce chlorophyl tart. Possibly the most disgusting food I've ever been forced to eat.

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 09:04:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I cannot tell you what my child learns, paints or builds on any given school day.

Talk to your child, for crying out loud.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 05:35:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
My default answer for that was always, "Nothing," because that's what it felt like.  My parents seemed to be hoping for a different answer.
by Zwackus on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 06:53:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, last week my child "learned" about subtraction with carry, magnets, and some childrens' books author I had never heard about. He needed some prodding but he was quite happy to tell me about it.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 8th, 2010 at 08:26:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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