Season 2, Episode 1

 Season Two, Episode One

Hello! Thanks for listening to the first episode of season two of the Listening Tube! I’m your host, Bob Woodley. In this episode, a Pledge of Allegiance just for white people. Forgive me for not capitalizing white. It’s volcano season in north America, and not just because progressive heads are exploding. Plus, I’ll speak with two men who went on a mission to help orphans in Ukraine. But first, (not the Headlines).

Well, if women don’t have it bad enough already, dealing with the current upheaval of the abortion laws, earning less than men for doing the same work (or more work), the pain of childbirth, transvestites taking your trophies, and having to put up with men in general, now it turns out that women wait longer for care in emergency rooms than men! It doesn’t say who wrote the article I read, but the first thing they says is, “This is pretty scary.” But is it? Let’s take a look at the numbers in the story that compare the male/female response times. The study cited by research done at Northwestern University says the average time difference between men and women being evaluated and treated is 12 minutes. Women wait twelve minutes longer than men. They also break it down another way, but how long it takes to be “triaged” which means being evaluated and prioritized. So you’re not treated, just prioritized for treatment. It takes women three minutes longer than men to get to this point of care. So the difference between men and women getting treatment is 12 minutes, and the difference between men and women getting prioritized is three minutes. The study quotes a researcher as saying, “These findings suggest potential gaps of care that may be excellent targets for quality improvement…” And it might. Or, it might suggest that because men are so bullheaded that we often wait until the very last moment of our lives to admit there might be something wrong with us? And by the time we do we have to be rushed to the emergency room? Emergency room personnel are trained to evaluate and move quickly when people are brought in. They don’t care about a person’s gender. To suggest it is an insult to emergency room personnel everywhere. What I find interesting is that although the difference between men and women getting treated is mere minutes, the actual average time it takes to get evaluated and treated is two hours, 52 minutes for men and three hours four minutes for women. Both men and women wait almost an hour to get triaged. If there’s an amount of time we should be worried about, it’s not the minutes between men and women, it’s the hours it takes to get treated.

But that’s not nearly as bad as what can happen once you get treated. A New York woman says her sister, who has a rare disease, is struggling to find the right people to help her. She ended up at a clinic that did a variety of tests, including blood work, a vision test, and a health risk assessment. During her appointment, she got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless. She cried a little. When she got the bill, there was a charge for it. Yes, the clinic charged her forty dollars for crying. It was listed on the invoice as a brief emotional/bahav(ior) assmt. 

This is a big problem with our health care system. I went through an episode a couple years ago when I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was referred to specialists who did tests and started treatment, and it all happened very quickly, but to no avail. I don’t expect to ever get the hearing in my right ear back. But when I got the medical bills from the hospital, they charged me for every person I saw on each appointment. So, if two people attended to me, I got charged for each of them. They wanted me to take a hearing test every time I walked in the door, and I got charged for each one. Even though the results were, as anticipated, the same as last time. Then after the hearing test, they’d send me on to somebody else to figure out what to do with me. Then they’d do whatever they thought was best, and charge me for it. Then, just to be sure they covered all their bases, the had me get an MRI, and then charged me 4,000 dollars for it, while the average cost of an MRI is 1200. dollars. Honestly, I’m glad the janitor didn’t come into the room to empty the trash can, or I would’ve probably been charged for that, too. 

Let’s go back liner

This week in 1652, Rhode Island passes the first law in North America making slavery illegal. That’s right, America’s smallest state was the first to stand up and say slavery is wrong. That’s part of what makes America great. America is a place where you can work to undo what is unjust. America is supposed to be a place where you’re free to express yourself, and shine light on issues that may need attention. You might not get results right away. It might take a long time to change minds, but sooner or later, as we like to think, justice will prevail.

1780, came New England’s Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness in Eastern Canada and New England at 10:30 in the morning. 

1848

Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million. Perhaps Vladimir Putin will get part of Ukraine for money and an end to the war.

1863

Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language. OK. Wait a minute. Why in the world would you publish a book in a new language? I believe I already talked about the man who told me he invented his own language and every word started with the letter N. If language is used to communicate, why use a language nobody else understands?

1864

Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning. Today it’s Russian territory, northeast of the Black Sea. Just east of Crimea, which Russia reclaimed in 2014 as a prelude to the invasion of Ukraine this year. 

1872

Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers. They all got their civil rights back, but had to take an oath that they no longer believed in slavery. 

...that every such person shall take and subscribe the following oath, (or affirmation,) and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:

I, _______ _______, do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by, and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So help me God.”

1896

The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional. This is something I might like to explore further.

1906

The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.

1915

Lassen Peak in California erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century. Which, by the way, also happened this week, but in 1980! Killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.

1921

The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.

1927

The Bath School Disaster: forty-five people are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.

1934

Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens

1940

Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

1944

Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.

1954

The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.

1962

A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

1964

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an “end to poverty and racial injustice” in America. President Johnson’s intentions were good, but the results are questionable. Welfare programs have become overused and abused. People have become dependent on the government, and some government programs promote that dependency, rather than discourage it.

1973

Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.

1983

The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request. Today, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is leading the way in detecting and eliminating mercury, and understanding how it spreads.

1989

The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.

1990

The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.

1996

Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.

1998

In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker.

2007

Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953. Now, North Korea’s leader is more interested in building rockets and starving his people.

Phone Liner

Guest comments are not transcribed.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has certainly grabbed the attention of the rest of the world, and people all over are taking steps to aid the refugees taking shelter in other countries, as well as those who have stayed behind. One of those efforts began in a small Pennsylvania town called Shamokin. Two men there, business man and former county commissioner Vinnie Clausi and Reverend Mykola Ivanov, Pastor of Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church, in Shamokin, took it upon themselves to raise money and personally go to the Polish border with Ukraine to help the most vulnerable in the area: orphans. Reverend Ivanov is also a native of Lyviv, Ukraine. I had the pleasure of speaking to both men about the project and what was accomplished. The mission began with a fundraiser organized by Mr. Clausi, who donated 10-thousand dollars of his own money to kickstart the project. Reverend Ivanov explains how the idea began...1:59- 3:00. Originally, the money would be donated to an organization like the Red Cross to distribute the money...4:04-4:27. So while the Reverend stayed in Poland to procure all the supplies they would need, Mr. Clausi delivered the goods to the people in Ukraine who needed it 4:46-5:40. Here’s Mr. Cluasi: (VC 1:19-1:47) Reverend Ivanov says assessing those needs was the first mission 7:11-9:13 (4:13 total) Having received special permission to fly to Poland with 140-thousand dollars in Polish currency, the team find the needs of refugees and orphans were quite different: 9:31-11:05. So, what was most needed by the people you were there to help? 11:35-13:17. Vinnie Clausi says the kids would warm up to him once they realized he was there to help...(VC2:47-4:15) ...and orphans weren’t the only beneficiaries of the mission: (VC4:34-4:49) Reverend Ivanov tells me they had help once they got there. Four people on the Polish side of the border, and 10 people helping Mr. Clausi on the Ukranian side. Having brought Polish currency, everything they bought was bought in Poland, and being a stranger in a new place made the logistics a challenge...15:33-16:08. Then, once the supplies were secured, getting them over the border into Ukraine was also a challenge...18:58-20:57. Certainly, a mission like this, supporting the most vulnerable people in your home country that is currently under attack by another nation, can take a toll on you...21:39-22:46 Mr. Clausi, too, says he’s been changed by the trip...(9:24-9:52) The mission was a success and the Reverend wants to let everyone who helped in any way to know that they’re appreciated...32:39- 32:56. ...and change lives they did. Not only by providing material goods to people who needed them, but they also changed attitudes of vulnerable kids who were afraid of strangers, and now know that there are good people in the world. 

There is another mission being planned. If you’d like to help, e-mail the Listening Tube @ Outlook dot com, and I’ll give you the contact information.

The Listening Tube is written and produced by yours truly. Copyright 2022. Thank you for being a part of the Listening Tube. I’m your host, Bob Woodley.