Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 30, 2012

Couldn’t she have scheduled the operation AFTER the election?

I love Alex. Compare her behavior toward her Grammy with that of Jeff!

I don’t know, Alex seems so two-dimensional, like a caricature. Like some sort of fictional cartoon character.

Slightly off-topic I know, but I found attached interesting:http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/10/29/121029taco_talk_editors Mike

Sounds like my Dad back in his rabid control freak days. My brother had compound fractures of his arm and Dad wanted him to come into the workshop and get on with things. I told Dad he should take a hike and fortunately my brother said the same thing. Happily, Dad has mellowed since.

Right, she’ll hip-hop right over.

Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy, and Barack Obama need you.

I don’t think she will make it out of there too soon. Docs can be pretty persuasive, though sometimes patients go AWOL, AMA. In real life, she will require more recovery time in hospital, then rehab in physical rehab center. Orthopedics has come a long way in the last few years, but you still can’t jump out of bed right after a joint replacement… Well, not really, though one can’t always predict a cartoon strip.

I hear that a big storm has caused the campaign to come to a screeching halt.

the media has something “bigger than their love for Rmoney or their hate for Obama” to focus on?lol. only temporary. at least it is nice while it lasts. too bad it will return to their regular schtick, way too soon. at least the pictures are informative, unlike their lies.

I sincerely hope that everyone of our commentators have remained safe and dry and are “empowered”. Sorry, bad pun, but couldn’t resist.The one positive thing to come out of this horrendous storm is that it is turning our national attention away ( temporarily ) from the political vitriol and towards what we do best – helping each other, in times of need.

“WHY REPUBLICANS LIE. Why do they lie about everything? They lie because the reward is greater than the risk. they know that corporations own the media since they are in the corporations pockets they can say and do anything knowing that they will not be fact checked or held to a standard to where they have to own up to all their lies.”

—David210, “Why Republicans Lie”, DAILY KOS, 2012 October 11, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/11/1143002/-Why-republicans-lie

“Danger: A handful of corporations own the media and their influence is not transparent to viewers. Their intrinsic conflict of interest limits our access to diverse perspectives.”

—THRIVE: WHAT ON EARTH WILL IT TAKE?, © Copyright 2012 Clear Compass Media, http://www.thrivemovement.com/the_12_sectors-media

“Most of the media is a ‘for profit’ commodity, owned by just 6 major corporations, compared to 50 in 1983. According to Media Reform Information Center, that number had dwindled to 10 by 1992. Which in turn leads to this troubling question: does this monopoly compound the racial and political partisan problem now existing in our nation? When so much is concentrated among so little, who controls the conversation and does it accurately depict the tone of the day?”

—Veronica Roberts, TORONTO [Canada] POST, 2012 August 10, http://www.thetorontopost.net/2012/08/when-only-six-corporations-own-media.html

TOP 10 HIGHEST PAID NEWS ANCHORS

Matt Lauer (Today): $21.5 million per year

Bill O’Reilly (The O’Reilly Factor): $15 million per year

Brian Williams (NBC Nightly News): $13 million per year

Diane Sawyer (ABC World News): $12 million per year

Anderson Cooper (Anderson Cooper 360 and Anderson Live): $11 million per year

Shepard Smith (The Fox Report) $8 million per year

Robin Roberts (Good Morning America) $6 million per year

Joe Scarborough (Morning Joe) $6 million per year

Scott Pelley (CBS Evening News) $4 million per year

Nancy Grace (Nancy Grace) $3 million per year

—Chris Ariens, editor, TVNewser.com [blog], Mediabistro, TOP 10 HIGHEST PAID NEWS ANCHORS, http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/top-10-highest-paid-news-anchors_b141063

CALLING OUT ALL RIGHTWINGERS ON THIS WEBSITE

Here’s the argument that should make you vote against Willard Mitt Romney:

Just suppose, for the sake of argument only, that all ten of these are “flaming liberals”. Now, also suppose that they run onto a shocking-but-well-attested, well-researched, whistle-blowing, news story that runs against the interests of their corporate owners who pay them all these millions of dollars.

Two “whistle blower” examples:

• Embezzlement to the tune of $500 million by the CEO of the company that owns NBC.

• Bribery of a U.S. Congress member to cast the deciding vote for a bill that gives his company, the company that owns ABC, a $900 million no-bid contract to provide ammunition to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Instead of lead, the ammo is made of “spent” uranium that gives cancer to the troops that have to handle it.

Now, do you suppose that any one of these ten are going to blast this news story day (or night) after day? At the risk of losing her/his job like Dan Rather, one-time anchor of CBS News, lost his job for an exposé of presidential candidate George W. Bush?

Not likely.

Bottom line: Whether or not the journalists are “liberal” privately, right-wing CONTROLS them and through them, the media content that spoon-feeds the U.S. voter.

Rightwinger, this (the above) is the reason, if you live in Massachusetts, you should vote FOR ELIZABETH WARREN, an incorruptable consumers’ advocate, for U.S. Senate and AGAINST SCOTT BROWN, a Republican.

It is also the reason Joanie needs to GET WELL QUICK (though not too quick).

Please, Montessori Teacher, help me e e e e . . . . !

What does AMA stand for (besides the Meds)?

The heavily Democrat area of NYC sure got clobbered! Sandy disenfranchised many voters. Who will get blamed for that? Seriously, I wonder if there will be an effort to push back the voting period past Nov. 6, in light of the fact of so many potential voters may not be able to vote by then. This affects voters of both parties over a very broad area, & could well effect the final outcome of who gets elected. I suppose a court battle could ensue, due to who might benefit the most. Personally, even though maybe unpatriotic, I dislike both candidates & will vote for neither this time.

AMA = against medical advice.

I am sure we could all exchange anecdotes about what one does after a hip replacement. A lot depends on the individual and the circumstances that the patient is dealing with at home. My 83 year old motherinlaw had 3 joint replacements in one year. Her 83 year old husband was not really able to take care of her as she needed, therefore she was in a rehab center each time after she had the joint replacement. Some folks can just have a visiting nurse at home and get along OK. Of course, Joanie will be up and around before too long, but as I said, I guess individuals vary, etc.

(My inlaws were living in Hawaii at the time of her joint replacements and their children were on the mainland, so we did what we could to visit and help, but they did need a little extra help, which is not unusual.)

My motherinlaw = bionic woman

Sure, it’s only one hip replacement. The other one is fine.

My late dad was convinced that he’d had a plastic hip replacement until he set off the metal detector at the airport.

Joanie says: “I had a hip replacement.” Look at Brad’s compassion and empathy: they missed Joanie sooo much: “That’s it? We were worried! Get the hell down here!”

[Thanks, brother in arms, for the last three.]

Anyway, last night I got really sleepy when I first saw this strip, mistaking it for some AARP moment. Then I read a comment, and I’m a traitor now, since I can’t find it to reply to it. It was saying (something along these lines): ‘wonder what hit Brad to rush Joanie like that, something must be cooking, can’t wait to see what’. So I thought: that must be THE POINT!

This am I came with an urge to say thanks for that & couldn’t find it. Thanks anyway. It woke me up to also see that if the politicians care so much for the health of their props, how much more they will care for the health of The People.

Hey, whoever you were who posted that comment, slap me again, I’m still zonked out.

Totally asinine and uncalled for comment !Shame on you !!

Calimesa Jim: You keep referring to Benghazi, implying dark dishonest motives to Obama. Yet you have absolutely no evidence whatsoever, just a mind apparently mystified by GOP “talking points”.

Do you actually have anything worthwhile to contribute to this discussion website? If so, what is it?

Benghazi, now there’s a real Watergate scandal that could bring down a presidency, or Iran-Contra, or WMD… When the wingnuts have nothing good to say for themselves, they keep pointing out the mote in someone else’s eye. .Back to Joanie, I’m surprised she didn’t get the hip on November 7th to celebrate Warren’s victory.

“… I’m surprised she didn’t get the hip on November 7th to celebrate Warren’s victory.”

I feel the same way. However, when it comes to medical decisions, one doesn’t always have a choice. Example: • Joanie could have fallen and broke her hip, rendering her unable to rise and walk. She could have been carried out of her house on a gurney and placed in an MTV (med. transport vehicle) for a trip to the emergency department. Or • she could have just emerged from a doctor-ordered bone-density scan with a severe positive outcome due to advanced osteoporosis; in this case the doc would have feared a fall and ordered immediate hip-replacement surgery.

Still nothing about Benghazi?

If too much alcohol was the most likely cause of osteoporosis, I am sure osteoporosis would be addressed in a very different way when we women over 40 go to our docs. There is a message about too much alcohol, but I have never heard it addressed as a far most likely cause of osteoporosis. As we age, all of the reasons DT mentions above come into play, though smoking and drinking are choices, unlike losing estrogen, for example.

Even though the prez has an ongoing investigation of Benghazi and has been forthcoming on the subject, people on the other side keep bringing it up. This is ironic, since it is Romney who is not being held accountable at all! The questions about FEMA are just the latest. But then again, the RR campaign did say that they “would not be dictated to by fact checkers.”

Joanie is not a young woman, give her a break… I know she doesn’t have perfect physical features, but few of us do, once we get into our sixties, even among those who are teetotalers…

who says: “People … selectively read or not read these posts. They .. also read .. medical information on websites based on scientific evidence.”I stand admonished.Allow me to un-cram: The most likely reason for Joanie’s emergency hip replacement was severe osteoNECROsis, which is bone death due to lack of blood supply. Its most likely cause is chronic excessive alcohol consumption.Scientific reference:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004519/

I haven’t yet seen anyone surmise whether Brad is being facetious, maybe to cheer Joanie up.

There’s no evidence in Doonesbury or in science that Joanie’s hip replacement is due to osteonecrosis.

We are asking plenty of questions of the RR campaign and receiving no answers. They are the ones who have not been answering questions.

Reminds me of my old job as Foster Care Specialist on the streets of Detroit — one sprained ankle and crutches did not exempt me from clamboring up folks ice steps in January to take away kids, bring kids for visitation, take kids for medical treatment, etc. Mde it really difficult to carry the little ones tho.

" Pelosi in a Panda hat …."

Grrrrrrr!