Holy Fuck!!! In a hospital in LA, a woman was left writhing on the floor in the ER while health care workers worked around her. They called the police, and after they took her outside, brought her back. She had died of a perforated bowel.

This is how bad it is here in America. The lady was a drug addict, and from the stories my wife tells me, who works in the ER here, they call them 'frequent fliers'. The ER people have no sympathy for them, people like this refuse to take care of themselves. They ruin themselves, then frequent the ERs in town. Here in town, my wife says they "make the rounds" of all the ERs, so as not to wear out their welcome at any one place. Indeed, I ran into a couple at the hospital where I used to work, and describing the situation, giving away no names or personal information because that would be a HIPPA violation, my wife knew who I was talking about.

Anyway, this is the result. Healthcare workers get so fed up with them they are willing to risk their careers. These people did anyway. Several people have died at this ER, or so I've gathered from the news stories I've read. So, the question is, should the health care workers be penalized? Unless you've actually witnessed what they have, you cannot say for certain. People like this come in time after time, pay nothing for their care, do NOTHING to care for themselves, and expect the hospitals to extend their lives as long as possible. Chances are, this woman was killing herself. This is the dilemma.

I can sympathize with both sides, and I would not let the woman just lie there as these people did. But, I can understand their frustration, because they are expected to care for someone that does nothing to care for themselves. They will get punished for it too. The charge nurse has already lost her license, and others are on the way. The county is investigating, and more heads will roll I'm sure. The outcome could even be the hospital closing. Then what will those people do? Yes, I am a cold, cold bastard, but I see both sides, and have no answers.

Here's another story that caught my attention. Someone is spending a lot of money to find the body of the photographer that took the famous Iwo Jima picture. Here I'm being cold again, but they are pushing to give this guy a posthumous Navy Cross for heroics during the Battle of Saipan. What!? He took a fucking picture!! It just happened to become famous, but exactly what heroics are we talking about?

I told my wife about the ER story above, she said this is why she wants a nuclear war, so shit like this will be no big deal anymore....