Re: Finitude, Baby

1

I want my right-wing hacks discredited, not dead.

Amen.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:42 AM
horizontal rule
2

They're happy to wish for your death.


Posted by: I don't pay | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:43 AM
horizontal rule
3

I misread the swimming report as referring to Phelps' 'atomic underwear'. While I can see how that might speed you up, surely it's unsportsmanlike.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:44 AM
horizontal rule
4

I read this earlier and thought, "Had his colon removed?" Which led to the obvious follow-up question. I understand how things work following a colostomy, but what's the process following a colectomy?


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:45 AM
horizontal rule
5

Wait 'til you see his control rod.


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:45 AM
horizontal rule
6

5 to 3, obviously. I join you in wishing Snow good health, and in being freaked out by cancer stories.


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:46 AM
horizontal rule
7

4: I assume it was only partially removed, leaving him with a semicolon.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:49 AM
horizontal rule
8

My quick googling says that colon cancer that has only metastasized to the liver (the most common first stop) has about a 25% cure rate with surgery, and better when caught early, so that's somewhat encouraging for him, anyhow.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:52 AM
horizontal rule
9

You're fooling yourself if you think that you can get people to read your swimming posts just by throwing in a little cancer.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:55 AM
horizontal rule
10

I totally thought he was going past the 15m mark on his kicks.


Posted by: TJ | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:55 AM
horizontal rule
11

what's the process following a colectomy

I think this can be less disruptive than a colostomy; they can re-attach the rest of your intestine to your bowel and you can still shit normally, to put it crudely. Although it's great that they can prolong lives and cure some people with these surgeries, it doesn't take too much looking to realize how crude our cancer treatments are. Basically: cut it out until you can't anymore.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:56 AM
horizontal rule
12

I totally thought he was going past the 15m mark on his kicks.

I wondered about that, but I don't know what the rule says about what part of your body can be past 15m before you come up.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:58 AM
horizontal rule
13

rest of your intestine to your bowel

I see that I don't have a clear understanding of the difference between intestine, colon, and bowel. Wikipedia, here I come.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:00 AM
horizontal rule
14

25% cure rate doesn't sound good. I have a pretty pessimistic view of that whole gastrointestinal cancer thing, esp when it involves major organs, ever since watching a young friend go from a diagnosis to death in about six months. Awful, awful stuff.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:01 AM
horizontal rule
15

11 makes me wonder what the hell recovering from something like that is like. How the hell do you shit when you've got fucking sutures in there? Ai.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:02 AM
horizontal rule
16

I have to say, although I don't swim and don't know the difference between any of the strokes or strategies, watching swimming races is fun. Summer Olympics are great. There's fifty million swimming races, and they're all decided by tenths of seconds, except when they're not and it's because someone went überfast. Cheering no matter what.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:02 AM
horizontal rule
17

25% cure rate doesn't sound good.

Compared to Elizabeth Edwards' 0% cure rate, it sounds good.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:03 AM
horizontal rule
18

watching swimming races is fun

One of the interesting things about the Australian coverage and European coverage is how few beefcake shots they do compared to America. You almost never see the swimmers standing around in only their trunks, while you get a lot of that here. And I'm talking about the male swimmers. Kinda odd.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:05 AM
horizontal rule
19

1:43.86 is not slow. Not slow at all.

Wow, what an amazing turn!


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:06 AM
horizontal rule
20

17: You liberals and your "my cancer is worse than your cancer" whining.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:10 AM
horizontal rule
21

re: 14

Someone I know has cancer of the uterus, bowel, intestine and liver. However, they've had it for quite a while. The doctors think maybe years before it was diagnosed and it's about a year since it was diagnosed and treatment began. So, at least in some cases, it can progress quite slowly.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:14 AM
horizontal rule
22

Poor Snow. Cancer sucks.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:14 AM
horizontal rule
23

what part of your body can be past 15m before you come up

Apparently your head has to come up by 15 meters. Hmm. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place, because I thought his head was still under past it. Will look again...


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:15 AM
horizontal rule
24

21: Wow. Poor someone you know, that's awful.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:21 AM
horizontal rule
25

Will look again...

Ok, clearly legal on the first three, and very very close call on the last.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:26 AM
horizontal rule
26

Why do you have to come up to the surface after 15m?


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:28 AM
horizontal rule
27

Fucking cancer.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:28 AM
horizontal rule
28

re: 24

Yeah, she seems generally OK, though, considering. And treatment seems to be going well, so, not all bad.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:30 AM
horizontal rule
29

27 -> 26.


Posted by: arthegall | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:31 AM
horizontal rule
30

Why do you have to come up to the surface after 15m?

That's a newish (10 years) rule: people used to spend more than half the race underwater which 1) makes every race a dolphin kick race, rather than a particular stroke race and 2) ain't so interesting for the spectators. I don't know if they had other reasons for the rule; perhaps the swimmers can fill us in.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:33 AM
horizontal rule
31

"Why do you have to come up to the surface after 15m?"

Underwater kicking is much faster than swimming.



Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:33 AM
horizontal rule
32

That's a newish (10 years) rule

Did any swimmers see their careers destroyed by it? It's always interesting when that happens.


Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:34 AM
horizontal rule
33

The rule is David Berkoff's fault. He kicked underwater for almost the entire first fifty meters of the 100 back, destroying everyone else.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:34 AM
horizontal rule
34

26: Breaststroke is relatively slow, and certainly slower than cruising underwater combining your momentum from a dive with a dolphin kick or something; you have to come up at a certain point in order to actually make it a swimming race, rather than a breath-holding contest.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:35 AM
horizontal rule
35

So did the new rule destroy David Berkoff's career?

I seem to recall some tennis player (Phillippooossiiss?) became a shell of his former self after his fancy racket was outlawed.


Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:36 AM
horizontal rule
36

Aaaand.... pwned by everyone.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:36 AM
horizontal rule
37

100 back

They instituted the rule in the backstroke, but only later for the other strokes, right?

Did any swimmers see their careers destroyed by it?

Here's one who had to adjust.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:37 AM
horizontal rule
38

Holy crap, that last turn was incredible.

Also, cancer sucks no matter who has it.


Posted by: mrh | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:44 AM
horizontal rule
39

"Holy crap, that last turn was incredible."

No joke. Those are world class swimmers that he just SMOKED on the last turn. The guy is at his shoulder going into the wall and at his feet after the turn. Simply amazing.

The 200 free is probably the fifth best event for Phelps.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:49 AM
horizontal rule
40

My brain is damaged- I saw this story in the NYT and the first thing I thought was, "Ogged probably had an orgasm."
The swimming story, not the cancer story.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:51 AM
horizontal rule
41

Ogged was certainly very excited. What I most enjoy is watching Liesel Jones swim the breastroke. So good!


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 11:59 AM
horizontal rule
42

Ogged:

You didnt go uninvited to any fraternities, did you?


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 12:01 PM
horizontal rule
43

SP, the same thing happened to me.


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 12:04 PM
horizontal rule
44

42: Labs needs a new couch now.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 12:11 PM
horizontal rule
45

44: Only one? There were at least three world records broken.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 12:12 PM
horizontal rule
46

This type of cancer is very similar to what my dad has. Poor Snow.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 3:40 PM
horizontal rule
47

Tony Snow on Elizabeth Edwards.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 5:21 PM
horizontal rule
48

47: Nice to know that Snow, at least, has human qualities. And he's right that there's a lot of grace in going out and living life as best you know how even after you know that it's going to end sooner than you used to expect.


Posted by: DaveL | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 6:12 PM
horizontal rule
49

Boring topic. Hey, wonder what's up with Althouse? Now amuse me with your commentary!


Posted by: jpe | Link to this comment | 03-27-07 10:17 PM
horizontal rule
50

Phelps goes 1:52.09 in the 200 fly. Drops the world record by 1.6 seconds. Freaking unbelievable.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:49 AM
horizontal rule
51

Did you see the race? I'm waiting for the video to show up before I post about it, but he beat that little red world record line they put on the screen by a body length. It was freakish. Even he was shocked.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:51 AM
horizontal rule
52

So is he juiced?


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:55 AM
horizontal rule
53

I think it's that he started lifting weights recently.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:56 AM
horizontal rule
54

wonder what's up with Althouse?

GFR posted about the exchange at TheGarance, and then the comments got... weird.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:56 AM
horizontal rule
55

Pretty funny to think about: you're the best swimmer in the world, now why don't you try putting some meat on your bones, kid?


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:57 AM
horizontal rule
56

55 s/b "Get crackin', moron."


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 9:59 AM
horizontal rule
57

I am not sure how you explain it. People just do not drop that much time when you are at that level.

I am still shaking my head about his crushing-off-the walls of the world's best swimmers.

These swims just made Phelps a TREMENDOUS amount of money, coming right before the Olympics.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:01 AM
horizontal rule
58

What's so funny about good strategy, ogged?


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:06 AM
horizontal rule
59

I am not sure how you explain it.

Seriously, I think it has to be the weights. He's not fading at all on the last lap anymore.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:09 AM
horizontal rule
60

54: This was a good comment: a gymnastic defense of Althouse's behavior. I like in particular this sentence: "That isn't to say that having made that snap judgment she didn't then overreact; that is a separate issue, and I don't addresss it here." And the overall suggestion that GFR intended, throughout the discussion leading up to the mention of the controversy, to establish in elaborate code that . . . she was going to mention the controversy. That readers would know what she was saying not merely by the fact that she used explicit words—any listener might clue in on that frequency—but by the philosophy of journalism as entrapment, which she outlines in order to signal to Tappedheads that the snare has been set and she holds in her hand the trigger! Woe to Althouse, and any unsuspecting woodland forest conservative who should wander into the sights of a devious liberal journalist—they mean to ask questions in order to inform readers and viewers, and they do so for sport!


Posted by: Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:17 AM
horizontal rule
61

I think it's cool that someone can pose as thoughtful and erudite while arguing that a vague four-word descriptor is offensive in a way that screaming insults at someone is not.


Posted by: neil | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:22 AM
horizontal rule
62

I do think that Garance mentioned the "Jessica Valenti breast controversy" as a sort of attack. From the clip I saw, Althouse had been smilingly insisting that Garance explain why liberals were so mean for about two solid minutes at that point.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 10:37 AM
horizontal rule
63

everyone does weights. he is just a freak, maturing into a much faster freak.


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 11:00 AM
horizontal rule
64

everyone does weights. he is just a freak, maturing into a much faster freak.

Yeah, but he didn't used to. I'm not explaining why he's faster than anyone (because he's a freak) but how he could lower his own record by so much (now he's lifting).


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 11:03 AM
horizontal rule
65

Video's up.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 11:04 AM
horizontal rule
66

he didn't used to

That's crazy. My theory: he's part dolphin.


Posted by: Matt F | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 11:06 AM
horizontal rule
67

And he did it without one of those crazy-ass bodysuits?

Steroids.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 11:18 AM
horizontal rule
68

66 is right -- part dolphin.


Posted by: arthegall | Link to this comment | 03-28-07 2:43 PM
horizontal rule