
Journal mcgrew's Journal: Mo, hos, and no hos 4
As I recounted back in 2007, I'd just lost a friend at the hands of Cartoon City's jailers. My friend Mo Burris had died a horrible death due to medical neglect. He was in jail for harrassing his ex- wife; I know how crazy a divorce can make one. I was on Paxil after my divorce, I wish Mo had been on an antidepressant, as he might have stayed out of jail and lived. He died from exactly the same problem Charlie had this past April, but Charlie was lucky enough to not be in jail, and she lived.
Mo was the first of several friends who were dying. After Mo, Ralph died, then Linda, and Rocky...
Today's newspaper ran as its main headline Deaths prompt changes at county jail. It appears that corporate greed contributed to my friend's death.
In addition, Health Professionals had to pay the first $50,000 of hospital costs in any given year, and no inmate could be sent to a hospital without approval from the treating physician "and/or" Health Professional's chief medical officer. The contract paid the company $268,500 a year.
"That just gave an incredible financial incentive on behalf of Health Professionals to refuse to transfer any patient to the hospital," [Alexandra de Saint Phalle, an attorney for Mo's family] said. "The provisions of that contract are incredible because of the perverse financial incentives it provides. It certainly doesn't excuse not providing care. But it explains why."
The contract with Advanced Correctional Healthcare is costing the county about $80,000 more, but added a nurse practitioner and a social worker, who each work 20 hours a week.
The rest of the story is similarly hartbreaking. I still think someone should have gone to prison for Mo's death, but apparently the only way corporate people go to prison is if they cost rich people money.
The account of his death is sickeningly horrible:
Burris died nearly two weeks after falling ill on Dec. 1, the day the county's contract with Health Professionals began. It was a Saturday, and according to Shansky's report, medical staffing was thinnest on weekends. After a night of vomiting blood, Burris on the morning of Dec. 2 had a pulse of 140 beats per minute, twice the normal rate, and a respiratory rate of 40, more than twice what is normal, according to his family's federal lawsuit against the county and Health Professionals. His pulse and respiratory rates increased by nightfall, when he was doubled over in pain.
When a nurse called a Health Professionals doctor on Dec. 2 to report Burris' abnormal vital signs, the doctor said Burris would be fine, according to the lawsuit. He said the same thing two days later after a nurse said she couldn't draw blood because she had no supplies, attorneys for Burris' family say. Four hours later, Burris went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to St. John's Hospital, where he died eight days later.
Why in the FUCK hasn't that damned doctor lost his license to practice medicine? That lowlife scumbag deserves to be in prison for negligent homicide.
As I mentioned in the last journal, I haven't been around any hookers lately. Annie moved back to Chicago again, Snake was plotting to rob me (I didn't much like her anyway; her skeletal figure isn't the only snakelike thing about her), I'd told AJ to fuck off several months ago, I haven't seen Sunshine in quite some time (I mean the hooker named Sunshine, not basement dwelling non-sunshine). Odie stopped prostituting and cleaned her life up and I haven't seen her since Farley's closed down. A hooker propositioned me as I was in my car leaving Felber's the other night, and I just drove on by.
In another story in today's paper, Springfield's Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman was arrested for soliciting two women cops.
The 55-year-old faces one count of solicitation of a sexual act, which is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail or a fine of as much as $2,000. He was arrested about 2 a.m. Sunday at Bar Oasis, 411 E. Washington St.
I knew about him from hookers, who've told me he had propositioned them before. He's not the only kinky politician they've told me about, either. Some of these hypocrites are pretty high ranking legislators. Why would anybody not want to change a law they couldn't obey themselves? I guess that like cops, they think they're above the law.
Not in the newspaper of course, not concerning hos or Mo, but folks I know have started fuguring out that my girlfriend and I are indeed now more then friends. I'll reveal her identity in the next journal, and edit the last journal to reflect the circumstances... maybe. I don't want it to be an NSFW journal and It'll be hard to do.
I'll just say for now that she's an old friend, and that's the first time in my life that that's ever happened. Every other GF I've had, including Evil-X, was "lust at first sight". Never before have I had a friend become a girlfriend. She's someone who'd been there for me when I'd needed a friend the most.
Yes, she's rather cartoonish. But she's dear to me anyway.
Update 8/12/9
More on the Cartoon alderman: Cahnman rejects requests to step aside
Alderman says he will not vote on police issues
A comment someone posted to the story seems more revealing than the newspaper article itself:
conradpeabody5 hours ago
Report AbuseIf Cahman was arrested for street solicitation of a prostitute it would look worse in my opinion.
With Cahnman's reputation as being crass, lewd, lascivious towards woman; and the Springfield Police Departments own admission Cahman wanted it for free.
Makes me question why are the SPD in a bars arresting couples trying to hook up? What year is this?
Should this really be about Cahman? Should the paper be suprise? If the Government is out of money and they have resources to be doing this stuff. That will later incurs jail cost and court and states attorney fee. At the same time the County says it has no jail space
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This is Springfield; "rather cartoonish" isn't much of a hint. This [ich.gov] is our Mayor, This guy [sj-r.com] runs the power company, and the Ward two alderman's name is Gail Simpson. Hell, my daughter Leila is a ringer for Futurama's "Leela" except Leila has two eyes. If you see someone here that doesn't look cartoonish, they're either
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Actually ontopic, she was 42 when I met her! I think, maybe she was 41.
Witty comment though, fits your "don't panic" perfectly.