Owie Owie OW!

Glad to hear you're OK now. Now if we could just transplant some kidney stones into some nice, deserving folks.. Ah never mind. I sure hope this mess gets straightened out somehow...

Another great read. Sorry it had to be inspired by personal pain. When a friend of mine had finished passing a kidney stone, his doctor informed him that he had just experienced the worst physical pain he would ever have in his life.

We will get through financial crisis I am sure. But what we come out as on the other side, I don't know.

The irresponsibility of many of our elected leaders, particularly on the Democrat side, sickens me. It is said that in a democracy, you get the leadership you deserve. Have we really been that bad?

Aw hell, Bill...

Having been through more physical pain than any three people you're likely to meet on a given day
(and I'm talking about when you don't want to sleep, because that would mean that you'd have to eventually wake up),
- let me grant you the benefit of a hard-won epiphany:

After you die - when you slide forth to the hereafter and make ready to cross the Bridge or enter the Gates - and the sum total of the worth of your life is tallied...

You don't get any bonus points for passing up on the pain-killers.

Glad you made it.

- MuscleDaddy

Mr Whittle,
I am thrilled to be reading your work regularly in NRO. Please pass that along to the editors there.

Bill, my lad ... been there, done that (a bunch of times, in a bunch of ways) and have the stones to prove it. Son of a Stitch... English becomes optional and speaking in tongues is de rigueur. Straight IV morphine, etc., is simply an ephemeral afterthought. Bring on the really hard stuff you mother f*ing bastards. Faced with those tiny man-killers, I am reduced to nothing other than a complete wus. There, I've said it. I AMA wus. What financial crisis? (Gee, now I know approximately about what the Mrs. went through giving birth to that seven pound stone monster although most ladies having experienced both say the renal stuff is about five times worse). But I digress.

Please remember... it's all John McCain's (and George's) fault. All of it. God only knows, if they hadn't been born none of this would have happened. Did I leave out Sarah? Sorry. Her fault, too.

From wikipedia: The Community Reinvestment Act (1977) is a United States federal law that requires banks and thrifts to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as "redlining." The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities to underserved populations and commercial loans to small businesses. It has been subjected to important regulatory revisions.

The CRA was passed into law by the 95th United States Congress in 1977 as a result of national grassroots pressure for affordable housing, and despite considerable opposition from the mainstream banking community. Only one banker, Ron Grzywinski from ShoreBank in Chicago, testified in favor of the act. The CRA mandates that each banking institution be evaluated to determine if it has met the credit needs of its entire community. That record is taken into account when the federal government considers an institution's application for deposit facilities, including mergers and acquisitions. The CRA is enforced by the financial regulators (FDIC, OCC, OTS, and FRB).

The bill encouraged the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, to enable mortgage companies, savings and loans, commercial banks, credit unions, and state and local housing finance agencies to lend to home buyers. It also encouraged the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, to buy mortgages on the secondary market and sell them as mortgage-backed securities on the open market.Due to massive financial losses, on September 7, 2008 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the conservatorship of the FHFA.

Clinton Administration Changes of 1995

In 1995, as a result of interest from President Bill Clinton's administration, the implementing regulations for the CRA were strengthened by focusing the financial regulators' attention on institutions' performance in helping to meet community credit needs.

These revisions with an effective starting date of January 31, 1995 were credited with substantially increasing the number and aggregate amount of loans to small businesses and to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans. These changes were very controversial and as a result, the regulators agreed to revisit the rule after it had been fully implemented for seven years. Thus in 2002, the regulators opened up the regulation for review and potential revision.

Part of the increase in home loans was due to increased efficiency and the genesis of lenders, like Countrywide, that do not mitigate loan risk with savings deposits as do traditional banks using the new subprime authorization. This is known as the secondary market for mortgage loans. The revisions allowed the securitization of CRA loans containing subprime mortgages. The first public securitization of CRA loans started in 1997 by Bear Stearns. The number of CRA mortgage loans increased by 39 percent between 1993 and 1998, while other loans increased by only 17 percent.

Other rule changes gave Fannie and Freddie extraordinary leverage, allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments, vs. 10% for banks. By 2007, Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed nearly half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market.

Starting to get the big picture here? Government (primarily the dems) mandated that private institutions would go forth amongst the unwashed and make really STUPID business decisions. The day of reckoning is upon us. You want to dance, you have to pay the band.

Anyway, put that in your pipe and smoke it while you're voting this November. Drink lots of water, Bill and never, ever, tell the Feds during your next 3rd class!

"It's burst into flames!
Get out of the way! please! Oh my, this is terrible... Oh, the humanity! ... and all the passengers!"

Despite the ubiquity of LOL and ROTFLMFAO across the intertubes it is quite rare when it actually happens when reading an article and even rarer when they lead to thought provoking observations.

Your article engendered both in spades and I enjoyed it even while wincing in empathy. Thank you and thank National Review Online as well.

This is at the same time the best description of having and passing a kidney stone and the sentiments (I think) of the American public on the financial crisis. Oh, by the way, a Toradol injection brings immediate relief without having to go to the "other America."

Great piece!

I took the liberty of taking a line out of your post and place it as a comment on a posting related to the liquidity crisis because it was just rich.

The Quote/Comment?

On WaMu and the Liquidity Crisis:

Every decision we make is based on a risk/reward calculation. If we take away the consequences of risky behavior (with $700 billion+ with a "B" dollars), we will see more of it. And if there’s a money-back guarantee for greedy and stupid decisions, we’re in real trouble, because there is only so much money in the bank but supplies of greed and stupidity are endless.

Source Posting:
http://tinyurl.com/3zxyf4

Bill,

As a physician who has passed almost 20 kidney stones over the years, I have to say that your vignette ably captures the essence of the experience!

May you never go down this path again, my friend!

Bill,
I am so glad that NRO led me to discover you! I have already quoted you over at the Queendom once, and I plan to do so again when I have time to sit down and do a piece on BEP. BEP stands for "Big, Evil Pharma," and I work for the Biggest and Most Evil One of all. Thank you, thank you for this:

Here was my second thought: I would like to kiss the hand of those evil, greedy, horrible KKKorporations that made and tested Demerol and Dilaudid and the ultrasound sensor and clean needles and sterile IV bags and all the rest of it. I know they’re the villains of courtroom novels and Michael Moore movies and thus are wicked, greedy, soulless Nazis — but if I met a single one of them I would kiss their hands and feet in gratitude. And it did not elude me, when that blinding light finally went out and I felt good again, that my Moral Superiors who protest and vilify these companies at every turn have not — in point of fact — ever done a single thing to relieve my pain or anyone else’s.

Bill, should we ever meet, I will grant you the privilege of kissing whatever part of my body you wish. I have sold medications for over a decade that relieve pain, allow MS patients to live more normal lives, prevent stroke and heart attack and more. I have been excoriated, blamed personally for prices, told I am a baby-murderer and worse. Thank you for noticing that our world is a better place because of people who work to make us live healthier and sometimes, to die easier.

One of these days, when it is my last day of work, I will tell a complainer about BEP to kiss my lily-white aqq, but until that time, I just smile and nod and keep my mouth shut.

Write on, Bill Whittle! And visit the Queendom sometime.

www.whenwearequeen.com

Oh Bill,
BTW, now imagine passing a canteloupe down a tube the size of a garden hose. That is why all three of my boys are named Epidural.

Bill - just read you on NRO. Love your stuff. May you never have another need for BEP like that again...and if you do, never feel guilty for asking for a bigger dose. The stuff on the market is far more "fine tuned" and meant to be titrated up until relief is achieved...
Cheers!

I count gratitude among the noble virtues; Bill Whittle has won the merit badge the hard way. I envy him the way to this wisdom not at all, but I do appreciate the result. Bill never lacked for gratitude in the first place, but now it's fortified by experience. Pain is to gratitude what poverty is to simplicity. Nothing recommends the former, but the latter is clearly a virtue.

To those of you new to this place you should know that Bill has a following. We call ourselves the remnant, alternately known as the Republic of Ejectia (stillborn the infant is coughing in the crib!). You're a member if you hold dear the following virtues: veracity, fidelity, love of country, self-reliance, personal responsibility, and a conviction that liberty belongs only to those willing to defend her. Those who whine, moan, complain, dissemble, and demand that which they have not earned are not invited.

Bill, it's good to have you back and finally hitting your stride. You have a public platform now. A thousand spears back your every word. The remnant is up for this fight; we were made for it, and our numbers our growing. In times of adversity we rally because that's who we are. "It is a red day, a sword day, and the sun riseth!"

I had gallstones attack me on the 10th. And I felt the exact same way, about pain, about John McCain and torture, and gratitude to the doctors. I'm sorry that happened to you, really I am. Gallstones aren't even as bad, and I was totally incapacitated.

My gall bladder came out, and I'm out a lot of money, but I'm alive. And mostly pain free. Thank you, awful health care system!

I got a kidney stone in Iraq. It was horrible, but not as horrible as yours.

Never again. (Please?)

Glad you're feeling better.

Damn you, Mark Paules! It was that one comment you left after the RNC piece that made me take this seriously again!

I hope you're satisifed! I'll never have time to bake that struedel now, you bastard.

Yes, Bill, I am well pleased. You're swinging with the majors now. I see the honorable Michael J. Totten has made an appearance. Perhaps we will hear from the venerable Victor Davis Hanson, he also of kidney stones.

In the meantime, I want you, Bill, to meditate on what it means to turn fifty. It is the age of power for a man, a time when we come into our own as leaders. If we have lived a proper life, we arrive at age fifty with worldly experience, a firm personal philosophy, and insight into the nature of human affairs. To some then is given the actual mantle of leadership. You have become the leader, Bill Whittle, that you were meant to be. Now see you to it; there is work to be done. Glad I could play a part.

You made me laugh hysterically, and at the same time dread...

I have never had one of those "jagged little bastards" and I will certainly remember to ask "directly" for Dilaudid if I ever do. I am even tempted to sell my house and move next do to the hospital "just in case". Of course, selling my house and getting a loan for another in this market puts a crimp in that plan.

very, well written.

Nice job, Bill.

Mark:
there is work to be done

Indeed.

I understand why you didn't insure yourself earlier. I developed Ulcerative Colitis at a young age... along with severe allergic reactions to the medications to treat it.

I know that white hot sensation of pain quite well... and most days, I shake it off and go to work.

Hang in there Bill, I enjoy reading your work.

Bill:
I'm glad to see that your excellent essays are reaching a much larger auidence at NRO; maybe it will help pay some bills?
Please keep up the good work!

Bill:

I believe my kidneystone was manufactured on the same Bulgarian assembly line as yours. However, I think I passed mine a bit quicker than you did. The ambulance EMT was given permission to dose me with morphine, but was unable to find a vein. By the time I reached the hospital the pain was (finally) receding.

Excellent piece, as usual. One quibble, though. You might want NRO to change the link to Shootout. They link to the History Channel's military history mini-series, rather than AMC's long-running movie industry series.

Bill,

Great read as always.

I understand your reluctance to place blame without knowing all the info but here is a quick primer on that:

- Democrats force lenders to offer mortgages to people (i.e. Democrat voters) who can barely afford to rent.

- Democrats force Americans to drive their cars on ever more expensive fuels some of which has ingredients that would have been better used in the food chain instead of corroding our gas tanks.

- Democrats took bribes from outfits like ACORN and the two FMs.

- Hospitality businesses started going belly up as people spent discretionary income to keep gas in their cars.

- Airlines and other travel industry businesses are laying off thousands as consumers have given up more expensive vacations in favor of keeping gas in their tanks.

- Employees thrown out of work because of Democrat energy policy fail to make their mortgages. Keep in mind that when gas was $2/gal before the Dems took control of Congress, these employees had jobs and WERE making their mortgages.

- Christ Dodd, Harry Ried, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank blame Wall Street and Bush for the current crisis that they, themselves were responsible for causing.

And we're letting them get away with it.

As someone that has also suffered through stones, with a camera in a tube sent down the tiny hole into the kidney, I feel your pain.
I was told by someone, don't remember who,that passing stones is the male equivalent of women giving birth.
I am a believer.

A fellow stone-sufferer. It was hard for me to believe in this day & age an experienced physician offered you Demerol for what must have looked like an obvious stone, based on your description of your behavior during your colic episode. I quit prescribing that drug over 20 years ago, for anything whatsoever. I found Demerol had little positive effect on patients. IV Toradol was the most consistently useful pain reliever for the vast majority of my patients. (I have not needed an injection for my stones since Toradol became popular, so I have no comments on its effect on me.) When Toradol worked, it provided faster & more complete renal colic pain relief than anything, including narcs. As far as real narcs go, different people respond to different things.
The unfortunate thing about losing track of the stone is you don't know its chemistry & so prevention of another becomes unspecific. It is highly likely your stone is of the same composition as your father's.
Since my first stone I have passed many others, despite upping my fluid intake to 1 gal/day. Fortunately I can manage my less painful episodes with acetaminophen & naproxen, both other-the-counter. My continuing fear is to have a colic attack when I am a long way from medical help.
I am surprised at the low cost of your medical care. Two grand seems cheap now.

Tresho (and others)(and YOU TOO, Bill...)

Speaking from a 25+ kidney stone passer POV, Bill has nailed the symptoms on the head in a very funny way - but I'm sure that "not at the time!" applies here... It is beyond me why the renal function SHUTS DOWN when the "other tube" (and the other kidney, for those of you that have a functioning pair) is working perfectly! I didn't design it, don't blame me. We just have to live with it, don't we.

As we now have to live with the Economy passing its kidney stone. Gonna hurt!

I'm torn between the pain of a Kidney Stone (pun intended) and a thrombosis in the lung(s). I say "lungs(s)" because the first one was only in my upper right lobe, but the next one was in BOTH upper lobes of the lungs. After analysis, it was found that I was hypercoagulant and now I'm on rat poison for the rest of my life. "Better living through modern pharmacology!"

Tresho, I hope you can find the reason for the stone precipitation - mine were because I was taking too much Vitamin C.

...and two grand for a kidney stone event is waaaaay cheap, especially in the LA area, Bill. Do you know where the bodies are buried, or sumptin'??

If I was of the female gender I would be able to tell you which is worse, a kidney stone or a pulmonary thrombosis or childbirth. I'd say it was a toss-up for the first two, but insufficient data for the third.

Anybody out there had all three? And lived?? You're made of stern stuff.

Igor

Glad you're all better now Bill. I do not envy you.

"Just because you can't see it or feel it, doesn't mean it isn't there."

The current economic crisis was a long-time coming. Home values just kept going up so lenders kept on giving out mortgages - including to people who could not afford them - with no money down. I busted my hump working 3 jobs to come up with my 20% down and got a fixed rate from USAA. Other Banks like them who did not give away free money will weather this storm.
Where is this $700 billion going to come from? Does the Fed just have it lying around? Can they write a check? Can I have some? And if they do hand it out, the culprits learn nothing.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm against the idea.

So glad you lived to tell the story in your own inimitable way! Also, I'm so happy to see your recent pieces published, and on NRO, no less. Keep up the good work, and thank you.

My sympathies. One of the reasons why I'm an 8-glasses-of-water man. (And I don't care if the Rooskies are fluoridating it to mess with my precious bodily fluids.)

You recently reposted Trinity, saying it was your favorite essay of yours. It's good, but I prefer Sanctuary: "Pain is a constant companion for him, and like many of his age--like many of every age, before our own--he suffers in silence. That is his life. This, the most powerful man on the planet, suffers just like the poorest. But here, in this bland, ubiquitous convenience store, there is mercy for rich and poor alike. Cold medicine. Medicines to reduce fever. Medicines for toothache, too. And medicine for pain."

Bill, you have given my insights on two things:

1. Why the person I investigated for a drug diversion the other day was excited about Dilaudid; and

2. Why I am glad to have good health insurance again!

I am 38, and left full-time police work a few years ago to sell real estate. That was good in 2006, good in 2007, but 2008 is another story! Suffice to say, I am back to full-time coppery, and part-time real estate. But it is a comfort knowing that I have some good, subsidized insurance.

Unfortunately, we need to get the government out of it, so that the market can find a way to deal with people (like you and me) who have a preexisting condition that is hard to insure. I am sure that I represent an increased risk over the baseline, and that I ought to pay more for coverage. However, the market for insurance is geared more towards groups than it is towards individuals.

I will bet that if we change the law to level the insurance playing field, that there would be a LOT more people like you who would be emboldened to step out of employment and start their own small business, without having to keep a wife or husband "working for The Man."

I've suffered through one of these bouts. It sucks, without a doubt. However, I have a tad uglier story to relay about a friend of mine:

He went to the hospital in pain. They couldn't find the stone with imaging devices, so they shoved a large tube up the end of his, uh, junk I believe is the technical term. Anyway, they tried breaking up the invisible stone with sound waves, but the symptoms didn't go away. Bang, zoom, up the tube went again. Not long after that, the pain subsided for good. The doctor's explanation?

"The hole must have been enlarged enough for the stone to pass through."

Let me tell you, those words were running through my head during my stay at the hospital. It's amazing how thankful you can be for passing an irregular shaped piece of mineral deposits, but there it is. Anyway, stay well. And avoid the mineral water.

Hi Bill,
It has been over 5 years since my kidney stone and I still remember that feeling when the pain stopped. It was only about 1 1/2 hours(of screaming) for me before I got the shot, but it seemed like forever. Can't imagine 4 hours of that or God forbid 5 years.

Have enjoyed reading your stuff over the last year or so. Great that you are getting some national exposure.

I am right now watching James Spader savage Big Evil Pharma on this week's episode of Boston Legal. (Don't ask why. My wife likes the show. Me, I have to find something worthwhile to do like catching up on my newsblog reading.) Spader seems to have studied at the Martin-Sheen-as-President-Bartlett school of invective, wherein the ability to whip oneself up into righteous outrage evidently suffices to show the merit and goodness of one's arguments.

Bill, you poor bastard, I'm so sorry you had to suffer through such hell before they hooked you up with the hard stuff. Bet you'd have traded places with P.J. in a heartbeat. ("What color bracelet does one wear for that?", indeed...)

Wishing you a speedy recovery, and no unhappy returns. We need you back at work cleaning up that ingrateful, reason-challenged town.

Does anyone know what happened to the E3 gazette?

I had a kidney stone like that the week before my daughter was born. Your description of the pain is probably as close as one can get using mere words. It was sudden, too. One moment I'm sitting in front of the computer, then my lower back is a bit sore, and then I'm on the floor moaning and sweating. So my heavily pregnant wife drives me to the hospital, and has to keep telling the nurses there "No, not me, him!"

Here's the thing: we live in Canada, and that meant that I had to wait for more than a week (!) to get the lithotripsy -- and the clinic was not open on weekends, either. So I spent a lot of time reclining on the couch under the influence of a sweet, sweet suppository whose name I have forgotten. It is apparently used as a steroid treatment for cows, but it is also a highly effective painkiller that doesn't mess with your mind at all. But the codeine and Tylenol3s tried their best!

During the birth, my wife was telling the nurses that if I passed out it was because of the kidney stone, not because I am a wuss. Good thing our little girl only took 20 minutes...

Ah, I remember: It was Diclofenac. Lovely stuff, although the insertion method was, uh, awkward.

Dsinope --

That's an easy one (even for a completely cyberphobic surf-challenged computer clod like myself).

Try www.e3gazette.com. It's still up, still running, and still being contributed to.

GHS

Bill-

As always, you knocked it out of the park.

As I consider majority of your thoughtful essays genius and refer to them often, I have to admit I was, at first, a bit let down to find out that you didn't understand this whole financial mess inside out and upside down.

But there lies your real genius and why are you so loved by us, your devoted fans. Unlike Barack Obama and so many of his Hollywood drones, you are one of us and keep proving it with each essay. Rather than always trying to outshine your audience (see above mentioned)you allow us in to see the human that you are.

My best friend all through high school was this sort of same genius. He went on first to get his degree in chemical engineering then graduated from Harvard school of business; he is now quite high up on the ladder over at Proctor and Gamble. In any case, once while he was in his second year of college, we were lounging about in his hot tub when he began to explain to me how fluorocarbons were eating away at the ozone layer. He explained it to me, a community college theater arts major, never once giving me a sense of condescension and, best of all, I understood what he said.

Even more importantly, that is the moment when I understood the true meaning of intelligence; when a person who has the information is able to pass it on to someone who doesn't and it is understood. In other words, what's the point of knowing something if you can't pass that knowlege around?

I also happen to think inteligence is when you can admit what you don't understand something at all, yet are able to admit it, just like you did. That is actually intelligent and humble. Thank you for that. Thank you for letting me in, once again, to your world and not making me feel as though I were a mental defective.

Brilliantly written, as usual for you.

I've long suspected that a kidney stone isn't worth having, and you convinced me of it.

(Is there any competition for "Understatement of the Year"?)

For the record, I am not from Polaris. I have been accused of being from Vulcan, Kronos, Ferenganar, or Uranus, but I'm originally from Nebraska. We hope this clears up any confusion.

(This message is brought to you on behalf of the Council on American-Monster Relations.)

That's another monster. Personally I've never even been near Nebraska. I've long had a soft spot for Uranus, though.

Ba-dum dum...

- MD

(eewwww)

If it's Friday, Bill must have another NRO piece out.

It's "Cowboys and Secret Agents".

Whittle:
"When you shoot a .45 caliber 1911-A1 hand cannon, you will know it".

My kind of guy. Heh.

Bill, Just excellent as usual. I have watched a number of the "Shootout"'s(?)and the most memorable to me are those relating how the Marines took down Fallujah. As a former marine (Vietnam) I am just floored by the courage and professionalism shown by those men. I believe they are far and above the Marines that we were (and we were pretty damned good!). I am happy to see that you were involved in that effort and, looking back, I should have seen your fingerprints on it in the tightness of the story line.

Captain, you appear to be very knowlegable about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle and the background. Can you tell me why both organizations exist - I mean I can understand one, but why two? Also, if I understand correctly Fannie Mae packaged a number of both prime and subprime mortgages together to create a single security. Were there rules about the ratio of prime to subprime (?) and if not, why not?

Starting to get the big picture here? Government (primarily the dems) mandated that private institutions would go forth amongst the unwashed and make really STUPID business decisions. The day of reckoning is upon us... -- OCMC

Just in time for The One to come in the clouds and Save Us All. ("HOPE! CHANGE! HOPE! CHANGE! HOPECHANGE!")

After seven years of Great Tribulation under Antichrist Bush, now Messiah Politics has cast Obama as the Coming Christ figure. Left Behind for Brights.

If only I could write as well as you do. This is not flattery. Maybe you can't write worth a damn, but I wish I could write as well as you do. I have completed three screenplays and one novel and now publish a blog at the above ULR.
Privately, you have a typo in your third numbered paragraph at the top. ("chose" should be "choose.")

Best regards,
Marco Gilliam
San Antonio

Tolerants need to practice what they preach these days. Why trash someone who isn't a liberal illuminati?

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