Yesterday I was at the hospital much of the afternoon and came home around 8:30 PM, but he called me again at around 11:00 PM and sounded awful. I simply couldn’t relax about it, and since I live just a few minutes from the hospital I went back there to check it out.

Fortunately, he was asleep. And also fortunately, I had a long talk with the nurse and she reassured me about various things. He’s certainly not out of the woods, but she seemed competent and on top of things.

And then, when I returned home and got out of my car, I happened to look up to the sky. The moon looked very unusual, and it occurred to me that this might be a lunar eclipse. So I got out my trusty cellphone and sure enough, it was! Plus, just by chance I happened to be stepping out of my car at the exact peak minute of the eclipse.

So that’s the silver lining, I guess.

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I am fairly certain she won’t be “getting off,” whatever the verdict. If she is found to have had diminished capacity due to psychosis, her stay in a mental hospital will be very long, IMHO. She brutally murdered her three young children. That is the reality, and they’re not just letting her out in a month. My guess is that she would be staying for many many years and perhaps even for life.

For example, Andrea Yates – who killed her 5 children in Texas in 2001, twenty-five years ago – and was found found guilty but ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity (see this for the twistings and turnings of her legal situation), is still institutionalized in a mental hospital. Massachusetts is different than Texas of course, but here’s how it works in Massachusetts:

Massachusetts law says the court can order her hospitalized for up to 40 days for “observation and examination,” and prosecutors or hospital officials can then petition for involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility.

If a judge determines Clancy is mentally ill and releasing her “would create a likelihood of serious harm,” she could be committed to a facility, the law states. The initial commitment is generally valid for six months and can be renewed in one-year periods.

“She’ll never be released unless there’s a finding by a judge that she doesn’t represent a danger to herself or others,” Rossman said.

She might never get out. Also, she’s probably still a suicide risk, although as a paraplegic she might have trouble accomplishing it.

If I had to guess, I’d predict the jury will be hung. But that’s 100% a guess.

The post Whatever the verdict, Lindsay Clancy is extremely unlikely to be getting out quickly appeared first on The New Neo.

Without violating his privacy with Too Much Information, I’ll just say that eight days ago I took my ex-husband to the ER and he was diagnosed with two dangerous but not-likely-to-be-lethal conditions. At least one of them would absolutely be needing surgery, so they sent him home with instructions to call a surgeon and make an appointment. The ER was full with a long wait. And the surgeon couldn’t see him for almost two weeks.

Meanwhile, at home, he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t want to go back to the ER and be sent home again, and it didn’t seem worthwhile to me either. But over the next five days he seemed to be deteriorating, and he wasn’t eating much at all. On Monday he was so ill that I called 911. They took him back to the ER, where they repeated the tests and decided this time to admit him, and that he had to have surgery – pronto. So instead of having a scheduled surgery with the preferred surgeon, it was pot-luck surgery at midnight the very day he came back to the hospital.

Fortunately, the team repaired the problem. But my ex developed a few complications and is still in the hospital. I’m the designated helper, and I’ve been going over there for quite a few hours every day. The staff has been pretty good, but they seem overworked because the place is very full.

However, there was one incident that really angered me – although it has nothing to do with the medical aspect of things. There was a middle-aged lady who came around to officially inform him of his Medicare rights – things like ye olde Patients’ Bill of Rights and the fact that if the hospital tries to kick you out prematurely, you can protest. That sort of thing. When she finished her spiel she said that we needed to vote in November, and not to vote for “that person” (she clearly meant Trump even though he’s not on the ballot) because he was going to end Medicare.

Extremely unprofessional and inappropriate, not to mention incorrect. I surprised her by snapping at her, and I’m contemplating reporting her but not while he’s still in the hospital.

The post Update on my ex-husband’s health appeared first on The New Neo.

The post A summary of Lindsay Clancy’s efforts to get help appeared first on The New Neo.

This post isn’t going to be an in-depth definitive analysis of the details. But it is my overall impression and summary after digesting quite a bit of the evidence. I expect that many of you may differ from my conclusions.

Clancy’s defense rests on a claim that she had post-partum psychosis, exacerbated by a cocktail of drugs she was given over time by a series of health practitioners. Her previous behavior as a mother seems to have been exemplary (this was her third child, and she had been a labor and delivery nurse). She kept a diary that documented her decline after the birth of her third child. She claims that voices directed her to kill her children, and the actual act was committed when she had sent her husband out for various errands.

Post-partum mental problems are very real and poorly understood although there are many theories. For most women who have them they amount to a short period of “the baby blues,” and even that can be quite serious for the person experiencing the problem although it is quite common. There are also a smaller number of women who experience a more profound post-partum depression. Then there is a much smaller but real number who experience post-partum psychosis, a break with reality. The second group (post-partum depression) is somewhat at risk, like any depressed person would be, for suicide. The third group (psychosis) is somewhat at risk for suicide and even homicide, often directed at the children. Fortunately, this type of aggression is rare.

The questions in this trial are basically twofold: (1) Was Clancy suffering from post-partum psychosis? (2) Does it matter in terms of her criminal responsibility? I think that the answer to the first question is “yes.” I’m not sure about the answer to the second, but it depends on one’s general attitude towards psychosis and criminal responsibility, which varies from those who think it never matters and that all people should be held equally responsible to those who think it absolves a person of all responsibility. I’ve written and thought about these questions for a long long time and I cannot answer them except to say I don’t fall into either of the extremes of opinion. In this case, I simply don’t know and am glad I’m not on the jury.

When I look at commentary online about the case, there’s an incredible range of opinion. There are, for example, people (usually women) who blame Clancy’s husband. I think that’s preposterous and to be condemned. There are those who completely absolve Clancy herself, which I don’t think is correct although I do believe that – as I said – she was truly depressed and then went into a psychotic state in part because of a bad reaction to the many drugs she was given in rapid succession. I think that her health practitioners did not do right by her. I think her suicide attempt was real and that her resultant paraplegic state is evidence of that. I believe that those who say she is a cold-blooded monster who deeply desired to murder her children and that her psychosis was a feigned excuse are also wrong; the evidence is very strong that this was not the case, and her planning was not inconsistent with a very real post-partum psychosis. And I think it’s a very sad and awful case, almost unbearable in its pathos.

Here’s a discussion of the drug aspect:

I don’t know what the verdict will be. But if Clancy is found not guilty by reason of insanity, it doesn’t mean she goes free. It means she is confined to a mental hospital, probably for many years. That does not satisfy those who consider her guilty, of course. Different states have very different laws for this sort of thing – some, for example, have a possible verdict of guilty with mitigating factors; they confine the killer to a mental hospital, but then when the perp is released there is also a prison term (not necessarily for murder, but a substantial sentence) to be served. As far as I can tell, Massachusetts is not one of those states and she probably would not be going to prison at all if found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The post The Lindsay Clancy case appeared first on The New Neo.

They certainly are thin; the quintessential ectomorphs, with elastic limbs and extreme grace. Their lean bodies and long legs in proportion to height make them look tall, but I began to wonder whether they really were. After all, I know that ballet dancers often look much taller onstage than they are (see the discussion in this post). Maybe the same is true of rhythmic gymnasts such as this champion:

Well, it turns out that rhythmic gymnasts really are tall, relatively tall. Not as tall as basketball players, but taller than other gymnasts – who tend to be very short. Here’s the explanation:

One of the most important physical quality a rhythmic gymnast must have is a slim and stylish body. According to Spanish ex gymnast Susana Mendizábal, rhythmic gymnastics must be tall with long limbs, narrow trunk and hips and very thin. With an average height of 5 ft 4 in and weight of 94.8 pounds stereotypical canon for rhythmic implies Gymnasts’ thinness is usually genetically determined.

That height combined with that weight makes for a very thin person. And some of them are as tall as 5’9″ – the Wiki entry for the gymnast in the video you just watched claims that she is that tall.

Also:

Taking away all of the figures and using common sense, rhythmic gymnasts that achieve elite also tend to be taller because as a lot of the routines involve throwing and catching it’s easier for them to retrieve the apparatus as their limbs are longer. The longer the reach and the strides, the less effort you have to do to perform a routine.

I find them quite amazing.

[NOTE: In my previous post on short ballet dancers, it’s so old that the YouTube videos have disappeared. One of the short dancers I discuss in the post is Daniel Ulbricht of the New York City Ballet. He seems to be retired from performing and is now teaching. There aren’t a whole lot of videos of him on YouTube, but I thought this one shows off his high jump.

Unfortunately, there’s a dark background and he’s wearing dark tights, which sometimes makes it hard to see the full height of his jumps.]

The post Are rhythmic gymnasts tall? appeared first on The New Neo.

An excerpt:

I am not going to present all the pros and cons of the research involved; that would require a book. But I will say that, having read a good deal of it, I come down fairly strongly at this point on the side of thinking the epidemic is almost entirely an artifact of statistics and diagnostic changes.

Increasing reimbursement also fuels the increase. And the vaccine connection theory was revealed a few years later to have been a hoax.

I also want to call your attention to a Frontline documentary I saw on television way back in 1993. It’s extremely sad and very well-done. The topic is facilitated communication in cases of profound autism. Parents desperately (and understandably) wanted to believe that their previously nonverbal autistic children were thinking deep thoughts and aching to communicate, and that the technique of facilitated communication had unlocked riches that had always lurked hidden within them. But it was actually – if not exactly a hoax, then a case of yearning and wishful thinking on the part of both health professionals and the relatives of the autistic children.

Here’s the link to the documentary:

The post Autism redux appeared first on The New Neo.

Growing old is no joke. Nor was the ER, which has degenerated in recent years: short-staffed, very long waits, extremely depressing group of sick people sitting there for hours and hours and hours.

I finally left him there when he was somewhat better, but now I’m about to leave to pick him up. I’ll probably post more in late afternoon or perhaps not till the evening.

The post Spent many hours today … appeared first on The New Neo.

Too much information.

AOC has bared hers to show us her quest to freeze her eggs in order to preserve her chances to have children. Also too much information. But certainly more interesting information, considering that this is a practice – purposely delaying conception and using medically-assisted means in an effort to get pregnant later at the “right” time – that has become more common.

AOC says:

“Maybe in life you can’t have everything,” she says. “But here’s the secret: You can have a hell of a lot.”

AOC is herself a good example of maximizing a gift for gab and a little bit of undergrad-type knowledge and gaining a position of some power, perhaps to gain even more. She’s thirty-six years old now and had been keeping company with a boyfriend of at least a decade, although they’ve now broken up:

… she also is single, with The New York Times reporting that she has split from her long-term fiancé and college sweetheart, Riley Roberts. …

… Now she finds herself at 36, still beautiful, considered youthful by the standards of the day, but with ovaries that stubbornly remain in nature’s grip. From the age of 35 a woman’s fertility falls off a cliff.

AOC is trying to outsmart the process by using hormone injections to force her ovaries to emit six to 10 eggs at once which are then removed and frozen in the uncertain hope that they can be successfully thawed and fertilized when she’s ready to become a mother.

The rest of the article discusses the difference between left and right on child-bearing and abortion and Having It All. It also contrasts AOC with Karoline Leavitt, who at 28 has two children and a great career but is leaving to spend more time with her baby and toddler.

What interests me more is whether AOC is giving women (and perhaps herself) false hope that conception can be almost indefinitely delayed and yet ultimately be successful. But even with egg-freezing that can definitely extend the window of possibility, actually having a baby gets more and more difficult and there are costs both monetary and in terms of health. The drugs involved to induce hyper-ovulation are disruptive and potentially damaging. The chances of successful fertilization and implantation get lower and lower as times goes on, no matter at what age the eggs were frozen. Pregnancy itself is more difficult and hazardous as a woman gets older. And then of course there’s the question of whether a partner or husband is ever found. Although a woman can go it alone with donor sperm, that’s still another difficult decision.

The other day I was watching an interesting podcast on these sorts of issues, and so here it is:

[NOTE: The article characterizes AOC as “still beautiful.” You may disagree. I happen to think AOC is a very attractive woman. I also think that’s part of her electoral success. If she weren’t attractive, I’m not at all sure she’d have been elected in the first place or would have such a large following today.]

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Mangione faced those charges in connection with the December 2024 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said in court Friday. “I knew what I was doing.”

Thompson’s family was in the courtroom sitting in the front row watching as Mangione entered his plea. Mangione voiced no remorse and repeatedly referenced his concerns with the U.S. health care system.

So he pleads guilty but admits nothing but the facts already known; there really wasn’t a scintilla of doubt that he stalked Thompson and murdered him in cold blood, shooting him in the back. He’s only sorry he’s been caught; he still is grandstanding to his leftist admirers.

Here’s the strategic part:

Mangione still faces murder charges in a state trial set to begin next month, but his guilty plea in federal court is expected to have significant impacts on the state trial. New York state’s strict double jeopardy law could potentially upend those proceedings. That law says that a defendant can’t be tried twice for the same thing.

Mangione’s defense team cited that law in a motion filed Friday, shortly after his federal guilty plea, urging state court Judge Gregory Carro to dismiss state charges against him, including a count of 2nd degree murder. If successful, that legal maneuver could spare Mangione a longer prison term.

Personally, I think even if he faces the state trial the jury will be hung, because some Mangione supporter or supporters will lie in order to get on the jury and hang it. In federal court that was far less likely, and that’s part of why he copped a plea.

State prosecutors aren’t giving up:

State prosecutors have argued their case is distinct, and that double jeopardy should not apply. In a statement to NPR, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said they would fight efforts by Mangione’s defense team to derail the state’s prosecution.

With guilty pleas, the sentencing is usually somewhat lighter than it would otherwise have been. The death penalty had already been ruled out for Mangione. Will he now get less than life? It’s certain possible, and sets a terrible precedent. If there was ever a cold-blooded and political assassination, it was this one.

Mangione cites his back pain as a motive:

“After years of enduring severe pain from a broken back and navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system, I learned that UnitedHealthcare would be holding its annual investor conference in New York City,” he said.

What a poor excuse. I have some experience with this; in my early forties I had a severe back injury and was in very significant chronic pain for at least twelve years. I spent a lot of money despite having health insurance, and most of the interventions did not work (unlike what happened to Mangione, whose back was fixed a couple of years after his injury by a fusion surgery). I was a participant in several chronic pain groups and listened to some very sad stories, and some angry people who were having major problems with the health care system. But never was anyone contemplating murdering some random health insurance executive. And by the way, Mangione’s insurance problems, whatever they might have been, did not involve Thompson’s company United Healthcare:

Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last week, was not a customer of the private health insurer, but police say he had identified the company as one of the largest corporations in America in his “manifesto” writings.

Neither Mangione nor his mother were insured by UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest private health insurer, a UnitedHealth Group spokesperson told CNN.

“We have no indication that he was ever a client of United Healthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest healthcare organization in America. So that’s possibly why he targeted that company,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said in an interview with NBC New York.

When Mangione first surfaced. I wrote a post comparing him to Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov. I still consider the analogy a good one, except that Raskolnikov ultimately showed remorse and understanding. I don’t think Mangione is even close to that redemptive arc.

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