Burns @ MindSay

Blindness is Don McKellar’s screenplay adaptation of Jose Saramago's science fiction novel with the same title. The movie, like the book, questions what would happen to society if a super bug that causes blindness were to suddenly infect a large urban center?

It starts like this: A man goes blind while waiting in his car at a stoplight on a sunny morning. The effect is bright instead of dark; the man sees only white light. He’s blind and holding up traffic. After some commotion, Thief (Don McKellar) offers to help the man and drive him to the hospital, and he becomes the next character to catch the disease.

The movie introduces more characters before settling on the heroes of story.

Mark Ruffalo plays The Doctor and is the first ophthalmologist to attempt to understand the affliction. The Doctor’s Wife, Julianne Moore soon becomes the vast exception to the rule, and indeed the premise on which this wonderful film hangs; Julianne Moore’s character does not go blind, and yet she suffers even greater pain as she tirelessly cares for the sick, and silently bears witness to the decomposition of society.

It could happen anywhere at anytime - people in Toronto will remember the fear that paralyzed the city during a sudden outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in North York General Hospital. Every American was shocked when they heard testimony of the bizarre and horrific occurrences in the New Orleans Super Dome during Hurricane Katrina. Blindness puts human characters in those same mental and moral conundrums where they hate themselves and the selfishness they need to survive.

Actually Blindness goes well beyond those scenarios and into the realm of genuine horror. Those who control the food rise above the others. Gael García Bernal, Sandra Oh, Danny Glover, Alice Braga, Martha Burns, and Maury Chaykin round out this amazing cast of characters. Each story offers a different perspective on the phenomenon.

Blindness reminds viewers of the fragility of modern civilization; this movie depicts the evolution of evil in an unknown, terrifying environment.

By Nelia Schrum

Special to American Forces Press Service

March 23, 2007 – When Army Sgt. Antonio Autrey was burned in Iraq by a blast that destroyed his Bradley fighting vehicle almost a year ago, all the former high school football receiver wanted to do was to be able to hold a football again.  Now, after almost a year in recovery at the Burn Center here, the 4th Infantry Division soldier has set his sights on bench pressing, with a goal of lifting 345 pounds - something he regularly accomplished with ease before an insurgent's blast.

Touring the Center for the Intrepid here March 16 with fellow burn patients, Autrey, 26, said he hoped the new facility would help him get back in shape.

Burn patients, who receive both physical therapy and occupational therapy in the Burn Center, took an orientation tour of the Center for the Intrepid with an eye on how the rehabilitation center could help each of them once their therapists referred them for the next level of occupational and physical therapy.

To help the Center for the Intrepid with the increased patient load of Burn Center patients on their way to recovery, the Institute of Surgical Research is adding 25 staff members to work with the burn patients, including physical therapists, occupational therapist, physical therapy assistants and social workers.

Army Capt. Charles Quick, chief of occupational therapy at the Burn Center, arranged for the burn patients to have an in-depth look at the Center for the Intrepid.

"We want to give them the opportunity to restore function in all of their activities of daily living," Quick said. "This will give them opportunities to get back to the things they know and love."

He said each burn patient is evaluated weekly, and when therapists at the Burn Center identify a wounded warrior able to take on more advanced therapy, that patient would begin a course of treatment at the Center for the Intrepid. Each referred patient will be evaluated by Army Lt. Col. Jennifer Menetrez, medical director for the center, who will develop a rigorous individualized therapy plan.

Dr. Rebecca Hooper, Center for the Intrepid program manager, said the staff of the Brooke Army Medical Center's Amputee Care Center has worked with many patients who have lost limbs as a result of burn injury prior to the opening of the center.

At the Center for the Intrepid, burn patients who may not necessarily be amputees, but have functional loss in their extremities, also will be able to benefit from a variety of therapies that are provided in the new, larger space at the rehabilitation center that features new, world-class equipment.

Hooper said the Center for the Intrepid is not a gymnasium or a workout facility; it is a rehabilitation facility.

"Patients do not simply come in and work out, but are appointed for care using the BAMC outpatient appointment system," Hooper said. "All patients treated at the CFI have individually tailored treatment plans designed to help them meet their specific goals."

Many of the burn patients are looking forward to meeting their individualized goals and incorporating additional activities that will help with strengthening and endurance.

And for Army Spc. Richie Dominguez, a military policeman who suffered burns in August after an attack by a suicide truck bomber, the Center for the Intrepid's Fire Arms Training System will help him get back a critical skill.

"No other rehabilitation center in the country provides firearms training and certification," Dominguez said. "As a sSoldier and police officer, that is an important skill for me."

(Nelia Schrum is assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs.)

This article was sponsored by criminal justice online and military and police personnel who have authored books.

I know I should have known better. Last night I made a stupid mistake.

I was  washing out the stove. I'm sure it hadn't been cleaned out in a good twenty plus years.

I bought a can of cleaner at Kroger a few days back. I guickly scanned over the directions   and skiped over the warnings.

It did a nice job. The oven is all clean now. But I didn't wear any gloves or anything. Son of a bitch does that stuff hurt. The shit stung and left tiny little burn marks on my hands and arm, my hands are dry and chapped now.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a few really gnarley looking scars when it heals.

Holy fuck! They put those warnings there for a reason.  I should have paid more attention. I didn't really notice the burns that much until I washed my hands when I has finished, the cold water probably made thing worse.

The people at work are gonna think I was cutting myslef of something when they see all the band-aids on my arm.

So, please don't be a knucle-head like me, pay attention to all the warnings on the products you buy. Unless you want gnarly little burns on your arms.

Thanks for Reading,

Mark M.