In the fourth season premiere, House – without his usual team – faces a philosophical dilemma. Normally, the doctor believes that people lie but symptoms speak truthfully. Throughout the episode, the patient’s reactions contradict the information on her chart and her health deteriorates. Cuddy becomes so infuriated by House’s actions that she commands him to find a new team and orders other hospital staff to “stop enabling him” with conversation. The solution is simple: an allergy goes undetected because family members have misidentified the victims of a building collapse, resulting in swapped charts. The delay was not necessarily caused by …
No End in Sight & Shake Hands with the Devil
No End in Sight, a documentary by Charles Ferguson analyzing the United States involvement in Iraq, was released to very little fanfare this past week. The only theatre in town screening the film was the Bloor Cinema on a Friday night. Ferguson sought to encompass the perspectives of the American decision-makers, tying them to the events that covered the first critical year of the Iraqi occupation in 2003. In many ways, U.S. choices made regarding the Iraq War paralleled British decisions in the Crimean War. In explaining how the entire war has been comprised of one fiasco following another, No …
The Reason Why
The Charge of the Light BrigadeLord Alfred Tennyson Cecil Woodham-Smith wrote The Reason Why to document the circumstances that led to one of the most disastrous military ventures in history: the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. I read it on the recommendation of David Halberstam, who said it made history come alive for him, and found it to be an excellent metaphor for leadership – in any field. 1. Half a league, half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.“Forward, the Light Brigade!“Charge for the guns!” he said:Into the valley …
The Special One
José Mourinho quit his position as manager of the Chelsea Football Club last week. Or Roman Abramovich fired him. The parting of ways was described as mutual but I tend to doubt that. Whether Abramovich actively sacked Mourinho or gradually created an unsuitable working environment, the owner meant to dismiss the manager. Irrespective of the reason why, I was fairly certain that “the Special One” was finished with the club after a listless 1-1 draw at home to Rosenborg in the Champions League. From afar, it appears that Abramovich erred, becoming involved with Chelsea personnel and tactical decisions one time …
Brock and the Order of the Phoenix
Not seeking to discuss how to get a high percentage shot in seven seconds or less over the summer, I viewed the new Harry Potter film over the weekend. Although the logical holes that plagued the book remain, it proves to be an enjoyable two and a half hours. Several strong performances carry the film, excluding the highly skilled actors who showed less emotional range than Transformers’ Optimus Prime. Imelda Staunton plays the role of the officious and self-important Dolores Umbridge perfectly. It is easy to relate to the film because everyone has had to deal with the intrusive administrator …