Category Archives: medical news

medical news

Drop out of WHO? In the midst of a global pandemic?

Let me see if I have this straight.

Donald Trump has decided to initiate the withdrawal from the World Health Organization in the midst of a global pandemic that is killing thousands of human beings every hour.

He’s mad at WHO because of its initial response to the pandemic, which Trump says began in China and which the WHO was too slow to call the People’s Republic of China to task for withholding valuable information from the worldwide public.

Instead of staying with the WHO where the United States could bring its influence to bear to enact reform and, by the way, reap the benefit of WHO’s medical expertise, Donald Trump wants to pull the United States out of the organization altogether.

I do not get the “logic” here.

I now am willing to suggest — which I shall do at this very moment — that we have yet another reason to elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. as our next president.

You see, Joe Biden can stop this continuing self-isolation by Donald Trump that puts even more Americans in jeopardy if we no longer can can rely on the World Health Organization for expertise on how to deal with — and eradicate — this killer virus.

medical news

What if POTUS tests positive?

The news out of Brasilia, Brazil that the president of Latin America’s largest nation has tested positive for COVID-19 leaves me with terribly mixed feelings.

I don’t want Jair Bolsonaro to get seriously ill from the virus, even though he is what you could call a “pandemic denier.” He and his pal Donald J. Trump had locked arms in solidarity in dismissing the danger posed by the coronavirus that has swept around the world.

Now he’s sickened by it. He wasn’t taking personal precautions. Bolsonaro was running around without a mask, he wasn’t keeping appropriate distance from others. He was calling it no worse than the flu.

OK. Now he’s tested positive for the disease. Will the docs in Brazil treat it like the flu? I doubt it. Seriously.

What about his pal, The Donald?

So far, Donald Trump has tested negative every time he’s been tested. Or so he tells us. Is he telling us the truth? I have difficulty taking anything he says at face value. About anything at all.

Don Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has tested positive and has been quarantined for two weeks. That means the virus is inching ever closer to the president, who’s already seen several members of his staff and the Secret Service detail afflicted by the virus.

My mixed feelings are troubling to me. I am not proud of acknowledging that I care far less about Donald Trump’s personal well-being than about the government he was elected to lead. It’s just the way I feel about the man, given his own callous disregard for others. I figure he’s merely reaping what he’s sown in my own heart.

I do worry about the executive branch of our government, which isn’t running well as it is. What might occur if Donald Trump takes ill? What happens to the decision-making process? Does the chaos accelerate?

These aren’t far-fetched questions to ponder, given what we’ve seen occur in Brazil with another world leader who has been as cavalier about the pandemic as the U.S. president has been.

Might President Bolsonaro’s illness be something of a wakeup call for his good buddy in Washington? Perhaps we can get some actual seriousness from the White House about the tragedy that has befallen so many Americans.

local news, medical news, national news, State news

When will GOP pols hit the wall as it regards POTUS?

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Here is my latest Question of the Day: When in the name of sane government will Republican governors around the country decide they have heard enough from Donald J. Trump?

I’ll look specifically at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, given that I am acquainted with him and he might actually see this blog post.

Abbott has slammed the brakes on the state’s reopening strategy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. He has ordered masks in public places, told us to maintain social distancing, and ordered businesses to limit capacity. Yes, he was slow to enact the measures and, yes again, he is scaling back his too-quick order to reopen the state’s business community.

Abbott, though, at least is giving lip service to the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, we hear from Donald Trump that the killer virus is going to disappear. It’ll be like a miracle, he says, adding, “I hope.”

Then came this tidbit from one of his Fourth of July weekend speeches: He said that 99 percent of all COVID-19 infections don’t amount to anything of consequence. Virtually all infections, he implied, are nothing to worry about.

Really! He said it. Oh, I guess I should point out that 130,000 Americans have died, which is about 20 percent of the worldwide death count.

These Republican politicians need to speak out forcefully, telling Donald Trump to keep his trap shut. Every time he dismisses the death counts, makes light of the infection rates, calls for “less testing,” he makes state and local politicians’ duties that much more difficult.

He’s got that damn bully pulpit that he is misusing to the detriment of Americans’ health. GOP politicians need to start calling him out.

Gov. Abbott, I’m talking to you!

medical news

Another run on TP on tap

One of the real-time realities of today is that I don’t get out much, meaning that I go to the supermarket only when I really need to buy something.

So I am a bit slow on the uptake, I suppose, when I notice something that apparently has been trending over the course of some time.

Such as the supply of toilet paper on the shelves.

You’ll recall I am sure when the pandemic first erupted we were told to stock up on certain household necessities. TP was one of them.

We weren’t in danger of running out of it in our home, but we did stock up when they appeared at our Princeton, Texas, neighborhood supermarket.

Then the supplies held up. No one felt the need to, um, fill their closets with this essential commodity.

Until now. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pulled back on his reopening strategy. We’re now being ordered to wear masks in public. We are limiting gathering sizes. Abbott is imploring us to maintain “social distancing” measures. I get all that, man.

He didn’t say anything about stocking up on essential items. Not to worry about that, though. We found out during the first shutdown what we needed to do.

TP once again is in short supply.

Hey, you big drug firms … hurry up with that vaccine. Will ya?

local news, medical news

Face mask order forces me to acquire new habits

It has taken an order from the Texas governor to get me to step it up with this “new normal” way of doing things.

I don’t begrudge Greg Abbott for issuing the order, even though I do endorse the notion that he was a bit late in declaring it. That said, I won’t dwell on its timeliness.

Abbott has told us to wear masks when we venture to public places if we live in counties with 20 or more coronavirus infections. Well, in Collin County we, um, are well past that “magic number.”

My wife has been much better about complying with voluntary new normal procedures than I have been. I guess it took the order from Gov. Abbott to get me to pay attention. He issued it and I am heeding it to the letter.

To be sure, I wish we didn’t have to wear these masks. It’s awfully hot out there and the masks make me sweat. However, the cost of not wearing one — in addition to maintaining that “social distance” thing — is too serious to ignore.

Even though I don’t like wearing the masks, I dislike getting sick even more. I seriously dislike the notion of possibly dying from the illness known as COVID-19. More to the point than even that, I shudder at the thought of my family members being sickened by the virus. They know who they are and I am imploring all of them to follow the rules … to the letter.

If it takes a government order to keep my loved ones and me healthy, then I’m all in. You will not hear me gripe about surrendering my “civil liberties” or being told how to behave.

The alternative to all of that could be pretty damn grim … and I am unwilling to pay that price.

medical news

Public health goes partisan

Did you ever think an issue concerning public health would cross into the realm of partisan politics?

If you answered “no,” then I venture to presume you’re in good company. Neither did I, nor I am reckoning did many of the nation’s public health or leading political figures.

But … here we are.

Governors around the country are pulling back on their reopening measures in the wake of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in their states. They have empowered local officials to enact stricter regulations for citizens to follow.

The reaction from many Americans has been jaw-dropping. I see news reports of residents yammering about losing their rights as citizens, how the government has become tyrannical in their mandates, orders and edicts.

One dipsh** in Florida said that he has the right to act using his own “intelligence” in response to the pandemic. Oh, really? That means he is “intelligent” enough to infect his neighbors, his family members and even total strangers if he decides against wearing a mask or refuses to maintain social distancing.

The term “public health” by definition means we are dealing with matters that involve everyone. The public. Strangers. Our neighbors.

We are in the midst of a public health crisis. When a governor issues an order to wear a mask, he or she is doing so to mitigate the damage being done by the disease the nation is fighting to control and to eliminate.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has joined the growing chorus of governors to issue stricter rules and regulations. He has been getting beaten up over the tardiness of his order. I won’t go there, except to say I am glad he has awakened to the crisis and has broken away from the policies being touted by other Republican politicians, starting with Donald Trump. 

Public health requires everyone to climb aboard the same wagon, or so one would have presumed. Then again, we live in the most polarized moment in recent memory. If only we could set aside our partisan differences in pursuit of a sound public health policy.

medical news, State news

Abbott performs stunning reversal

“COVID-19 is not going away. In fact, it’s getting worse. Now, more than ever, action by everyone is needed until treatments are available for COVID-19.”

That comment comes from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who today performed an astonishing public policy about face with regard to the pandemic that is raging out of control once again in many areas across the land.

Abbott issued an executive order requiring residents who live in Texas counties with 20 or more COVID cases to wear face masks in public.

This is astonishing … but it is welcome in our household. Collin County, where my wife and I reside, has become a bit of a hot spot for new infections. Our masks are at the ready. We will wear them when we go outdoors.

Why the astonishment? Let me count the ways.

Abbott has resisted issuing such an order. He has prohibited counties from stepping beyond the state mandates. Now he’s sounding very much like the county judges with whom he had tussled.

Then we have the blathering of the bloward lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who this week said that Dr. Anthony Fauci — the nation’s leading infectious disease expert — “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Patrick, who obviously does not possess a medical degree, said “No thank you, Dr. Fauci” when making policy decisions on how to handle the pandemic.

Except that Abbott’s statements today sound pretty damn Faucian in discussing the seriousness of the problem facing Texans.

Look, I do not think Gov. Abbott has handled this crisis with the steady hand it requires. However, I am heartened to hear him turn up the volume on the danger that this pandemic is posing to Texans. It now is up to all of us to heed the warning he has delivered. We need to wear masks and to stay the heck away from everyone else.

We also need to ignore the ignorant happy talk coming from the White House as well as the mindless blathering from the lieutenant governor.

medical news

Masks do not hinder our rights! Got it? Good!

I am sick and tired of hearing the gripes of those who think mandates to wear surgical masks hinders their civil liberties.

We are in the midst of a global pandemic. It has killed 127,000 Americans. More of us are going to die. Medical experts say wearing masks — along with social distancing — helps alleviate the death and hospitalization tolls.

So what the hell is the problem here?

We keep seeing demonstrators griping about the masks. We see the occasional viral YouTube video of idiots raising hell with cops about whether they are observing proper distance or wearing masks as required by local government officials.

I am tired of repeating myself, but I feel the need to restate the obvious.

It is that mask wearing is no more a civil liberties violation than wearing seat belts while riding in a motor vehicle, or helmets while riding on a motorcycle, or behaving like a civilized human being when we are in public places.

If the city council in the community where I live requires mask wearing, we are going to adhere to the rules. If a ruling comes down from Collin County’s courthouse, fine … I’m all in. If Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issues a statewide requirement for masks, great.

We keep hearing that mantra that “We’re in this together.” That notion should apply to all of us obeying the rules that come forth from officials who are charged to “provide for the general welfare” of the public they serve.

medical news, State news

Lt. Gov. Patrick needs to shut … up

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I can state with a high degree of confidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci doesn’t need a chump like me to defend him against the idiotic rant of a partisan hack like Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

But I am going to defend him anyway.

Pay attention, Dan Patrick. I will say this slowly: You need to shut … your … know-nothing … fly trap yapper. 

Patrick went on Fox News this week to tell us that Dr. Fauci, the nation’s pre-eminent infectious disease expert, “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

What drew Patrick’s moronic ire happens to be the dire assessment by Fauci over Texas’s big spike in COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. Fauci serves on the White House coronavirus pandemic response team and told U.S. senators that the nation could see 100,000 daily infections if we don’t corral this virus immediately.

Fauci singled out some problem states, Texas among them. Patrick objected. According to The Hill newspaper:

“Fauci said that he’s concerned about states like Texas that skipped over certain things. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Patrick said on Fox News after Fauci testified before a Senate committee about the U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak. “We haven’t skipped over anything.”

“The only thing I’m skipping over is listening to him,” Patrick added. “He has been wrong every time, on every issue. I don’t need his advice anymore. We’ll listen to a lot of science, we’ll listen to a lot of doctors, and [Gov. Greg Abbott (R)], myself and other state leaders will make the decision. No thank you, Dr. Fauci.”

I think I’ll stand with Dr. Fauci’s advice, relying on a learned medical heavyweight instead of a political hatchet man.

Dan Patrick needs to stick with what he knows best, which involves blathering right-wing dogma.

medical news

Happy talk isn’t stemming the COVID tide

Donald Trump’s monstrously deceptive happy talk about the coronavirus pandemic has filled too many Americans with some idiotic notion that our national “strategy” is working.

It isn’t.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who signed on to the president’s coronavirus task force, laid bare what he thinks might be in store, which is that the national daily infection rate might hit 100,000 soon. The number is exploding.

And yet, there was Trump’s top-tier suck-up, Mike Pence, coming to Texas to declare that we have reason to cheer the national response to the killer virus.

Good grief, man!

At the very moment Pence was telling the world that “all 50 states” had turned the corner on the virus, more than half of our United States reported record numbers of infections. Texas — where Pence delivered his ignorant blather — is leading that pack of states.

Look, I don’t have any answers here. I’m just a chump blogger who is taking this threat very seriously. I fear for my family and want them to remain holed up to the extent they can.

What’s more I am sick and tired of listening to Trump and Pence lie to us about the “fantastic” job they say they are doing. They are failing us in this effort.

The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but we are registering 20 percent of the world’s infection from COVID-19 and 20 percent of the deaths from the virus.

That’s success? No! It is failure! I want the president to give this crisis the seriousness it deserves.