Category Archives: medical news

medical news, national news

He brings out the worst in me … in us

I am not the least bit proud of what I am about to admit, but … here goes. Donald J. Trump brings out my worst instincts.

Here is the example I want to cite: When word came out this weekend that several members of the White House staff have tested positive for the coronavirus, I was filled with overwhelming indifference over the prospect of the president of the United States becoming infected by the virus.

There you go. I admit to feeling not a twinge of fear for Donald Trump. Why not? I only can point to the indifference he has exhibited toward others who have suffered at the hands of the virus.

This individual is reaping what he has sown in my conscience about him in this time of dire national peril.

Do I want him to become deathly ill and suffer the agony that others have suffered in this country? No. My religious upbringing and my faith instructs me to cast aside such a hideous wish on any human being. It’s just that the indifference toward the elected leader of my beloved country is something I never have felt … until now!

Trump has declared the virus is “under control.” He was slow to mobilize the medical and scientific forces needed to do battle against this “invisible enemy.” Yet he wants to be known as a “wartime president.” He is a bad joke masquerading as a leader.

He now is known to have dismissed wearing a protective mask because it would make him look “ridiculous” and that it would give his political foes ammunition to use against him in negative campaign ads. Seriously? If anything, the sight of the president of the United States wearing a mask while visiting medical workers or patients would be a sign of strength, of caring, of leading by a positive example.

This guy can’t bring himself to do the very thing that millions of the rest of us are doing to protect ourselves while we venture into the great unknown, which I shudder to think happens to be the grocery store around the corner or to a service station to purchase fuel for our motor vehicles.

I take no comfort, either, in believing that I am not alone in this feeling of burning indifference toward Donald Trump. I know others share my view, just as other Americans are deeply concerned for him.

That’s a call we make individually. I have made mine.

medical news

This conspiracy is laughable, but not funny

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You know how I feel about conspiracies. If not, I will tell you simply that I despise them. More to the point, I despise the rumor-mongering that accompanies the so-called “theories.”

There is now a conspiracy bubbling up out there among The Trump Toadies who defend Donald Trump whenever they find a cause celebre to run into the ditch.

Some of ’em have latched on to some sort of goofy conspiracy involving Dr. Anthony Fauci, the world-renowned infectious disease expert who’s been a voice of reason and studied analysis among the members of the White House coronavirus pandemic task force.

He has at times contradicted Trump’s assertions about the future of the pandemic and whether there is sufficient testing, or when we might have a vaccine available for general use.

Now some of Trump’s cult followers suggest Fauci needs to be fired. They cite bogus reports of other doctors contradicting Fauci’s expert analysis. They accuse Fauci, and this is rich, of being in the hip pocket of “Big Pharma,” those pharmaceutical companies working feverishly to develop a vaccine to prevent the killer virus from taking more lives.

These nimrods, dipsh***, know-nothings need to get a grip. They also need to keep their yappers shut.

Dr. Fauci has served every president going back to Ronald Reagan. He is a brilliant physician and researcher. He needs to be heard. Fauci does not need to be vilified by idiots.

medical news

Hoping we never lose our love for heroic responders

The world has been paying appropriate tribute of late to the heroes among us who save lives every day.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought our appreciation for those heroes to new levels. I want that appreciation to remain as intense as it is at this moment.

The media are full of stories of nurses, doctors, truck drivers, firefighters, neighbors, grocery store clerks, restaurant wait staffers — you name ’em — performing acts of kindness. Many of them are performing heroic acts in the face of exposure to a killer viral infection.

Moreover, the rest of us have found our voices of appreciation for all that we are getting. Those of us who found it awkward to offer a simple “thank you” no longer hide behind our shyness. We are speaking out. We are demonstrating our gratitude.

All of this, in my view, is one of the positive impacts of the pandemic. We are expressing ourselves in meaningful ways to those who serve us diligently even when we are not battling a silent but ruthless killer virus.

This crisis will end eventually. We’ll get back to what we hope will be a “normal life.” I happen to be one American who hopes the “new normal” will include our intense desire to express thanks to those who thrust themselves into harm’s way to protect the rest of us from harm.

medical news

Now the task force is back on … until when, Mr. POTUS?

Mr. President, your constant mind-changing, course reversals and indecision is trying me more than a bit batty.

You said you were going to disband that coronavirus pandemic response task force at the end of May. Now you say it’s back on, that it’s going to stay active until … um, whenever.

What gives with you?

You shouldn’t have blurted out the pending end of the task force in the beginning if you weren’t settled on the decision you had announced. Oh, what the hell? Why am I wasting my effort telling you something you already should know? I can’t help myself, I reckon.

Look, you did bring on board some deep thinkers, experts on infectious disease. I join others in this country who depend more on Dr. Anthony Fauci’s knowledgeable rhetoric than the blather that others such as you and Mike Pence deliver. I also want to interject that as much as I admire Dr. Deborah Birx’s work on HIV/AIDS, she needs to stop making excuses for your incessant, know-nothing rhetoric. Yes, I saw that video of her fighting like hell to resist jumping out of her skin when you talked openly about Americans ingesting “disinfectants” to fight the killer virus.

I understand the task force will focus now on how to reopen the country safely. Fine. That’s not a bad call. However, I feel the need to remind you that we need more testing out here in Flyover Country.

What’s more, we need to stem the infection rate. We’re still getting sick out here in Texas, Mr. President. Your pal, Gov. Greg Abbott, opened up the state and we’re now receiving the grim dividend of what I believe was a premature return to some semblance of “normal” activity in Texas.

Back to my point. You keep changing your mind. Stop messing with us, Mr. Goofball. The task force can do some valuable work in coordinating research, in talking directly to us and in providing a glimmer of hope even as they tell us the truth about the challenges we will face.

Let ’em talk to us … and stay the hell out of their way.

medical news

It’s official: I will ignore the return to ‘business as usual’

I am in dire need of a haircut. I miss cutting into a medium-rare steak at a nice restaurant. I want to return to the gym and to my daily workout regimen.

All of that is going to wait for the foreseeable future, no matter what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declares as he seeks to reopen the state for business.

He said hair salons are back in business. Gyms will reopen in a few days. Restaurants have been open for a few days now, although the governor ordered ’em to operate at 25 percent of capacity.

Fine. Go for it, y’all. I am staying away. I do not like seeing the news about infection and death rates continuing to climb in Texas, and in North Texas, where I live along with some members of my family. The picture isn’t any prettier in the Panhandle, where the rest of my family and many of our friends reside.

I haven’t checked in on the Golden Triangle, where my wife and I still have many dear friends.

From what I have read, polling suggests most Texans and other Americans believe as I do, that governors are acting too hastily to reopen their states. They are putting too much emphasis on the economy and not enough of it on the health of the people they represent.

Gov. Abbott has moved too quickly to suit my sensibilities. I am glad he had the good sense to close Texas public school classrooms for the rest of the academic year.

And what in the world is going on with our Texas public universities? They want to return to in-person classwork this fall. I’m OK with that … but Texas A&M, the University of Texas and Texas Tech University systems plan to play football. Are they going to play those games in empty stadiums? Yeah … good luck with that.

You may count me as one Texas resident who wants to see a substantial and recurring decline in the infection and death rates before I make my return to what we used to think of as “normal.”

Hey, maybe I can make a fashionably late entrance.

For now? I am out.

medical news, national news

Can’t stop thinking about heroes among us

It’s not that I want to stop thinking about them, but my thoughts keep returning to the heroes among us, the folks we too often take for granted.

Once we get past the pandemic that has effectively shut down the Texas and national economies, I would hope that we never take for granted the individuals and groups of individuals we continually salute in this time of extreme peril.

You know who they are: doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters and police officers; they are grocery store clerks, lawn care crews, mechanics of all stripes; truck drivers, ambulance drivers, taxi drivers, armored vehicle drivers; they are teachers, school administrators, custodial staff members, librarians, cafeteria cooks, office personnel.

I want to mention, too, the media representatives who report the news to us, who deliver the images, write the words, provide context and who offer snippets of critical thinking that make us analyze how well or poorly our government at all levels is responding to our needs.

They might be your next-door neighbor or the family across the street or the folks around the corner.

We’ll get past this crisis eventually. I hope it is sooner rather than later. I fear that it might stick around for a whole lot longer than we would prefer.

I long have lamented the overuse of the term “hero.” We attach that form of high praise to individuals who don’t deserve it. The individuals and groups we see each day performing above and beyond what we normally expect of them qualify as heroes.

The reporting of the myriad heroic acts we see daily will stay with me for a long time. I hope they stay with me forever. I do not want to lose sight of the good that is arising from the tragedy that has claimed so many lives, sickened so many more of us and delivered misery to so many loved ones around the world.

We all need to do better at thanking them for the work they do … for all of us!

medical news, national news

‘Counterproductive’ to hear from expert on COVID-19? How so?

I believe I know how the White House defines as “counterproductive” any testimony before a congressional committee by a leading infectious disease expert on the fight to curb infection brought by the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci won’t talk to the House Appropriations Committee next week. The White House has blocked him, calling his testimony “counterproductive.” The meaning there is that Fauci might testify with language that doesn’t heap flattery all over Donald J. Trump, therefore, it is counterproductive … in the White House view of things.

Oh, but Fauci will talk the next week to the Senate, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans. Yes, the House is in the hands of Democrats.

Counterproductive? Yep. That’s it. Right there.

The White House insists it isn’t muzzling Fauci. They aren’t seeking to silence the physician/scientist/researcher who’s been known since the outbreak of the viral infection to contradict statements delivered by the Stable Genius in Chief.

You can’t have that. You can’t have an actual expert telling us the truth to countermand the fiction and the lies being put forth by the liar masquerading as the president of the United States.

medical news

VP dons a mask … how ’bout that?

REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

A healthy dose of public scorn is good for the conscience, isn’t that right, Vice President Mike Pence?

The VP showed up earlier this week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to talk to patients and staff members at the renowned research and teaching hospital. He flouted a Mayo policy requiring everyone in the building to wear a mask to protect against the coronavirus.

The public recrimination was stern and highly justified. Pence’s lame response was ridiculed.

OK. Then he goes to a General Motors plant and, bingo! He dons a mask right along with everyone else.

The veep didn’t look silly. He didn’t look unmanly. He looked as though he was following the rules.

Lesson learned? I hope so … but somehow, my doubts remain.

economic news, medical news

Trump ought to call those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic

Donald Trump isn’t wired to show compassion.

He doesn’t grieve openly. He won’t be seen wiping tears from his eyes. The president is too preoccupied with “making America great again,” and “telling it like it is.”

Donald Trump finds himself concocting rosy scenarios where none exists. He is separating himself from the suffering that is occurring in rural America and in our inner cities. He doesn’t seem interested in dealing on a personal basis with those who are suffering untold heartbreak.

As The New York Times reports: As he presides over the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse, Mr. Trump has hosted o called many people affected by the devastation, including health company executives, sports commissioners, governors, cruise ship company heads, religious leaders, telecommunications executives and foreign heads of state. One category that has to make his list: Americans who have lost someone to the pandemic.

I will not hold breath waiting to hear from anyone of those victims out here who has received a phone call from Donald Trump.

Trump’s failures as a leader are becoming even more evident than they were already. Many of us knew he lacked the compassion gene, or the gene that enables him to hurt along with the country. It’s just that watching all this play out in real time remains a sight to see.

While the country’s death toll soars past 60,000 individuals, Trump launches Twitter tirades and chastises: CNN, Democratic politicians, the media in general, China, MSNBC, Fox News. He can’t even take time on Twitter to say how profoundly sorry he is to hear about the misery that millions of Americans are feeling.

They are hurting because they have lost their jobs. Their loved ones have died from the viral infection. Their businesses are withering.

Donald Trump’s reaction? It is to blame others for his own failures and to lie about what a “fantastic” job he and his team are doing.

Sickening.

medical news

VP Pence: As grotesque a liar as POTUS

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REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

That did it.

Vice President Mike Pence has demonstrated what I have long suspected, that he is as much a liar as Donald John Trump.

The VP showed up at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., walked into the renowned research hospital, saw that everyone around were wearing surgical masks to protect them from COVID-19 … but then greeted patients and staff without covering his own puss with a mask.

Now we hear from Karen Pence, the suck-up’s wife, that he didn’t know about Mayo’s mask-wearing policy until after he departed.

Good grief! Who do these people think they’re kidding?

Mike Pence’s own excuse for eschewing the mask was as lame as it gets. He said he is tested regularly for COVID-19, that he’s still infection free, so he felt safe going without a mask. Two points I want to make: Millions of Americans have gone without any form of testing at all, yet the VPOTUS says he is tested routinely; I guess power has its privileges. Also, he walked into a medical facility that declared it notified Pence directly about its policy requiring masks, which tells me he instructed his wife to lie, dragging her into the middle of this credibility chasm that afflicts the Donald Trump administration.

Mike Pence is as morally lacking in leadership credibility as the individual with whom he pretends to serve the nation that elected them. Disgraceful.