Tag Archives: coronavirus

medical news

VA takes ‘social distancing’ to a new level

In about three weeks I am going to have a first-ever experience, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

I had been scheduled to see my doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Bonham, Texas. Then I got a phone call from my doc’s nurse, who told me that the doctor doesn’t need to see me in person.

My physician is going to call me around 11 a.m. on the day of my appointment and will visit with me over the phone.

We don’t want to push our luck with this “social distancing” matter in place, the nurse said. I get it, I said. No worries.

I am unclear as to how this “examination” will enable the doctor to determine the state of my health. I suppose she could make me take an oath to tell her “the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth” when she asks me my weight, whether I am continuing to exercise, whether I take my meds regularly.

What about the labs I was supposed to take when I visited the clinic, you know, the bloodwork and peeing into the cup? The nurse said I could go to the clinic “if you want to,” but said I could hold off until the next in-person visit with my doctor.

I’ll wait on that one.

And so … the pandemic has upset one facet of my life. I’ll report back to you how the “examination” goes. I will be anxious to see how my perfectly competent doctor determines whether I continue to enjoy good health.

national news

No compassion, no empathy, no caring for the victims

I admit that today I fell off my Boycott Trump Briefing wagon. I ended up watching a bit of Donald Trump’s alleged “briefing” over what his coronavirus task force is supposedly accomplishing in its fight against the pandemic.

Here’s my takeaway, which mirrors what I have failed to hear from damn near anything that Trump says about this crisis.

What I fail to hear is an emphasis from Trump on the impact this crisis is having on its victims. I hear not a semblance of empathy or sincere concern from this clown. He offers a sentence or two, speaking in platitudes about victims, but I hear no expression of sincere worry or concern about those who are felled by the disease.

He goes on and on about the “numbers.” He seeks to suggest that the “fantastic job” he is doing might drive the death count to far below what the health task force is predicting. The pandemic, according to experts, might kill as many as 240,000 Americans. Now we’re hearing that that the projection might be an inflated number.

Don’t misunderstand me. I would be delighted if the fatality count doesn’t reach the number that some have projected. I also wouldn’t object if we learn that the projection was inflated deliberately, with an expectation that the actual casualty count would come in with far fewer numbers.

What I do not want to hear is Donald Trump claiming false credit for anything he has done. The federal response has been disjointed, disorganized and disgraceful. Donald Trump is the nation’s chief executive and he must assume responsibility for the failures as well as the triumphs.

I want to hear something, anything, from this president that suggests he actually cares about those who are living in agony, whether they are battling the disease themselves or are watching a loved one wage that fight.

I know what you’re thinking. It will be a long wait for that moment to arrive. If it ever does arrive.

In the meantime, I am going to return to boycotting these so-called Trump “briefings.” They sicken me.

political news

Donald Trump: phony-baloney expert

It’s hard to make a determinative conclusion on this matter, but I have long been certain that Donald J. Trump is the prime No. 1 expert on dishing out phony-baloney nonsense.

He said this week that he opposes mail-in voting because it is fraught with corruption. The nation’s current president said mail-in voting invites illegal balloting, that those who aren’t registered to vote are able to do so.

Oh, and as he told his pals at Fox News, mail-in voting would deny the election of Republicans. Oh! That’s it! He said that the greater access to voting for Americans the lesser the chance of electing Republicans.

What an absolute crock of manure!

We face an election this November. We also are in the middle of a huge fight against coronavirus, which has killed more than 14,000 Americans. It is highly infectious and it well might compel this nation to fundamentally change the way we vote for president.

To be absolutely clear, I prefer the old-fashioned method of going to the polling place and casting my ballot while standing in a booth. I dislike early voting. I like the pageantry of Election Day.

But … I am not willing to risk my health or the health of others in the midst of this life-and-death struggle against COVID-19. So, I am willing to take part in a mail-in election.

Several states vote by mail already. Their elections are secure. The votes are calculated accurately. Registered voters get their ballots mailed to them at their homes. They are able to mark their ballots and send them back to the appropriate election agency.

It also increases voter turnout. Isn’t that what we want? Don’t we prefer that more citizens take part in this process than fewer of them? Isn’t that the essence of a democratic society? Not in Donald Trump’s view of the world.

The president wants to restrict voter turnout, sounding to my way of thinking that he endorses what they call “voter suppression.” What’s more, he is dipping into his treasure trove of “big lies” to persuade his base that mail-in voting is corrupt.

It isn’t any more suspect than what we have witnessed in our lifetimes already. Hmm. The 2000 presidential election and the Florida recount fiasco comes to mind.

Donald Trump’s shameless dishing out of baloney is on full display.

Despicable.

local news

Extending our greetings during this time of ‘isolation’

Maybe it’s just me, but I am wondering if others are doing the same thing.

My wife and I venture out of the house sparingly these days, now that we’re told we should stay at home while we wage war against the coronavirus. When we stroll through our neighborhood with Toby the Puppy I find myself waving at those walking across the street. I even will engage them in some small talk.

I didn’t used to do that. Oh, I often have waved at motorists who drive by while we walk with our puppy. This newly discovered habit of talking across the street with folks who live somewhere near us, but who are individuals we don’t know, clearly seems to be a function of this togetherness we keep hearing about.

We’re “in this together” has become a sort of mantra. I see it on billboards along U.S. Highway 380, the main drag that cuts through Princeton, Texas. TV networks and companies that advertise on TV tell us the same thing. Hey, I get it. I cannot hear enough of the messages that seek to buck up our spirits as we seek to power through the worldwide pandemic.

It’s just kind of pleasantly strange to find a way to engage strangers in a little harmless chatter as we go about doing whatever it is we do to pass the time away.

I have this hunch they feel the same way as I do. There’s nothing wrong at all with sharing a little fellowship in this very trying time.

medical news

Adviser’s pandemic memo never got to Trump? Sure … that’s believable

Peter Navarro, a trade adviser, is among the cadre of wackos who work for Donald J. Trump.

However, it turns out the guy who flies off the handle on occasion with wild statements about our international trade rivals, was likely on to something when he wrote a memo warning of a coming health crisis cataclysm.

The problem, though, is that Navarro’s memo reportedly never got to the desk of the one person who needed to see it … allegedly. That would the president of the United States.

Navarro reportedly warned of the coronavirus in January. He blamed China for withholding information about its seriousness. The memo reportedly was intended for Trump, that he wanted the president to see it and to act on it.

Then we hear from Trump this week, who said he never saw the memo and only heard about it recently.

Huh? What the … ?

Are we to believe that the White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy would write a lengthy memorandum detailing an important pending health crisis and it not ever arrive on the Resolute Desk of the most powerful man on Earth?

Bear in mind something about the president’s statement that he never saw it: The denial comes from the Liar in Chief. I am one American who believes not a single statement that flies out of the president’s pie hole.

Donald Trump has boasted that the White House on his watch runs like a “fine-tuned machine.” Well, where I come from, a fine-tuned machine would have ensured that a document prepared by someone of Dr. Navarro’s status within the administration surely would have ended up on the commander in chief’s desk … and that he would have read it.

Astonishing.

education news

Keep our schools closed!

There’s a marquee in front of the brand new elementary school in our Princeton, Texas, neighborhood that reads “We miss you. See you May 4.”

That’s when Texas’s public schools are supposed to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s my suggestion: Do not reopen the schools; keep them closed for the remainder of this academic year.

The first week of May is far too early to send our children back to school, where they would mingle with other children. Do we expect kindergartners or first-graders — or even older children — to observe the six-foot rule, to practice “social distancing”?

My hope is that we can keep the schools dark. Let the kids continue to study at home until the end of our school year. School systems can issue pass/fail grades for the students. Those who pass can move to the next grade; those who fail can do it all over again in the fall.

Our primary concern needs to be the health of our children and the men and women who educate them … and the staff members who run our schools.

I hereby request that Gov. Greg Abbott forget about reopening our schools on May 4. Close ’em for the rest of the year. Then let’s concentrate on stemming this infection rate.

local news, medical news

Get over yourselves, Judge Jenkins and Gov. Abbott!

I want to make a request on this blog of two leading politicians who appear to be locking horns over the use of a “pop up hospital” erected to handle an expected surge in coronavirus cases in Dallas County.

It is this: Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott need to set their past disputes aside and work together on behalf of stricken and anxious North Texans.

Jenkins is a Democrat, while Abbott is a Republican. That difference right there seems to suggest a starting point in the two men’s apparent tension. The major parties don’t work well at times in Texas.

They have erected a temporary hospital at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Jenkins, according to the Dallas Morning News, has been a bit reluctant to open the center for patients. Abbott wants Jenkins to move more quickly. Their staffs aren’t working too well together at the moment.

The Morning News article I’ve attached to this blog post suggests a lengthy history of tension between the men. Jenkins is a supporter of the Affordable Care Act; Abbott is not and they have clashed over whether the state should expand benefits for those enrolled in the ACA. Jenkins doesn’t like the state’s usurping of local control over certain matters; Abbott has gone along with the Legislature’s moves to consolidate power in Austin.

Meanwhile, thousands of Dallas County residents have been stricken by the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus. My wife and I, along with one of our sons and his family, live in next-door Collin County. I happen, therefore, to detest politicians who let personal history get in the way of their need to work together to deal with a crisis.

Earth to Jenkins and Abbott: We’ve got a beaut of a crisis right now!

Get over yourselves, gentlemen! For the sake of those of us who might depend on that temporary hospital, not to mention the services provided by our state and local counties!

military news

Acting Navy boss ends tumultuous tenure

Thomas Modly now can be called the “former acting secretary of the U.S. Navy.” To which I say, “Good riddance!”

Modly quit his temporary post after receiving some serious blowback over remarks he made about a ship’s captain he relieved of his command. Modly reassigned Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, after Crozier pleaded with Navy brass to do more to protect sailors who were infected by the coronavirus.

Modly said that Crozier had gone outside the chain of command and had caused undue alarm among family members of the ship’s 5,000 crew members.

Crozier’s sailors hailed him as a hero. So did many outside observers. His crew cheered him wildly as he left the ship for the final time while it was docked in Guam. Modly, though, then exhibited some extremely bad taste by suggesting that Crozier was “too naïve” or “too stupid” to command a ship such as the TR.

That’s when the fecal matter hit the fan.

Modly then apologized to Crozier for “any pain” he caused.

Today, he quit. Good riddance, Mr. Acting Secretary … and don’t let the door hit you in the you know what and where.

I guess I should add that if there’s any real justice in this mixed-up world — and I realize it’s too much to ask — Capt. Crozier would be allowed to resume command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

national news

‘New normal’ means we will fight this virus for a long time

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Some pundits have complained about the use of the term “new normal” to define Americans’ life once we get past the anxiety of the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the entire planet.

Too bad. I think we should get used to the new normal.

The new normal means to me that we’re going to have to be on a heightened alert even after the infection rate subsides. It well might mean we continue to practice “social distancing,” and that we will have to carry sanitized wipes with us when we go out and about.

What is so terrible about that? Nothing, I contend.

Just as it is a tall order to declare victory in our war against terrorists, it is an equally tall order to do so against this “invisible enemy.” So the fight against COVID-19 will continue.

When does it end? Perhaps only when we develop a vaccine that is as effective as the polio vaccine that came to being in 1955. Dr. Jonas Salk saved generations of Americans from the crippling disease. Is there another mystery man or woman working now on a vaccine to inoculate all of us against the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus? One can hope.

I need to remind you here that South Korea just recently thought it had turned the corner against the virus. It lifted many of its mandates. Then there was a serious spike in the infection rate. The South Koreans have re-imposed the restrictions they thought had passed.

Therein lies the lesson for all of us as we continue to fight the coronavirus. It will take a long time to put this killer disease behind us … if ever!

national news

Waiting for Trump’s day of reckoning

I have been waiting for as long as Donald Trump has been a politician for a day of reckoning, the moment when this carnival barker masquerading as the president of the United States commits the act that finally spells an end to the nightmare through which we are living.

Trump’s political life began the day he rode down the escalator with his wife to declare he would run for the presidency.

It has been all downhill ever since.

Yep, even with that once-soaring stock market and those formerly glowing job-growth numbers. The man has been, to borrow one of his favorite terms, a disaster as POTUS.

The litany of boorish antics, idiotic statements, the endless lies, the hideous denigration of noble people and institutions is too lengthy to chronicle here.

I am left to wonder: Is Trump’s coronavirus pandemic response — or shameful lack of response — the deal breaker, the one thing that finally awakens his cadre of base voters to a realization that, by God, we have made a monumental mistake?

I am not in the mood to predict that it will. I mean, I thought Trump’s slur of the late Sen. John McCain’s war record was enough to do it. Then I thought his mocking of the New York Times reporter’s physical ailment would do it. Oh, and then there was the hideous disparagement of the Gold Star couple at the Democratic National Convention. Or the “grab ’em by the pu***” statement. Or his dissing of our intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia attacked our electoral system in 2016. We had an impeachment and a Senate trial.

Arrgghhh …

It never ends. Yet the Buffoon in Chief has survived.

Now we have this. The coronavirus pandemic has produced a record full of Trump statements that resulted in a tragic delay of a federal government all-out response to the outbreak. He has mangled medical experts’ assessments of the crisis; he contradicts statements made by the brilliant scientists on whom he is supposed to rely for advice; and he keeps lying.

This takes me back to my original question. When is this clown going to be held accountable for the disaster he has created in the only public office he has ever sought?