Tag Archives: medical

22

Jan. ’23

I Am Not Naive

The other day I saw a local article that took me by surprise. Not the contents of the article but the fact that the reporter seem very surprised about what was found and what it meant. The article stated old bodies were discovered in graves on the property of The Medical College of Virginia (MCV). These graves were of slaves that were used (for labor?) at the school.

               What got me was people are surprised that slaves were used there. I stated in a blog I wrote a long time ago which said people need to think like it is some time ago, not like it is today when reading about yesteryears. Evidently the people that are surprised about this situation is viewing it like it is today. Yes, slaves were used everywhere back in the day. Not too long ago, some wealthy people were keeping people that worked for them as slave labor. They kept their passports, did not pay them, would not let them leave the house, and had them work very long hours because they were migrants.

               Let me explain why I am surprised about people around here being so naïve. The Medical College of Virginia is in Richmond, Virginia (Capital of the Confederacy), around the corner from the President of the Confederacy’s home (Jefferson Davis). The entire southern states had slaves as well as some places in the other states. Slaves were used to do anything and everything the White person could not do or did not want to do. They cooked, cleaned, did all the field work, and made things (horseshoes, clothes, buildings, etc.).

               As the doctors, nurses, etc. worked and taught at the college it stands to reason that either the school bought slaves to labor or the people there used their own slaves. That is not too hard to imagine, especially if you think as if it was the time of slavery. It would be expected. In fact, when I was growing up, those were the only jobs a Black person could get, labor at very low pay.

               A while ago graves were found (also bones in an abandoned well) of cadavers used in experimentation and teaching. It was never said if these were of White or Black people. I would assume most, if not all, were White. The reasoning for that is 1) there was a stigma that Black people were not like White people. 2) there was a lot of grave robbing during that time. 3) Black cemeteries were not close to White people. 4) In case you do not know this, free Black people could not live within the city limits. Therefore, graverobbers would have to travel a long way to get a fresh cadaver of a Black person.

               So, people can stop trying to make me think I am naïve enough to believe they are surprised to discover people used slaves at a prestigious school. If I remember correctly, not too long ago The University of Virginia (UVA) (which have a great medical school) found graves. I am assuming it was everywhere because Blacks were used for labor, free or enslaved, and experimentation (remember The Tuskegee Experiment). Why are people so naïve or is it a ruse to make us think they are?

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06

Dec. ’20

This Pandemic

Whether you want to believe it or not the pandemic is still with us and is, believe it or not, getting worst. Sure, a vaccine is on the horizon, but it is not here yet and exactly how it will be distributed have not been determined, so far. Even after the serum distribution start it will be a long while before most of us are in line to get it, maybe in the middle of next year.

               The thing that bother me most are the people that are still calling the pandemic, COVID-19, a hoax. There are people on death’s bed and doctors and nurses have given up on them. Some of the patient’s final words are that the virus is a hoax. There is no hope for them, physically or mentally. I was in Red Lobster and heard a man tell his wife that more people die from the flu than COVID-19. Really?

               Worst than that are the people that go to crowded bars, restaurants, clubs, parties (this includes private and family), rubbing shoulder to shoulder and a face mask is almost unheard of (the Red Lobster was almost empty). The people that does this truly do not care about themselves nor anyone else. Yet, they want this pandemic to be finished without them doing their part to stop it. All that these people want (the vast majority are young) is to party, to have life the way they had it before the pandemic, to do what they want to do when they want to do it.

               Everyone has their rights to privacy and to maintain their own body and life the way they want to do it. However, they do not have the right to endanger someone else life in the process. To contract the virus not only endangers my life but the life of the healthcare workers that are attempting to save the ill person’s life. It is the same as other professions, like the police, when a person is requested not to do a particular thing, the person say they have a right to do it and does it anyway. When things go wrong, they call for help to save them from the thing they were requested not to do therefore putting the professional’s life in jeopardy trying to save them.

               There have been fights, attempted murder, assaults, etc. because someone asked another person to wear a mask. People are heard saying they have a right not to wear a mask, the virus is a hoax, and they are young enough that it will not harm them as much. Most of these people have never been in the military because, in the military, you learn not only to follow orders but to be without things for the good of the whole. You do it without grumbling because you know it will not be forever.

               This pandemic will never end with people disregarding science and recommendations form experts in the medical field (non-political, of course). If everyone had done their part in attempting to stamp out this virus, schools would be safe and have in-school learning, everything else would be back to normal or almost normal and we would be looking toward what is coming next. Thanksgiving was a disaster, and we are almost back to square one.

               We are all suffering through this pandemic, whether you have COVID-19 or not, because life is not what it used to be and never will be. Those of you that call this a hoax, does not want to wear a mask and do not and those of you that whine about the slightest change in your life remember you are not helping the situation. When you get the virus, do not call the doctor call the mortician, because it is a hoax and doctors do not cure hoaxes.

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13

Sep. ’20

I Am A Sucker

I have spent a lifetime of service to this country, under Presidents of both parties, and later served the communities with pleasure and honor. I never considered myself neither a “sucker” nor a “loser” and I have served with a smile on my face. I never asked for fame or fortune nor did I shun from the job to be done and ask why.

I, like many others before me and after me, come from a family of honorable servers that put their life on the line for God and country. Before me, there was the draft and I do not know of anyone that refused to serve or hid from the commitment of serving. I have friends that have died and friends that are wounded (medically and/or mentally). There is no one, that I am aware of, who have a frown on their face and have said they do not want to be a loser or sucker.

This President is tearing down the very principles that this country was built upon. He is doing the work that the enemies of this country want done. I can imagine the leaders of our enemy countries smiling knowing that a sucker/loser is doing their work for them. They are probably applauding the followers and those that will not verbally oppose him. They will do anything to keep him in power and further destroy our democratic way of life.

To be for him is to want further destruction of our way of life then on to the other countries that stand in their way. Country after country will weaken and fall just like we are weak and is quickly falling. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and television will be gone. The last nail is being hammered into the coffin of the Stars and Stripes, others will follow, and WE will be at fault for it. The supporters of this President will be shoulder-to-shoulder to blame.

I can not go to a cemetery and see the gravestone of the fallen and call them “losers” because I could have proudly been one of them. Every time I am at the Veteran’s Hospital and see the sick and crippled vets, I cannot turn my head and not want to be around them or see them. They, as I, are not “suckers”. I have never said, they have never said, “screw this country, screw this President”, we served because we wanted to serve, and we are proud of it.

If we are suckers and/or losers, let the President’s followers protect him and this country the way we did. Let them do the jobs we did and have a smile on their face. Let the President do one single job that we did, and others are presently doing. Let him lead by example or has his leading come down to lying, cheating, and dishonoring those that gave their all for our futures.

No, I am neither a loser nor a sucker and would proudly serve this country again if I could. I could have run out of the country or I could have gotten a medical excuse for the pleasure of not being called a “sucker” or a “loser”. I could have let others provide me with a safe and comfortable country so that I may possibly acquire a fortune because of those that did serve and became a “loser”, a “sucker”.

 

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30

Aug. ’20

I’ve Said It Before

Well, the country has gotten an exceedingly rare one-two punch from two hurricanes this week and I, for one, am not surprised. I have talked about this happening for some time, especially in my other blog (www.faithingodministries.net). I could explain why but I have written about this for a long time and have explained this repeatedly. I will let you meet your due because, as it is said, ’you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’.

The present administration, taking the lead from their President, does not believe in science, unless the President says they may, does not believe in medical experts, unless they concur what the President says, and never mention any form of religion unless it suits their agenda. I know many people will say I am wrong, but I have my mind and eyes open and I am not afraid to say I am wrong when I am. However, the great majority of President Trump’s supporters (enablers) will never admit they are wrong, nor will they admit he is wrong. As he idolizes himself, they idolize him.

I have many times said history repeats itself, and, if you have read history, the world has been through this a few times before. It is not the same exact way but similar and it is not going to stop. We can slow it down, maybe, but we will greatly suffer if we continue to put our head in the sand and think this President will solve our dilemma when he is only thinking of himself. There are his supporters that want their old prejudicial ways, thinking their skin color made the world a better place when it took all peoples to do it.

It took slaved Black people, Latinos, and Asians to make this land, which was taken from the Native Americans, what it is today. It took the brains and technology of many peoples, especially the Black people, to build and fine tune everything. Because of the inequity of multitudes of prejudicial people, we are beginning to see more and more bad things happen around the world.

Floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, typhoons, ice cap melting, fires, pandemics, and much more is happening. Read the Bible and history books (the Bible is a history book) and all of it is written there. It will not get better; it will get worst and we can only blame ourselves. Our President does not read, at least like he should, and he think he knows better than anyone about everything. He believes that and his supporters believe that. I, for one, do not.

If this President continues with four more years of chaos, we, as the United States of America, is lost forever and we cannot fault anyone but ourselves. More poverty, pandemics, war, chaos, you name it is our destiny. We cannot and will not survive. Voting him out is the only hope that is left for us plus a strong faith in God. Beware, there will be all manner of cheating, and intimidation for him to win. Vote as early as you can and tell your family and friends to do so also. I have said it before and I will say it again, we will be in more trouble if he is not voted out.

Also beware of other people, attempting to carry out the President’s agenda, coming from other states and cities, infiltrating peaceful demonstrations, causing trouble. These are the people that assault, loot, burn, damage things, and even murder. I said it before and I say it again, wake-up, vote and pray for a better day.

 

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14

Mar. ’20

Let’s Come Together

COVID-19 is not “Fake News” nor is it something that is overblown to make the President look bad. It is serious business and everyone, both sides of the aisle, should come together and fight with everything available. We have, in the past, stood together and fought things that were harming the nation. In this case, it is harming the entire world and every nation in the world should join forces and fight this virus.
Today’s blog will not be long, I just want people, around the world, to listen to qualified health professionals and stop the spread of the virus. Politicians have said that we will have a cure in a few weeks but, if you listen closely, health professionals have said it will take many months. I tend to believe them instead of politicians.
Unfortunately, normal routines will be disrupted, and, for a short while, life will seem hard, if not unbearable. But life will go on and this too will pass, maybe not exactly as before but it will be better than a quarantine. I wrote in my other blog (www.faithingodministries.net) about coming pandemics and those of the ancient past. This too will pass, but we all, worldwide, must do our parts. Not one person knows it all and not one person can do it all. We all must come together and work together to beat this no matter your politics or faith.
All daily routines will seem tedious at best but if we put politics aside and do what is right, what is good for the nation, what is good for the world, we will live on to see another day. If we continue to let politics get in the way, many of us will perish, many may not be able to fight and there will be a different world.
Therefore, I am pleading with everyone to take this virus seriously and do the right things. Listen to the medical people and seriously do the things you are told. Be careful and hang in there. This COVID-19 is nothing to play with or to take for granted.

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20

Jul. ’19

Rolling Dung Balls

What should I write about in this week’s blog? I look at a blank page and I have many thoughts going through my head. There is much in the news and you can read it for yourself. I do not need to rehash the thoughts and comments of those that are more qualified than me in doing so. I also have been away for a couple of weeks and there is a lot to comment about. But, do you want to read about that? I don’t think so. As I grow older, I let a lot of things go simply because either it doesn’t interest me, doesn’t concern me or both. I realize political things that seem as not concerning to me really does, eventually.

I’ll give an example. Here, in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, medical personnel on the military bases are losing their jobs because of the cuts to military cutback issues. I am enrolled with the Veteran Healthcare System and I wonder. I wonder what effect will the cuts have on me and people like me? How many other areas are affected? If I must seek medical care, will there be an overload because of cutbacks elsewhere? This is the dung ball rolling downhill.

Every entitlement I have, as well as others, is slowly being eroded and, someday, will amount to nothing. That dung ball is rolled along by the dung beetle in the White House. I am one of the grains of sand that is rolled up in the dung ball. I didn’t start the ball rolling and I don’t know where the dung ball come from. I just got caught up in it, along with so many others. There are other grains of sand laughing, thinking they will not be caught up in a dung ball, not realizing there are other dung balls. Look out because the path of the next dung ball may come your way.

There is a lot of dung out there and there are many dung beetles to push the dung your way. To the beetle, you are just a grain of sand the will either be pushed aside or run over. The beetle does not care about you and only want you out of the way so it can continue doing its job. Rolling dung. The saying is, ‘you are what you eat’. In this metaphor, “roll’. The person in the White House, and the people that are for him and work with him are all dung beetles and ‘we the people’ are all grains of sand.

How can the grains of sand be a force that stop the beetle? Simple. Work as one, band together and be the wall of resistance that the beetle cannot roll the dung ball over. He will either go around, if the wall is not too wide, or give up. That mean, either we, as a united front, be that wall that want a just democracy or perish from this democracy by being rolled up in the dung ball that is pushed by the dung beetles. The choice is ours. Not me. Not you. All of us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the taste and smell of the dung ball. I don’t eat dung and I don’t like the beetles that roll it.

 

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17

Mar. ’19

Women And Equality

I will gently touch a subject that have many twists and turns. I will lightly touch on women that want equality in all fields that men usually have. Fields that, all my life, have excluded women for several reasons. Most reasons were not to brashly exclude women but was to protect the gentle woman. I agree that some jobs women can do. I agree women can probably do as good as a man or better than a man. I will only explore a tiny portion of the situation.

A friend and I was talking and somehow the comment arose about the many females working and very few men. We were talking about stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc.  I wanted to know where the males were. My friend stated that the men were, maybe, home while the female made the money and took care of them. The same can be said about the country.

For many years, in the military, women sewed clothes, cooked and nursed. Women slowly got other jobs. Here in the modern era, women loudly protested and received jobs other than combat related. Women loudly protested again and received jobs closer to combat duties. They did well. None have been captured by the enemy (I shiver thinking about what they would have to endure). There are many situations that I would not want a woman involved in. That is only one situation. They are now in combat roles. On the ground, at sea, in the air.

Look at sports. There is an NFL referee. There are women sports announcers, writers and analysts, just to name a few positions. There are women amateur football teams, but they want to play with the men, against the men. This is also true in other sports. I would allow them to play against each other, but not against the professional men’s team. That would be like an NFL team playing against a high school team.

I am not against women equity. I am looking at what is happening and what could be. The world is messed up. Men are becoming weaker. Doing much less than they used to. Women are doing more. It has become a situation where, sometimes, I wonder if it is a woman or man doing a job. By that I mean years ago I could see someone from a distance, and I could tell you if the person was male or female. It is difficult today. I can be close, wondering if I should use a male or female pronoun, he or she. Men dress as women. Women dress as men. Hair styles are something to behold. Many are wanting gender transformation. Many are on the ‘down-low’. Be quiet when you speak about them or find yourself in court. They would love to sue you.

Women can not do everything a man can. A man can not do everything a woman can. They were both made differently. Their body functions are different. Medically, they are treated differently because, internally, they are different. I am not saying women should be paid differently. I am not saying jobs should be doled out differently. I am saying men and women should understand that they are different. They should understand they can not always do what the other does. It does not mean there is an attempt to hold a woman down or a man down, it means there are things one or the other will have difficulty accomplishing. This is not inequity, it’s common sense.

This piece could and should go further, however, it would be a book. I am sure, even then, much would be missed. I believe women should be equal to men. However, for certain jobs, there are things that must be separated. Not all women can do everything. Not all men can do everything. That is a fact.

 

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26

May. ’18

Smoking Rules

There have been fights and arguments over smoking for many years. Whether it is someone’s right to tell, not ask a person(s), not to smoke, where to smoke, when to smoke and/or how bad smoke is to their body, or, on the other hand, a person(s) have a right to affect their body and smoke I believe is the smoker’s business. This argument goes both ways, have many variables and cross many lines, clear and hidden. I will only touch on it lightly.

Imperial Plaza have been going through this for a few years and, I hate to say this, will see no end to the controversy. Brookdale, who leased Imperial Plaza in the past, was to give clear guidance and areas in which to smoke to the residents last year. They never did proceed in the actions (I am guessing) because they knew for a long time they were leaving and they would let the new administration handle the volatile situation. Now the new guidelines are in effect with many people ready to carry the fight to full war.

I see both sides, I know that both sides have fanatics, I can agree with some of what both sides want. I used to be a supervisor, mediating many disagreements, seeing what both sides want while trying to prevent total war between the parties. Because of the smoking bans, cigarette companies have moved from states that put undue pressure on them, their source of money and extra taxes on them. However, the populace should look at, feel for and understand the smokers that are caught in the middle of it all.

First and foremost, like the non-smoker, smokers have rights also. The way things are set in the USA, smokers don’t have any rights except to be able to buy cigarettes when they reach a certain age. Then they are greatly taxed for buying the legal weed and layered with many legal issues in order to smoke the legal weed. They are told the over taxation goes toward the over burdened medical system in order to care for the health problems that smoking brings upon the human body. Okay, then don’t allow the nonsmoker benefit from the program, let that money take care the smoker.

Then, the smoker is put out in the rain, cold, boiling hot sun, humid air and placed yards away from everyone. If a nonsmoker happen to come near, smell the smoker and complain, the smoker is moved even further or told not to smoke, even though the nonsmoker could have walked around or gone in a different direction. To me, the smoker do not have rights.

Somerby have done just that. They have banned smoking in many areas and to be able to smoke the resident have a long walk to get to the area, if the resident is not lucky enough to live in the nearest building. I am a cigar smoker and I have a few days left before I am completely moved to another community. I will not have to do the things residents here does. I am one of the lucky ones. Maybe these rules/laws will effect me a few years from now but at this time I will not be under the strict laws that have come about.

The nonsmokers do not have to go out into the rain, sun, wind, cold, snow, etc. to do what they have a right to do under the laws that were passed by our elected officials. The smoker, as far as I see, does not have the same rights and they are not only over taxed (and the nonsmoker benefit from that) but shunned worst than our pets. I see both sides and feel for both sides. All I have to say is I am moving at the right time and I am sure more will do the same, I have heard rumors. Neither side want to bend (give a little) but in order to have peace and tranquility the sides must.

After I wrote the part about peace and tranquility an incident happened that shows that there are people that do not want peace. Three or four people were sitting around smoking and talking, enjoying the afternoon. A person that live two buildings away came over to confront the smokers, called the police to the Imperial Plaza property but refused to lodge a formal complaint. True, they were illegally smoking, however, they were not in her area of domicile nor were they bothering other people. All I can say now is GOOD LUCK people at Imperial Plaza. My wife and I are out of here!

 

 

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