Demoralized

The USA has been demoralized on all fronts by Trump and his entourage of lying politicians. There is even reason to disbelieve the CDC and other cabinet level agencies. There needs to be a change of administration in Washington, DC to return expertise to those that serve the people of this country. There is no speculation about that. There are many qualified people that really do care about the USA willing to stand up for the country, democracy, freedom, and liberty.

August 20, 2020
By Tim Reid

Los Angeles - Over 70 former Republican national security officials (click here) including ex-CIA and FBI chiefs will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday while launching a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump, calling him corrupt and unfit to serve.

The group, called Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden, includes some of the most senior Republican members of the U.S. defense and intelligence establishment to have served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump.

The 73-strong group includes retired General Michael Hayden, who served as national security director and head of the CIA; William Webster, the only man to serve as both head of the CIA and FBI; John Negroponte, the first director of National Intelligence; Michael Leiter, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center; and Mike Donley, former Air Force secretary.

Their full-throated condemnation of Trump and backing of Biden will come three days before Trump’s nominating convention opens on Monday and underscores how the Republican president has alienated some members of his own party, especially among intelligence and foreign policy veterans....

The country has sincere problems that are directly related to national security and it doesn't stop with COVID-19, it begins there.

I recently was tested for SARS-CoV-2. The test took two days to get the results and it was negative. There is no room for thinking herd immunity by contracting the virus is the best way forward, that is simply surrending. There is no place for surrender to contract COVID-19 anywhere in this paradigm. The FATIGUE the USA feels is due to a failed administration in Washington, DC. The people are not the problem, their leadership is the problem. 

Americans need to resolve to change the administration in Washington, DC and while they are at it, give the new administration majorities in the US House, Senate, and Statehouses. I could not be more serious. I am not surrending. I have no plans to contract a deadly virus in HOPES that MAYBE everything will be okay after I come off the ventilator. That entire idea is insane. No one waves the white flag and plan as their survival strategy to make it off the ventilator. That is nothing more than demoralized people. Entertaining that sort of idea is insane. It is absolutely an image straight out of depression and fatigue.

Governors such as Ron DeSantis is in violation of human rights. All of us are violated by Ron DeSantis. We don't know who has been to Florida on a lark and returned with a virus residing in their being waiting for an opportunity to spread. 

Americans cannot look the other way out of pure fatigue of the Trumpiside path. We need to be Americans, strong, and resolved. We need to return pride and function in our society and that isn't going to happen without Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

I hesitate to state the latest statistics because I have no confidence in the CDC reporting about COVID-19 at this point. But, here it is.

The map to the left is where positive results are found. The darker the blue the higher the positive result. The southern governors have completely failed their people.

83,521,898 tests reported (click here)

7,218,515 positive results which mean there are that many cases, repeat infection or not.

182,149 people dead

Add to the COVID-19 economic losses, the natural disasters throughout the country, and the USA's economy is more than worrisome.

August 27, 2020

The U.S. Small Business Administration (click here) granted Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a disaster declaration for small businesses and homeowners facing damage from a tornado that struck as Hurricane Isaias passed through the state on Aug. 4.

“With a tornado on top of a pandemic, this SBA approval will provide much-needed help to our small businesses and homeowners,” said Cooper.

The declaration authorizes low-interest disaster loans to residents and businesses who suffered losses in Bertie County and the contiguous counties of Chowan, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Northampton and Washington. SBA disaster loans provide up to $200,000 to homeowners and up to $2 million to businesses to repair and/or replace damaged property. Homeowners and renters would also be eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged personal property....

The economic impact by Trump's failed strategy with COVID-19 is enormous and growing.

August 28, 2020

By Davide Scigliuzzo, Josh Saul, Shannon D. Harrington, Claire Boston and Demetrios Pogkas

Retailers, airlines, restaurants. (click here)  But also oil producers, a chain of donut shops in Portland, Oregon, and one of the largest crane services companies in North America. These are some of the more than 200 companies that declared bankruptcy in the U.S. this year and blamed Covid-19 in part for their demise.

Many were in deep financial trouble even before governors ordered non-essential businesses shut to help contain the spread of the virus. Most will try to reorganize and emerge from court smaller and less-indebted. The hardest hit, however, are selling off prized assets and some are closing for good.

They include plenty of big, iconic names. California Pizza Kitchen and Brooks brothers and now Stein Mart, the discount retailer that’s weighing shutting all its locations. The vast bulk, though, are small and medium-sized businesses scattered across the country. Their downfall might not normally garner much attention, but it does underscore the full extent of the damage Covid-19 has inflicted on the economy.

The list compiled for this story is based on court records, statements or interviews in which business owners explicitly linked the virus to their filing. It is only a snapshot of the thousands of corporate entities that have landed in bankruptcy court since the pandemic took hold in March. And it doesn’t capture the countless businesses that closed shop permanently without seeking protection in court....

This is not the flu. The question is the heart injured or diseased.

If injured the damage is isolated, but, if diseased then it is a life long medical condition. This virus is very dangerous to the future of any society. It has the capacity to disable an entire society.

July 27, 2020
By Elizabeth Cooney

Two new studies from Germany (click here) paint a sobering picture of the toll that Covid-19 takes on the heart, raising the specter of long-term damage after people recover, even if their illness was not severe enough to require hospitalization.

One study examined the cardiac MRIs of 100 people who had recovered from Covid-19 and compared them to heart images from 100 people who were similar but not infected with the virus. Their average age was 49 and two-thirds of the patients had recovered at home. More than two months later, infected patients were more likely to have troubling cardiac signs than people in the control group: 78 patients showed structural changes to their hearts, 76 had evidence of a biomarker signaling cardiac injury typically found after a heart attack, and 60 had signs of inflammation.

These were relatively young, healthy patients who fell ill in the spring, Valentina Puntmann, who led the MRI study, pointed out in an interview. Many of them had just returned from ski vacations. None of them thought they had anything wrong with their hearts....

April 6, 2020

By Markian Hawryluk

...In addition to lung damage, (click here) many COVID-19 patients are also developing heart problems — and dying of cardiac arrest.

As more data comes in from China and Italy, as well as Washington state and New York, more cardiac experts are coming to believe the COVID-19 virus can infect the heart muscle. An initial study found cardiac damage in as many as 1 in 5 patients, leading to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress.

That could change the way doctors and hospitals need to think about patients, particularly in the early stages of illness. It also could open up a second front in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, with a need for new precautions in people with preexisting heart problems, new demands for equipment and, ultimately, new treatment plans for damaged hearts among those who survive.

“It’s extremely important to answer the question: Is their heart being affected by the virus and can we do something about it?” said Dr. Ukrucg Jorde, the head of heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support for the Montefiore Health System in New York City. “This may save many lives in the end.”...

Drinking alcohol in a social setting during the pandemic can minimally decrease awareness of social distancing.

Alcohol consumption is a safety concern during the global pandemic.

June 4, 2020

By Carrie MacMillan

From Zoom happy hours to “wine o’clock” memes (click here) floating around on social media, the pressure to grab a drink to take an edge off your pandemic anxiety can sometimes feel strong. Not being able to visit friends or enjoy many out-of-home activities leaves some people feeling like they don’t have much else to do, so why not enjoy a glass of wine—or two or three?

Indeed, data from Nielsen indicates people are drinking more. For the week ending May 2, total alcohol sales in the U.S. were up by more than 32% compared to the same week one year ago. These figures have some medical experts worried.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have issued communications warning people to avoid excessive drinking, saying it may increase COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Beyond that, alcohol consumption is already a major public health problem in the U.S., the NIAAA says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2006 to 2010, "excessive alcohol use “ was responsible for an annual average of 88,000 death, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20 to 64 years.” And studies have linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of breast and other cancers....

From "The Lancet;"

August 20, 2020

By Jin Un Kim, Amir Majid.Rebekah Judge, Peter Crook, Rooshi Nathwani, Nowlan Selvapatt, James Lovendoski. Pinelopi Manousou, Mark Thursz, Ameet Dhar. Heather Lewis, Nikhil Vergis and Maud Lemoine

...69 (38%) patients were classified as abstinent before lockdown, (click here) with a mean abstinence period of 19·5 months (SD 22). Of this subgroup, 12 (17%) relapsed during lockdown. Mean AUDIT score within the relapse group at the time of our survey was 15·7 (SD 9·6), representing a 226% mean increase from before lockdown, with a mean weekly consumption of 48·8 units (SD 63) during lockdown. Of the 113 individuals who were previously drinking before the lockdown, 14 (12%) became newly abstinent since the beginning of lockdown.

Among all participants, 55 (30%) had either a virtual or face-to-face contact with the clinic during lockdown;...

Native American teenagers, especially the boys, are far more susceptible to depression and suicide in Native American communities.

Many Native/Indigenous tribes (click here) embrace a worldview that encompasses the notions of connectedness (with the past and with others), strong family bonds, adaptability, oneness with nature, wisdom of elders, meaningful traditions and strong spirit that may serve as protective factors when it comes to mental health.

- Native/Indigenous people in America report experiencing serious psychological distress 2.5 times more than the general population over a month’s time.

- Although overall suicide rates are similar to those of whites, there are significant differences among certain age groups. The suicide death rate for Native/Indigenous people in America between the ages of 15-19 is more than double that of non-Hispanic whites.

- Native/Indigenous people in America start to use and abuse alcohol and other drugs at younger ages, and at higher rates, than all other ethnic groups.

...The failure of the U.S. government to fulfill its treaty agreements (click here) with Alaskan and Native American people has led to disparities in income and education, the pervasiveness of poverty; and access to care issues. These domains help to set the stage for health disparities that frequently catapult native people to early death. Many of these mental and physical health conditions are preventable. 

I have Native American blood running through my veins, as do millions of other Caucasians. My ancestors were the Blackfeet who live in Northwestern Montana. It is one of the largest tribes in the nation. My sensitivity to the plight of Native Americans with mental illness is especially grave.

One Native American community leader said, “I am dealing with people who have been disenfranchised and their mental illness originates in the system around them, the environment, the surrounding historical trauma. They are not crazy; they are people responding to trauma in their life.”

The Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller said, “In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.” May our generation consider the past and future regarding mental health care for all minorities, as we should for all other Americans....

Mental health under Trump's health crisis is becoming a crisis all it's won. July 25, 2020 was suppose to mean something; the end of the virus danger.

June 25, 2020

The U.S. Census Bureau (click here) recently reported that a third of Americans show signs of clinical depression and anxiety. These and other mental conditions are becoming amplified during the recent pandemic, while COVID-19 patients and their families are also at high risk to develop depression and anxiety.

Maurizio Fava, MD psychiatrist-in-chief, within the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is not surprised by the correlation between mental health conditions and COVID-19.

“It’s quite understandable the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cause significant stress and psychological distress for a large proportion of the population,” he says. “And we know the rates are progressively increasing.”

According to Dr. Fava, there are various factors related to COVID-19 that contribute to the increase in depression rates, including:

Trauma from widespread disease
Grief over losses of life
Fear of getting sick
Unprecedented physical distancing
Financial concerns, including unemployment and housing insecurity
Loss of community
Reduced access to caregivers

But he notes that there are many resources for people suffering from mental health conditions, including mindfulness, telepsychiatry and other recommendations.

The other two numbers were Pre-COVID-19. The deaths are increasing during the pandemic.

The initial shutdown was supposed to be strict and delivered a country with measurable and limited cases that can be contained with contact tracing. The policies from Trump were slow and ineffective and the legislation passed by Congress a complete waste to contain this virus because of radical Republican politics which advocated FREEDOM vs. mask-wearing, social distancing and basically responsible adult behavior.

Those radicalized Republican standards about "Freedom/Liberty" is exactly the ideology playing out in places like Kenoshia (click here). The White Supremacist radicals have stated for so long that their guns are the only thing that stands in between a dictatorship and democracy they have bought into Trump's sales of "Deep State" to prove their dedication to "radical readiness" was the right path to take.

Probably the best examples of these politics are Moscow Mitch and fellow Senator Rand Paul. (click here). 

August 14, 2020

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues, (click here) so does the nation’s opioid epidemic. The AMA is greatly concerned by an increasing number of reports from national, state and local media suggesting increases in opioid-related mortality—particularly from illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs. More than 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality as well as ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder in counties and other areas within the state. This also includes new reports about the need for evidence-based harm reduction services, including sterile needle and syringe services and naloxone.

The AMA is pleased that the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have provided increased flexibility for providing buprenorphine and methadone to patients with opioid use disorder. The AMA is further pleased at increased flexibility provided by the DEA to help patients with pain obtain necessary medications....

Recovery groups have been left without alternatives to group therapy.

August 13, 2020

By Brian Mann

Jennifer Austin, a recovery coach who has struggled with addiction, usually hosts Narcotics Anonymous classes at this Salvation Army center in Ogdensburg, N.Y. They've beencanceled because of the pandemic, leaving more people vulnerable to relapse and overdose.  "I've had people I've never worked with before reach out to me and say, 'Jen, what do I do?'" Austin said.

New data from around the U.S. (click here) confirms that drug overdoses are spiking during the coronavirus pandemic, rising by roughly 18%.

Reports collected in real time by the Washington, D.C.-based group ODMAP — the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, located at the University of Baltimore — also found a significant spike in the number of fatal overdoses.

"Overdose clusters have shifted from traditional centralized urban locations to adjacent and surrounding suburban and rural areas," said ODMAP program manager Aliese Alter.

The organization compared reported overdoses, fatal and nonfatal, in the weeks leading up to coronavirus quarantine measures and in the weeks after....

Drug Overdoes Deaths as of January 2020 - 71,730

That is a failed strategy with an increase in deaths of 1007 per 12 month period in the USA. At no point since implantation has there been a review for it's effectiveness. This is typical of Trump and his speeches. He makes speeches, but, there is no governance, only the flash of appearing to a crowd. 

 

November 2017 - 70,723 people dead.

12 Month-ending Provisional Number of Drug Overdose Deaths (click here)

When Trump implemented his strategy to end the drug overdose crisis the number of deaths in a 12 month period was 70,723.

President Donald Trump named Chris Christie to chair the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which held its first meeting in March 2017. The commission disbanded in Nov. 1 after delivering its recommendations.

There can't be multiple truths. Truth is defined as the body of real things, events, and facts.

 How do we unite this country? The most divisive group in recent history is the "Chrisitan Conservative," AKA the Evangelicals. They don't care about the country and put their ideology before the governance of a highly diverse country. They alone have created a political power out of religious dogma. There is no other religious group currently funding politics that bend reality to serve their purpose. They embrace lies so long as there is power that accompanies it.

I think a single religious organization that wants to overtake the country's future is dangerous.

August 20, 2020

In a stunning upset, (click here) Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush has defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. Bush, a minister and registered nurse, has been heavily involved in protests against police violence since the 2014 Ferguson protests. Mother Jones‘ Kara Voght wrote about the race last week:...

 

"When the Lies Become the Truth" by Chris Rea (click here for official website - thank you)

When does a lie become the truth?
When does what you want become what you have?
And if your dream came true, could you handle it?
Tell me…
What would you do?
Tell me…
What would you do?
When your lies become the truth
When your lies become the truth

We all love our dusty boots
The pair that tells a thousand tales
And how we burn for going somewhere
With the full wind in our sails
So we will play this game forever
And try to hang on to our youth
And the game is never over
Till our lies become the truth
Till our lies become the truth
Till our lies become the truth

So we will play this game forever
And try to hang on to our youth
And the game is never over
Till our lies become the truth
Till our lies become the truth
Till our lies become the truth
Till our lies become the truth

Trump wants to point fingers at Democratic mayors...

 ...as ineffective at law and order. Excuse me, but the cities FREQUENTLY are hobbled by state Republican legislative majorities.