So Tired

So tired of his recklessness and fecklessness and ignorance and sincere stupidity and just being honestly dangerous for our nation.

Among all his other insanity, he said Friday in a taped interview with Chris Wallace on Fox.

'I'll be right eventually': Donald Trump defends his handling of COVID-19 and the presidency

To which I would ask, when, Mr. President? When are you going to be right, correct, especially on this pandemic? Because you certainly weren't right when you called it a hoax. You weren't correct when you said it was a "Democratic hoax." You weren't right when you said it would "go away in the Spring" and on so many other statements and declarations you've made. You certainly aren't correct now about Dr. Fauci or the CDC and so many other issues and situations.

Thanks, Republicans.

Cut Medical Information Funding in the Midst of the Worst, Most Killing Pandemic in More Than 100 Years??

I can't even believe what I read and what I see.

Trump administration seeking to block funding for CDC, contact tracing and testing in new relief bill: report

The Trump administration is attempting to block billions of dollars for contact tracing, additional testing and other coronavirus mitigation efforts that would potentially be included in Congress's next coronavirus relief package, officials involved in the negotiations told The Washington Post.

Think about this.

During the worst, most killing international and national pandemic in the last more than 100 years, this Republican Party President Trump actually wants to actually BLOCK FUNDING for the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control on contract tracing and testing in a pending new relief bill.

I'm gobsmacked.

With this excuse for leadership, is it any wonder we, the United States, reputedly the wealthiest nation in the world, has the most cases and deaths, both, of any nation in the world?

Keeping in mind this was, is the knucklehead who took us, the US out of the WHO, the World Heatlh Organization in this same pandemic so it's not a total surprise, especially with all the other absurd, reckless, ignorant, even dangerous things he's done while in office and in this nightmare of a Presidency.

Meanwhile, also just now, today, this.

Colorado governor calls national testing 

'a complete disgrace'

Also this. He's in denial. Still. In denial about all of it.

Trump downplays virus, disputes bad polls in testy interview with Fox's Wallace

And here's the truth, the facts.

Undermining the CDC Puts Lives at Risk

Meanwhile, here's what's happening locally, in Missouri just now.

Missouri reports largest one-day increase 

of COVID cases

And this is what's going on across the nation and world.

U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 140,000 As World Sets Daily Record In New Cases

Coronavirus updates: 16 states break records for new cases in one week, one-day global record also reported; ERs becoming flooded in US

Coronavirus updates: 

South Carolina breaks record for new cases

But yeah, cut funding to our national medical community.  Freaking brilliant.

At least if he really were assisted and placed in this position of the Presidency by Vladimir Putin and Russia, at least that would make sense for why he seems to, time and again, set out to destroy us, destroy us all, destroy our nation, to tear it and Democracy down.

Thanks, Mr. President?

Thanks, Republicans?

Is the Republican Party in Complete Meltdown?

The more I see of what members of the Republican Party have done and are doing, the more it makes me question not just their goals but their sanity.

I showed earlier how bad, how poor some of the Republican Party candidates are presently in Kansas.

Kris Kobach Outed As A White Supremacist

Kris Kobach Admits He Violated 

Ethical Rules for Attorneys

Kris Kobach Accused Of Breaking The Law

Kris Kobach Controversies: 

5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

And then there's this guy, currently running for office in the state, in Kansas.

Roger Marshall was convicted of 

reckless driving in 2008

Partner's son helped reduce charge for future Rep. Marshall

And we can't forget good old Governor Sam "I Love Deficits" Brownback.

How the grand conservative experiment failed in Kansas

Revisiting Sam Brownback's tax cut disaster

The Great Kansas Tax Cut Experiment Crashes And Burns

Trickle-Down Economics Has Ruined the Kansas Economy

Now, in the midst of all this, in Missouri, there is this going on, famously, infamously.

Missouri Republicans want to undo voters' redistricting wishes

Republicans want to repeal Clean Missouri before 2020

We Missourians voted in a law to clean up our government so, what the hey? The Republicans created new legislation to---wait for it---undo our own wishes. Stunning.

And now, today, this just broke, nearly unbelievably.

Trump, Missouri Governor Want to Remove an Elected Prosecutor to Protect the McCloskeys

Check this story out. It has to do with the two rich people who went outside their mansion a week or two ago in St. Louis and pulled guns on otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters.

Kim Gardner is the Circuit Attorney, or chief prosecutor, for the city of St. Louis. She was elected by the people of St. Louis in 2016 and assumed her duties in January 2017. She is the first African American to hold that position.

Trump and Parsons want to remove her from office because they don’t want her to prosecute the McCloskeys. Parsons wants to change Missouri law to give the power to remove her to the state government, somehow. Of course Trump has no authority to mess with elected officials of a state, never mind a city,. But it strikes me that for a state government to remove the elected official of a city flies in the face of the principles of republican (small R) government.

Then there's the fact that the Republicans are trying to dismantle the USPS, the Postal Service and have been for some time.

Now, the Trump administration wants statistics and health care data on and about and during this very killing, national and international pandemic to no longer go to the CDC.

Trump Administration To Hospitals: 

Don’t Send Covid-19 Coronavirus Data To CDC

The list of craziness from this man Trump, his White House, his administration and the Republican Party, over all, just goes on and on.

Fauci says White House's 'bizarre' efforts to discredit him hurt Trump, adds Peter Navarro is 'in a world by himself'

Insane.

You would think the insanity of this President, Donald Trump, would be enough but no, they have to add to it all.

Link:

"The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump"

Donald Trump's mother asked: 'What kind of son have I created?'

The Missouri Gun-Toting Lawyers Are Screwed

What's the Matter with Kansas?

Attacking the Medical Community in the Middle of the Most Killing Pandemic in a Century

This is where we are now, ladies and gentlemen. This is to where we have devolved, how low we now are.

This Republican Party President Donald "The John" Trump is deriding the doctor and medical professional that is Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Trump spreads anti-Fauci messages 

Trump retweets call to fire Fauci 

amid coronavirus criticism

Then, after attacking Dr. Fauci, that's not enough, he goes after the entire CDC.

Trump promotes tweet that accuses the CDC and doctors of ‘lying’ about COVID-19

Not only does he do that, attack a specialist in pandemics and virtually the entire medical community but he supports, instead, nonsense spread by another talk show host.

Trump retweets game show host Chuck Woolery’s baseless claim that ‘everyone is lying’ about coronavirus

I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, citizens of America:

What kind of a sick, twisted person gathers and then spreads information to go against a medical specialist, medical specialists, in the middle of the most killing national and international pandemic in more than a century?

And the answer, of course, is only this Republican Party President, Donald J Trump.

But then, this is the same man that takes us out of  the premier health organization, the WHO, during, again, the biggest, most killing, national and international pandemic in the past more than 100 years.

The following no way make all this okay but it explains a lot.

The GOP’s Murderous Anti-Intellectualism

Sociopaths Are All That's Left 

of the Republican Party

Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republians

Capitalism--And Our American Suicide Rates

There is a new study out from the Center for Disease Control, the CDC, on suicide in America. It's fascinating. Very telling, in fact.

New Study on Rising Suicide Rates Suggests 

Capitalism Is Quite Literally Killing Us

A bit from the article:

A study released late last week showed that suicide rates have risen significantly across the country. The culprit appears to be capitalism.

It’s largely assumed that people who decide to kill themselves are suffering from a mental illness. Mental Health America estimates that 30 to 70 percent of Americans who end their own lives are suffering from either severe depression or bipolar disorder. However, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 54 percent of Americans who committed suicide in 27 states in 2015 had no known mental health condition.

The CDC study, which examined suicide rates in all 50 states between 1999 and 2016, found that the rate of Americans taking their own lives increased by an alarming 38 to 58 percent in 12 states, 31 to 37 percent in another 12 states, and 19 percent to 30 percent in another 12 states. The CDC found that on average, suicide rates jumped by more than 30 percent for all 50 states.
The fact that more than half of these suicides were not attributed to any mental illness in a majority of states for at least one year of the period the CDC studied is remarkable, and begs the question of what other factors led to thousands of Americans taking their own lives. CDC researchers discovered that, outside of problems with intimate partners, the prime causes of suicide for Americans with no known mental illnesses were primarily financial in nature.
And really, think about it. Think about what's true for the most of us. We have--

--Long work hours, the longest of the industrialized nations.
--Highest costs for
     --health care:  worst outcomes and lowest mortality rate of the industrialized nations
     --internet:  highest costs, slowest speeds of the industrialized nations
--Highest bankruptcy rate of the industrialized nations (40% due to health care costs)
--Short, very short vacation time, shortest of any industrialized nation
--High education costs, highest costs of secondary education of any industrialized nation
--Highest wealth inequality of any industrialized nation
--Highest poverty rate of the industrialized nations

--Highest child poverty rate of the industrialized nations

And this is just a partial list.

But we have high suicide rates why?

Links:

Why Missouri and Kansas are lousy places to live 

if you're poor

If you're poor, Kansas is one of the worst places to live, 

study says

It's Getting Worse for Brazil and Those Summer Olympics

I wrote this at the end of January this year:

This Year's Coming Summer Olympics

And then this, the middle of March:

 On These Coming Summer Olympics?

And now, things are getting just many times worse for Brazil and the possibility of their having these Olympics this year.  These are some of the latest revelations that have come out:

Brazil World Cup winner Rivaldo warns tourists to avoid Rio

Check that out. This guy is a Brazilian himself and he's telling people to stay away, first. Second, he's an Olympic athlete who would normally want, of course, people to come to the Olympics but he's, again, advising people to not attend. That's pretty incredible alone.

At the same time as all this is going on, Brazil's President is in the middle of a scandal investigation she may well be impeached for and as soon as this evening and there are other people in the government, too, accused of financial wrongs.

Brazil impeachment: President Dilma Rousseff's fate in Senate hands

The government has had the worst or near worst

How the Rio Olympics Could Cement 

a Brazilian Coup

The nation itself has had to warn pregnant women to stay away from these Olympics due to the Zika virus and because it's considered the epicenter of the problem and outbreak.

Brazil warns pregnant women to 

stay away from Olympics

Taking that one big, no, huge step further, there's this warning and to anyone and everyone who might attend:

Public Health Professor: Because Of Zika, Rio Olympics 'Must Not Proceed'

Finally, as if all that weren't far and awful enough, there's the pollution of Rio and Brazil.

Funding problems hit plan to clean 

Rio's polluted waterways

The athletes even have to train in the pollution, nearly unbelievably.

Trash and contamination continue to 

pollute Olympic training

Rio water will still be polluted for 

Summer Olympics

It's as I said. I think these are likely to be the least attended and certainly most filed Summer Olympics, in fact, Olympics, period, since likely their being begun again, all those decades ago. 

The poor people of Brazil will be made all the poorer with this, all this.

And meantime, for the Olympics overall, perhaps now the IOC will finally, finally give up taking them around the world every 4 years to different cities. It frequently ended up bankrupting cities. Perhaps they could locate it in Greece, permanently.

Kansas City on the Zika List

An article came out this past week listing 50 cities in America that may well become exposed to the Zika virus and guess who's on it?

Potential Zika virus risk estimated 

for 50 U.S. cities

Not paranoia, just awareness, folks.

Have a great weekend.

That damn Obama

That damn Socialist/Communist/Kenyan Obummer.

First I saw this today:

Census: Poverty rate has first decline in 7 years

Then this:

CDC Study: Fewer Americans Now Without Health Insurance

And finally this from, of all places, business-loving, conservative Forbes Magazine:

The Federal Budget Deficit Has Disappeared.Really

It just keeps getting worse and worse.

Drives me nuts.

Huge, not-good news for Missouri

Breaking news from NPR today:

Mysterious New 'Heartland Virus' Discovered In Missouri

Two Missouri farmers have been infected with a brand-new tick-borne virus that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling the Heartland virus.

The men recovered but suffered serious illness that required hospital care and weeks of convalescence. Symptoms included fever, severe fatigue, headache and nausea. Their platelet counts plummeted, but even though platelets are necessary for blood clotting, the men didn't suffer abnormal bleeding.

A report on the new virus is in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

So far, the Missouri men are the only known cases of Heartland virus in the world. But experts are sure they'll find more.

After all, the men lived 60 miles apart and got infected independently. That means there must be more of the mysterious new virus in the northwest Missouri environment.

Link to the full article here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/29/160272241/mysterious-new-heartland-virus-discovered-in-missouri

"AIDS in Black America"

If you're not watching the Major League Baseball Game tonight, out of Kauffman Stadium here in town, you might be the type person that, instead, would watch and want to watch the "Frontline" special on PBS "AIDS in Black America:



It's one of the biggest killers of Black Americans today. It's important we recognize where this came from, where we are and where it's going.

It begins this evening at 8 pm.

Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame-aids-in-black-america/

Health care pigs

What the head of the health care insurance companies in the US are paid annually:

This is what these people each make, per year, yet they can and see to it that they and their respective companies deny you and I health care procedures when our doctors say we need them.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is unfettered, unregulated, laissez faire, free market Capitalism.

It is also a significant reason why we have the most expensive health care in the world, yet are more likely to die younger here than in 36 other nations.

Sick. The system is sick.

And if we tolerate this and stand for it, we aren't very bright.

Link: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0910064; http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html; http://www.photius.com/rankings/world_health_systems.html

A story on Missouri kids and tobacco I missed

Last month, a story was released on Missouri's rank, nationally, on how it funds programs to keep children from tobacco and smoking. Unfortunately, it's not good news: Missouri Ranks 48th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Missouri ranks 48th in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations. Missouri currently spends $60,000 a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 0.1 percent of the $73.2 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)." What's really horrible about this, besides, first, that we don't seem to care about our children's health statewide, is that Missouri collects $245 million this year "from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend almost none of it on tobacco prevention programs." Making this far worse is that "•The tobacco companies spend $419.9 million a year to market their products in Missouri. This is 6,998 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention." The final travesty? That money is just shuffled off, to be spent elsewhere. Sorry, kids. Really. Sorry. Apparently there is no shame in Jefferson City at all. Link: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/missouri-ranks-48th-in-protecting-kids-from-tobacco-108682719.html

"Wanna' grab a Coke?"

Thanks and a hat tip to Matt Payton's Tumble-O-Rama.

According to the Nutrition Research Center, this is what happens to your body within one hour of drinking a can of soda:

-10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system, which is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake. You'd normally vomit from such an intake, but the phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

-20 minutes: Your blood sugar skyrockets. Your pancreas attempts to maximize insulin production in order to turn high levels of sugar into fat.

-40 minutes: As your body finishes absorbing the caffeine, your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your liver pumps more sugar into the bloodstream. Adenosine receptors in your brain are blocked preventing you from feeling how tired you may actually be.

-45 minutes: Your body increases dopamine production, causing you to feel pleasure and adding to the addictiveness of the beverage. This physical neuro response works the same way as it would if we were consuming heroin.

-60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, which boosts your metabolism a bit further. High doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners compound this effect, increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (You have to GO!) Your body will eliminate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was otherwise heading to your bones. And you will also flush out the sodium, electrolytes and water. Your body has eliminated the water that was in the soda. And in the process it was infused with nutrients and minerals your body would have otherwise used to hydrate your system or build body cells, bones, teeth.

-60 minutes: The sugar crash begins. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You start feeling like crap. Time to grab another? 

And we drink this why?

And we let our children drink this crap why?


In answer to the question, above, "How soon is too soon?"


How does not at all sound?

Links: http://mattpayton.tumblr.com/post/5013993559

 http://www.drmomma.org/2008/01/your-body-within-1-hour-of-drinking.html   

It's Spring: What you should know about strawberries

Sure, it's Spring and with it comes warm weather and fresh, new, Spring asparagus and--what else?--strawberries, of course.

But instead of just blindly running to the grocery store and buying them up, day after day and/or week after week, it seems there's plenty we need to know about corporate America's strawberries.  To wit:

Strawberries may be a superfood—but they pose a potential risk unless you go organic. In addition to having up to 13 pesticides detected on the fruit, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis, conventional "strawberries have a large surface area and all those tiny bumps, which makes the pesticides hard to wash off, so you’re ingesting more of those chemicals," explains Marion Nestle, PhD, a professor of nutrition and public health at New York University and author of What to Eat.


Not to be done there, unfortunately...

If you can, also skip conventional peaches, apples, blueberries, and cherries, which are typically treated with multiple pesticides and usually eaten skins-on.


And then there's...


Beef
You’ve probably read plenty of stories about the risks of eating chicken. But the most important protein to buy organic may well be beef. "Research suggests a strong connection between some of the hormones given to cattle and cancer in humans, particularly breast cancer," says Samuel Epstein, MD, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. Specifically, the concern is that the estrogen-like agents used on cattle could increase your cancer risk, adds Ted Schettler, MD, science director at the Science and Environmental Health Network.

Though there are strong regulations about the use of hormones in cattle, "not all beef producers are following those regulations strictly, and some studies continue to find hormone residue in cattle," Dr. Schettler says. When you buy beef that’s been certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), you’re not only cutting out those hormones, you’re also avoiding the massive doses of antibiotics cows typically receive, which the USDA says may lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people


As they used to say on the old TV show "Hill Street Blues"-- "Let's be careful out there..."


You might want to read the entire article since it's about "11 things you should buy organic":  http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/11-things-you-should-buy-organic-2467411/

How bankrupt are we?

From The Kansas City Star and Associated Press yesterday, Sat. April 4--"Perchlorate is found in baby formula" with a subtitle: "Scientists think that significant amounts of the rocket fuel chemical can be harmful"

Perchlorate?

In baby formula?

In the United States?

What the hell?

This brings up so many questions I can barely contain myself.

How the hell did perchlorate get in baby formula?

Why?

Who put it there?

What did they think they'd gain?

And a heck of a lot more.

Get this:

A study was done by scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who were looking for the chemical.

Again, you're kidding me. Why were they looking for it? Did someone tip them off? Did a government or corporate snitch tell them to look for it? Why would you arbitrarily start looking for a "rocket fuel chemical" in baby formula, for God's sake? And in the United States. I can see maybe in China but not here.

Or so you would have thought.

But wait, there's more:

"The chemical has turned up in several cities' drinking water supplies."

Holy cow.

Again, why?

And then, who's putting it there?

What corporation?

What person?

And what are they to gain by doing so?

Are they merely using this as a convenient, low-cost way of disposing this?

And while the article says "No tests have ever shown the chemical causes health problems," does anyone think a rocket fuel chemical in our food or water supply could possibly be a good idea? Really, how could it NOT cause some kind of health problem or problems?

It goes on to say that "the largest amounts of the chemical were found in formulas derived from cow's milk."

Another reason to not drink milk.

"The researchers would not disclose the brands of formula they studied." Oh, hey, thanks, government, for doing what you're supposed to do and that is, keep the American public safe. Thanks, too, for protecting those corporations who are poisoning us. Thanks, loads.

Get this, for reassurance, the spokesman for the International Formula Council (read: lobbying group for corporations) said "Health authorities continue to empasize that infant formula is safe."

Yeah. Right.

There's a rocket fuel chemical in some infant formula but it's safe. Don't worry. Keep buying our crap--infant formula and point of view, both.

I want to go the local grocery store now and put up a sign saying "Rocket Fuel Chemical added to infant formula."

Thanks for protecting the American People, CDC and EPA.

We're no better than China, for God's sake.

You could see this, maybe happening there, after their run-in with melamine but here? The United-freakin'-States?

What sick organization came up with this idea? what sick group went through with this? Again, why? And what sick puke is following their company's directives to follow through with this?

This brings me back to my original question: As a people, how bankrupt are we, morally and financially that we--anyone-- would allow this?

More Proof that this White House is against Americans

...at least, the "little guy".

Until before the current Presidency, I always believed that our government in the United States was, at it's core, still for the "little guy" in America. Sure, the fat cats--the rich people, the corporations and all the rest--could easily, for a thousand dollars here or 50,000 there, still buy a Congressman or favorable legislation. But when it came down to the ultimate good of the American public, our health, say, or other, much bigger issues, I was convinced that our government could and would protect us.

And along came "W".

Holy cow, this Big Oil/Big Business bozo is totally, 100% committed to getting all he and his administration can get for his uber-rich, fatcat friends and associates. And by associates, I mean "other people who also have lots of money."

Anyway, now this, today--more proof of how this White House is against America:

Cheney wanted cuts in climate testimony

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 8, 9:53 AM ET

Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA officials maintains.

When six pages were cut from testimony on climate change and public health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last October, the White House insisted the changes were made because of reservations raised by White House advisers about the accuracy of the science.

But Jason K. Burnett, until last month the senior adviser on climate change to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson, says that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.

"The Council on Environmental Quality and the office of the vice president were seeking deletions to the CDC testimony (concerning) ... any discussions of the human health consequences of climate change," Burnett has told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The three-page letter, a response to an inquiry by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the panel's chairwoman, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Boxer planned a news conference later in the day...

...Senate and House committees have been trying for months to get e-mail exchanges and other documents to determine the extent of political influence on government scientists, but have been rebuffed.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

See the entire story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_re_us/cheney_climate
______________________________________________________

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen of the United States. More proof, as though we need it, that this government is for Corporate America, Big Business, Big Money Interests, Wealthy People (like your tax break, folks?), Big Oil and the like. From "W" and Dick on down, this is them vs. the U.S., us.

President Eisenhower, way back when, was right. Ralph Nader has been right all along. Molly Ivins was right, God bless her... and this is no way to run a country.

I hope it's not too late to get our country back.