Opening Up America

When I was in the hospital and because of the unknown source of my infection, my doctors ordered a COVID-19 test that resulted in a nurse ramming a Q-tip way up into my nose and moving it around a little.  Two days later, I was informed that I was COVID-19 negative.  Of course, I could have told the doctors that was the case because I hardly ever left home since February, even though my wife and I spent a week at Myrtle Beach.  

COVID-19 has changed our lives forever and we may NEVER return to that point-in-time where we behave like we used to behave, that is to say:

• wearing face masks
• social distancing
• attending classes
• attending sports events
• disinfecting surfaces
• washing hands often
• going to a crowed restaurant
• going to a move theater

I heard this morning that Professional Baseball was actually going to have a shortened season with one big difference and that is that CARDBOARD CUTOUTS of spectators were going to sitting in the seats instead of real people.

How long is this going to last?

How long will owners pay those high salaries without spectators contributing to the revenue?

High Schools are talking about starting school in the FALL because COVID-19 does not have a serious impact on the young, but what about them being carriers of COVID-19 and what about the health impact on the teachers and administrators.  And, more importantly, most of these high school classes have a 40:1 student:teacher ratio.

As we OPEN UP AMERICA, more and more COVID-19 cases are being reported which has little to do with the fact that we are doing more testing and everything to do with AMERICANS not wearing face masks and social distancing...

BUT HELL...  we are Americans and we don't like being told what to do...

Drugs in America

In 2016, Nearly 21 million Americans struggle with substance addictions, according to the report. That's more than the number of people who have all cancers combined. That only one in 10 people with substance addictions receive treatment points to the significant holes in America's health care system

In 2017, more than 70,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Sixty-eight percent of those deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid. On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

In 2018 data shows that every day, 128 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare.

When are we going to realize that we have a problem with ILLEGAL DRUGS in the US of A....  Or, are we going to turn our backs to these people because none of them are registered to vote either Democrat or Republican....

OR, do we have an even more sinister problem on our hands in that we, as a NATION, do not want to stop Illegal Drugs because of the economic impact on society that it might have if we do stop illegal drugs....  

• how many drug enforcement personnel would be out-of-work?
• how many buildings would become vacant and not maintained?
• what would be the economic impact of laying off all those employees?
• how much money do Mexican Drug Cartels contribute to political campaigns in the USA?

The United States is the 

world's biggest consumer of Illegal Drugs...

POWER to the PEOPLE

328,000,000 people live in the USA in 2020

1,000,000 law enforcement personnel in USA in 2020

Law Enforcement represents about .25% of the population or 1 out of every 400 people

The time has come for all Americans to stand up to the injustices brought about by our LAW ENFORCEMENT personal... such as:

investigating 

1. RAPE
2. Breaking and Entering
3. Illegal Drug Sales
4. Grand Larceny
5. Extortion
6. Shootings and Stabbings
7. Domestic Violence

WE DON'T NEED NO POLICE...

ANTI COPS

Probably one of the most worthwhile yet futile movements in the USA since we tried to STOP THE VIETNAM WAR, is to do away with the COPS...  and while some may not want to do away with the cops altogether, they want to remove money and resources from their respective departments so that they cannot GO AFTER the American Black Man and/or Woman if appropriate.

If I was a criminal, I would think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread...

If I were a drug dealer, I would think this is the greatest thing since breathing air...

Now, I don't get up in the morning thinking how am I going to "break the law" today but with a defunded police department, I damn sure will not be worried about obey most of our traffic laws...   Of course, I still get a little paranoid when I see a cop car behind me...   and, no...  not because I am white...  but because I fear I might be getting another speeding ticket...   I think those days are LONG GONE thanks to BLM...

With a defunding of the police, the purchase of legal firearms will increase because THE LAW still allows one to protect ONE's PROPERTY.

ANTI COP SOLUTION

I know here in TN, gun ownership has increased exponentially in some areas especially in the larger cities of Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Johnson City (which is near the Bristol Motor Speedway)

The police will not have the manpower or the funds to deal with:

1. Breaking and Entering
2. Criminal Trespass
3. Grand Theft Auto
4. Car Accidents
5. Armed Robbery
6. Kidnapping
7. Child Endangerment
8. Domestic Abuse
9. Manslaughter
10. Hit and Run

Odds and ends

Power of the Government

DOES THE GOVERNMENT 

HAVE THE RIGHT TO FORCE ME 

TO PROTECT MY HEALTH OR PROTECT MY LIFE?

NO...

It is important for our Federal Government to stay out of our lives as much as possible, letting us live our lives as we set fit as long as what want to do does not interfere with the rights of our neighbor.

We should be able to eat as we want to

We should be able to sleep where we want to

We should be able to work where we want to

We should be able to defecate when we want/need to

We should be able to fornicate when we want to

Back to Normal

Whatever it means to be NORMAL...  because I don't know for sure and suspect that I have not been NORMAL for most of my life.

According to researchgate.net>>  "Any behavior that pertains to accepted societal patterns is called normal behavior whereas that is against social norms is called abnormal behavior."

So normal is based upon what Society says it should or should not be...  and, that is all fine and dandy as long as one can assume that Society knows what they are doing...  and sometimes, I do't think that this is happening in the USA with all the killings, autonomous zones, and defund the police movements going on...  while Democratic Leaders allow it to continue.

Will we ever get back to normal in the USA or anywhere in the world for that matter or will be floundering around tying out different systems to see if this corrects our problems or not?

The question is: what are our problems?

1. Racial 
2. Economic
3. Equality
4. Education
5. Wealth Gaps
6. Healthcare

GUESS WHAT?

We will always have these problems in the USA because they are all NATURAL BYPRODUCTS of a DEMOCRACY and a FREE MARKET ENTERPRISE SYSTEM...   or what we call CAPITALISM.

Socialism cannot exist in the USA without CAPITALISM...  as it provides the needed monies to pay for everything the Government wants to give away.

For example, the Government wants to increase a tax on the wealthy to pay for universal healthcare...   ok fine...  but, in order to do that, the Government MUST protect the wealthy by protecting CAPITALISM because that is how the wealthy got their money in the first place.

Anyone who does not understand how that works is an ECONOMIC FOOL...

LIVING THE LIFE: From ER to ICU to the General Population of the Heart Floor

My UTI was not the sole source of my problems and last Sunday, I ended up in the ER at the University of TN Medical Center and shortly after being admitted had a team of doctors and specialists hovering over me like Vultures....  my heart rate had dropped...  my heart had gone into afib and then into failure and my blood pressure had dropped from SOME UNKNOWN INFECTION that the team suspected might be COVID.

I  responded perfectly to treatment so was sent to ICU after having a COVID-19 test performed....  when it came back it was negative.

I spent the rest of Sunday and Monday in ICU which was traumatic for me because I could not get out of my bed...   I had to lay on my back or on one of my sides or on my stomach but those were my options and while I may have been in ICU, I very seldom had any nurses coming into my room which surprised me a little...

While I did not to take a crap, I wonder what they would have done if I had buzzed them and told them this is what I needed to do.

Now, I am on the heart floor of the general inmate population and more nurses and aides are friendly than are not.  And, I am allowed to order my own meals, get up and out of bed as often as I want and can either sit in a recliner or on a couch, and can use the bathroom unassisted and take a shower as well.   It is like being at a resort....   sorta.....   not really.

Maybe out by Friday and not sure if they catch and release over the weekend or not so I may have to stay here until next Monday which will have me in the hospital for exactly 8 days.   Sadly, I am going to be emailed a survey about my experience and I have been wondering if I actually tell them how I feel, will it make any difference?

They have finally said I had a Staph infection which could have come from a bug bite...  what a pisser.

IS THIS YOU???

Odds and Ends

In Case i Don't Post Anything Over the last Couple of Days: This Is The Reason

I was seeking out the services of a Physical Therapist and was experiencing s profound in my lower back and decided to see the doctor at the Clinic.  All of my problems could be attributed to a Urinary Tract Infection and I never experienced anything quite so painful.

 I am talking a couple of days off.

My Decision to Relocate From NC to TN in 1990

From 1985 until 1989 (if I remember correctly and if I do not then I am not far off) I was working at a Community College in NC as Director of Focused Industrial Training and basically my job was to meet with the leaders and managers of various industries in our area and design training programs for them either bringing in an instructor or teaching it myself.  I provided training for the following areas:  Law Enforcement, Firemen, EMS, Nurses, CPA's, Teachers, Real Estate Agents, etc., or any professional group that was required to complete so many CEU's each year.

In 1986, we got a new President who brought with him a program in the area of Quality Management and I was tasked to learn about that program from the person who used to work for him in TN and set up something similar in NC.  After several weeks of training in TN at Tennessee Eastman Company and in Dayton, Ohio with the authors of The Transformation of American Industry, I was ready to roll it out in our service area, only to find out that I was about 2-3 years late.  However, I did manage to get one training program going that I was teaching.

During one of my training sessions I got a phone call in the classroom from the President of a Community College in TN about an hour south of the College our new President had been employed.  He basically was embarrassed that this other President had started the First Center for Quality and Productivity in TN and offered me a job to start the second Quality Center in TN.

I jumped at this opportunity.

Why?

Because my new skills in NC were a dime a dozen but in TN, I was unique, special, and it would be an ideal time to get a consulting business going which I negotiated into my hiring packaged along with being put on a tenured track as a College Professor.

So, in 1990, I hired a NC Lawyer and incorporated QUEST TRAINING, Inc. for $500 which at the time I thought was a lot of money.  I operated Quest Training until 2015 when it was dissolved and I was retiring.  My fee was $100/hour plus expenses for contracts that were a half days drive away from my location and $1,000/day plus expenses for contracts that were farther.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

All my personal finances and sources of income went through Quest Training and so my IRS taxes were always reduced because Quest Training, Inc. always seemed to experience a loss.  I also used being President of Quest Training, Inc. when I was unemployed so my resume would show no periods of not working.  Plus, I purchased 3 houses when unemployed by using the tax returns of Quest Training...  so, the company provided me with many opportunities.

SOMETIMES, you just have to leave town and relocate in order to find your destiny.