Not surprised by this: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a rising star in the Republican Party. But many of his former staffers told Politico they felt used and abused by the MAGA politician. A group of former DeSantis staffers have formed a “support group” to regularly discuss their adverse experiences...
Surgery
I step back to reflect on many things, including this strangest year of my more than 2 ½ decades as a classroom teacher. It is also as I approach what I suppose is a milestone of sorts, my 75th birthday on May 23. And of course since my major course...
These kinds of stories drive me up the wall. There’s nothing heartwarming or cute about this, but it’s the kind of thing people in this country slurp up like syrup. Nothing against the journalist who brought this grotesquerie to light, but my takeaway from this tragic tale is that we...
Even in exile* Donald Trump can’t stop fucking up and embarrassing the shit out of us. Whoever’s on deck this week to defend Trump in his impeachment trial (it’s either Barry Zuckerkorn or Lionel Hutz; I forget which) is so sharp, they can’t quite spell the name of the country Trump was...
Mr. Naiveté is here to tell you he thought maybe, just maybe, the very people who suffered the brunt of Donald Trump’s bumblefuck putsch might stand firm in their revulsion. But of course they didn’t. The taste of spray-tan and pocky buttocks is simply too tantalizing for most Republicans to resist, and...
I live in Virginia, where we have now entered phase 1b for vaccination. On Sunday notices were sent out as to who was eligible. As a teacher in the Pre-K through 12 range, I was included. Our medical care is through Virginia Hospital Center, where my wife’s cancer was largely...
In the first week of April this year, the first quantifiable effects of the Covid-19 virus on people of color were released in the press. April 17, 2020, Donald Trump tweeted out ‘Liberate Michigan!’ I am sure many of you think black and brown people are just paranoid when we...
Trumpist anti-certifying efforts for the remaining states seem a fools’ errand but Trump and Giuliani seem to be the best fools for it. Regardless, they are chasing some version of an apocalyptic conclusion. x And Bannon talking about it openly on his insane Alex Jones-level podcast. — S.V. Dáte (@svdate) November 18,...
Jonathan Reiner is a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University and a medical analyst for CNN, and boy oh boy, he’s not a fan of Donald Trump’s rallies. Nor should he be. Speaking with CNN’s Ana Cabrera yesterday, he went there — essentially accusing Donald Trump of...
I heard Steve Bannon spent tons of accused fraudently money on cosmetic surgery, jewels and other things. The only person better at conning would be any doctor who talked him into having such a procedure. After further looking into the matter, it seems the vet in the scheme handed loot over to...
The federal protection squads have now engaged in the second attempt to operate without accountability, this time in a state run by Democrats. we’ll see how it works in a state run by the GOP. Something scary is happening in Portland. It’s the very thing conservatives and especially the NRA...
Received this e-mail today from Dr. Al Gross (I. AK) campaign: x Discredit the messenger to obscure your historic failures: NOT good public health policy.https://t.co/tA0Vc0MWUfâ” Dr. Al Gross (@DrAlGrossAK) July 12, 2020 As a doctor, I've seen this before. I often have to tell patients news they don't want to...
First Moscow Mitch hints that he’ll skip the Republican National Convention, and now this? Looks like Sen. David Perdue is fast becoming Sen. David Perdon’t. x Breaking: @sendavidperdue has undergone surgery to separate himself from Trump and is now airing ads in Georgia that donâÂÂt even MENTION Trump. No one has...
Somehow the current historical situation was not on the briefing agenda of Atlanta police last evening even though multiple police agencies were covering the scene. It will be even worse if the Wendy’s manager’s name is Karen. The officer who fired the shots has been fired. His partner has been...
Show of Farce. Peaceful protest in the day, now earlier curfews. x JUST CONFIRMED: Denver Police seized these guns and tactical gear from two men who showed up to the protest on Friday. One of them, Chevy McGee, tells me he didn't break any laws. McGee is part of the...
We are at an interesting point, the necessity for socially distanced behavior and the imposition of De Facto martial law. Even as there is peaceful protest during the day time, there will be problematic police behavior in the evening. Remember that Trump needs martial law or at least its quasi-military manifestation to...
CNN is just now reporting that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has had surgery and is in grave danger: US source: North Korean leader in grave danger after surgery The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according...
I write this from my experience this week. My husband was doing some regular chores around the house Wednesday and nothing seemed wrong at all. I had asked our daughter where he was when I didn’t see him outside where he had been. She said, “ I think he laid...
First an apology. My post yesterday on my decision to vote for Warren (which I did at about 9:45 AM) and to contribute to her campaign ($100 online) was my first posting here in more than a month. Some may remember that in mid-November I suffered a stroke, later had...
Still early days, even as there will be a pie-fight at the debate tonight. Clarity will arrive on super-Tuesday. The real question will occur when we see whether there are limits to various facts such as who are the real ‘base’ for each primary candidate. One example would be whether Sanders...
The next question is about bibliography, which 25 books? Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and the architect of his Middle East peace plan, said that he has read 25 books on the decades-old conflict as he defended the plan. He told Sky News Arabia: “I’ve been studying this now for three years. I’ve...
Another day, another Kentucky criminal’s family pays to have them pardoned from prison. GOP prosecutor took donations from sex offender's family, then pressed Bevin for a pardon The elected Republican commonwealth’s attorney in Christian County wrote to Gov. Matt Bevin last month seeking a pardon on behalf of a prominent...
Trump for Shah. Because assassinating Suliemani is just not provocative enough, Trump is following a “strategy” intended to achieve a consequence-free objective by goading Iran into some major retaliatory attack against the US. An aerial bombing campaign is the current threat, however empty. The US is good at air superiority...
Since my stroke on November 12, my online presence, here and elsewhere, has been very limited as I first recovered from that incident, and then underwent my surgery on the 18th, followed by a minor incident (transient ischemic attack — like a minor stroke) on the 20th. Today I had...
I envy the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. I wish I could edit Donald Trump out of my head. Unfortunately, I’m told very few insurance plans will approve that kind of surgery, no matter how many times I tell them it’s not really “elective.” So the CBC edited Trump out of its...
is a column I strongly urge people here to read. It is subtitled “It’s easy to forget those left behind in a strong economy.” Blow writes powerfully about his own childhood as the youngest of 3 sons raised without his father after his mother ended her marriage to his philandering...
When I last posted about my medical condition, I was at home recovering from a successful surgery to clean out my left carotid artery, a stenosis (blockage) in which was the cause of my (mildish) stroke back on November 12. For the first 24-28 hours after discharge, the patient is...
which lasted somewhat longer than expected. There was inflammation that had to be addressed, and a drain had to be put in temporarily (coming out tomorrow before I go home). Was told the blockage was “very bad” before this procedure, but fortunately the other carotid is unblocked. I will have...
Today is Sunday, which means tomorrow I report for pre-operative stuff at the hospital for the forthcoming operation on Wednesday to address the stenosis (blockage) in my left carotid artery that caused my recent stroke. While I have no intimations of forthcoming disaster, I will be undergoing general anesthesia, so...
There are few heroes around but this is my favorite hero nowadays. The strength of he and RBG is almost unimaginable. Building houses and building faith and fighting for humanity is his lifestyle. Can you imagine being 95 YOA and working this hard at everything? America could do well...
By Donna Smith Fifteen days from now I will know what it’s like to have Medicare coverage. For the past 64 years and 11 months, I have been at the mercy of a for-profit insurance and health system that doesn’t forgive illness or injury and never forgets my age. Since...
I keep vigil. Lots of activity on the world's largest reserve of fresh water. x Following the startling narrative of the IPCC report on the Oceans and Cryosphere, our open access paper came out yesterday in Nature Scientific Reports documenting >65,000 lakes on the surface of the East Antarctic Ice...
In a presidency marked by incoherent pronouncements and bizarre visions of grandeur, Donald Trump seemed to reach new, troubling heights last week. He referred to himself as “the chosen one.” He quoted a rabid conspiracy theorist radio host who declared that Israeli Jews love Trump as if he were the “King...
This is one of the strangest stories I have ever read. It is one thing to want to look your best. Key word being YOUR best not someone else’s best. We are all outrunning the grim reaper and trying to feel youthful and be our best, I thought. I was...
To be perfectly blunt, I think Kylie and Kendall Jenner are simply awful people. Both are the personification of privilege, and act the part as well. Neither are particularly gifted in any way, and it’s extremely unlikely they would ever have made it in the industry without their famous last name, vast family...
It seems to be an argument almost as fundamental as “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”, and just about as insoluble. On the one hand you have activist progressives who argue that the constitution isn’t interpreted by politics, and Trump’s offenses require impeachment, and the consequences be damned....
Wait, there’s a limit to the absurdities Republican senators will accept when it comes to Donald Trump’s “presidency”? I’d assumed they’d confirm the entire cast and crew of Duck Dynasty to Cabinet positions if Trump asked them to. Politico: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in a C-SPAN “Newsmakers” interview with...
It sounds crazy, but it really works. With the right knowledge, licensing and doggedness, a group can buy up medical debt for pennies of the dollar and then, literally, RIP. IT. UP. Strike Debt, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, pioneered this idea back in 2012-2013, when they bought up...
photo: PDA at the Medicare For All Act Launch The Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. For Healthcare as a Human Right! Mike Hersh for Dr. Bill, Donna, Alan, Mike F., Janis, Deb, Dan, Kim, Bryan, and Shayna—your PDA National Medicare for All Team If You Agree it is, Become a Grassroots...
photo: Dr. Bill, Bernie Sanders, and National Nurses United For Healthcare as a Human Right! Mike Hersh for Dr. Bill, Donna, Alan, Mike F., Janis, Deb, Dan, Kim, Bryan, and Shayna—your PDA National Medicare for All Team Be a Grassroots Supporter of Medicare For All! When Progressive Democrats of America...
photo: National Nurses United Leading On Medicare For All By, Mike Hersh for Dr. Bill, Donna, Alan, Mike F., Janis, Deb, Dan, Kim, Bryan, and Shayna—your PDA National Medicare for All Team URGENT: Tell Congress to SupportExpanded and Improved Medicare For All! Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was founded in 2004...
If Robert Mueller is on a with hunt former Obama Era Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal says he is doing a bang-up job…. Huffington Post “Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal believes that the moment special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings drop, they could spell major trouble for President Donald Trump....
By, Mike Hersh for Donna, Dr. Bill, Alan, Mike F., Janis, Deb, Dan, Kim, Bryan, and Shayna—your PDA National Medicare for All Team URGENT: Click to Tell Congress to SupportExpanded and Improved Medicare For All! Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was founded in 2004 to mobilize for progress on specific...
Prostate Cancer moved on me fast a few months ago. I blogged last September in Daily Kos about my Stage 4 diagnosis. I was in bed for awhile, with embarrassing tubes stuck into my formerly secret places. Since then, The Doctor’s prescribed eleven prescription drugs a day for me, including powerful...
We are all just prisoners here, of our own device Hotel California The Eagles It’s a classic axiom, “Like a rat caught in a maze.” It’s a scary mental image, running blindly from corridor to corridor, bumping into dead ends, ceaselessly doubling back, desperately looking for an exit that doesn’t...