Could dementia explain Donald Trump's bizarre behavior?

All of a sudden the Internet is buzzing over Donald Trump's cognitive health, and people who know him are talking...

"Joe Scarborough, who has known Trump for years, said in 2017 that Trump's mental confusion reminded him of his mother, who had Alzheimer's for 10 years."

Just reported in USA Today, the event occurred two years ago and you have to wonder, with Trump's recent antics, has he worsened? Yes, says Scarborough...

“It's getting worse, and not a single person who works for him doesn’t know he has early signs of dementia,"

 Do we need a person with his finger on the button whose cognitive health is going downhill? Donald Trump shouldn't be in the White House in this condition, he needs to be in a hospital receiving medical care. Psychologist John Gartner, writing in USA, says that President Donald Trump is undergoing significant cognitive decline and must be tested for dementia. Gartner is a clinical psychologist who taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School for 28 years. 

Gartner's concerns have grown over the months "while following the continued decay of the president’s speech patterns." He cites Trump's "choosing the incorrect words," and "the substitution of a word with a nonword that preserves at least half of the segments and/or number of syllables of the intended word." Gartner says both of these are signs of Alzheimer’s, reported in Salon. And then Gartner recalls examples...

"the president demanding to know the 'oranges' of the Mueller probe, as well as references to 'midtowm' and 'midturn' elections.

But The Young Turks do the best job of expressing the real Donald Trump in this video in descriptions only this group could perform. But don't get me wrong, this is serious and needs the immediate attention of Congress.

 

New Zealand makes U.S. look like the idiots we are

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

The United States is controlled and powered by a gang of double-digit gun nuts, both in the American public and in the U.S Congress. New Zealand, on the other hand, sees the problems and source of gun violence and does something about it. Their parliament votes 119-1 to ban assault weapons. Don't know who the single hold-out was but you can probably bet he is a follower of the American NRA's Wayne LaPierre. Vox says...

"The swift action comes after last month’s mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which a white supremacist killed 50 people."

And there you have the difference between a country (the USA) that values guns over the lives of innocent adults and children, and another country (New Zealand) that identifies their problem--guns--and does something about it. It is very hard to understand how this nation can stoop so low as to favor its weaponry over human lives, with the evidence of gun violence screaming at us daily. It is perhaps one of the sickest cultures of any country in the world.

The U.S. reaction to daily gun violence is a very tiring "thoughts and prayers" response which is regularly regurgitated from Washington and the National Rifle Assn. Both have come to realize what bullshit this is, and each is now at a loss of what to do. So, they do nothing. Here's how New Zealand handles guns...

"people first have to obtain a license to legally purchase, own, and possess a gun. That all typically takes months to get through. some types of firearms, like handguns and certain semiautomatic rifles, require “endorsements” from police and separate permits to purchase. The licenses have to be renewed every 10 years, and police can revoke a person’s license if that person is believed to no longer be fit for ownership and may pose a threat. Gun sellers are also licensed and regulated by police."

WOW! If the United States had this kind of control, how many lives would have been saved in the last several years? Homicides by firearm per 1 million people: New Zealand 1.6; United States 29.7. But on the other hand, Glock has just hired top gun nut Chuck Norris to promote its line of weaponry, which is certain to impress enough people to go out and buy even more guns. But, then, that is the American way, isn't it?

The hidden danger of anti-vaxxers-unknown exposure

Darla Shine-dumbest of anti-vaxxers

They're everywhere, but we don't know who they are. I am talking about anti-vaxxes in business healthcare and education. Here's the scenario. You walk into your favorite retail location, picking up items as you shop to look at. What you don't know is the fact that the sales clerk that just put several of these things on display has an unvaccinated kid at home with the measles, and mom has been touching her all morning. Bingo, you are exposed to the measles.

The same plot is carried out in a doctor's office or hospital, then at the university or in the library. My point is that you simply don't know when you have come in contact with one of these anti-vaxxer individuals that might be carrying all sorts of diseases. It happened to me, in a doctor's office. The receptionist was bragging that she didn't vaccinate her kids, in front of the rest of the staff, and I, of course, was telling her how wrong she was. We no longer go to this doc.

Like I said, these anti-vaxxers are everywhere and of course in the Donald Trump administration. The wife of former Trump White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, Bill Shine, is one of these dimwits. Wife, Darla Shine, came up with this absurd idea, and keep in mind it is during the period when new measles cases were breaking out daily...

"she said that not being vaccinated and actually contracting the measles or mumps was a huge advantage, a hardiness builder that could help a person fight off cancer down the line."

I have heard the statements of a lot of anti-vaxxers, but this one takes the cake for inherent stupidity. And this is what the world of these freak propagandists listen to and then go viral with it in social media. Facebook, at least, had the sense to curb what appeared to be complete damaging misinformation. But there is nothing like word of mouth and these morons are out there in force spreading their diseases both verbally and physically.

The terrible truth is these spreaders of calamity are here to stay, says Scientific American. So, the only thing we can do is shun them like the plague and BEWARE!

Trump has much more baggage than just Mueller Report

T-rump definitely in a squeeze

Aside from himself, there is his business, and his family is in jeopardy from many other investigations and lawsuits. This should be a classic example of 'when you do the deed, you do the time.' Unless the Donald Trump legal ensemble can pull this whole mess out of the fire. Many hope that he and his family get their just desserts from using the U.S. government to lie their way through scenario after scenario and connive their way to federal positions of power.

 But the big news is something uncovered in a lawsuit filed against Felix Sater, a Russian-born mobster and government informant who worked closely with Trump for years. Get that, a 'mobster" compounded by the fact he "worked closely with Trump for years." We've had questionable presidents over time , but there is no doubt in my mind that none of them can beat Donald Trump's corruption. Here's what Salon says...

"The bureau should have intimate knowledge of business dealings between the mobster and Trump, who despite being cut off by every major bank except one, was flush with cash after a few years of working with Sater. The one bank that kept loaning Trump money was Deutsche Bank, which has been fined more than $600 million for laundering money for Russians."

Vox mentions a few of Trump's continuing problems: The hush money investigation; The Trump inaugural committee investigations; New York state-based investigations (a biggie!); and miscellaneous Lawsuits. If Mueller can't bring T-rump down, political pundits feel like the above, particularly the New York action, will. Sater's testimony yielded...

"that between Trump, when he was a private citizen, and a host of Russian criminals and a North Korean nuclear weapons materials trafficker there is only one degree of separation: Sater."

I don't believe Al Capone and John Gotti combined had this much dirt in their corner and they didn't wiggle out. 

2nd Amendment 'Sanctuaries' sounding like anti-vaxxers

Here's the definition of a Second Amendment Sanctuary...

"also referred to as Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance or Second Amendment Protection Act, refers to resolutions adopted by some jurisdictions in the United States to not expend resources to enforce certain gun control measures perceived as violative of the Second Amendment."

In other words, gun sanctuary cities are those where gun nut law enforcement has chosen to break the law and not protect its citizens from gun violence. Kinda like anti-vaxxers who have decided to break social traditions that protect the health of this country. Salon reports...

"In some cases, county sheriffs have publicly said they will not enforce the new laws"

This has happened in at least six states: Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Illinois. Sounds like sedition to me, an outright act of huge illegal proportions by law enforcement that is bound by the Constitution to uphold the laws of this country. And it's gaining momentum throughout the U.S. Although inspired by efforts to establish immigration and marijuana sanctuaries, it is the new Red Flag Laws that move these groups today...

"A red flag law is a gun violence prevention law that permits police or family members to petition a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves."

Now that seems reasonable enough to most people who prefer to keep their lives intact rather than die from gun violence. Monument, Colorado is one of those bastions of gun nuts who favor their weapons over the life of the innocent citizens they are supposed to protect. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to proclaim Monument as a “Second Amendment Preservation Town. Police Chief Jacob Shirk doesn't like the red flag bill, probably won't enforce it.

Brookline, Mass. frowns on its firearm licensing policies, and is attempting to take its case all the way to the Supreme Court. These 2nd Amendment morons are going to go too far soon that the American public will tire of the gun violence and vote to repeal the 2nd Amendment. This all ties in with the spate of loose gun laws across the country that allow these cowboys and cowgirls to take their guns anywhere they want to. This sloppy gun control just puts more guns in the hands of the bad guys.

Measles has competition...A 'Super Bug'

Famous new 'Superbug'

There were 100 more cases of measles last week. Keep in mind this is a disease that was considered eradicated in the U.S. twenty years ago. The total number of cases reported is 465, all thanks to the stupidity of anti-vaxxer parents that refuse to vaccinate their children. The irony of all this is the fact that some of these parents probably had their vaccinations years ago from parents who were sane. Fortunately, those parents didn't have social media to lead them astray.

Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable respiratory illness characterized by a rash of flat red spots. Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, according to CNN. The disease is widespread throughout the U.S. as federal and state lawmakers stand by while this issue reaches epic proportions in...

The states of Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts and Nevada. Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

If your state isn't in there, it will be soon. But now the CDC has confirmed 144 cases of the 'superbug' in Illinois...

The cases of Candida auris, a serious and sometimes fatal fungal infection that has been called a "superbug," have been identified in Illinois and 11 other states across America, according to the CDC.

The sane majority of people in this country are going to want to know if this has anything to do with the idiot anti-vaxxers who have spread measles, mumps and chickenpox. New York has 309 cases and the bug so far seems confined to the big apple, New Jersey and Chicago. It has been reported that...

"Globally, Candida auris has been reported in eight other countries, including two with more than 30 patients each, the 2016 report added."

New York schools were ordered to prohibit unvaccinated children in December. It is time for lawmakers to step in and stop this issue from reaching an uncontrollable state.

West of Tombstone, the shootouts continue

You can't get much further west than Manhattan Beach. Calif., one of the state's premiere beach communities that attracts the moneyed young. Gunfire started in the Manhattan Gateway shopping center with one police officer down almost immediately. Several cops then opened fire on the suspect. No information yet on the injured officer. A bike rider commented...

“This is just a trip,” said Hawthorne resident Chavita Medrano, who was out for a bike ride. “You hear about all these things horrible happening in the world, but you don’t expect it right in your backyard.”

Precisely. We expected this sort of action in the old days of Tombstone, but not in an upscale community of Los Angeles. It started with a guy chasing a woman through the lobby of a hotel and then he took off running into a shopping center. The cop shot was hit in the leg and taken to a hospital. The suspect was eventually captured and a female, also chased by cops, was apparently OK, but her relationship to the suspect was unknown.

Sounds like a great day for a walk around the beach and then all hell breaks loose and there is a shooter on the loose. There are 393 million guns owned by Americans. There are 857 million firearms owned worldwide, meaning the U.S. gun nuts are in possession of almost 46% of total guns owned in the world. And one of these characters just happened to be in Manhattan Beach, Calif. on Sunday, deciding to shoot up the community.

Police announced "the gunman was armed with 'some sort of assault rifle or a TEC-9-type high-powered or high-capacity weapon.'" Assault rifles seem to be the weapon of choice when a deranged individual decides to go out and kill a few people. In this case the police officer should be fine, but the next time the guy could take out 10, 15, up to 20 or more victims in yet another mass killing.

And ladies and gentlemen, all thanks to Wayne LaPierre and his misguided National Rifle Assn. (NRA).

Do we really care about these people?

To begin with, I could care less. And what is even more frustrating is the fact that the media gives it such high profiling. I did one blog post on the news that some top TV and movie stars could be prosecuted for their involvement in an admissions scandal for their children at the U. of Southern California. USC is a bastion of higher learning and should be quick to deal with those school officials involved. But I am really sick and tired of hearing bout it.


These people made their beds so now they must sleep in it, a term Hollywood is quite familiar with. Apparently Lori Loughlin and her husband bought their kids way into USC because they felt they were too dumb to do it on their own. From what I have seen so far from kid Olivia Jade Giannulli, the parents were right in their mental assessment. And Olivia now says she also fears prosecution, but recently blaming her lost career on her mother. What lost career?

While this freak daughter screams over her persecution, People Magazine said, "The 19-year-old knew about the alleged scheme and would have stopped it if she thought they’d get caught." Now that shows real character and is why this whole thing should go to court soon if this case is prosecutable. There's talk of some of the culprits making a deal and in tinsel town that is done regularly. But no matter what happens, these people will always carry with them their involvement in a petty scam.

Mick Mulvaney Trump taxes statement just...stupid

Mick Mulvaney

The release of Donald Trump's taxes, its legality, and whether he was elected in spite of the fact he refused to release the information is not the point here. Newly elected Presidents normally release their tax returns as a matter of transparency, and Donald Trump did not. Mike Mulvaney is either just dumb or he thinks the American public is dumb and will buy his bullshit over the issue. He said the Democrats would never see T-rumps's taxes, then added...

"Nor should they (obtain the documents)" Mulvaney told "Fox News Sunday." "Keep in mind, that's an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the President could have given over his tax returns, they knew that he didn't and they elected him anyway. Which, of course, is what drives the Democrats crazy."

Don't you just love the reasoning of these idiot Republicans, their arrogance, and how they attempt to protect the Oval Office lunatic. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Donald Trump is trying to hide something. The question is why, and if his constituency doesn't care, then they are dumber than Mike Mulvaney. Trump's attorney said...

"that the requests for Trump's tax information 'are not consistent with governing law, do not advance any proper legislative purpose, and threaten to interfere with the ordinary conduct of audits.'"

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff responded that, "there is no legal ground for them here." And the beat goes on.

WARNING: To those using home blood pressure monitors

Sphygmomanometer

If you have a home blood pressure monitor you need to read this post. In my experience they are erratically inconclusive and could be so misleading as to cause the person using it either think their BP is too high, or too low. In my case it was registering an unusually high reading, when, in most cases, it was normal. I had purchased an Omron meter because they were highly touted, using it for a while but always getting readings higher than a normal BP.

When contacting Omron customer service, they were of no help at all, a woman telling us their machine was not adjustable, of which we inquired, that my BP was probably correct on the Omron and that I should check with my doctor. I did and learned the Omron was wrong (over 20 points higher than by actual BP) when compared to the doctor's office sphygmomanometer. Let me emphasize, it is the latter that you should always compare your home unit with.

Checking with my primary care doc, I found their office used a Welch Allyn sphygmomanometer, so I purchased their home model. Same problem, but great customer service with WA. They even went so far as to replace their product free, even after I purchased it from Amazon. But it's all for naught since I recently learned the Welch Allyn was off an average of 34 points too high. The doc took the BP several times and in both arms.

The scary part of this is that for at least three years now I have been fooling myself thinking my blood pressure was significantly high. It isn't, but it is high enough to require some BP medication to keep it under control. Based on my experience, the only way I would use one of these home BP meters is to first check its accuracy with your doctor, then proceed based on those results. In my case with the Welch Allyn, I will simply subtract around 34 points from each reading.

Weekly opinion wrap up...

I started the week out with a post about a black man who was brutally murdered by a white man; the latter shot the other three times from his apartment balcony after the black man had simply mistakenly knocked on his door. It rings loud and clear of racial hatred that was supposed to be improving gradually over the years but, in fact, is seething in the minds of many.

It was around this same time that we found out that measles are at the 2nd highest level since elimination was declared in 2000. For this we have that new screwed up group of Anti-Vaxxers to thank. As of March 28, there are 387 individual cases of measles that have been confirmed in 15 states. Folks, that's after science eradicated the disease. Pathetic!

With the above in mind, a terminally ill child was exposed to measles by anti-vaxxers at the U. of California Davis Jackson Souza Bell Medical Center. The mother wasn't told for two days after her child had been exposed. It's bad enough that these maniacs are passing their disease around on the street, but there should be some level of security in a hospital.

Later, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) was fighting the extension of a law that would make it a crime to abuse a date, stalking him or her, after they break up. There are federal domestic violence laws protecting spouses, but if you're not married, the NRA considers you fair game. But it has always been the NRA that is the problem in getting gun control done. Yet there is a host of gun owners who think gun ownership standards should be raised. It all comes down to one man, Wayne LaPierre, head NRA gun nut.

I ended the week with Robert Reich's statement: "Mitch McConnell is destroying the Senate – and American government." This has been my position on Mitch McConnell for years, expressed regularly in this blog. But there's more: "No person has done more in living memory to undermine the functioning of the US government than the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell." Robert Reich agrees with everything I have ever felt or said about Mitch McConnell.

ROBERT REICH: Mitch McConnell is destroying the Senate – and American government

I have been saying the exact same thing in this blog for years that Robert Reich is saying in the above headline. Reich goes on...

A smug Mitch McConnell

"The majority leader cares only for winning, not rules or democracy itself. He is doing more damage than Trump"

Bingo, my thoughts replayed, and maybe with this international utterance (source is the UK's Guardian) coming from a leading political figure of the past (served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton and was Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997) a witless Senate will realize what a jerk they have leading this body. More from Reich...

"No person has done more in living memory to undermine the functioning of the US government than the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell."

He compares Donald Trump's stupidity in the Oval Office with Senate Head Mitch McConnell but qualifies his statement with the fact that McConnell is, "actively and willfully destroying the Senate."

It remains to be seen just how far Robert Reich's comments go, or if they just fall on deaf ears. If it's the latter, we're back to a half-baked Senate that does nothing.

My favorite post on Mitch McConnell.