Category Archives: Medical

A Problem Facing the MAGA

Medical, Philosophy, ,
MAGA

With the Covid-19 (aka Coronavirus) pandemic entering it’s fourth month and the slow, if not laggardly, actions of Pres. Trump and his fellow MAGAs to fight this pandemic. The biggest problem is that like all MAGA Pres. Trump does not really understand the age in which we live.

This is the Information Age.when everything you say in public can, and often is, recorded for all time. More than that it can, and will, be shared with the entire world with in hours, if not minutes. An unlike MiniTrue in 1984 it is not possible for any government to control what information is peeing shared. So we have the problem facing the Governor of Georgia saying that he just found out that asymptotic people can spread the infection. With in minutes he was show to be either 1) a liar 2) ignorant beyond belief or 3) a total fool.

This is the problem of the use of the “Leadership Priciple” as first formalized in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. You have to be shown ‘leading’ and it must conform to your exposed political principles (even if it has nothing to do with politics) and you just may get it wrong. But as the ‘Leader’ you can’t be wrong, so now what? Back in the middle of the 20th century it was possible for government and big businesses to make the unpleasant truth to disappear down the memory hole.

There are several great examples of this in history the one I like the best was how Stalin was able to make one of the biggest communists of the revolution just disappear from wall USSR records. Photographs and all. But it was not just in communist states has this happened, nor just in the 20th century. This has been going on since before recorded records. Until now.

With the arrival of electronic computers, the internet and the ‘cloud’ it has become almost impossible for anything, truth of lie, to disappear down the memory hole. Now what happens is the truth is buried under an avalanche of lies and other ‘the real truth’. But do not loose hope. We also have the tools to protect the truth and it too is as old as history. Critical Thinking and the simple fundamental principle that the universe is non-partisan.

Something like Covid-19 does not, in fact can not, care what the leaders want. It will do what the natural laws of the universe dictate. If our leaders refuse to acknowledge this and we don’t do ‘social distancing’ and we let profiteers practice ‘classical’ capitalism and the ‘privileged few’ think it “can’t happen here” then we will have a great pandemic here with many deaths that would not have happened if they, the leaders, had acted as the medical specialist recommended.

Remember “The piper is Always Paid.”

Now is the Times that Try Mens Souls

Medical, ,
Plague Doctor

Just under 244 years ago, in 1776, Thomas Paine started his epic pamphlet to urge all Americans to come to the aid of their country in it’s time of need. An while it was written at the start of a war with an infinitely more powerful foe I still think the spirit of “The American Crisis” is appropriate for today.

The Covid-19 pandemic is on the way to being the greatest crisis to actually strike the Americans in their homes since the American Civil War. An yes, I’m including the “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918/19. Unlike the “Spanish Flu” this crisis is not just medical, but also economic and quite possibly political. An it will not end with ending the “Stay at Home” order, be it four more weeks or eight or twelve more weeks.

The economy is going to change a great deal in the next few years. People are learning that work can be done at home. That it is not really necessary to have everyone crowded into a office. People will learn that they don’t need to go to the local Mall to do most of their shopping. I have no idea what is going to happen to the restaurant business but it too will be changing. What I can say is that I’m looking for a change in how America does business that will be as large and earth shaking as the changes I’ve seen in my life time. Only it won’t happen over 50 years but more like 5.

So now is the time for every American to get ready to step forth and do their best to make the changes as good as possible. Now is when we stop with blaming and start helping. Now is to fix a problem or potential problem when we discover it. As Pain said 244 years ago the “Sunshine Patriot” will shirk his duty then they will shirk it now. Now is when we must be ever vigilant for those who will seek to take advantage of the crisis for their own person gain, and stop them. We need to stop them where ever they spring up, and they will spring up, every time they spring up. An not just for the duration of medical crisis, but during the rebuilding over the next few years.

You don’t need to do anything big or showy, in fact the small and un-noticed will do more good when we all do it together.

In closing: “Take care of each other and be safe.”

Me and the ACA

ACA-ObamaCare, Politics

This is a red letter day for me, my MediCal application has been accepted.  This means that UCLA et al will be paid by MediCal in total since I was making less than $600/Mo when I had my hart attack last year.  The bad news is that because I had to retire, my hart is too week for me to work, and I’m now living solely on Social Security.  It seems that MediCal feels that now make too much and from now on any time in any given month I will have to pay the first $840 for any medical.  For someone like me that is just as good as having nothing but catastrophic.

I wanted to see what the ACA could do for me next year.  Being a Californian I went to Covered California and found several plans under $100 with very low co-pays (usually $20).  So if the rules of MediCal don’t change this coming January I have something to fall back on.  The old system sucked for anyone in my situation.  Uninsurable people like me, I had preexisting condition(s) that every insurance company I contacted used to turn me down.  Under ACA this is no longer the case.  Nice now that I have a condition I need to see the doctor every three to six months and I now need to take 9 different Meds every day too.  Even the poorest, lest expensive plan on the site will be much better for me than what MediCal is doing for me currently.

I plan to keep posting my adventure thru Medical Insurance, MediCal and the ACA. So keep an eye out for my next exciting chapter.  An to everyone out there who want to scrap ACA and go back to the wonderful system we had before I say this 😛