Modern terminology for Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) has been expanding. Now, FTD is included within a larger group of neurodegenerative conditions including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), FTD with Parkinsonism, and FTD with Atrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The combined set of diseases including FTD behavioral variant and PPA is referred to as Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (or Dementia).

At the present time, a variety of factors (including the research literature, the interests of advocacy groups for individual diseases, and prior medical practices) continue to the nomenclature and typology of these diseases inconsistent in different places.

Donald Trump promised America no more Happy Holidays but instead a Merry Christmas for all Americans (even those who like me who are not Christians a group which includes also includes Ivanka, Jared, and their three young Jewish children). He also promised to cut taxes for the poor and middle class. He calls this the greatest Christmas present you have ever received. He has once again told a lie, and this one is a real doozy.

Trump says he is Santa Claus. Instead, Trump (Santa) and his two elves (Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell) are pretenders and have been very bad boys and helped super-rich donors and friends grab all of the money. They have also told middle-income Americans to deal with it, suck it up, and pay-off the $1.5 TRILLION debt that will result.

The richest 1% of all Americans will receive 83% of the reductions in taxes. Santa will probably just bring you a piece of coal.

Santa Trump deserves to be impeached and/or in jail. Today.

VEDTEFS has come to public health, or more accurately erased from public health “thanks” to the Trump administration.

The brilliant comedian George Carlin had a routine in the 1970s about “10 words you can’t say on the radio.” Carlin’s schtick has of course been made irrelevant in the 21st century since you can now say all of those words – and many more similar ones – on top 40 radio and on TV.

As reported in the Washington Post, those pathetic and mean clowns in the White House have now developed a list of seven words you cannot use in official reports at the US Centers for Disease Control, one of the world’s premier medical and healthcare research and public health agencies.

THOSE SEVEN WORDS ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO DESCRIBE A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH THAT LOOKS FOR TREATMENTS THAT HAVE GOOD OUTCOMES. SERVICES SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO VULNERABLE POPULATIONS, OF A DIVERSE NATURE, AND INCLUDING SERVICES FOR THE HIGH NEED ISSUES OF TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS AND FETUSES. STATE-OF-THE-ART HEALTHCARE AND ACCESS TO IT SHOULD BE ENTITLEMENTS AND A UNIVERSAL RIGHT FOR ALL THOSE IN THE USA.

Effective now the CDC is banned from using these words and web pages are coming down. Of even greater importance, apparently since the CDC is banned from using these words in their official reports and therefore they cannot seek to fund work on these topics as they cannot list them in such official documents as their proposed budgets. All seven words are part of the working vocabulary of most healthcare professionals in most countries.

Apparently Trump has been paying attention to Stalin, Hitler, and Putin, all of whom have banned words, books, and plays to control and brutalize their populations. And they have increased conflicts among citizens by allocating services to only the richest and most powerful people in their countries.

I rearranged the words in the order VEDTEFS so that you have an acronym to help remember what Trump wants you to forget.

Click to expand the image.

George Carlin’s famous X-rated monologue on the 7 words you can’t say on television greatly influenced my generation. One of the high points of the career from a comedian who did much to make us reassess cultural boundaries and censorship.

Carlin’s monologues are obscene by many people’s definitions. Don’t click on the videos if you are upset by extreme obscenity like that in the top 40s songs of the 21st Century.

From where I sit, Trump’s list of forbidden public health words at the CDC is just as obscene that presented by Carlin.

Note. The word ban at the CDC was extensively discussed in the worldwide media on December 16, 2017. If you would like to see the media discussions of the ban, a simple Google search will yield hundreds of results.

I have a series of mind maps that address the ways that I — as a person with dementia — should self-reflect on my own functioning and that I create or shape among others.

Most importantly, I try to ask myself what I learned for tomorrow. And then — by putting it in a mind map — remember what I hope to achieve. If I don’t map it, I probably won’t remember it Or gain from my insights.

Dementia is strange like that. It doesn’t necessarily keep you from having deep insights into issues… it just prevents you from remembering what they were if you don’t write them down. I’d contend that using a visual thinking method like mind mapping is the best way to “write them down.”

XMind was one of the original open source programs on the PC and Mac for mind mapping. A high percentage of the “simple” mind maps you have seen online were generated with that program. As time went on, a Chinese company used the open source code as the basis for a commercial product which has many advanced features while still being easy to use and very fast. An enhanced version of the original program is still available on the website and has been promised to continue to be circulated for free.

This week XMind was released for the first time as an iOS (iPhone, iPad) app. It is currently being offered for free on a limited time basis.

My initial impression of the app is that it is one of the two best mind mapping programs for the iPhone and iPad (iMindMap continues to be #1). XMind is especially well adapted for the small screens of the iOS devices and is very usable on an iPhone. XMind employs a “keypress” user interface which is generally more accessible for most users at the beginning stages of use.

What XMind iOS lacks — and what I suspect will end up as an additional feature you have to pay for — is the ability to add images to the mind map. For most maps where one wants to use images throughout the diagram, this is a limitation. I expect you will see another version very shortly. XMind iOS mind maps can easily be imported into other mind map programs to add images and advanced formatting. In exporting images, the app is limited to only medium resolution.

This version of the program will suffice for most basic note taking and simple brainstorming applications. Many might find this the only mind mapping program they need.

For now, the initial version is free. Available on the iOS app store for Apple products. More information here.

Donald Trump is an incompetent president and it is just a matter of months before he is removed from office or resigns. With the current succession order, the future looks almost as dark as the present. Click on the image to expand it.