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social, health, political imagery through the lens of G J Huba PhD © 2012-2021

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My mind can hardly grasp the idea of a $2 trillion and more budget package to help stem the damage from the coronavirus pandemic and pitiful way that federal government failed to use the best medical methods to help control and diminish the outcomes from the outbreak. Among other things, it is also absurd that President Trump insists on having a $500 billion slush fund within the appropriation that he will probably use to buy votes for the 2020 election and reward donors and supporters. Of course, he also demands sole control over the slush fund.

After we get the coronavirus tragedy (and federal fiasco) under control and protect our citizens and their businesses, we will also need to turn our attention to climate change. Why. not also use the coronavirus appropriation to also support the “greening” of America and the continuation of our species.

A lot of money will be spent on creating jobs after the pandemic. Those new jobs should be within “green” projects and tp companies that improve the planet and not those like coal and petrochemical industries that destroy it. The new jobs should be ones that are better in their working conditions and benefits and salaries than the existing ones displaced. A lot of new green companies and job training for green jobs could be provided for displaced workers and those jobs would also make an effect upon stopping climate change.

American ingenuity could take us a long way toward fully recovering from the pandemic and dealing with climate change at the same time. Let’s not do it the same old way the current White House wants. Let’s protect our children’s futures by using the money necessary to recover from the pandemic to also address climate change. We want power plants that are “clean” and not using coal or petroleum as their power sources. So develop green companies. The airlines want to be saved and in the interest of climate improvement, they can be required to cut the emissions from their airplanes (the p.rimary source of air pollution). Automobile manufacturers will want to be helped; that is a lot more valuable for the future US environment if 100%k of the cars manufactured with pandemic recovery funds are fully electric. And so on.

Some suggestions. Click on the mind map to expand it.

President Trump (or more specifically, his creditors) owns large golf resorts around the USA. Presumably, those are all closed due to local directives.

Tens of housands of unused hotel rooms, conference halls, kitchens, refrigeration, intercoms in such locations as Los Angeles, suburban DC, suburban NYC, Miami, Palm Beach, and many others. Simple to transition these to medical rooms by replacing beds.

And, what better place to put a tent hospital than on a golf course where isolation can easily be achieved.

I guess that it would be asking too much for Trump to loan his facilities to the US for use without cost until the end of the COVID-19 crisis.

 

When discussing the COVID-19 pandemic with a loved one who has dementia, it is important to be matter-of-fact and honest but with a respectful, loving, calming, and warm voice, touch, and style.

Don’t make the conversation about the pandemic too detailed. Do discuss the issues in a general way and be honest. Don’t make it too graphic. Try not to trigger anxiety, agitation, and anger.

The TRUTH but gently. How the pandemic will affect the person with dementia and you and your relationship. But do so gently and with concern and with a positive attitude that “we can get through all of this but it will take a lot of hard work by us.”

Click on the mind map to expand its size.

Isolating someone in their home with another person is a possible recipe for domestic violence. Keep them there for weeks-months, add in the use of alcohol and/or psychoactive drugs and the likelihood of domestic violence increases. Add in a possible gun and the violence can easily become fatal.

And during the coronavirus pandemic, police intervention will be less available to end an out-of-control episode.

There appears to be no real alternative to sheltering large numbers of the public in place during a viral pandemic. The long and intense frustrations of being sheltered in place do not mix well with alcohol, psychoactive drugs, and guns. During a viral pandemic, you can die from more things than just the virus.

Click on the image to expand it.

Many people worldwide are not being reached. Special communication methods need to be reached by non-traditional means in addition to the typic methods.  A lot of people simply cannot be reached through print and television and radio messages. Even if someone sits through a TV ad or news report, they may not understand the message.

As usual, the under-served and ignored are being under-served and ignored.

 

 

 

It’s pretty hard to find anything good to say about the federal government’s response except to thank G-d that Nancy Pelosi is around. As always we have brilliant, dedicated, and empathetic health care professionals trying their hardest to get us through a pandemic. They show up, they provide the best healthcare they can, and we are damn lucky to have them. Had the US government had our hospitals and medical supplies ready at the earliest stages of the pandemic, the world might have been facing a more easily contained outbreak that could have avoided many of the deaths and erosions of our lives.

The US Government was not ready. For three years, there has been no federal leadership that was appropriate for preparing for a pandemic or a huge natural disaster. Highly trained experts, medical leaders, and bureaucrats had been forced out of the Executive Branch, to be replaced (if they were replaced at all) by the what can be termed at best frivolous hires that were inappropriate and with replacement hires (appointees) incompetently selected for their political affiliations, not professional training and achievements.

In spite of a deliberate attempt to cut medical and social services in the USA, we are still fortunate to have marvelously trained doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals ready to help. But our bureaucrats, as of this day, still cannot them the medical tests, supplies, and facilities that they need to minimize the effects of the pandemic. Politics and greed in the Executive Branch of the US government have greatly affected the healthcare system of the United States and left our country without the resources needed in times of disaster.

In a word, it was and is STUPID.

Click the image to expand.

The way the USA is handling the COVID-19 pandemic is anemic and pathetic. Yes, we all know in our hearts that if we had a different President who was a good decision-maker, empathic, smart, honest, and a good man we would not be where we are in our misguided attempts to control the pandemic and provide treatment. Also, the world’s stock market would not be bleeding resources.

We need to carefully examine what we are doing — and it will only take two hours to do so as we all know what is happening — and design and implement what our experts know and have told us is the best strategy.

This is not a pissing contest between the Republicans and the Democrats in the USA. Can we fix all of the fights? Probably not, but we can salvage some of the service systems and prevent the full carnage the current programs will create. Every time an idiotic President, Senator,  or House representative refuses to do what our medical professionals have told us is the best course of action,  a lot of people die.

Click on the image to enlarge the mind map.

Even an old man with dementia can see the patterns and consequences of what the US government is doing and not doing now. We don’t need to panic, we need to listen to those who know what is best for us to do. Every time we accept an illogical and inaccurate statement from the US President or Congress we sign a death warrant for more of our citizens. LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS.

I have written about this topic more than a dozen times since 2012.

I know that adopting visual thinking rules has made it much easier for me to weather the storms of cognitive decline and neurocognitive disease. I know that the same techniques are useful for caregivers and healthcare providers.

Think about making a small investment in time to explore the methods I recommend. Your initial attempts require no more “equipment” than a couple of pens or pencils and the back of a used envelope.

Mike Rohde is the developer of sketchnotes. His revolutionary ideas are here in an online demonstration. A great technique for everyone and useful if you have cognitive problems like memory loss or other impaired thinking. I use this technique to deal with my own neurocognitive disease.

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Also, see your pharmacist and ask her concerns about any of the drug combinations you take.

I have always been quite concerned that with a number of different conditions being treated including dementia symptoms and underlying brain disease, it was quite possible that some of the medications might be counter-indicated or redundant (and thus giving me an “overdose” of certain brain pathways. Your physician(s) can help you resolve this.

NOTE. MANY OF THE MEDICATIONS PRESCRIBED FOR DEMENTIA SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES NEED TO BE WITHDRAWN GRADUALLY AND SLOWLY TO AVOID COMPLICATIONS FROM STOPPING THE DRUG QUICKLY. ALWAYS SEE A PHYSICIAN ABOUT DISCONTINUING A MEDICATION OR CHANGING THE DOSAGE.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus 2019) is dominating the. news right now. It sounds scary. It is scary. It threatens health with many deaths expected as the pandemic is established. Research for treatment and prevention methods are going to be very expensive. The stock market is much lower because of the uncertainty introduced into sales predictions of goods and services. Medications and inoculations will be expensive as will hospital stays and quarantine costs.

If there are ways to promote smart behaviors to cut the chances that the virus is passed between two individuals, a large number of cases may be avoided due to better information sharing and behavioral changes.

Ir is not a big deal to design and implement some protocols for cutting transmission rates. The cost will be extremely low per individual and can be up and running in a matter of weeks.

Some ideas are shown in the mind map below. Click to expand the size.

 

 

A reminder …