The Puppeteers of Medicine

NBC-TV's evening news reported this weekend on U.S. nurses (apparently nurse practitioners, for the most part) who, in a country faced with an increasing physician shortage, have taken it upon themselves to see patients who otherwise would have no medical care at all.  I did not catch the full report, but the trend discussed involves nurses who have a medical doctor available (on the side) to call, should a patient require a more in-depth investigation.

Seems rational, right?  Well, that depends upon whether you're you, me or the American Medical Association (AMA).  If you're the AMA, you wag your little lobbying finger in Washington and say no, no, no.  Why?  Because the AMA wants nurse practitioners doing their thing directly under the thumb of an on-site physician -- who, seems to me, is probably always an AMA member by virtue of being a doctor.

Physicians get pissed when you refer to the AMA as a "doctors' union," but one thing is sure:  This organization wields immense power over you, me, life and death decisions and the way our medical professionals are expected to practice medicine in the United States.  Increasingly, though it seems like only a few years ago when considerable attention was directed to the importance of the doctor-patient relationship -- where each listens to the other and develops a treatment regimen based upon mutual knowledge and trust -- all of that appears to have flown away with the wind. 

I'm amazed over stories I've encountered recently about patients having little or no say in their treatment methods, as medical professionals turn more and more to drugs and away from the wonders of nutrition, proper diet and even something as small and reassuring as a "bedside manner."  In fact, a person known to me personally as an individual endowed with advanced medical knowledge and experience was basically thrown out of their new disagreeable physician's office because the doctor insists upon acting primarily as a prescription drug pusher and apparently little else.  Oh -- and that particular physician also has poor grades at online sites and comes off, in addition, as a proponent of sending patients off to psychotherapy, perhaps more often than the norm.

Physicians and other health professionals are already spooked enough over a never-ending barrage of lawsuits by attorneys empowered with a sixth sense known as  got'cha.  That's why it's just a shame that omnipresent AMA standards have created teams of physicians almost relegated to robot status, afraid and forbidden to exercise treatment options outside the caducean  gate of acceptance.  That equates to enhancement of the drug culture, baby, drugs for one and all.

As in so many other realms, I guess it could be interesting to learn which lawmakers receive election contributions from the AMA and in what amounts, but what really matters is the future:  Nurse practitioners and others will be forced to take up a lot of slack until and unless a physician shortage reaching around five figures can be alleviated -- no matter what the AMA prefers to believe or attempts to make us believe.  As we're quickly discovering, the future isn't at all what we anticipated even a decade ago, and medicine, too, is ripe for twists and turns beyond health administrators' dreams. 

Prediction from a soothsayer moron -- The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) boondoggle as it currently stands will sink by virtue of its own weight.  Meanwhile, should your medical insurance be lacking, and you happen to experience the terror of a UFO alien abduction, at least take advantage of the situation by asking for a complete physical, and don't forget to request lab results.  Bonus:  No co-pays, payment denials or outrageous bills in the mail.

From prep school to perp school:  So, an (then) 18-year-old male student allegedly had some kind of sexual experience with a 15-year-old female student at a prep school whose name I forget and have no reason to remember, anyway.  With the jury trial over and the most serious charge of rape dismissed, punishment on other violations is pending.  What surprised me most was the possibility, under the most serious charge, that the guy could have been sent to the slammer for 60 years.  As things stand, he may receive up to eight years behind bars.

Sorry to be so mean and ignorant, but I see a country where young men are currently under attack just for being  born of the male gender -- which, I've little doubt, a certain segment of society would prefer to be altered surgically, just to play fair.  First VCRs, and now computers have also pushed us into a far more permissive society, transforming sexual experimentation into activities and attitudes almost deemed normal and acceptable today.

Yes, I do have a problem with severe penalties involving sex, almost sex or coulda' been sex between two people whose ages are barely three years apart.  Sixty years in prison?  One suspects that some of these old bastard lawmakers and judges tend to forget how readily aroused they were at the sexual turning point of their own lives.  Nature, unimpeded by sex laws, makes young folk do some unexpected things sometimes, and the mere threat of penalties is canceled out by the teenage brain.  The what?  Did you forget about the teenage brain? Well. . .

Wasn't it three or four years ago when the psych community (sigh, yes, them. . .) drooled forth with their latest pronouncement that teenagers' brains don't fully mature until folks reach something like 24-26 (28?) years of age?  Hmm.  Given this profound dose of enlightenment, how can current laws hold anybody below this age range responsible for anything at all, sex included?

But what about basic values, morals?  Good luck finding those, they were swept out by the mile long ago.  What are the churches teaching?  Churches?  You mean those places of worship which won't even address or show outrage over Christian genocide practiced daily by the ISIS crew all over the Middle East?  So much for values.

Sex laws in general, nevertheless, are so archaic and unyielding in the current era, probably in large part because everybody already feels guilty about the mere existence of sex -- I mean, it's most unrefined and embarrassing manifestations can't even be stomped out like a campfire, no matter how one tries.  But you want to put a kid in prison for 60 years for something which (1) appears consensual and (2) involved teens of a generally mutual age range?  And then you throw in the alleged female "victim" crying on the witness stand, always a tear-jerking, male-destroying guarantee to sway juries?  To continue to base interpretations and "punishment" purely upon numerical age doesn't appear a reasonable choice in the current era.   I say the whole damned system is bonkers.  Prep school?  It sure was!

Donald Trump vs. Jorge Ramos:  Ramos is an illegal alien advocate and activist masquerading as a journalist, and as an American citizen he should be ashamed of himself for aiding and abetting the destruction of American culture, as border-jumping criminals continue to invade the USA from all over the world via the Southern border.  Trump was perfectly within his rights to be Trump at his press conference.

White TV station news personnel and yet another white cop are executed by black radicals,  racists and/or crazies, and still our illustrious president and Dept. of Justice head have little or nothing to say in condemnation.  Which takes us to. . .

How about a citizen's arrest?  Today's yummy fantasy:  During a presidential press conference, a reporter from a major news service breaks from the crowd and announces a citizen's arrest of President Obama.  Yeah, handcuffs, the you have the right to. . .  speech, the whole thing, then it's off to a jail cell, followed by a trial, conviction and a long prison sentence for violation of oath, for softening national security and for diminishing American influence with intent.  And, oh yeah, for letting racism fester throughout the land, with nary a word to make it stop.  Apparently, for this criminal administration -- whose members REALLY should (might?) face serious legal consequences one day for actions detrimental to the national interest -- black  bad lives matter.

Steven Spielberg's Biggest Screen Fantasy Yet - Obama Repackaged?

Some of you probably think that because I'm a crusty old wartime veteran. . .um, well, okay, you got me, so I'm not (yet) crusty, "old" is appropriate, and though I served in a medical capacity during the Vietnam Era, I was never in combat.  But still, you might think my favorite movies would be war films.  Not.  Not.  Not.  In fact, I doubt that a preponderance of combat war veterans from the World War II and Korea Era ever favored watching a glut of Hollywood re-creations of everything they would prefer to avoid for the rest of their lives - or, as I've heard some say, why would I want to watch movies about war's horrors after I lived through the real thing ?

Last week, I pulled out the musical soundtrack to 1979's Roller Boogie, starring Linda Blair and Jim Bray.  Script-wise, the movie was beyond awful -- yet, intended primarily for the young and young at heart who worshipped rolling skating (skating in roller rinks was The Thing back then) and/or foolish young love,  Boogie was a sensation (as I recall, compared to Skatetown USA, it seemed as solid as Gone With the Wind. . .)   I suspect many a drive-in profited from multiple showings.   Yes, I liked it, enough to buy the DVD a few years ago.  "It's Love on Wheels!" promised the promotional material, and indeed the production was sweet, charming, stupid, and seemed to promise enough fun, surf and sunlight to cleanse away some of  the  blood,dust, ghostly echoes and societal concerns haunting the post-Vietnam years.

Even better, much, much better for me -- the movie music soundtrack, consisting of two LPs in one album.  Is that a big deal?  Yes.  Why?  Because as years passed, even as compact discs began to dominate the music marketplace, no CD format was ever issued.  Even today, go online and you'll find messages on different sites where both men and women are begging for quality knockoff CDs, just as they searched for cassette tapes previously, and while LPs are available those often cost a lot ($75 and up used!) or their condition is poor.

Featuring Cher, Earth, Wind & Fire, a lot of Bob Esty and other performers, there's just something about the compilation that keeps you alert and upbeat while you're accomplishing other tasks, and because I often judge a movie by the quality of its music, rather than the story (weird, huh?), the Roller Boogie double LP is one of my favorites - right alongside westerns, science fiction, horror, movie and Broadway musicals and miscellaneous dramatic movie soundtracks (hey, I never said I was a total wussy, did I?).

I was listening to that very music this weekend, catching up on news articles previously downloaded for attention later on, when I happened upon a New York Times online piece (August 16, 2015) involving a potential documentary motion picture about President Obama's legacy -- a little something for his future presidential library, and obviously for widespread public consumption.  Journalists Michael D. Shear and Gardiner Harris, writing under the headline, With High-Profile Help, Obama Plots Life After Presidency, explained:

The process started as early as the week after Mr. Obama’s re-election in 2012,

when the director Steven Spielberg and the actor Daniel Day-Lewis went to a

White House screening of the movie “Lincoln.” Mr. Spielberg held the president

spellbound, guests said, when he spoke about the use of technology to tell

stories. Mr. Obama has continued those conversations, most recently with Mr.

Spielberg and the studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg over dinner at a Beverly

Hills hotel in California in June, according to some of Mr. Obama’s close

advisers.  The advisers said Mr. Spielberg was focused on helping to develop a “narrative”

for Mr. Obama in the years after he leaves office.

Well, THAT's interesting.  I wonder, will Spielberg transform Obama into an heroic figure, something akin to a key figure from Saving Private Ryan, or perhaps a unique, almost alien genius figure like E.T.?

The very concept of Barack Obama,  whose every maneuver has served to minimize and lessen the influence and international respect of my country, being transformed into a wide screen champion is enough to make one crack.  Nevertheless, if it's true that Steven Spielberg has promised a "narrative" -- that is, what would almost have to be a cinematic makeover of the Obama presidency, to construct a presidency which never actually existed -- I think we all know that the master of movie-making himself will do a bang-up job, and generations to come will watch the historically transformed Obama in awe, digitally enhanced and corrected right down to every heinous Executive Order he ever issued.

We wonder:  Will said documentary include the utter incompetence of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Benghazi not withstanding, as she and Obama almost seemed to march hand in hand as their interference destroyed remnants of hope in Libya?  Egypt?  Will Obama be cited for pulling us out of Iraq pronto so he could put that on his resume -- but consequently allowing ISIS to move in, becoming much more than "the JV team" he mused about?

Will said documentary praise Obama for importing Islam "refugees" and others by the hundreds of thousands to the United States, people whom we not only know nothing about, but whom generally possess no education or skills, and will have no appetite for becoming Americans, as they insist on practicing Sharia in our country? 

Indeed, will there be even a hint to suggest that this president might be trying his hand at a little ethnic cleansing in the United States through immigration?  Will his dogged attempts to pepper the country with Muslims, while apparently excluding Middle East Christians who are the people far more at risk as they continue to be murdered most horribly every day by ISIS and its sympathizers, be in the spotlight?

Will Mr. Spielberg, in his "narrative," interview all the folks with Muslim Brotherhood credentials  who work in -- in -- the White House, and ask why these people are so important and critical to the function of the Obama government when,  were they in Egypt, whose wise leadership has no tolerance for the MB influence, they would likely be arrested as criminals and imprisoned?

How about most of the mainstream media, which panders to Mr. Obama's every whim and is directly responsible for portraying him as an almost god-like figure, even as "Obamacare's" residual costs cause economic suffering among Americans who were perfectly fine with their insurance before this progressive piece of legislative crap hit the streets?  Will major media get a tip of the Hollywood fantasy hat, too, praised and summarily excused for not doing its job?

Don't forget "Fast and Furious," a must-see segment focused upon former attorney general Eric Holder who, sadly, has already slithered off into the sunset, leaving behind a clone to fill his shoes.

And not to forget -- will the famed director show Obama at the podium, speaking about global warming climate change global warming climate change, appearing and sounding almost like a real-life personification of Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Will the Obama story ultimately be presented through the efforts of Steven Spielberg?  What do we know?  Very little, actually.  Just what the NY Times reported.

Oh, but I DO know how The Great and Powerful Spielberg can take what's real and bend it into the fiction and fantasy of his filmed storytelling, and yes, we've visited this subject before.  In 1977, his UFO alien blockbuster, Close Encounters of the Third Kind lit up movie screens and amazed viewers the world over.  Unfortunately, its impact was a tad blunted because, concurrently, an insignificant little film from George Lucas called Star Wars got in the way and caused a tad bit of commotion itself.  Much more, actually.

Yet, imbedded in Close Encounters, not long before its storyline climax began to unfold, there were a few quick seconds where a cluster of newspaper and magazine articles regarding UFOs appeared in a scene intended to help solidify the main character's strange and rabid concern for the topic.  Among the articles was the title page from one of my own Argosy UFO magazine articles (see the black page with the white UFO circle).  Used as a prop, my article was tucked among others, some of which I recognized as pages from other REAL publications.  While many motion pictures use phony newspaper and magazine articles just for "show," Spielberg's crew went for as much "real" as possible, and I understand that. 

Of course, I received no payment for my material becoming the stuff of which fantasy cinema is made. though I might have accepted $1.29 at the time (by 2015, I suspect I'm owed more than 20,000,000 dollars, and I was thinking of taking it to a collection agency -- but they would laugh me out of the office. . .just kidding. . .).  As it turns out, this particular article was one of the worst I ever wrote. . .yet Spielberg, Inc. took the bold graphic announcing my conjecture and used it to build upon his cinematic fantasy.  In short, my work became a Spielberg product of sorts.  A voiceless cartoon, a figment, a restroom convenience.  That's showbiz.

The anticipated someday Obama "narrative" will likely pretty up the legacy of the worst U.S. president ever, transforming he and his meddling wife into the George and Martha Washington of our time. It's rather terrifying to realize the might wielded by cinematic story-tellers, the practitioners of digital magic and edits, who exercise the power and wealth to change anything they want -- even history. 

I fear that the leaking sewer of hope and change, Obama's true legacy, woven and spun into cinematic gold,  will rival Roller Boogie's flash and glitter, though the enhanced visuals, concoctions and evasive skating prowess presented as truth should be even more visually stunning, intended particularly to thrill and amaze the future's young and clueless.  Now, that's a motion picture I won't care for at all.  Even if the music's nice.

Wipeout

If one listens closely to former and current (anonymous) intelligence agents regarding the computer "wiping" incident, one gets the impression that people of lesser status than HC might already be awaiting trial, likely conviction and imprisonment.  Aren't we fortunate to live in a country where the wealthy and privileged find a thousand ways via a stable of attorneys to escape a fate that surely awaits the common man or woman?

Bits and Pieces for August 2015

More than ever, the UFO subject seems rife with lies, hoaxes, the misidentified and -- with the passage of time -- too many new names and faces to remember.  Or to trust, in some instances.

However, even as seemingly credible and detailed UFO reports continue to trickle in all over the world from a reliable witness base, I find another "trickle" of information well worth a look, because it appears to involve a bizarre interference with the U.S. military's deepest tactical secrets going back decades. 

Of course, we're referencing researcher Robert Hastings and his "UFOs and Nukes" Web page (see link). Hastings, whose books, articles and now a new movie have, or should have, perked up the eyes and ears of anybody concerned about potential nuclear disasters or failures apparently abetted by the alarming presence of strange objects hovering over nuclear missile facilities, continues to come across one former Air Force officer or airman after another.  Each documents remarkable accounts of watching or intimately knowing about UFOs not only visiting missile bases, but in some cases seeming to shut down or even alter codes on entire missile batteries as they hover directly overhead.

Should even half of the details gathered by Hastings via no-nonsense interviews with former military personnel who were at the scene and in a position to know what transpired in case after case be accurate, this is immensely, monumentally serious stuff.  And as Hastings and others have mentioned, these incidents are not confined to the United States -- Russia, too, boasts missile base visits, according to witness reports.  Can there be any doubt that these events have been multiplied per other nations with nukes as well?  Surely, military personnel of China, North Korea -- Israel? -- and other countries have untold stories yet to surface?

Is anybody in Congress aware of these reported incursions?  Sure, but the question is -- does anybody in Congress care?  Remember -- when officers and members of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) peppered Congress with letters in the sixties and then The UFO Evidence  (publ. 1964) document, responses were cordial and often positive.  And then congressional members went right back to whatever it is they do and the UFO issue was put on the shelf until later years, when we Americans became recipients of that mmmmm, oh-so-good University of Colorado UFO "study."  You know, the one that was, until the whistle blew, host to fraud, guffaws and made-up minds paid for with taxpayer money following its initiation. So much for open minds, and so much for science fit to order for those who deceive..

The question for Robert Hastings -- and his work has been spectacular -- is whether people in high places will effectively connect with people in higher places regarding both his efforts and official (apparently hidden) files in hope of getting answers deserved by all Americans.  We appear to have some shining examples, if I'm not wrong, of something which most definitely violates the old and worn government maxim,  UFOs represent no threat to our national security.  Wanna bet?

42,000,000 immigrants, mostly illegal, are said to be in the United States, following release of new statistics.  On Sunday 8/16, Donald Trump promised to take drastic action and deport illegal aliens, as well as build a fence on the Southern border.  On Tuesday 8/18 radio broadcaster Glenn Beck's new book,  It IS About Islam,  hits the stores, promising to interpret all the dangers of radical Islam as they really were written -- and to offer a warning about the extremist Islam dangers increasingly evident in the U.S. and other Western nations.  Are we finally waking up and realizing that the country, the world we love hovers on the brink of rule by people whose libraries consist of only one book and whose minds are pathetic throwbacks to centuries way back?  There can be no doubt that a significant number of U.S. border jumpers have something more than good jobs at the chicken chopping factory in mind.

A cop in Alabama gets a brutal pistol-whipping with his own weapon because he feared the potential backlash from shooting an unarmed black suspect approaching him menacingly.  This is what the Obama bunch and its criminal Justice Dept. has unleashed -- thugs with no appreciation for the law now roam free because the police feel enforcement of those same laws will promote their own career destruction and maybe prison sentences.  Oh, for the day when every extreme leftist mayor and legislator working to destroy our law enforcement folks on the street can be arrested by the very cops they systematically neuter. 

New York's megalomaniac governor joins other states in banning powdered alcohol.   I don't care a whit about either alcohol or powder, but much of the time when these leftists ban something, you may be sure there's a nanny Democrat behind it -- and the first thing they do is announce with heartfelt drama that these drastic measures are taken so children will be protected from this or that.  Unfortunately, as these instances occur piece by piece, the existence of adults capable and wishful of making their own mature decisions to buy or not buy things for their own pleasure are left out in the cold.  If the socialist crowd couldn't threaten and scare us with the word,  child,  to increase their power over us, what then?

Trey Gowdy pursues the Hillary Clinton / Benghazi connection, now all gussied up with revelations regarding presumed ties to her e-mails and Personal Server From Hell.  We've heard this week also that Hillary C. was involved way back with the (Nixon) Watergate investigations as a young attorney -- and she was allegedly fired for some sort of actions unbecoming.  Wouldn't be surprised.

If Hillary collapses politically like a bouncy house crashing in a windstorm, who or what will the Democrats run?  Why could possibly be taken seriously out there where few choices litter the grounds?  Hillary is so-o-o-o-o yesterday, it's amazing party geniuses actually put all their chips in her corner, and, boy oh boy, did they.  As time elapses and we learn more about her utter ignorance regarding how to delete things from a computer -- thus requiring a book to consult about the process -- and her attitude about classified message sharing, one begins to see, not a perfect pick for the presidency, but only a pathetically incompetent, pampered and questionably stupid choice.  Then again, when one witnesses a Democrat Party whose costly efforts dating back to the sixties have done little but destroy great cities and subdued potential greatness among individuals, where's the shock factor?

Fish oil:  It's not just for fish anymore:  Oh good grief!  Just weeks ago we read that fish oil is worthless, a waste of money, the dream of charlatans the world over.  Now a new study discovers that it can prevent or retard schizophrenia in one's early years.  Which way is it?  You know, I'm just getting so tired of pharmaceutical company public relations hacks consistently sending information to the gullible media condemning natural substances, vitamins and minerals.  Indeed, we're supposed to shed nature's wonders and instead pay a zillion bucks for their chemical crap, where drugs, often dangerously, replace nutrition or less damaging options.  As we've all seen on TV, behind every new drug there's a lawyer with a class action lawsuit.