A PAIN IN MY RIGHT CALF AND UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT...WHAT CAUSED IT!

A SEVERE PAIN IN MY RIGHT CALF AND UNDER MY RIGHT FOOT has basically disabled me since the pain is so severe that I could not stand or walk for more than a few minutes.

This condition basically put my life on hold since I could not go anywhere or do anything that required standing or walking like shopping or standing in line.

My primary doctor was worried about a clot in the calf which is where clots come from (DVT or deep vein thrombosis) and could be life threatening. We did an ultrasound to eliminate that possibility.

We then took an x-ray of the right calf to make sure there was no bone fracture or some form of tumor…negative.

At this time I suggested that it could be a spinal problem since I have had those before (stenosis…narrowing of the vertebrae) which would press on the Sciatic nerve.

We took an X-ray of the spine and determined there was no stenosis visible that would cause the pain I was experiencing.

I suggested prednisone (steroid) to see if we could lower possible inflammation in the spine even though we did not see any inflammation…no pain reduction after a two week course of prednisone.

At this point my primary physician gave up and sent me to an orthopedic doctor.

She checked me out and was also baffled. All she could suggest was some physical therapy for the spine to open up the vertebrae since she was starting to agree with me that the pain was caused by a spinal problem.

After two weeks of therapy there was no reduction in pain.

I have been suggesting an MRI right from the start to show what the hell was going on in the spine but with the new health insurance policies; we had to try everything else before finally resorting to an MRI.

I finally insisted on an MRI since my life was pretty miserable and painful.

The MRI indicated a synovial cyst at the L5-S1 space of my spine (the very bottom) and the cyst was directly pressing on my Sciatic nerve.

I was directed to a neurosurgeon who said let’s cut the sucker out; which we did at Henry Ford Hospital in downtown Detroit. The surgery went well and I came too with a sore throat ( breathing tube down my throat) and a catheter.

I was feeling no pain but was given heavy duty drugs that I could administer to myself if I needed them; I did not.

I was also given a lot of antibiotic to prevent infection.

Spent one night at the hospital with no problem, had catheter removed…thank heaven and had my IV terminated; I was ready to go home.

The doctors were perplexed that I was not experiencing any pain at this point. They prescribed OXYCODONE and VALIUM to take home with me and a stool softener since all I have been through was sure to make me constipated.

The pain hit big time as soon as I got home. I could not sit up or sit down without pain and when I went to bed I made sure I took oxycodone every 4 hours. I probably helped me sleep but the pain was there especially when I was turning over from side to side.

The next morning the pain was with me big time and I had to alter the way I do my morning constitutional since I could not bend over and reach for anything.

I eventually managed to come downstairs and have breakfast but I think the oxycodone made me sleepy since I took a long nap…in the morning?

Walking is not a problem and my calf and foot pain is gone. I am supposed to walk as many times as I can to get back in shape.

I will have the stiches / staples out in 2 weeks and see the surgeon in another 2 weeks to make sure everything is OK.

I am hoping to return to a normal life after that.

I am writing this story just in case someone out there may be facing the same issues as I did and maybe knowing what happened to me may shorten the diagnostic phase of their problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canton parents object to out-of-district students for K-2.

I have lived in Canton, Michigan for over 30 years. Canton is a great place to live and raise a family and one reason is its school system which is first rate.

The Plymouth-Canton School System had financial difficulties like most Michigan school systems mainly because of state funds that have been cut. The schools have to make adjustments and the Canton school board has been very diligent about making cuts that would not in any way reduce the stellar reputation the Canton schools have.

Recently, Canton has opened up its K-2 grades to a school-of-choice designation which would allow 200 out-of-district children to attend Canton schools. This would bring in the needed $1.5 million to cover the shortfall for next year.

Judging by the reaction of Canton parents, you would think we were in a different era. How dare you let kids in from out-of-district; it will make our property values come down…really?

I don’t know how to take that reaction. Yes, Canton has been pretty conservative (Republican) in the past but with all the people moving in we have had an influx, although small, of some progressive folks.

How can kids attending kindergarten to second grade bring down home values and damage the reputation of our schools. How about looking at it in a different way; because of our great educational system, we will take kids from mostly lower performing schools and offer them a superior education which will help them get a better start to their lives.

If parents from Bellville, Westland and Garden City are willing to drive their kids to our schools on a daily basis are they not the type of parents that care deeply for their kids and want to provide their kids with every possible opportunity at a better future?

Somehow I feel that these Canton parents that are objecting to letting in these “other” kids feel these kids come from some riff-raff families with children that will only degrade our classrooms and somehow negatively impact our precious, better-than-thou children.

Really people…get a grip!

 

 

 

WATER IS NOT A RIGHT; It is a product that costs money...

Just when I thought Detroit was moving in the right direction I hear about a bunch of white do-gooders probably from the suburbs notifying the UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Detroit policy of shutting-off water to delinquent homes is a violation of their human rights.

In the past, many Detroiters did not pay their water bills because nobody came after them to pay; hey, let the suburbs pay. These delinquent households looked at their water bill as something that can be ignored.

Now under a mayor that actually knows what the hell he is doing, the water department is threatening these delinquent households with water shut-offs and guess what, most of them are paying…figure that one out?

But for the households that still don’t heed the water department’s warning; they shut the water off and in most cases the bills are paid and the water is turned on again.

I can understand why some households are having trouble coming up with the money to pay their water bill. Since they have refused to pay their modest monthly water bills, they have added up and now the number is quite large. The water department is offering payment terms but there are still diehards that will fight those bills as if they could not possibly have used that much water; I only flush the toilet once a month…

The bleeding heart groups that are protesting the water shut-off and demanding that everyone should have water and sewage services no matter if they can pay for them or not are: Detroit People’s Water Board, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and something called a Blue Planet Project.

Although I sympathize with those in Detroit who are having trouble paying for their basic needs, I feel that water has not been a basic need that they thought they needed to pay for; I bet booze and cigarettes take precedence over water for some of them.

I think it is high time that the new Detroit teach its residents about the priorities of life in the city and one big priority is water and sewer service and the best way to teach that is the basic Pavlovian method; reward and punishment; water on and water off.

The city has created payment plans as well as a financial assistance program for the city’s indigent population so it’s not as if the city is just shutting off water indiscriminately.

As for the idiots petitioning the United Nations for help; really? How about you bleeding hearts collecting money to pay those delinquent bills? Do you think that will teach people to prioritize their spending?

 

 

 

WILLIAM WILD FOR WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE...Reasons why...

I have been getting a lot of calls lately asking how I am going to vote in the local August primary and how I feel about the myriad of candidates that are running.

Here in Michigan we have a very stupid law that limits the terms politicians can serve in office which results in a constant turnover of office holders who are term limited so they need to run for another office.

My latest call asked me who I will vote for in the race for WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE a post held by one Robert Ficano who is also running for re-election.

Robert Ficano has the balls to run again after a track record of incompetence and corruption in county government. Our local news have been filled with monumental blunders by Ficano like the county jail fiasco that lost the county millions to his political appointees marching off to jail. If anyone feels they need to vote for Ficano they also need to be admitted to a loony bin?

Another local politician that just will not go away is Warren Evans. He has held many offices in local government including that of County Sheriff from which he was fired for an affair with a subordinate as well as a Rambo style video he had made for reality (police) TV.

What Warren has going for him is the fact that he is black in a majority black county (Detroit is in Wayne County). Many are counting on Detroit voters to see beyond race when they vote as they did when they elected Mike Duggan, a white mayor of Detroit. Hopefully they will vote for the best qualified and Warren Evans is absolutely not qualified to hold the county executive position and will only do the county harm.

Kevin McNamara, the son of a former longtime Wayne County executive Edward McNamara for whom our airport is named, is counting on name recognition.

Phil Cavanaugh, a state representative, is also counting on name recognition.

The one person I feel deserves our vote is WILLIAM WILD, the current mayor of Westland, MI. He has a proven track record of guiding the City of Westland through some tough financial times, making smart economic decisions with not a lick of corruption surrounding him; I hope he makes some noise so people in the county get to know him better and get to know his track record and therefore what he can do for Wayne County.

 

 

 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IRAQ MESS...Remember history!

I was pleasantly surprised to read that Republican Senator RAND PAUL had enough balls to come out on national TV and say that it is not Obama that is to blame for the situation in Iraq as well as the situation in the entire Middle East but those that got us into Iraq in the first place namely BUSH & CHANEY, et. al.

He was responding to Dick Chaney’s attack on Obama for the Iraq mess. Chaney and all his cronies that got us into the war in Iraq see the current situation there (collapse into civil war) as a way to blame Obama and wipe their slates clean of the blame…not so fast boys.

Rand had some questions for Chaney and his cohorts:

Were they right in their predictions for Iraq?

Were there weapons of mass destruction there?

Was democracy easily achievable?

Was the war won in 2005 when they said it was?

I would go even further to say that in their simple, simple minds Bush & Chaney envisioned a nirvana of democracy in Iraq that would spread to the rest of the Middle East. And now we are paying for their very deep ignorance of reality in the Middle East and for their deceit of the American people with bullshit evidence of weapons of mass destruction and now these dumb idiots are trying to re-write history to preserve their legacy…not so fast boys.

I have to be honest and say that Bush is not trying to re-write history; he is just painting dogs and pictures of himself and others; he is actually pretty good. Chaney who is the real mastermind behind this mess is the one who would like history to look upon him kindly and not paint him as the total moron who made so many people suffer with the suffering continuing for who knows how long.

Obama may be complicit in not making sure that the prime minister of Iraq MALAKI was governing in an all-inclusive manner (all parties) and not just a Shiite government, which is exactly what he was doing.

From the very beginning, I maintained that the country was not viable as a united entity and must be split up into sectarian areas with oil revenue split among the three. Only now are people realizing that these are the facts of life in Iraq; Obama still maintains that a unity government is possible.

I have been studying the history of this area and the division between Sunni and Shiite is just too great and goes back centuries. All you have to do is look back at Northern Ireland and Yugoslavia…learn from history.

PS: Many of these idiots that got us into the Iraq mess are now appearing on TV as experts on Iraq. This to me is the height of absurdity and paints our media as incomprehensibly stupid and concerned only about ratings and not doing the public a service by providing the public with facts and analysis based on facts…shame on you.

 

 

POLITICAL ADS: How can we stop the lying?

A Wall Street Journal headline caught my eye: CHALLENGE TO FALSE-SPEECH BAN IS REVIVED by Jess Bravin, 6-17-2014.

This caught my eye because I have been bitching about all those political TV ads, especially from the Republicans, that lie outright or take things so out of context that what the ad says is misleading (on purpose) which to me, makes it like telling a lie.

I have always decried those methods that do influence many people who just don’t know any better or think that since it is on TV it has to be true.

The problem is that since our speech is protected by the First Amendment, it appears that everyone has a license to lie their heads off. I suppose one can sue for defamation of character if the intent to defame is clear and can be proven (hard to do) but otherwise anything goes.

In Ohio, a law was passed banning false statements in political ads. An anti-abortion organization challenged the law as unconstitutional because one of the candidates that the organization accused of sponsoring federally funded abortions challenged their claim as false.

The problem with this ban on falsehood is who gets to decide what is false and what is not. In the Ohio case it is a panel of people that are either Republican or Democrat and so is politically biased.

Other states have similar laws which may be in jeopardy depending on the outcome of the challenge to the law. The Supreme Court basically said in a unanimous vote that the anti-abortion party can proceed with the challenge as to the constitutionality of the ban on false statements in political ads.

I know politics are dirty but outright lying should somehow be brought under control with possible legal action if proven. The problem is time and during a campaign, lies may have their desired effect on the outcome of an election before those who propagated the lies can be legally stopped and reprimanded.

Is there an answer?

 

HOME SCHOOLING SHOULD BE OUTLAWED...

A recent headline caught my eye: HOMESCHOOLING PARENTS RALLY AGAINST “COMMON CORE” RULES by Kimberly Hefling / Associated Press 6/12/2014.

I have always felt very negative towards homeschooling and consider it similar to incest. Not the sexual kind of incest but the result of incest; the child gets the worst traits of the parents.

This is not saying that the mother or father doing the teaching is not smart enough to teach certain courses; it is saying that the teacher/parent will transmit to the child all the negative biases and prejudices that the parent has.

More importantly, it deprives the child from entering into our society and learning how to function in our society.

I mentioned Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier in Taliban captivity for five years, as a good example of a troubled, immature adult who was not capable of handling life in the big world, due to being homeschooled…in my opinion, something the parents now have on their consciences.

The current issue concerns the new educational standards being promoted by educators nationwide to help improve our educational system since it basically sucks compared to other civilized nations.

Obviously the mother/teachers want the new math standard repealed (repealed in Oklahoma) because they are not up to the task. I would have trouble with the new math as I learned my math many, many years ago.

As these standards are adopted nationwide and universities will expect enrolling students to pass those math standards on entrance exams, home schooled kids will be at a severe disadvantage.

Parents need to help their children with their homework and teach them moral and ethical behavior at home but keeping those kids out of public school just so the parent can impose his or her learning on them is just criminal.

I am all for allowing people that want to home school to do so but that schooling must be up to national standards or the kid is yanked from home and put into a school.

I still believe that the lack of social interaction provided by a school environment is very detrimental to a young person and can cause severe problems for that child in adulthood but I am not sure how we can legally outlaw home schooling.

 

 

THE NEW ISLAMIC CALIPHATE: History in the making...

Years ago, I have blogged that the only solution to the IRAQ problem is to divide the country into Kurd, Shia and Sunni territories. My argument was that since an Englishman and a Frenchman drew up a map of the Middle East that they thought made sense but did not take actual ethnic populations into account, we should re-draw that map along ethnic and religious population sectors.

It is interesting that I am in the midst of studying the history of that area and that at one point in history there was a huge area called the Islamic Caliphate that encompassed most of the area we now call Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc.

It is also interesting that those Sunni Militants that have recently invaded Iraq have as a goal the re-establishment of the ISLAMIC CALIPHATE of the 7^th and 8^th centuries…fascinating!

I cannot retell the history of that area in a blog but suffice it to say, it was not a peaceful history and control of the area changed many times and involved not only Arabic peoples but also Persians and Turkic people. Note: Turkic people did not come from Turkey but from the steppes of Central Asia that included the area of Mongolia…remember Genghis Khan?

Even though most of the people involved in this struggle are Muslims, they are divided into Shiites and Sunni (Catholics and Protestants) and are bitter and sworn enemies who will battle to the death as we have seen.

The invading militants are nominally termed Sunni but are determined to unite the whole area under their version of Sharia law.

They are opposed by Iran which is a Persian Shia branch and the current government of Iraq which is Shia.

Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia do not want the dastardly Shiites to control the area so they may offer support to the invading Sunni militants.

The Kurds are Turkic Muslims and may get support from Turkey that has battled Kurds in the past but would rather the Kurds have their own country (Kurdistan) rather than live in Turkey.

George Bush dreamt of introducing Democracy into Iraq which he hopped would have a domino effect in the rest of the area; how’s that working for you George?

Things should get quite interesting in the next few days and remember that this is history in the making!

 

IRAQ: Now what George Bush?

So you thought IRAQ was no longer an issue…WRONG!

I have blogged about the idiot Bush getting us into an invasion of Iraq and what that cost us in lives of our soldiers plus zillions of our dollars and accomplishing absolutely nothing, many, many times in the past and my predictions were right on the money…

Recently, Iraq has been invaded by an Islamic group bent on making Iraq an Islamic Emirate. This rag-tag army has managed to just walk in and take over the country mainly because the American trained Iraqi army just took off their uniforms and fled with their families.

And now the Iraqi government is asking us to save them…

I said that Iraq is not a country. It is a bunch of people divided into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish Muslims who do not identify as Iraqis and actually hate each other so a unified Iraq is an impossibility.

Republicans have the balls to blame the current Iraqi debacle on Obama forgetting that it was Bush that got us into this mess and it was the arrogant Iraqis that would not agree to some type of military arrangement to keep the country safe after our troops left; they are reaping what they sowed.

I think George Bush needs to be reminded how much his actions have cost so many lives and dollars and have made things worse for everyone concerned. He also must realize now that leaving Saddam Hussein in power would have been the right thing to do since only a brutal dictator can keep the warring groups in Iraq under control.

We are now faced with a dilemma. We cannot allow a rabid Islamic group to take over the country as all those American lives and dollars would have absolutely gone for nothing. We cannot re-introduce American troops into Iraq.

All we have are drones but without an Iraqi army on the ground, drones are of limited use.

Well, well we are in a pickle aren’t we? Ask George Bush what the fuck we should do now.

 

 

 

 

TEACHER TENURE: Unconstitutional...

A California judge just ruled that the state “teacher-tenure” laws are unconstitutional and I am very happy to hear that ruling and can only add…about time!

In the past, tenure laws or laws making it practically impossible to fire a teacher (professor) were imposed to protect “academic freedom”.

Professors, who professed views that were disagreed with by school administrations, could not be fired and therefore silenced just because someone in administration disagreed with those views.

In those days, tenure laws had a specific purpose and obtaining tenure was a very long and arduous journey and only professors with proven track records of excellence in teaching were granted tenure.

Tenure laws have since degenerated into basic unionism where teachers (not even professors) could obtain tenure in a matter of a few years making them immune from dismissal and giving them seniority protection in lay-offs or down-sizing. In other words, you don’t have to be a good teacher, you can even be a lousy teacher; if you have tenure you are untouchable; employment for life.

The lawsuit was brought by student advocates who argued that tenure laws reward lousy teachers and prohibit young, good teachers from getting teaching positions. Basically it is like the Catholic Church dealing with pedophilic priests; they just moved them to other districts to keep doing what they have been doing.

I have always maintained that teachers should not serve at the whim of a principal who may or may not be objective when it came to teachers under them; principals can be little twit dictators and so some provisions must be in place to protect teachers and offer them a truly objective evaluation by an impartial body of administrators.

What has happened is that the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction when it comes to tenure laws and now has not only become absurd but has become damaging to student’s educational welfare and wellbeing?

It is like I have been saying all along about unions and that includes teachers’ unions, they had a valid role in the past but have grown into stand-alone entities that are now only concerned about their own survival and aggrandizement and to hell with students.

Judging tenure laws as unconstitutional is a historic moment in our history, one that should spread to other states and to finally revamp teacher employment laws and regulations that will protect good teachers and weed out bad teachers to the betterment of students nationwide.

 

 

 

 

U.S. MILITARY: Then and now...

When I turned 18 in 1965 and graduated from high school, I was required by federal law to register with the local “draft” board of the Selected Service System. I received a Selective Service Number the following year and a classification of 1-A which meant “eligible for immediate military service”.

Since I was a student at Wayne State University on a four year scholarship, I received a “student deferment” from the draft until I finished my studies. I did have to maintain a C average to keep the student deferment active.

All American males reaching the age of 18 at that time in our history, had to register for the draft and those that were not in college were drafted into the military…you had no choice…and since the war in Vietnam was going strong, you were drafted quickly.

American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War = 58,000. Not all of them were 18 year-olds but many were. These are guys that never got a chance at a life after high school. Those that survived the war were not warmly greeted when they came home. They were not hailed as defenders of our freedoms and thanked for their service to our country; after all, they were forced to fight a war not everyone agreed was even justified. Today, Vietnam is a big trading partner with the United States.

Today, military service in the United States is 100% voluntary.

People join because they need a job to escape poverty. Others want an education in a military specialty that hopefully they can use in civilian life. Some join to prove their manhood and others join because they think it will be fun and exciting. Some join because they feel it is their patriotic duty to do so.

The bottom line is that none of the soldiers of today were forced to become soldiers; all of them joined the military because that is exactly what they wanted to do and they were all told what to expect from a life in the military; no surprises.

I found that I was way too immature to remain in college and get a degree (I was in Liberal Arts /pre-med) and my grades slipped below a C average and guess what happened next…

I am trying to understand Sgt. Bowie Bergdahl and why he freely joined the military and what he expected out of his life in the military.

I suspect he had a screw loose but I will withhold my judgment till the facts come in but I am pretty sure that being “home schooled” did not do his development as an adult much good.