Foot brace - Amazon Review

 Very comfortable, easy to put on, works great! I have a condition called Drop foot where I cannot flex back my toes while walking. This was the result of injury to my peroneal nerve. I have tried several braces including one prescribed by my podiatrist costing me $500. This Velcro wrap brace with little bungee hooks works much better with half the hassle of putting it on and cost less than $50 bucks. The little bungee hooks make it much easier to attach to your lace shoes because they simply hook onto the lace. You can hook them at mid foot or closer to your toes to create more lift tension. If you have drop foot or foot drop you’ll know what I mean. You want something quick and easy to put on and that’s comfortable once it’s on so it’s worth the effort. Then it does exactly what it’s intended to do, lift your toes so you’re less likely to trip. This is minimal expense, no podiatrist or custom fitting needed and It Works!

https://www.amazon.com/review/RGR0Z2AJBRHNM/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

https://www.amazon.com/BraceAbility-AFO-Drop-Foot-Brace/dp/B09BRC6ZH4/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Recession and the Economy

 Inflation and recession are headline news. What is happening and what can be done about it? And who or what is too blame?

I blame Trump and right wing MAGA Republicans

We are just getting through a worldwide pandemic. One million people died, tens of millions sick. Trump turned his back on and made a mockery of Dr Fauci and the good health medical advice that he gave. For me, washing hands, wearing a mask and getting vaccinations (5 so far) is a small price to pay for our continued good health throughout the rise and fall of the illness. But sadly millions of people, lead by relentless misinformation and denial, did get sick and supply chains were broken. Who do Republicans blame? Biden… President Biden who stepped up and out of a very comfortable retirement to try to save the soul of America. A soul that I agree is in mortal jeopardy from the Trumpsters and white supremacists.  

Inflation is an attribute of capitalism. Prices go up as a function of supply and demand. When the market value of your house goes up you think that’s good but if the cost of food goes up, that’s bad. But the cost or value is always related to supply and demand. If the supply chain is broken and the cost of supplying goes up the cost to the consumer goes up. Supply and demand for labor drives up wages, good for workers, but the cost of their labor inflates the cost of the goods or services they produce. They say that the supply and demand for money effects inflation but I don’t really understand how. Raising the interest rates makes borrowing more expensive, shrinks the amount of money available, lenders make more money, people borrow less and home prices stall because the cost to the buyer has increased but how does that keep the cost of bread and milk lower? I’ll ask my knowledgeable friend John that question.

A brief recap of modern American history is 

Bush 1 = War in Iraq - Recession 

Clinton = Recovery 

Bush 2 = War in Iraq - Great Recession

Obama = Recovery

Trump = Denial of COVID 19 Pandemic, $2.5 trillion bailout, one million dead, Denial of loss to Biden, attack on democracy 

Biden = Build Back Better, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,  Inflation Reduction Act

Blue Ridge Beer Garden -Google Review

http://blueridgebeergarden.com/

Blue Ridge Beer Garden

(828) 595-2844

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aLgbajHx7NNLBeQh8?g_st=ic

I’ve been watching and waiting with great anticipation… yet another beer outlet in Hendersonville??? We currently have a bakers…🤔  “brewers dozen” within a 10 mile radius but apparently our thirst for craft & draught is yet unquenched. The Blue Ridge Beer Garden is not a brewery but offers the full array of statewide malted barley & hops. The Garden is light, airy and inviting, conveniently located on Church Street with parking in the Badcock Furniture lot next door. Staff is cheerful, outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable.

I think the Blue Ridge is a great addition to Hendersonville as an avant-garde craft brew destination.

Response from the owner

Thank you so much for the awesome review and feedback. The community has been so supportive! Let us know if there are any beers you would like to see!

Government role in the Capitalist Economy

 I’m watching a tv series called the Machines that built America. There are several renditions of this series that focus on Men, Food, Cars etc. the reason I’m making this blog post I’d that there are common threads in all of these success stories that include:

Individual drive and creative force

Failure and resurgence 

Partnership - Black and Decker

Competition - Coke and Pepsi

Government Contracts

It is the fact that so many companies that we perceive as the products of Private Enterprise are also products of huge government contracts, often in times of war but also proving to be the lifeline of money that helped keep the company afloat in war and in peace. The reason I think this is noteworthy is because there is a popular belief that somehow government money is not necessary and somehow bad the same is true in healthcare. The attitude that Medicare and especially Medicaid for the poor is bad. Simply not true. So I’ll add some success story examples as  I go.

Black and Decker were two guys who met while at work for the telegraph company. Decker was a tinkerer and thought they should start a company making a mixing bowl to make candy. This lead to a drill which was contracted for by the military.

Similar stories for Petersen-Milwaukee hole shooter drill saved by the Navy and DeWalt power saws. Black and Decker hand held trigger drill. Women in factories were taking them home so they switched to household drills.

Each of these three companies; Milwaukee, DeWalt and Black and Decker  benefited from military contacts that lead to domestic consumer markets. Then Black and Decker bought DeWalt, leaving two companies; Black and Decker and Milwaukee. Then Black and Decker created a cordless drill. Cordless tools became the standard for market dominance. NASA commissioned a cordless drill to go to the moon.

Take a look at all the other great dual  partnerships and rivalries.

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35

 https://www.borderperspective.org/blog/what-does-the-bible-say-about-welcoming-immigrants

In the Old Testament, God's people are commanded: 'Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God' (Leviticus 19:33-34). 

While the New Testament was written in a different context, it too has advice about hospitality and welcome. 'Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it,' we read in Hebrews 13:2, while 1 Peter 1:17 reminds us that we're all foreigners: 'You say that God is your Father, but God doesn’t have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So we must honor God while we live as strangers here on earth.'

All these texts indicate that those displaced are to be provided for and welcomed. For Christians, a grudging or discriminatory approach towards the stranger is completely unacceptable.

How would we respond if the displaced on our doorstep was Jesus himself? Matthew 25:31-46, highlights our responsibility to care for the 'stranger' and the displaced around us. 'Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me,' says Jesus. 

THE BIBLE SAYS A LOT MORE ABOUT WELCOMING THE STRANGER

Foreigners or refugees are not to be oppressed.

• Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners because you were foreigners in Egypt. Exodus 23:9

Jesus says to show disciple-like behavior in how we treat strangers.

• I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35 

  • You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

Trump - The most dangerous man in America and To America

It is so difficult and so disturbing to see how this man has evolved into a monster. A monster who by means of his own self absorbed ego, is attempting to undermine and overthrow America. If he were the average nut case he might have a few followers but he has cultivated a klan of haters and discontents into believing that he is somehow their savior. Saving them from what? Saving them from being replaced by people who are somehow better off or somehow favored in an unfair system that discriminates against whites? It is truly insane But it does appear that the more insane, the more insidious, the more they believe and cling to him. As Hitler once said the Bigger the lie the more people will believe it.

TRUMP REBUKED FOR CALL TO SUSPEND CONSTITUTION OVER ELECTION Former President Donald Trump faced criticism from members of both parties after calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution over his 2020 election lies. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said he “vehemently” disagrees with Trump's statements, saying they should be a factor as Republicans decide who should lead their party in 2024. The White House also weighed in, saying, “You cannot only love America when you win

Joseph Goebbels: On the “Big Lie”

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Trump is the single greatest threat to America. Will we be a nation of ladies and gentlemen who understand, respect and are held accountable to the law or will be lead down a path of turmoil and self destruction being taunted and tempted to hate each over over the self serving deceit of this one man?

My personal dilemma is, will I speak up if called upon within my own family? For some reason this plagues me. Sam just sent me a very favorable article about Patagonia all in on saving the environment and getting rid of Trump. I was encouraged by that to respond with an email where I said I wanted to save or environment And our democracy. I hope he got my point and I really hope we are in agreement. I really don’t know what I want or how I want Trump to be exposed and defeated. If he openly encourages a rebellion and a group of his followers step up and act out, maybe this would be a reason and a way for legitimate law enforcement to crush them. Would this be better than for his brood to simmer and sheath and broil underneath our democracy and rise again to defeat democracy by using and undermining democratic means. In other words use the Vote to control honest and fair elections as Trump uses the protection of our leag system, the 5th amendment, to undermine our legal system and Free Speech to protect his stream of vicious lies.

Donald Trump said Thursday that Americans will not “stand” for indictments against him regarding top secret documents he took from the White House — and ominously warned that criminal charges could trigger “big problems” never before seen.

Trump also declared that he issued a standing order to declassify everything he took from the White House. It’s a resurrected claim that even his attorneys haven’t presented in court filings — and one contradicted by several Trump administration official

Asked about possible indictments related to the several boxes of White House documents, including classified and even top secret files, stashed at Mar-a-Lago, Trump repeatedly told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on his program that Americans won’t “stand for it,” and that any charges would trigger “problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.”

When Hewitt asked him to detail what kind of problems, Trump responded: “I think they’d have big problems, big problems. I just don’t think they’d stand for it,” he added, referring to the public. “They will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes.”

When Hewitt pointed out that the comments could be interpreted as an incitement to violence, Trump replied: “That’s not inciting. I’m just saying what my opinion is. I don’t think the people of this country would stand for it.”

In any case, even if he is indicted, Trump emphasized it would not stop him from running for the presidency in 2024. “If a thing like that happened, I would have no prohibition against running,” Trump told Hewitt, though he did not say he will run.

Analysis: Why you can't just ignore Donald Trump's latest threat

Updated 11:27 AM EDT October 3, 2022

Because Donald Trump says so much that is, well, outlandish, there's a tendency to roll your eyes or laugh off any one of his proclamations. Or to ignore them entirely because Trump is just being Trump.

This is a coping mechanism to deal with a prominent political figure who has no internal limit on what he says, when and how. And, for the most part, it's a smart strategy. Most of what Trump says is ephemera -- easily dismissed.

But, then there are moments like Saturday night.

In a Truth Social post attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for helping Democrats to pass a bill to keep the government funded and open, Trump wrote this:

"Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is will take the Country down with him? In any event, either reason is acceptabl. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow."

Let's note but not dwell on the casual racism inherent in referring to Elaine Chao, McConnell's wife, as "Coco Chow." (Chao was Trump's Secretary of Transportation for four years; she resigned following the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.)

Instead let's focus on the fact that the former President of the United States said that McConnell has a "DEATH WISH." 

And that Trump used that phrase less than 24 hours before The New York Times ran a front page piece headlined "Lawmakers Confront a Rise in Threats and Intimidation, and Fear Worse," that included these lines:

"Members of Congress in both parties are experiencing a surge in threats and confrontations as a rise in violent political speech has increasingly crossed over into the realm of in-person intimidation and physical altercation. In the months since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which brought lawmakers and the vice president within feet of rioters threatening their lives, Republicans and Democrats have faced stalking, armed visits to their homes, vandalism and assaults."

So, this is not some theoretical conversation about whether saying that McConnell has a "DEATH WISH" might actually be dangerous in the real-world to McConnell. We have seen -- repeatedly -- over recent months that it is a paper-thin barrier between violent rhetoric and violent action. January 6 is a perfect example, with many of the rioters that day insisting that they were operating under, if not the direct orders, then the clear wishes of Trump himself.

As The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote:

"It's all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell. Many supporters took Mr. Trump's rhetoric about former Vice President Mike Pence all too seriously on Jan. 6."

Simply put: To use the phrase "DEATH WISH" amid everything we know about the rising tide of political violence in this country is deeply irresponsible. It may not be anything new for Trump but we shouldn't simply dismiss this latest outrage. To do so is to normalize this sort of behavior -- and the potential for violence that it provokes.

© 2022 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved.

Trump

 

New documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday revealed that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service "exorbitant rates" -- upwards of $1.4 million over four years -- to protect then-President Donald Trump and his family at properties they owned. The rates were as high as $1,185 per night despite claims by Trump's company that federal employees traveling with him would stay at those properties "for free" or "at cost." Charging his protective detail for lodging at his properties was a controversial practice when Trump was in office, and it has continued in his post-presidency because it appears to have been taxpayer-funded, the panel's chairwoman, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney said. Separately, a House report released Monday also alleges Trump aides blocked public health officials from providing accurate Covid-19 information during the pandemic. 

You never know - Hickory Nut Falls Brewery dog and groundhog show

 

Tess goes to Fusion Salon to get her hair done every month. The owner either owns or knows all about the local apple orchard owners and the apple economy. Names like Justus, Stepp and Nix pop up in her conversations.  I find something to do while waiting those two hours, which usually involves the Appalachian Ridge Cidery or Saint Paul’s Winery

and then, if it’s a good day, we head on up to Hickory Nut Gorge Brewery in Chimney Rock for a riverside seat to enjoy the best fried fish and a cold craft beer. Today was one of those good days and You just Never Know what you’re going to run into. Much to our surprise when we spied on the commotion below we saw patrons feeding a huge furry animal sitting up like a well trained dog awaiting his treat. But wait… that’s not a dog… what the heck is that???

Well it was a amply stuffed groundhog we were told by another patron. He lives across the river and despite not being able to swim he makes his way to our populated side and cruises the restaurants where people are happy to feed him and he is quick to accept. Apparently none of his fellow creatures follow so he’s got quite a racquet. Meanwhile one of his admirers was a huge bear of a dog who his owner explained, he had decided to name him Thor instead. Thor was as big as a bear and built like a log cabin. He is three years old and as gentle as a lamb. My baby nieces walk him and is nothing but love and protection. 

These trips to Fusion and beyond have become one of the great highlights of each month for the two of us.

My life has been saved five times

 Over the past several weeks I have experienced continuous severe pain. The simple common term would be sciatica. I’ve heard it many times in my life but up until now I had no concept of how crippling, how all consuming and how personally devastating that seemingly innocuous condition can be. As it was, apparently stemming from a rough bike ride, I thought it was muscular, then perhaps tendon strain but was told it was my nerves. I still feel it in my leg and foot. Little electric shocks. Penetrating and drill like. They strike but now they fade away. It’s all because I had a life saving surgery called a laminectomy. Was this sciatica fatal like terminal cancer? No, or at least not in the same way but I think it would have driven me insane with the constant and relentless pain that was driving me to the brink of insanity and consideration of an escape to the peace inherent in death. Surgery saved me. Anesthesia, a kind of artificial, temporary death while the surgeon performed his skills, kept me quiet and secreted away, no longer captive to this world until it was safe to return, my nerves rattled but unimpinged and the scar from the blade the only reminder of the battle that raged within me. Today, just 16 days after the procedure, I am starting, once agin to feel like myself. To embrace the present and look agin to a future.

This was my most recent encounter but my life was saved with a surgery that evacuated my appendix over 60 years ago when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I woke up with severe pain. This time in my lower stomach. I couldn’t sit up but I could barely lie down. My mom was in a panic and took me to Doctor Heller, our family doctor. He still made house calls but somehow I think I remember going to the office although all I really remember was being in a bed where he inserted his finger in me and made a decision with my mother that we should meet my father at the hospital. I remember saying now I lay me down to sleep as they put a rubber mask over my face and I could smell something very very sweet and I was gone… when I awoke I was in a strange bed in a strange place and my stomach and my private parts hurt. Apparently they decided to do another procedure they had neglected when I was born. I was in the hospital for the next few days. For the most part I was sad and lonely and entertained a fantasy that my parents would rescue me from this scary place and I would wave to people as they carried me home. Much the way dad would catty me home after Christmas at grand moms. I do remember the candy stripers however and I do remember that they were nice to me and I liked them.

So that was my appendix that I had removed. And that is how I have referred to it over the years although now it seems like ancient history. It did come up recently when I just had a double inguinal hernia repair, something that I was told my father had in his 20’s while working for his father in home construction. My doctor said that surgery in those days was like the wild Wild West and that my laparoscopic would be a pice of cake… which it was… I’m not quite sure if I count that as life saving but Yes, had it strangulated it would have been much more serious, so yes.

Nolan was born on November 30,  2012. I had already packed the car to go home to be with Mom and Linda. But I was here to share in the joy of his birth. Mom passed away 47 days later on January 16, 2013. The single most saddest event in my life. I came home to a stressed marriage and went to counseling with hospice. 56 days later Eric took his own life on March 13, 2013. I moved that to my counseling forefront. Linda needed help in closing the house but I had gone to Dr. Esce because of numbness in my fingers. He showed me this MRI and scheduled surgery. He said I could go to New Jersey but if I had a fender bender it could paralyze me from the neck down. I thought about that while on the parkway in the fog and turned around. This ACDF surgery on June 20, 2013 saved my life.

So in summary; appendix, anterior cervical disk fusion, thyroidectomy, bilateral inguinal hernia repair and laminectomy. That’s five times that surgery changed and saved my life. Then there are my vaccinations, antibiotics and simply wearing a mask. From the most profound and advanced science to the simple quarantines practiced in the Bible, medical science and common sense interventions have saved and prolonged my life. I have been blessed in many, many, many ways. Not living in fear but dutifully taking precautions and thankfully accepting the gifts that modern medicine has provided. From the incubator that nurtured me from birth to the cesarean that delivered our own baby girl, life has been one miracle after another. Modern miracles we often take for granted.

Looking forward

 I like to have something to look forward too. Big things, little things, anything. I don’t think that’s unique but it is me. I like thinking, Okay the kids are coming next week. That’s something to look forward too, to get ready for, to think about, plan, be prepared for possibilities and scenarios. What do they want to eat? What to drink? Or… where should we go to eat and drink or what to see or do? This general plan of action takes place if it’s them coming to see me or if I’m going to see them. It’s something to look forward too. 

This enters into hiking and biking with friends. I started using Ride with GPS several years ago. It’s the ultimate planner and tracker. I can map out a route, then we follow the route and record our hike. It gives me purpose. It gives me something to do before during and after. I now have records of hundreds of miles of hikes and bike rides. I always thought that someday I would have the time and take the time to look back. To reminisce… 

In the meantime Tess has basically hated me for this behavior. She doesn’t hike. She doesn’t bike and she never liked to bike and she hates how much time I spend doing all that. And yes, when I think about it it does or has been quite an obsession. Well now… now I tore a hole in my back, or the surgeon did, trying to repair the arthritis that was crippling my left leg. Overnight I stopped all hiking and biking and all the planning that went with it. I haven’t taken any time to review and reminisce because one, I’m in shock and denial and two it’s not as interesting as I may have thought. 

So what am I to look forward too? The onslaught of Trump and Trumpsters who appear to be full of hate and snarkiness keeps me in a state of tension. I love my country, I love democracy and I love my wife, my family and friends.I am blessed on so many levels but these stressors, these idealistic concerns invade my sense of inner peace and self worth. I believe in Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. I believe that he laid out the route for us to follow. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Many Christians seem to have abandoned those teachings in favor of being Saved.

If I believed that God was there to grant my personal wishes, what would I ask for?

Please God…

Please give me money, I have money.

Please give me food and shelter, I have food and shelter.

Please give me love and friendship, I have love and friendship.

God has granted me everything I’ve ever prayed for to meet my personal needs and yet… and yet

Please God grant me peace of mind…

Peace of mind, something to look forward too. 

I am not suicidal. I’ll start there, just in case I ever share these thoughts or someone reads this. I am not suicidal but sometimes I feel like that is the only point at which I’ll experience true inner peace. An escape from the endless anxieties of life. Peace, love and happiness. That will be heaven. Where all of us eventually Rest In Peace. Ricky Gervais explained his comfort with his own death after the loss of his wife as his superpower and I get it. Tess is my reason to live. To love and to care for her. It’s our continued life together, our history and our future that give it all meaning and purpose. Eric opted out at 42, our greatest tragedy. Lauren just turned 43. She has a husband and two beautiful children. She has been our Angel, the source and object of our love. But what has happened to our America? Land of the free and home of the brave, representing truth, justice as the American way. I know that was Superman but that was just as much my motto as the pledge of allegiance. I don’t understand this fascination, love, obsession with guns, with assault weapons where Trumpsters have distilled the whole Constitution down to their version of the second amendment. I will never own a gun. I will never shoot a fellow American in anger. I could not live with myself. I’d rather be shot dead and sent to heaven. I still have things to look forward too. I love Tess. I want to be here and be able to take care of her. I want to pursue our quest with my best friend John. I want to hike with Chip and hear his excitement about the views of the mountains at the next bend in the trail. I want to continue conversations with my sister Linda, who also become my best friend. But I want to accept and embrace death as part of life. Look forward to being on the other side. I don’t like the idea of crossing but I want to do it gracefully without fear. Like my mom, who was and is my saint. She was so loving, so caring and so peaceful in her leaving. She never strayed from being our caretaking mom even as her own needs were there. She was and is my saint. She and Dad who each and both loved me in their ways. I want to be there for those I love as they were there for me. I want to live out my full life, try to be good and follow the ways of Jesus and leave a clean footprint when I’m gone.

Oxygen A revealing and intriguing work of art

 A truly great story delving into so many layers of the human experience. The reader walks in the shoes of this physician feeling her dedication, her compassion and the anguish of her betrayal and the relief of her resurrection. Within the scope of my reading, this novel provides more information than full scale documentaries on medical subjects but also wraps and delivers the facts in the most heartfelt human narrative. I now have even more respect for the accomplishments of modern medicine while also gaining more empathy for the fact that technology is still very much a human endeavor.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2A7LZ7VUQBYV1/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv