DEATH AND LIFE (Biographical)

This item was stimulated by a reference "Living Intimately With thoughts Of Death."*  Also a reference is included in a "Death Attitude Profile - Revised" you can take.**

I was a sickly child.  In the 2nd and 3rd grades, I ran through all the common communicable diseases: mumps, measles, whooping cough, chickenpox.  In those days you were quarantined for 4 to 6 weeks each time so I missed a lot of schooling.  I probably only passed because the grading system we had had a provision of working up to abilities.  Slowly I began to recover from all that missed time and in the 4th grade, the teacher was having each student write down four numbers.  When she got to me, she said one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter.  I paid particular attention to the smart kids who were getting numbers like 3 and 5.  I couldn't stand it, being far-and-away the worst kid in the class so I timidly asked the teacher what these numbers meant, and she said they were the number of days I missed from school each quarter.  Whew!

When I was 21, I suffered my first collapse of the lung.  Most people are unaware that the human lung consists of five lobes and not just two sacks.  In my case, two of the three lobes on my right side mostly collapsed.  Thus I was not in danger of suffocating (as some TV shows would lead you to believe).

Though not in danger of death, the experience is unpleasant.  Air and some moisture get into the pleural cavity with the result that you can have considerable pain some of the time, similar to pleurisy.  Also, a collapsed lung plays havoc with your conditioning.  I walked around all right on the level, but climbing stairs was exhausting and could also be painful.

The "normal" correction for a collapsed lung was to fill the cavity with ping pong balls; however, the specialist I went to had a theory the hole in the lung would heal and the lung inflate.  Indeed, eventually, it did reinflate but recapturing my conditioning took much longer.

At times I would have jolts of pain on my right side.  I found that if I breathed in slowly, I could work that pain away.  My specialist concluded I had lesions on my lungs.  When you breathe out, the lobes fold up like a glove and when you breathe in, the "glove" unfolds.  In my case, sometimes the lesions would stick the lobe together preventing full inflation with a consequence of a lot of sharp pain when I breathed in..

A year later, I had a second collapse, but this time on my left side where there are two lobes (to make room for the heart).  It was described as a 40% collapse that, I guess, means the lobe didn't completely collapse.  I was taking a course in fluid mechanics at the time and loved it.  I would stay up until two or three in the morning to work on problems so I wasn't getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep at night.  My GP told me that, if I didn't go to bed at 9:00 PM every night, I should find a new physician.  I did as ordered while fearing that I would flunk out because I was getting only B's and C's as it was; however, I started getting A's and B's.  I figured out that I had been exhausted and couldn't really think whereas, with a good night's sleep, I could think more clearly.

But I continued to have lung collapses until I would feel displeasure in my pleural cavity, but they could not detect collapse.  They figured the lobes had become adhered to my chest cavity so I was having "blowouts" rather than collapses.

And so the "blowouts " continued irregularly, sometimes when I was working physically, like shoveling snow, but to have a collapse did not require violent activity.  Once a leak occurred when I bent over to pick up a shawl for my maternal grandmother.

In my mind, I think I had more than 30 of these incidents by the age of 35, but that would have required somewhat more than two "blowouts" a year.  Well, maybe.

I was in the NROTC my first two years in college but, after those first two years, you have to take a physical to continue.  What with my collapsed lungs and blowouts in addition to some more minor things, I failed the physical, but I was surprised to find out I could join the Naval Reserve, which I did but never served any active duty.

When I was about to graduate from college, I applied for a job at "Big Oil" (It doesn't matter which corporation.) as they share information on applicants.  Once again I had to take a physical.  This time the examining physician said that if I lived to 35 I would probably be immobilized in a wheelchair.  Thus I became blackballed by big oil as they shared information on applicants.

Then as I was approaching my 35th birthday, I was on a flight to somewhere and I looked down out of the plane window, I thought how nice it would be if the plane just crashed and end it all.  Then I felt guilty because of all the other innocent people that would have to die with me.

As it turned out, I felt pretty good at 35 and, in fact, was about to enter around 30 yrs of good health.  Once in my 50s, I even had a comprehensive blood test when everything was in the normal range.  I sent a copy of this to my physician brother, older than I, and all he said was that the Biliubin was at the high end of normal.  He often was telling me that I had 2 or 3 of the symptoms of some dread disease.  Fortunately, I never had all.

Males on both sides of my family have been wracked with alcoholism.  Looking back on my period in science administration, I can see I was drinking alcoholically.  As it turned out, this seemed to be stress related to the administrative jobs.  Fortunately, once out of science administration, my drinking entered a slow decline.  When I entered our retirement home, I was drinking about two glasses of wine a night (one before dinner and one with dinner).  I was gaining about a pound a month at the retirement home so I cut back to one 6-oz glass of dark red wine*** at night with dinner.  Much to my surprise, I am happy with that.  My ability to cut back may also contribute to my longevity and does not seem to be related to my arthritis.***

When health problems returned they were of a different sort, this time progressive osteoarthritis.  I finally use a powered wheelchair anytime I have to walk more than 50 ft.  I got the chair in May of 2016 when I was 85 and am still not confined to it.

My major activity is writing and I have published three little books plus my blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/).  I have given thought to come out with one last book on the Best of Reunite Gondwanaland and have assembled a number of pieces.  We'll see.  But this is the 10th Anniversary year of the blog.

As I wrote this, I am well passed my 88th birthday and counting.  I feel like I could go a long time yet.  Aside from my arthritis, life is pleasant, and painkillers have taken away the sting of arthritis. In my wildest dreams, however, I never figured I would live to see 80 though I  hoped to make it to 70 and the new Millenium.  No male on either side of my family has lived to 75, but my brother came close at 74 yrs and 4 mo.  Thus I have lived for at least 13 yrs longer than I had any reason to expect.  If my life were to end now, I think I would feel that I made a good run at it and have no complaints.  But I am in no rush.  Like we all, however, I would prefer a painless death in my sleep when it comes.

(Note: I have skipped over most details of my life.  Many biographical items can be found in the blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" Table Of Contents.)

* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/well/live/living-intimately-with-thoughts-of-death.html?action=click&module=Discovery&pgtype=Homepage
** http://www.drpaulwong.com/documents/wong-scales/death-attitude-profile-revised-scale.pdf
*** http://theconversation.com/why-a-glass-of-red-wine-is-good-for-your-gut-122072
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/alcohol-and-arthritis-does-alcohol-affect-arthritis/#gref

MIKE POMPEO AND OTHERS ON THE SANCTITY OF DONALD TRUMP

Mike Pompeo, currently Secretary Of State, is a big disappointment to me.  He is said to have graduated as valedictorian of his High School class and first in his class at West Point and Harvard Law School; however, that is hard to tell from his actions since he first joined the Trump Administration as Director of the CIA.

Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Pompeo served six undistinguished years in congress.  Since joining the Trump administration, Pompeo has become an unbelievable Trump "a@@ kisser" with "over the top" comments about Trump's relation to God.
Pompeo, an evangelical Christian who keeps an open Bible on his desk, now says it’s possible that God raised up Trump as a modern Queen Esther, the Biblical figure who convinced the King of Persia to spare the Jewish people.*

Pompeo is not alone.  There is the King of Israel bit:
But perhaps one of Trump’s most disturbing steps came Wednesday, when the president, who claims to be a Christian, tweeted quotes of and therefore validated radio host Wayne Allyn Root’s words that “the Jewish people love [Trump] … like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God.”**

And televangelist, Jim Baker, had to get into the act:
During the broadcast, [Jim]Bakker noted that he prayed to God asking Him why the current climate is as hostile as it is. 
According to the televangelist, God answered him by pointing to the book of Revelation. Bakker said God told him “you are in Revelation, Chapter 6,” which speaks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to the End Times prepper, God told him that the first horse of the Apocalypse  [Donald Trump] is beginning to ride on the earth.**

It even gets into the NYT.
As journalist Katherine Stewart, who covers the religious right, explained in a New York Times article last December, the gist of the white evangelical view of Trump is "that he is a miracle sent straight from heaven to bring the nation back to the Lord" and "that resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God."***
...........................................................
"God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer," [Evangetlist Jerry] Falwell [Jr.] said in 2016, defending his choice to endorse Trump. "You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor."

After hearing such things, no wonder Trump refers to himself as "The chosen one" though now he says it was a joke.** But others feel he wasn't joking.***
He quite clearly believes himself to be a great man of history. "It is much easier to act presidential than what we are doing here tonight, believe me," Trump told an audience in 2017. "With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that's ever held this office." He's also compared himself favorably to George Washington when it comes to appointing judges.
"We'll have more judges put on than any other president other than one," Trump said in an interview with Hill.TV. "Do you know who the one is? George Washington. Percentage wise." ****

* https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump\
** https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/22/im-an-evangelist-trump-voter-trump-second-coming-god-is-blasphemous/
https://wava.com/movies/blogs/religion-today-blog/end-time-prepper-jim-bakker-proclaims-god-sent-donald-trump-to-prepare-the-church-for-the-rapture
*** https://www.salon.com/2019/08/22/evangelicals-told-trump-he-was-chosen-by-god-now-he-says-it-himself/
**** https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/politics/donald-trump-chosen-one/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/donald-trump-evangelicals-god-1294578

THE GREAT SLOWDOWN?

We can't imagine something really bad repeating itself, thus the term "Great Depression" has been retired as a term for the financial collapse of our country and we used Great Recession the next time (2008-2009).  I presume we can't have another Great Recession and that term has been retired.  So what will the next financial collapse be called - The Great Slowdown?"  We keep hearing of the slowing economy.*

I think there is a real problem in having a Great Slowdown next year as we are yet to fully recover from the Great Recession.  The Treasury rate for short-term bills has never gotten above the inflationary rate and even at 2.5% the rate was inflationary but where was the inflation?

One thing I don't see taken into account is consumer debt (see figure) that is at an all-time high.**  Is the consumer about tapped out?
Ben Mohr, senior research analyst of fixed income at investment consultant Marquette Associates, calculated that total U.S. consumer debt hit $14 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, surpassing the roughly $13 trillion of leverage accumulated in credit cards, auto loans and mortgages and other debt back in 2008, when those souring loans and securities pegged to them helped to send global markets into a tailspin**

(Click on figure to enlarge)

And personal bankruptcies are on the rise again:
Bankruptcy petitions for consumers and businesses are on the rise. There was a 5% increase in total bankruptcy filings in July 2019 from the previous month, the American Bankruptcy Institute said this week. There were 64,283 bankruptcy filings, up from 62,241 for the same period last year.

There were 452,797 filings in the first seven months of 2019, up from 450,568 during the same period last year. There were roughly 1,000 more consumer bankruptcies at this point this year, compared to the same point last year, the organization added.

The recent bankruptcy data shows many consumer and corporate filings last month were coming, from southern states. Alabama had the highest per capita rate, with 5.61 filings per 1,000 people, followed by Tennessee (5.39) and Georgia (4.31), Mississippi (4.25) and Nevada (3.79).***

Note added August 27, 2019:  The 2 yr Treasury yield now exceeds the 10 yr by more than 4 basis points.  This is called an inverted yield curve, a sign that a recession may be coming.****
Note added September 12, 2019: For some days, the Treasury yield curve has been no longer inverted; however, the 2 yr Treasury is still very close to the 10 yr Treasury (by 0.004-0.007%).

Note added September 02, 2019:  Here is a reference to an article showing a number of plots suggesting a recession is coming.  (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/02/heres-a-list-of-recession-signals-that-are-flashing-red.html)
In the second quarter, gross private domestic investment tumbled 5.5%, the worst since the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the Commerce Department’s quarterly GDP report.
In addition, corporate profits are declining that maybe do to some extent from companies absorbing some of the costs of tariffs (see fig.).

(Click on figure to enlarge)


Among other dismal signs are a decrease in manufacturing for the first time in nearly a decade and small businesses are worried about an economic slowdown.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/22/manufacturing-sector-contracts-for-the-first-time-in-nearly-a-decade-according-to-ihs-markit.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/small-business-optimism-dips-over-fears-of-an-economic-slowdown.html)


So what do you think?  I think we can't stand a Great Slowdown so soon after the Great Recession.


* https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-dreaded-earnings-slowdown-is-here-11549888201
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/21/morgan-stanley-risk-of-a-global-recession-is-high-and-rising.html
** https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-debt-is-now-breaching-levels-last-reached-during-the-2008-financial-crisis-2019-06-19
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/consumer-debt-hits-4-trillion.html
*** https://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-people-filed-for-bankruptcy-per-capita-in-these-5-states-in-july-and-there-was-a-5-increase-nationwide-2019-08-06
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/27/us-treasurys-investors-monitor-trade-developments.html

MY CHOICES FOR DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

Bernie Sanders 78 in September (b September 8, 1941)
Joe Biden         77 in November (b November 20, 1942)
John Kerry       76 in December ((b December 11, 1943)
Donald Trump 73 in June (b June 14, 1946)
Eliz. Warren    70 in June (b June 22, 1949)

Because John Hickenlooper, my #3 choice, has abandoned running for president in favor of running for Senate in Colorado, I have to pick someone new.  My new choice is Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana who is 53 (b April 11, 1966) who was re-elected to the governorship with 50.2% of the vote when Donald Trump took the state with 56.2% of the vote.  No other Democratic governor accomplished such a feat.

Impressive was his defeat of Citizens Untied before the Montana Supreme Court as Montana Attorney General; however, the victory was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the worst decisions ever made.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bullock_(American_politician)

I am adding some comments on Amy Klobuchar who has been av very productive Senator in the do-nothing Senate:
According to GovTrack, Klobuchar passed more legislation than any other senator by the end of the 114th Congress in late 2016.[28] According to Congress.gov, as of December 16, 2018, she had sponsored or co-sponsored 111 pieces of legislation that became law.[56] During the 115th Congress she voted in line with Trump's position on legislation 31.1% of the time.[57]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Klobuchar)

As to Beto O'Rounke, since the El Paso shooting, he has refocussed his approach to running against Trump and is not following the early primary states.  While his new approach may bear some fruit, I'm not sure it will get him the nomination.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/politics/beto-orourke-2020-trump.html)

So my choices are:
(1) Beto O'rourke (age 46)
(2) Amy Klobuchar (age 59)
(3) Steve Bullock (age 53)

Yes, I realize that all my candidates are having trouble getting traction and are low in the polls.

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

Has it occurred to you that, if the Trump administration hunted around for a terrible candidate and had never chosen former prosecuting attorney Alex Acosta for Secretary of Labor, that we may never have found out about Jeffrey Epstein?  For good measure, Acosta has had to resign as Secretary of Labor because of mismanagement of the sexual predator case in Florida.  God works in mysterious ways.

Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sexual predator of teenage girls and former friend of President Trump, apparently has committed suicide in a second attempt.  I suspect that a lot of famous and wealthy men are breathing a bit easier since.  The news media is full of conspiracy theories, including one by our President regarding a former president; however, I feel Epstein's suicide is for the best.  Do we really want to know about all these men?  Of course, revenge would be sweet.  The teenage girl victims should still be able to enter Civil suits for money from his estate said to be about $500 million.  I presume the girls will get several million dollars each maybe even several tens of millions for some.

GUNS AND DEATH - REFERENCE LIST

Here is a list of 21 posts discussing guns and death in America on this blog:
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-about-8000-others.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-aftermath-of-firearm-newton-ct.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wrong-person-at-wrong-time.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/09/let-me-see-if-ive-got-this-right.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/12/selective-polling.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/02/actually-guns-do-kill-people.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/04/prey-animals-and-predator-animals.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/10/deaths-from-domestic-and-foreign-causes.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/05/if-i-had-to-have-republican-president.htm
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/06/guns-and-illegal-terrorists-in-america.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/11/usa-nation-of-scaredy-cats.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-he-hold-out.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/01/death-and-injuries-by-guns-in-us.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/01/us-has-most-of-everything-including.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/07/guns-guns-guns-again-again-again.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/02/stock-price-outlook-for-2017.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/03/see-what-he-does.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/04/trumps-first-100-days-legislation.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/10/when-did-i-give-up-on-gun-control.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/mass-murders-and-women-mass-murderers.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/how-men-and-women-commit-murder.html

HOW MEN AND WOMEN COMMIT MURDER

(Guns have been a major topic on the board and a somewhat related piece is at:

http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/01/us-has-most-of-everything-including.html

Also, see:

http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2016/01/death-and-injuries-by-guns-in-us.html)

The Washington Post published two tables showing the kinds of weapons men and women use based on 195,578 murder cases with 209,000 dead and 240,000 killers for the years 1999-2012.  Click on the tables to enlarge.

Men

Men prefer to commit homicide overwhelmingly by guns (67%) with knives (12%). No other method is above 10%.

                                               Women

One might suppose that women would like to use poison; however, the most common methods are guns (39%), knives (23%), beating(12%) and others (12%).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/05/07/poison-is-a-womans-weapon/

MASS MURDERS AND WOMEN MASS MURDERERS

Mass murders seem to be increasing in recent years with 2017 being the highest year (see figure) because of the Las Vegas Nevada incident.*  In addition, there were more than 20 shooting incidents in which at least three people were killed, including the Marjory Stoneman Douglas (FL), Santa Fe (TX)  High School shootings  But nearly all mass shootings are done by men.  The number of mass shootings by women is so rare that there are not enough cases to determine a reason.  I find it curious, however, that testosterone is not mentioned as a cause of the overwhelming mass shootings are by men.

(Click on figure to enlarge)

An FBI study of 160 “active shooter” incidents between 2000 and 2013 found that only 6 incidents, or 3.8%, were perpetrated by a female shooter. All six of these female shooters used handguns, according to the FBI study. **

Women in Mass Attacks
None of the perpetrators behind the 28 mass attacks in 2017 was female, according to a report by the US Secret Service. A study led by Lankford, published in the journal Violence and Victims, looked at 292 public mass shooters worldwide from 1966 to 2012 and found that only one of those was female.**

No Women in School Shootings
Status plays a large role in school shootings, a particularly male phenomenon, said Katherine Newman, a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Newman, author of "Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings" (Basic Books, 2005), argues that there has never been a typical school shooting with a female perpetrator. A case in San Diego in 1979 involved a teenage girl who lived across from an elementary school and started shooting children and staff from her home one morning. But in cases of random shootings on school grounds by a person who is part of that school's community, the perpetrators are all male, Newman told Live Science.

For a list of mass shootings by gender, see the article from Statistica.****  States with the most murders were California (1830), Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania (997), in declining order.****

Note added August 4, 2019:  After publishing the above just yesterday (August 3rd), I heard that there was a mass shooting in El Paso, TX, at a Walmart with today's report that 20 are dead and 26 wounded.  A 21-yr old white male has been taken into custody.
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/04/9-killed-at-least-16-injured-in-ohio-shooting-suspect-dead.html)
..............................................................
This morning (August 4th) in the news is a mass shooting in Dayton, OH, with nine dead.  The gunman was wearing body armor and a mask and was using a .223-caliber, AR-15 type, rifle with a100 round magazine.  News is that at least 26 others are being treated at hospitals (including some with sprained ankles and bruises from the stampede).  The  24 yr-old white male was killed.  His motive is unknown.
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/04/9-killed-at-least-16-injured-in-ohio-shooting-suspect-dead.html)

Sunday's shooting in Dayton is the 22nd mass killing of 2019 in the U.S., according to the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass murder database that tracks homicides where four or more people killed — not including the offender. The 20 mass killings in the U.S. in 2019 that preceded this weekend claimed 96 lives.
(https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/dayton-ohio-mass-shooting-9/2019/08/04/id/927171/?ns_mail_uid=142cf6cb-b757-4a77-afda-d3310b9288ee&ns_mail_job=DM43006_08042019&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010102uzbq03)

Note added August 6, 2019:  Two more of the injured people in the ElPaso, TX, shooting have died bringing the total to 22 dead.
--------------------------------------------------
It should be mentioned that there was also a shooting at the Gilroy, CA, Garlic Festival on July 28 by a 19 yr-old gunman wearing a bulletproof vest, within a week of the El Pal shooting.  At Gilroy, four people were killed, including the gunman, and 17 injured.

* https://everytownresearch.org/reports/mass-shootings-analysis/
** https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/08/health/female-shooters-rare/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/04/youtube-shooting-gun-attacks-in-the-us-are-rarely-carried-out-by-women
https://time.com/5227473/female-mass-shooters-rare-fbi-study/
*** https://www.livescience.com/53047-why-female-mass-shooters-are-rare.html
 https://www.statista.com/statistics/195331/number-of-murders-in-the-us-by-state/
**** https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-2000-2018.pdf/view
 https://www.statista.com/statistics/195331/number-of-murders-in-the-us-by-state/

Some articles on Testosterone
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693622/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/200907/sex-hormones-and-womanly-passions