Larry Hogan's Cancer: A Challenge he will win

Larry Hogan’s cancer: a challenge he will win

 

A media feeding frenzy occurred, on Monday June 22, as Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland revealed he had advance cancer. In an emotional address from Annapolis, with his family beside him, he openly discussed the extent of his illness. Hogan noted that lymphoma, discovered in its late stages, is affecting many regions of his body. Presently symptomatic he will undergo treatment immediately at a John Hopkin’s oncological center. Specific therapies have not been announced though chemotherapy has been very successful in lymphomas such as the type Hogan has contracted. Seventy percent of individuals are living 5 years after instituting therapy, even in those whose disease was discovered in its advanced stages. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/maryland-gov-hogan-says-he-has-been-diagnosed-with-cancer/ar-AAbY2Wh?ocid=ansnewsreu11

 

Hogan has been diagnosed with a non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which affects the lymphatic system in the body. Governor Hogan hesitated when revealing the stage of his lymphoma noting it was a late stage 3 or an early stage 4. With the information noted so far it appears to be a stage 4. http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/cgnews-gov-hogan-to-announce-cancer-diagnosis-20150622-story.html Numerous physicians have been interviewed concerning the Governor’s condition. Most of these physicians are extremely optimistic the cancer can be rendered neutral or cured. The author lost a brother to lymphoma in the 1960s. Since then the evolution of treatment modalities has been nothing less than fantastic. Chemotherapy regimens can literally sweep the cancer out of a patient. For the Governor 18 weeks of chemo are ahead.

 

Maryland hired a tough Governor who beat back the challenges of several worthy opponents. Hogan’s vim and vigor brought him to the State House. The lymphoma may weaken him physically yet he has a strong spirit which will carry him through this stage of his life. With a great team of doctors and an extremely supportive family Hogan will be around for many years to come. I know many in the State of Maryland are praying for his rapid recovery, as is the author of this article. Get well quick Governor you have much work ahead to make Maryland right again.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Media and Writing Services. www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

Specter of a Presidency

Specter of a Presidency

 

With 18 months left on America’s prison sentence its warden will retire having undermined every institution, tradition and industry that made this country great. Obama is a specter of a president. His ghostly apparition is rarely seen except visiting with the elite, the immoral and the fantastically wealthy. His demagoguery raised him to the Oval Office yet was not infective enough to keep his supporters on a string for the balance of his second term. Obama is being mocked by an array of people who have awoken to the fact that a ghost inhabits the White House. World leaders recognized America’s failing leadership early in Obama’s first term. From an apology tour to handing the keys to our prison over to terrorists our presidential specter is always absent when the going gets tough. If America had the ability to recall this inept person he would be drinking a Mai Tai on a beach facing west rapidly.

 

A dozen potential candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are already in the declared column. On the other side Hillary Clinton continues a strong run for the Democrat dais though she has a few competitors recently new to the run. America has lost something special during Obama’s reign in office, its integrity. These masters of words all promise to bring America back into the orbit which the Founders placed this nation. Most come from backgrounds that provide little substance for the task at hand. A few have the political vigor to overcome the most difficult obstacles. Today’s announcement that Donald Trump wants to sidestep his empire to move into the Oval Office has sent ripples across the political spectrum. Who amongst this variegated group will cross the finish line is uncertain. What is certain to this observer is most of these candidates look like marshmallows waiting to be roasted. To repair the damage caused by Obama’s ineptitude and overreach will take someone with insight, affability and the cojones to act even in the face resistance. Several candidates are up to this challenge. Media circles continue to push the weakest candidates with the most popular names. When they fade the few left standing will be positioned as the best of the best to repair what the worse of the worse has done to America.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Media and Writing Services.

www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

Drowning in Technology America's IQ moves down a notch

Drowning in technology America’s IQ moves down a notch

 

Smart cars, smart phones, smart homes and more yet this generation of Americans are one of the dumbest in decades. Schools no longer cater to improving the intellect of the students in their charge. Instead educational efforts are geared towards improving test scores. Why sweat a math problem when a handheld device can perform the task in seconds. Why devour a book when a quick summary is available with the flick of a finger. Most important of all why learn when a machine can spit out an answer to a question in the blink of an eye. High School level curriculums barely teach students the basics needed to further their lives and educations. Colleges have picked up the slack offering remedial courses to bring new arrivals up to speed. Standard tests to compare learning skills and intellect are being phased out or ignored in the admission process to collegiate environments. Abandonment of comparative standards provides the illusion that all students are intellectually on the same level. Schools know the latter is not true. In our socially sensitive society merit and hard work have been subverted to allow slackers to gain a footing into environments in which they were formally excluded.  

 

Graduate programs are reviewing more applications from foreigners than native born individuals. One program director noted the sciences are hardest to recruit within the American pool of candidates seeking higher degrees. As a result large tech companies find themselves searching overseas for apt candidates to fill positions that formerly went to Americans a mere generation ago. Primary and Secondary schools lack the curriculums to instill creativity into this generation of students. Therefore students are more likely to service machines than create them. Technological innovation tends to come from foreign incubators. The devices that keep us in touch with reality emanate from facilities far from the cultural delinquents whose only job is to sell them. I have no great expectations when I visit electronic outlets here on the mainland.  Clerks know little of the technology they push on the public. When a problem arises from one of these devices I am usually referred to an archaic reference on the net not someone close at hand. America has lost its edge in many areas. Clearly most Americans no longer have the mental tools to compete with foreign populations in the technologic realm. Technology, paradoxically, has eroded intellect in a society already on the skids educationally, culturally and morally. Those who are not cognizant of the world around them are easily misled and manipulated.  In the event this was the ambition of those who created this environment then they succeeded.

 

Mark Davis MD President of Davis Media and Writing Services. www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

Save your life: stay out of Baltimore

Save your life: stay out of Baltimore

 

Baltimore City is mired in criminality both in and outside the government. Violence over the Memorial Day weekend hit record levels for this holiday. With nine dead and more than thirty shot, no one is safe on its sidewalks or streets. The month of May saw forty-three murders. Directly attributable to this uptick in violence is the Mayor’s approach to street ruffians and thugs. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake softer stance on crime, since the death of Freddie Gray, has generated this newest stream of violence. Arrests in some sections of the city are down more than 50 percent with crime hovering at record levels. Police have been denigrated to a point they fear for their lives. Those attempting to make arrests have found themselves besieged by neighborhood thugs surrounding their vehicles. Baltimore has descended into anarchy with the blessings of its progressive management. Descriptions of hoodlums openly carrying guns in certain sections of city have generated media attention. If there ever was a movie script to write it would be “Escape from Baltimore.”

 

Gang violence continues unabated throughout the cavernous streets and crevices of this city in decline. Police are reticent in Baltimore and around the country to move against the criminal element. Assassinations of our finest are on the rise. Scum have made open threats against police on social media and in confrontations on the streets. Police unions are seeing members leave for calmer circumstances outside the cities. Shallow government officials have generally sided with the thugs such as in Baltimore. After Freddie Grey’s untimely death Baltimore City’s Mayor and State’s Attorney pandered to the rioters. Police watched as the worst in society were given a free hand to loot, burn and victimize at their leisure. Presently crime is so bad all who come to Baltimore are at risk. As a resident of Maryland I have witnessed government officials at their worst. Vain, egocentric and misdirected these individuals lack the moral clarity and intellectual fire power to manage the domains to which they were elected. Baltimore’s mayor reflects the latter description. As long as she is in charge Baltimore’s future will be bleak. Perhaps in the next election cycle someone of worth will be elected. Stay tuned.

 

Mark Davis MD, author of Demons of Democracy. President of Davis Media and Writing Services. www.daviswritingservices.com. platomd@gmail.com