A health and public policy blog
On April 4th, 1968, 52 years ago Martin Luther King Jr., was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis TN. The official record has James Earl Ray as the shooter. Ray was a segregationist sRead More…
So what drove the ascent of Donald J. Trump? I have teased out six main reasons why some 63 million Americans voted for him in 2016. Approximately 70 million did this time around. Despite every failiRead More…
As we get closer to November 3rd I keep looking at the steady approval of Trump’s handling of the economy. Over the course of his first year Trumps approval for his handling of the US economy has nevRead More…
Despite its faults, the United States remains by far the greatest and most powerful democracy the world has ever known! That I a mere Shithole has the opportunity to stand for county coroner on the RRead More…
As a naturalized American I can stand for any elected public office position with the exception of the presidency. The highest public office in this country has been reserved for only natural born ciRead More…
In the early 1990s, HIV spread like wildfire in the Chinese provinces of Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. Between 200,000 and 300,000 were infected because of the trade in blood and blood prRead More…
In the past two and a half years Americans have been subjected to a barrage of tweets, statements and policies that could only serve one purpose, divide us along racial, religious and ideological lineRead More…
For many reasons I have my doubts that our current president considers the needs of people like me. This situation has been the source of significant degree of angst and discontent with the presidentRead More…
Right after the elections of Barack Obama, the first Black president of the United States, I heard lots of people including some TV analysts declare that America has entered a “post-racial” era whRead More…
In today’s America where white nationalist match in the streets with tiki torches and scream “Jews will not replace us”, immigrant Americans like myself who happen to be non-white can sometimes wondeRead More…
In turbulent times like this, I am reminded of Shithole folklore in which the frog laments why it has to suffer whenever the lizard eats pepper! This is how the lizard’s song goes; “I don’t waRead More…
These days when I hear people say; “I love your accent, where is it from?” I wonder if I should say “thank you” or run for my passport just in case ICE will be in pursuit soon.
My English is aRead More…
In Election year 2016, forty-two percent of Americans did not vote, a significant proportion of them like myself were recent immigrants from “shithole” countries! I guess most of them believed their vRead More…
As any self respecting Baltimore resident I sometimes see business deals in terms of street culture. I must admit though that I am no expert in street culture however a conversation that I had with aRead More…
A recent WHO ranking of health systems puts the US at number 37 between Costa Rica and Slovenia. This is more surprising since US heath expenditure per capita is twice that of the number one country Read More…
I lived with my single mother for the first 10 years of my life. At age ten I was distraught when my mother suggested I had to go live with my father because I needed a father figure to look up to! ToRead More…
After more than 2 centuries of slavery progress towards equity and equality has always been challenging for African Americans, progress always seems to be followed by significant periods or retrogressRead More…
Race has been a defining characteristic in America over the years due to historical elements of American society. In the 1600s European settlers in the New World transitioned a system of slavery and iRead More…
President Trump declared a National Public Health Emergency this week; in his statement from the Whitehouse he was not talking about HIV or Hepatitis C nor was he referring to the increased incidencRead More…
I recently heard a story from a colleague about a patient that he admitted who refused admission for a potentially fatal illness because he was afraid he will be arrested and deported. This incRead More…