Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot this November

Ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son, Rep. James Roosevelt, Sr., founded our organization to protect Social Security and Medicare in 1982, we have not endorsed presidential candidates, focusing instead on congressional races. Until now. For the first time in 38 years, we are throwing our weight behind Joe Biden for President of the United States. As an organization rooted in the social insurance policies of FDR’s New Deal — and after observing relentless attacks on lifeline programs like Social Security and Medicare — we could not in good conscience remain neutral this year.

For us, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the president’s reckless payroll tax cut, which he unilaterally imposed in an executive order last month. Without hesitation, he interfered with the funding stream for Social Security, going so far as to pledge to “terminate” payroll taxes altogether in his second term. Social Security’s chief actuary estimates that if payroll taxes were to be terminated (without replacing the lost revenue), the program’s trust fund would run dry by 2023. A president who promises to cut off the revenue for one of our most cherished and successful social insurance programs should not be re-elected.

“There’s a reason Social Security and Medicare have been around for 85 and 55 years. Americans value and depend on them,” says FDR’s grandson and vice-chair of our advisory board, James Roosevelt, Jr. “Joe Biden is the candidate who can be trusted to protect seniors’ earned benefits from any attempts to undermine or privatize them.”

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CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 10/8/2020

October 8, 2020

This is an unprecedented editorial from the best medical journal in the world. If you want to know what virtually all good doctors think, read this editorial. As a political conservative, I regret the need for this message, but, …”truth is neither liberal nor conservative.” Jim Harris, MD

CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE ARTICLE

From the MNM: Harrison County reported 3 new Covid cases. “The county judge reminded that free walk-up testing will be offered, again, this weekend, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at Marshall Convention Center, located at 2501 E. End Blvd. South.”
Cases at Marshall Independent School District are also climbing with six new active cases reported, on Wednesday.

“We have six new active cases to report, which gives us a total of 11 active cases currently in MISD,” David Weaver, MISD’s pubic information director, indicted.

Weaver said three of the new cases were at Marshall High School; the other three were at Sam Houston Elementary.

“With 13 recoveries overall on the year, we now have had a total of 24 cases throughout the district this year,” he said.

The county judge reminded that free walk-up testing will be offered, again, this weekend, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at Marshall Convention Center, located at 2501 E. End Blvd. South.

Dying in a Leadership Vacuum

Editorial from The England Journal of Medicine

Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the
world. This crisis has produced a test of leadership.
With no good options to combat a novel
pathogen, countries were forced to make hard
choices about how to respond. Here in the
United States, our leaders have failed that test.
They have taken a crisis and turned it into a
tragedy.

The magnitude of this failure is astonishing.
According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems
Science and Engineering,1 the United States
leads the world in Covid-19 cases and in deaths
due to the disease, far exceeding the numbers in
much larger countries, such as China. The death
rate in this country is more than double that of
Canada, exceeds that of Japan, a country with a
vulnerable and elderly population, by a factor of
almost 50, and even dwarfs the rates in lowermiddle-
income countries, such as Vietnam, by a
factor of almost 2000. Covid-19 is an overwhelming
challenge, and many factors contribute to its
severity. But the one we can control is how we
behave. And in the United States we have consistently
behaved poorly.

We know that we could have done better.
China, faced with the first outbreak, chose strict
quarantine and isolation after an initial delay.
These measures were severe but effective, essentially
eliminating transmission at the point where
the outbreak began and reducing the death rate
to a reported 3 per million, as compared with
more than 500 per million in the United States.
Countries that had far more exchange with China,
such as Singapore and South Korea, began intensive
testing early, along with aggressive contact
tracing and appropriate isolation, and have ….

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Willie Shakes

By George Smith

Willie Shakes said it all at one time or another. His immortal words ring true today on a variety of subjects. He talked about all things and the lines he wrote speak to us today.

I became infatuated with his turn of phrases in high school and took two Shakespeare courses in college.

No writer, before or since, cut to the core of a matter with more clarity than The Bard.

Let your imagination run free as mine did.

“It is not in the Stars to hold our Destiny but in ourselves” – Julius Caesar

“I am disgraced, impeach’d and baffled here, pierced to the soul with slander’s venom’d spear, which no balm can cure but his heart-blood which breathed this poison.” Richard II

“The man’s undone forever; for if Hector break not his neck in the combat, he’ll break it himself in
vain-glory. Troilus and Cressida

“Strong reasons make strong actions.” Lewis in King John

“My pride fell with my fortunes.”
As You Like It

“I will not jump with common spirits,
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.” The Merchant of Venice

“Go wisely and go slowly. Those who rush, stumble and fall.” Romeo and Juliet

“This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh!” 1 Henry IV

“You sign your place and calling, in full seeming, with meekness and humility; but your heart is cramm’d with arrogancy, spleen, and pride.
Henry VIII

“…When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed; at game, a-swearing, or about some act that has no relish of salvation in’t; then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as damn’d and black as hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays:this physic but prolongs thy sickly days.
Hamlet

“He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle.
Troilus and Cressida

“It is a tale; full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – Macbeth in Macbeth

“There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger.” Coriolanus

“If a Jew wrong a Christian,
what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you
teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”
The Merchant of Venice

“We know what we are but know not what we may be.”– Ophelia in Hamlet”

“More of your conversation would infect my brain..” Coriolanus

“A pox on both your houses….”
Mercurio in Romeo and Juliet

“Such antics do not amount to a man.” Henry V

“He is white-livered and red-faced.”
Henry V

“They were devils incarnate.”
Henry V

“They are hare-brain’d slaves.”
1 Henry VI

“I have more flesh than another man and therefore more frailty.” – King Henry IV

“He is deformed, crooked, old and sere, Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;’vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind; stigmatic in making, worse in mind.
The Comedy of Errors

“Your abilities are too infant-like for doing much alone.” Coriolanus

“I can see his pride peep through each part of him.” Henry VIII

“The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge.” Hamlet

“Infected he the air whereon they ride,
And damned all those that trust them.” Macbeth

“The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.” Coriolanus

“My hour is almost come, when I to sulphurous and tormenting flames must render up myself.” Hamlet.

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Confederate Statues Come Down Around U.S., But Not Everywhere

About 60 Confederate monuments have come down across the U.S. amid a national reckoning on race — but nearly half as many localities that considered removing their statues have decided to keep them.

…

NPR recently visited Marshall, Texas, and Shreveport, La. — neighboring cities that fiercely debated their Confederate monuments and had two different outcomes.

Back in July, it seemed like officials in Marshall — tucked in the piney woods of northeast Texas — were on the verge of moving their marble statue of a rebel soldier. The curly-haired infantryman gripping a muzzleloader rifle has stood beside the courthouse for 114 years.

Even Bill Elliott with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which defends the monuments as important parts of history, was pessimistic.

“We ain’t won anywhere. I’ll be honest with you,” Elliott said earlier in the summer. “If it’s got to be moved, we’re for working with everybody. We just want it to go somewhere that’s gonna be safe.”

But Marshall’s experience shows that Confederate statues are not so easy to topple.

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CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 10/6/2020

October 6, 2020

On Monday, Harrison County had 6 new Covid cases and the MISD reported a total of only 4 active cases. The USA reported 42, 223 new cases yesterday which is a 6% increase in the daily count. As Dr. Yogi Berra said, “The opera ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings.” I might add that the Fat Lady is available at any time to sing at funerals.

FROM JAMALong-term Health Consequences of COVID-19

FROM JOHNS HOPKINS SELECTIONS:

1. CARDIAC ARREST & CPR Researcher from a number of US medical institutions published findings from a study on the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in COVID-19 patients who experience cardiac arrest. The researchers note that “anecdotal reports of poor outcomes in critically ill patients with COVID-19 who have had in-hospital cardiac arrest have prompted discussions on the futility of [CPR] in this patient population.” The study, published in BMJ, included more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to intensive care units at 68 hospitals across the US. Among these patients, 701 participants (14%) experienced cardiac arrest while hospitalized, and 400 (57.1%) of those individuals received CPR. Among the 400 patients who received CPR, 48 (12%) survived to discharge, and 28 (7%) exhibited normal neurological function or only mild neurological impairment. These percentages are relatively consistent with studies of CPR among non-COVID-19 patients, which indicates that CPR does provide benefit to COVID-19 patients. Additionally, the study illustrates the high rate of cardiac arrest among COVID-19 patients, and hospitals and health systems should be prepared for the increased demand among severe COVID-19 patients.(J. Harris: another recent article had indicated even less survival post CPR. Wear your mask).

2. Meeting highlights from the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) 28 September – 1 October 2020EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has started a review of a safety signal to assess reports of acute kidney injury in some patients with COVID-19 taking Veklury (remdesivir).
Kidney injury can be caused by other factors as well, e.g. diabetes; importantly, COVID-19 is itself known to be a cause. The PRAC will now carefully assess all available data to evaluate if the medicine may have been responsible for the kidney problems and if there is a need to update the existing information for Veklury. Recommendations for the use of this medicine have not changed.(J. Harris: Just how likely this new drug is to cause or to accentuate kidney damage is being studied, but it needs to be used with caution and not whim.)

3.Face Masks, Public Policies and Slowing the Spread of COVID-19: Evidence from Canada (National Bureau of Economic Research) We estimate the impact of mask mandates and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) on COVID-19 case growth in Canada, including regulations on businesses and gatherings, school closures, travel and self-isolation, and long-term care homes. We partially account for behavioral responses using Google mobility data. Our identification approach exploits variation in the timing of indoor face mask mandates staggered over two months in the 34 public health regions in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. We find that, in the first few weeks after implementation, mask mandates are associated with a reduction of 25 percent in the weekly number of new COVID-19 cases.

4.Changing Age Distribution of the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, May–August 2020 During June–August 2020, COVID-19 incidence was highest in persons aged 20–29 years, who accounted for >20% of all confirmed cases. Younger adults likely contribute to community transmission of COVID-19. Across the southern United States in June 2020, increases in percentage of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results among adults aged 20–39 years preceded increases among those aged ≥60 years by 4–15 days. Strict adherence to community mitigation strategies and personal preventive behaviors by younger adults is needed to help reduce infection and subsequent transmission to persons at higher risk for severe illness. (CDC MMWR, 10/2/2020)

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Dr. Jim Harris

October 4, 2020

Yesterday, Friday, Harrison County had 5 new cases, Gregg 8, and Smith 23.
Smith County schools see increase in COVID-19, most among staff, students in grades 7-12

DOES AZITHROMYCIN HELP COVID (Z-PACK)
J. Harris: As I understand this and other similar articles:1. No help in sever hospitalized cases with or without hydroxychloroquine2. Does it help if used very early in the disease? ‘UNKNOWN3. If I got sick and had a Z Pack, would I take it early even for mild symptoms? Probably.4. Would I panic if I got sick and didn’t have a Z Pack? No. But I’d talk to my doctor about it, especially since I am still fortunate enough to have a personal physician who I know and trust and who knows my medical history and who is associated with Christus.

HOW TO SIGN UP OF JOHNS HOPKINS MAILOUTS
(JHarris: Their free emails concerning COVID and medicine with several weekly publications and summaries in several categories are the best source of current information that I have found. I try and pick and choose and “translate” the information that I think is most pertinent for our local and area situation, but readers might want to read in more detail. Now, as Hopkins continues to expand and improve, I less often dig around in the multitude of various journals for bits of truth. If you like charts, they have the best.)

FROM JOHNS HOPKINS:1. FOR THE LAST TIME, HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE PROPHYLAXIS DOES NOT WORK:Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine vs Placebo for Pre-exposure SARS-CoV-2 Prophylaxis Among Health Care Workers (JAMA Network) Among hospital-based HCWs at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, hydroxychloroquine, 600 mg, daily, for 8 weeks did not reduce the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with placebo. Our findings are consistent with what is to our knowledge the only other randomized COVID-19 prophylaxis trial published to date.
Risk of COVID-19 During Air Travel

President Trump tests positive; Wisconsin sees record death increase — 5 COVID-19 updates

Regeneron’s REGN-COV2 Antibody Cocktail Reduced Viral Levels and Improved Symptoms in Non-Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

2. AUG 20: A promising new coronavirus cure just failed in its Phase 3 trial A potential coronavirus cure has failed to meet the primary goals of its Phase 3 trial despite the promise the drug has shown elsewhere.

Tocilizumab did not improve the clinical status of COVID-19 patients and did not reduce patient mortality in Roche’s Phase 3 testing.
The drug still holds potential and will continue to be studied. Several other researchers have been working with tocilizumab and other interleukin-6 inhibitors in COVID-19 therapies, and have seen some success.

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Judge Staci Williams, Democratic Candidate for Texas Supreme Court in Marshall October 3

October 2, 2020

Judge Staci Williams, Democratic Candidate for Texas Supreme Court, to speak at Harrison County Democratic Headquarters in Marshall on Saturday, October 3

Judge Staci Williams, Candidate for the Texas Supreme Court, will speak at a “Meet the Candidate and Voter Registration” event held by the Harrison County Democratic Party at their headquarters, located at 213 West Austin Street in downtown Marshall, on Saturday, October 3 at 2:00-4:00pm.

The event will also be a kind of “Welcome Home” event for Judge Staci Williams, since Judge Williams was born in Gregg County and lived her early childhood in Marshall before moving to Dallas. Her father, Dr. Claude Williams, was a well-respected dentist in our community.

Judge Williams shared: “Even though my family moved from Marshall to Dallas when I was 9 years old, Marshall has always been and will always feel like home. Coming back to Marshall, it reminds me of hard work, integrity, and my roots in East Texas.”

Judge Williams is a judge of the Texas 101st District Court. She assumed office in 2014. She received her bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Massachusetts and her law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Judge Williams’ biographical information includes that she has worked as corporate counsel in the defense telecommunications and retail industries. She has also served as a trial attorney and an administrative judge for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, counsel to the United States Judiciary Committee, as well as a municipal judge in Dallas and an attorney in private practice. She has also been on the arbitrator panels of the U.S. Postal Service, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (formerly the National Association of Security Dealers.)

If elected, Judge Williams would be the first African-American female elected in the 174 year history of the Texas Supreme Court.

The Saturday, October 3 event for Judge Williams in Marshall event is also designed to provide a continued opportunity for citizens of Harrison County who are not yet registered to vote to register before the voter registration deadline.

Maxine Golightly, chairman of the Harrison County Democratic Party, shared: “We’ve had a very successful voter registration campaign in Harrison County and we’re continuing to encourage community members who are not yet registered to get registered to vote before the registration deadline on Monday, October 5. It’s important that people make sure they are registered so they can vote in this critical election.”

Christina Anderson added: “In addition to registering to vote, we invite community members to join us in welcoming Judge Williams back to Marshall. Judge Staci Williams is an outstanding candidate for the Texas Supreme Court and the event on Saturday is a great opportunity to meet and ask any questions you might have of this excellent candidate who has her roots in Marshall, Texas.”

The event will be held in the backyard of the Democratic headquarters at 213 West Austin so that people can enjoy the beautiful fall weather and to assist in providing room for social distancing.

Also, community members are welcome to visit the Harrison County Democratic Headquarters during the week in these final days before the November 3 election. The headquarters is open every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11:00am – 2:00pm.

If these times are not convenient, persons are encouraged to call Maxine Golightly at (903) 908-0521 to make an appointment and she or another volunteer will arrange to meet the person at the headquarters at an appointed time.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Democratic Party wishing to take all measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Democratic headquarters follows all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for social distancing and wearing masks. If a person does not have a mask and wishes to visit the headquarters, a mask will gladly be provided.

Early voting begins on Tuesday, October 13 at seven locations in Harrison County and runs through Friday, October 30, 2020. Information about specific times and locations for early voting are available at the Democratic headquarters or at the Harrison County Elections Office at 415 East Burleson Street.

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Community and Economic Director Wes Morrison resigns from city

[Marshall, Texas, October 1, 2020]

Last week Marshall’s community and economic director Wes Morrison sent in his resignation letter for his position with the city.

Morrison’s last day with the city will be Oct. 13, and city spokesperson Stormy Nickerson said that a posting for the job position was posted on the city’s website on Tuesday this week.

“We wish Mr. Morrison well in his future,” Nickerson said.

Morrison said that the decision to leave the city was not easy for him, but that he knows it is the best decision for his career and his future.

“Marshall will always be my hometown, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of accomplishing some great things that moved the city forward over the past six years,” Morrison said.

According to his letter of resignation, Morrison will be accepting a position in another community that is seeing exceptional growth.

“I feel that it is the best time for me to move on to the next chapter,” Morrison said. “I look forward to coming back to visit and watching Marshall continue to prosper.”

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