Post Op Blues

It's been a few days after my lingual hernia repair operation. The procedure went well but the post-op recovery has been more problematic than originally anticipated. I had to deal with the mechanics of determining whether or not my kidneys were working properly as a result of a mishap when inserting a catheter for the original procedure. It's been 5 days since that issue got reconciled (I'm fine) but something weird happened tonight.

I had the uncontrollable urge to cry.

I decided today I would try to go without medication and let my body get used to functioning without them.  I was able to work, run errands, and even audition today. I got home and after s few hours, a freight train of emotion hit me inexplicably. I couldn't regulate my emotions. I just felt very useless, alone, and vulnerable. I wasn't "sad" per se - more just "wounded"than anything else.

So for half an hour I cried. Not bawling or sobbing. Just cried quietly on my bed with my wife beside me. I couldn't stop. I wanted to. I used the mental gymnastics I've built over the years of how "men don't cry"and they were useless. I just rode the waves of emotion the best I could.

While this read happening, I wondered if it was a reaction to the lack of medication or maybe I was having an anxiety attack. I look them up and tried self-diagnosing. Neither one came back with much. I then asked if this was a normal reaction to coming off general anesthesia. I then learned about the "post op blues".

It turns out that it's not uncommon for people to sense a bit of depression after surgery. Granted, the more intrusive the surgery, the longer the recovery, the deeper that depression can go. My operation was an outpatient procedure; however, I believe that it messed me up more than I realized. The recovery process didn't totally start until 8 days afterwards due to the kidney-related problems. So, I couldn't focus on what I sent in for until later. I think all of the stress of the operation, being bed ridden for quite someone afterwards, and the fact that at times I felt completely useless to people because I couldn't do my normal activities got to me. It just found an emotional outlet tonight.

I decided to write about it because I want to remember this. I want others to know that his they may be feeling is normal. Hopefully it's just a short-term thing and I can bounce back to where I was after giving myself more time to rest.

It Takes Two To Ruin A Classic

Target put together this travesty:

Don't tell me this song or video is a good remake or brings something original to a hip-hop classic. 

First of all, it's put together to promote Target.  Now, I know there's a lot of commercialism in hip-hop as it is but this is so blatant, the entire video reeks of sanitation by executives who have no clue as to what hip-hop is all about.  Whatever good there is artistically in the shot (dancing, choreography, visuals), it's washed out by the fact that it's just a really long Target commercial.

Secondly, LIL YACHTY and CARLY RAE JEPSEN???!  Neither of these clowns grew up on 80s hip-hop.  Lil Yachty famously couldn't name any Biggie or Tupac songs let alone an obscure gem from Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock.  Carly is to hip-hop what Yachty is to rock n' roll - unrelated.  There is no artistic contribution or validity either one of them bring to the song.  Yachty raps like all other mumble rappers out there - tons of Auto-tune and slurred speech.  The original song requires a little bit more diction and inventiveness to perform and his performance on the remake sounds uninspired, contrived, and strained - as if he never really studied the original.  Carly feels like she's there for eye candy in the video and to sing the hook.

Lastly, I dont get the whole idea of what "it takes two" to do in Target.  Why do we need two people to make Target awesome?  Nowhere in the song do they actually go into depth about what two people would do at a Target.  Shopping is better with two people?  Consumerism is better with two people?  What?!!!

Pull The Cord!

I logged onto Twitter this morning and saw the following Tweet in response to a #POTUS45 tweet:

I VOTED for Trump.. but as a Reasonable, Intelligent, Business Minded person...UNLESS he has an EPIPHANY... I'm gonna have 2 cut my losses😢

— OBJECTIVELY HONEST🌼 (@Ewife49) February 16, 2017

With that statement, I dug a bit further into his timeline and found this gem:

@smubound9048 ... will continue to support for as long as I can't and by the time that happens Amendment 25 article IV will be used

— OBJECTIVELY HONEST🌼 (@Ewife49) February 18, 2017

Uhhh, unless you're a Congressman or a member of the Oval Office, their ain't jack you can do.  I had to ask myself, "What makes him think that he personally can invoke the the 25th Amendment, Article 4?  Does he even know what it is?"  I decided to educate myself quickly on it:

Section 4 of the 25^th Amendment stipulates that a president who "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" can be removed from office. The vice president and either a majority of Cabinet members or members "of such other body as Congress may by law provide" need to communicate that wish in writing to the Senate president pro tempore and the Speaker of the House in order for the sitting vice president to become the acting president. However, if the president resists and deems himself capable of fulfilling his duties, the matter heads to Congress: A two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate within 21 days means the vice president remains the acting president; a lesser vote returns the powers to the president. 

Are You Mental?
Does this guy feel that he has any direct influence on his Congressman to what he wants (unless of course he has donated heavily in their campaigns and now owns them)?  Does he actually believe it's easy to go through the mechanics of removing a sitting president with an unprecedented maneuver like invoking the 25th Amendment?  Does he think #POTUS45 will just roll over and not fight it?  If invoked, I fear it'll tear the country apart.

Don't wait for Congress to deal with an out-of-control problem with your leadership.  #Resist

Your Anee, Uhm...?

#POTUS45 during his recent press conference deflected questions regarding his reponse to Russia's recent military provocations of the US.



The elevelant portion of the transcript of the conversation is as follows:

QUESTION: Mr. President, you mentioned Russia. Let’s talk about some serious issues that have come up in the last week that you have had to deal with as president of the United States.

TRUMP: OK.

QUESTION: You mentioned the vessel — the spy vessel off the coast of the United States.

TRUMP: Not good.

QUESTION: There was a ballistic missile test that many interpret as a violation of an agreement between the two countries; and a Russian plane buzzed a U.S. destroyer.

TRUMP: Not good.

QUESTION: I listened to you during the campaign ...

TRUMP: Excuse me, excuse me. When did it happen? It happened when, if you were Putin right now, you would say, “Hey, we’re back to the old games with the United States; there’s no way Trump can ever do a deal with us.” Because the — you have to understand. If I was just brutal on Russia right now, just brutal, people would say, you would say, “Oh, isn’t that wonderful.” But I know you well enough.

Then you would say, “Oh, he was too tough; he shouldn’t have done that.” Look, all of the...

 During this back-and-forth item, he mentions:

TRUMP: Now, again, maybe I’m not going to be able to do a deal with Russia, but at least I will have tried. And if I don’t, does anybody really think that Hillary Clinton would be tougher on Russia than Donald Trump? Does anybody in this room really believe that? OK?

But I tell you one thing, she tried to make a deal. She had the reset. She gave all that valuable uranium away. She did other things. You know, they say I’m close to Russia. Hillary Clinton gave away 20 percent of the uranium in the United States. She’s close to Russia.

Let's put some circumstance and sanity around this statement as briefly as possible.

A firm representing Russia's atomic energy program, Rosatom, bought shares into a Canadian mining company called Uranium One based in Toronto.  Uranium One owned assets in Wyoming, Utah, and other places.  From 2009 - 2013, the Rosatom firm AMRZ increased it's ownership stake from 17% to 100% of Uranium One after the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) approved the deal.  As a result of the takeover, Rosatom control 100% of those form Uranium One assets which constitute 20% of the US' uranium extraction capacity NOT US uranium supply.

What the CFIUS?!!

The CFIUS is made of 9 government bodies including Departments of State, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy, and Homeland Security, and the heads of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.  However, due to the proceedings being classified, there is no public evidence supporting or rejecting Clinton was involved in the decision in approving the deals regarding Uranium One/Rosatom.  Other committee members had stated that they never spoke with Clinton regarding CFIUS matters as a matter of practice the issues the committee dealt with wouldn't rise to auspices of the Secretary of State.  Ultimately, it took 9 agencies to sign off on the Uranium One acquisitions and the President to allow it through, i.e., not veto it, before it would take effect.  So, ultimately, Clinton alone does not have the power to hand over American assets like uranium production to a foreign body.

Isn't Russia Buying Up Uranium Production Assets A Bad Thing?
The US assets owned by ARMZ were mandated by the USNRC to remain under the control of US subsidiaries and did not grant formal licenses to the Uranium One nor Rosatom firms an export license; thus, no uranium mined in those areas can be exported out of the country without the involvement of USNRC involvment*.  None of the uranium can be used for building power plants, submarine engines, or even nuclear weapons except in the US.  Russia may benefit financially through this agreement but not with materials to pose a threat to national security.

Deflection Protection

What bothers me most about #POTUS45 in this scenario is that he deflected the question to what his response was by wanting to talk about Clinton's supposed involvement with Russia.  When pressed further in the conference:

QUESTION: Can we conclude there will be no response to these particular provocations?

TRUMP: I’m not going to tell you anything about what response I do. I don’t talk about military response.

So, in other words, we have no idea how he's going to respond if at all.  My money would be that no response will be given in public due to his compromised position with Russia (sex scandals, conflicts of interests, and impeachable actions).

#POTUS45 lied about Clinton and this uranium business.  If you don't believe me, do your own research and come to your own conclusion.

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1. Uranium One did export out yellowcake to Canada for procesing.  The company that facilitated the transfer, RSB Logistic Services, did have an export license.