I started this blog because I felt that Public Health Issues were being overlooked or, even worse, being used as a Political Weapon by many Politicians to score points against other Politicians. Also, most PEOPLE today care little about Public Health Issues unless it directly affected them – there is little “For the Greater Good” out there – only “What’s in it for ME”. Little did I know that it is even worse than I first believed.
I was a Baltimore Police Officer in the 1980’s and became hardened to the daily life of trash-filled alleys, homelessness, drug usage, filthy housing and rampant disease. In the 2000’s, I was the DIrector of Field Operations (Safety and Sanitation) Charles Village Community Benefits District and found that it was even worse than it was before – especially in trash piles, rodents, homelessness and filthy housing. Baltimore’s nickname was the “Syphilis Capital” of the Country and AIDs/HIV hit the City big time.
Baltimore was, and still is, a One Political Party Town and the “Old Guard” political types run the town. Graft, Corruption and the “My way or the Highway” are the prevalent methods of Government. Add a “Press” that is also a One Party Entity to the mix and nothing will ever change.
So, I moved to a smaller town away from Baltimore and found that it is not much different than Baltimore. One Party Political Rule, Services and the like used as personal toys of the politicians and a “Press” that does what the Politicians tell them to do. Can’t get away from it.
Background explained and now Politicians and Public Health in the extreme:
This is about California and the rest of the West Coast States (Oregon and Washington). Personally, I feel that those 3 states are THE classic examples of One Party Politics and the death of Public Health. One Party politics that try to control the entire narrative of what EVERYONE in those states is suppose to think and keep trying to export failed policies to the rest of the Country. The problems are many:
- Homelessness – even if the Politicians get their way concerning a “Living Wage” it won’t help. See:
$61/Hour Wage Needed To Rent 2-Bedroom In San Francisco, $54/Hour In San Jose – CBS San Francisco – posted 6/21/19
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/06/20/housing-wage-61-san-francisco-54-san-jose-nlihc/?utm_campaign=true_anthem&utm_content=5d0c9ccbe84fc20001cf23a4&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=social
In fact, all over California, Oregon and Washington, homelessness is surging and people are living in tents, cars, R.V.’s and so on. Homeless “Camps” keep spring up and the local governments move and clean the Camps at the tune of millions of dollars a year – and the Camps just move to another location.
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Doo-Doo (poop, crap, shit or whatever) San Francisco has had a major problem with Doo-Doo and spends Millions to constantly clean the sidewalks and Parks. See:
Doo-Doo, the New Urban Crisis | RealtyHop – posted 2/8/19
https://www.realtyhop.com/blog/doo-doo-the-new-urban-crisis/#figure13
LA Homeless Encampment Cleanups: Are Millions of Tax Dollars Being Wasted? | NBC 7 San Diego – posted 5/15/19
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/investigations/national-investigations/Los-Angeles-Homeless-Encampments-Tent-City-Trash-Garbage-Waste-Cleanup-509849151.html?df
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Infectious Diseases: This is a growing problem and will get worse. An article, several months ago, quoted the President of L.A. City Council as saying, because of the growing Typhus problem, they should “Import an Army of Cats to fight the Rats”. Nothing needs to be said about that. Even Hollywood is starting to Notice with Cher (4/15), Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten (4/27) Doctor Drew Pinsky (5/13) and NFL Legend Herschel Walker (6/13) talking about how bad it is on the City Streets. Dr, Drew Pinsky has gone as far as to write 2 articles on how bad it has become:
Dr. Drew says LA public health in ‘complete breakdown’: ‘No city on Earth tolerates this’ | Fox News – posted 5/31/19
https://www.foxnews.com/health/dr-drew-says-third-world-countries-would-be-insulted-to-be-compared-with-los-angeles
Public Health Triage by Doc Wes 