Memories of My Three Walking Pneumonia Attacks, by J.D. Meyer

Watching Hillary Clinton cough during a speech and later stumble as she was leaving a 9-11 memorial service brought back memories of my three walking pneumonia attacks. I describe walking pneumonia as the “silent killer,” because you don’t know that you have it until it has gotten pretty bad and you end up in the E.R. of the hospital. Pneumonia is way different from noisy lung ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD.

The first attack was in 1995 when I was an Adjunct Instructor of Developmental Writing at Mountain View Community College in northwest Oak Cliff. Some of my students noticed I’d been looking bad before I ended up getting my folks to take me to the E.R. of Baylor Hospital, which was near my centrally-located apartment in Old East Dallas.  I’d developed asthma eight years earlier, but only needed a rescue inhaler at the time. My other part-time job was as a construction assistant/groundskeeper for Medical Center of Mesquite. Plus, I played half-court basketball every weekend with my mentor prof friend, the late Lew Sayers, and his friends.  Immediately, I quit cigarettes for five years.

The second attack occurred in late 2005 when I was a full-time Instructor of Developmental English at Texas College, an HBCU in north Tyler. Strangely, I’d delivered a sermon entitled, “Best Practices and Biggest Challenges of Unitarian-Universalists,” and spoke way too fast that time. A few days later, I went to the doctor and discovered I not only had walking pneumonia but emphysema! By that time, I’d been using an albuterol nebulizer for eight years and Advair sporadically for a year or two.

The third attack was in 2011, and the worst of all of them as I was kept in the hospital for a few days after the all-too-frequent ER visit. By this time, I was on disability and waiting for Medicare to start. Fortunately, there was a computer for the patients to use. That’s where I met a middle school science teacher, who was there to visit an older relative. I ended up interviewing him about the Urban Gardens movement, and he knew plenty of websites. Later, I’d research the work of Detroit mayor and former NBA star, Dave Bing, for more information. There were some sites on urban vegetable farms from progressive Austin too. I ended up publishing an article on the topic, despite having an IV in my left arm while taking my first batch of notes! Now it’s on my website at https://www.academia.edu/1084754/Urban_Gardens

In conclusion, give Hillary Clinton a break. Walking pneumonia is sneaky, and it may not seem bad at first –even if you knew about it like her, unlike me. The important thing is making it to the doctor or hospital somewhat soon–instead of late. This article was delayed because of my hospitalization for COPD & hypertension, but no pneumonia!

Pew Poll Shows 59% of Americans Oppose US-Mexico Wall; So Do I

Pew Poll: 59% of Americans Oppose US-Mexico Wall, by Sandy Fitzgerald http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/pew-poll-americans-oppose/2016/04/02/id/721972/#comment-2673685684

The poll of 2,254 adults, conducted March 17-27, found:

• 59 percent overall oppose the wall
• 38 percent overall support it
• 67 percent of Republicans approve it
• 86 percent of Democrats oppose it

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has centered much of his campaign agenda around building a strong wall between the countries, and the poll reveals that most of his supporters back that plan:

• 84 percent of Donald Trump’s supporters favor a wall;
• 64 percent of Ted Cruz’s supporters want a wall and 42 percent do not;
• 53 percent of John Kasich’s supporters oppose a wall and 45 percent approve of one.
• 91 percent of Bernie Sanders’ voters oppose it;
• 83 percent of Hillary Clinton’s supporters oppose a wall.

My Take
“I am opposed to The Wall & forcing Mexico to pay for it. Why risk another war, let alone with our neighbor? We’re major trading partners. More migrants move to Mexico rather than the US for several years–often returning home. The U.S. needs to speed up the process for legal status, especially agriculture workers…….. The braceros program (1942-1964) was a guest worker program that freed countless Americans to battle the Axis in WW II. Cinco de Mayo, aka. The Battle of Puebla, was a surprise defeat of France by Mexico in 1862. It marked the end of France financing the Confederacy!……… Furthermore, we have water treaties between the U.S. & Mexico, concerning the Colorado & Rio Grande Rivers–mostly from 1944………. Mass deportation would be very expensive, not fiscally conservative. How would the round-up be conducted? Would paratroopers drop into taquerias, Mexican grocery stores, and K-12 school parking lots that have a large ESOL population? Don’t make the USA Neo-Fascist!”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 by J.D. Meyer

Yo Trump, Here’s Why I Like Mexico & Even Nixon Better Than You

Barely a day goes by without hearing of Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for President, making an insulting remark about rivals, undocumented immigrants, and/or foreign trade/other countries. On the other hand, Richard Nixon opened relations with China after 2 1/2 decades of isolationism.
Later Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal. However in retrospect, the crime seems more pathetic than wicked because Nixon’s gang had no need to spy on the George McGovern group because there was no question Nixon would rout McGovern in the the 1972 election. I aged from nine to 15 during this time period- upper elementary to high school.
My vague memory of Nixon’s poor economic policies at the time were summarized in the soul classic, “Fish Ain’t Bitin’,” by Lamont Dozier.
Yet Donald Trump’s deportation proposal would cost $200 billion to deploy. Forcing Mexico to build a Second Great Wall could lead to a war with a neighbor that is our third largest trading partner.
The “plan” neglects that many undocumented immigrants overstay their temporary work visas. Rich businessmen like Trump can use US government forms to ship unskilled temporary workers to the US.
During World War II, the U.S. enacted the bracero program, so we could have temporary farm and construction workers from Mexico while the US and the rest of the Allies fought the Axis powers: Germany, Japan, & Italy. Sergio Gutierrez, one of my best friends in high school, had a dad who volunteered to fight in the Air Force for the U.S.A. as a machine gunner in a bomber plane. Yes, Sergio’s dad was a Mexican citizen at that time.
Let’s fast forward to getting my secondary teacher certification and doing plenty of substitute teaching in ESOL, Bilingual Elementary, and eventually Spanish through 4th year. I should admit that my fashion statement was avant-garde–long hair in the back and business casual. So I subbed where the preppies weren’t, sorta like White Flight in reverse…lol. I started studying Spanish, and my first lesson to me was how to order a meal in a taqueria.
I cherish those memories of little kids waving at me in the cafeteria that had me as a sub at that school or another school in Garland ISD or Dallas ISD. Then there were those two times playing soccer at recess. Once I found a giant riding lawn mower part in the field, so I told a good little boy to take it to the principal. Then there was the time I uncharacteristically played goalie (I’m really a halfback or fullback). I leaned on my knees since my asthma was bad, and I bought my first albuterol nebulizer after school. Much later, I added my published articles on clothes http://lessonplanspage.com/laspanishclothesunitjhmo-htm/ and Spanish music http://lessonplanspage.com/LASSMusicSpanishMusicListeningComprehension912MO.htm/ to the real teacher’s lesson plans.