Thursday, August 26, 2010

Deputy Director of WHAT?????

Well, Milwaukee County Behavioral Health is in the news again. John Chianelli has been demoted. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Mr. Chianelli's new title is Deputy Director of the Disabilities Services Division. We can only hope that this is a politically motivated decision, and Mr. Chianelli will, in fact, have no power to wreak more havoc in his latest appointment. Seriously, one of Mr. Chianelli's former charges was, in fact, a mentally disabled woman who became pregnant because of Mr. Chianelli's "budget-saving" decisions. You don't demote someone into a position after that happens, you fire the stupid S.O.B. and keep him as far away from patient health care as you can. But then, we live in interesting times, i.e., an election year. Because of the timing, Scott Walker can't be seen as having no faith in Mr. Chianelli's abilities by actually firing him. It was Scott Walker, himself, who put Mr. Chianelli into the job of Director of the Behavioral Health Decision. Obviously, Mr. Chianelli has one redeeming qualification in the eyes of the Walker Administration; he is their political hack. Good citizens of Wisconsin, should Mr. Walker obtain the governorship, you will be surrounded by political hacks as inept as Mr. Chianelli. Wake up and smell the rot of utter incompetence.

Mr. Walker certainly must view his constituents as stupid. This is evidenced by the latest appointment of Mr. Chianelli to any post. Wisconsinites are not stupid, Mr. Walker. Yes, we want our tax dollars spent wisely......and the dollars adding up in the defense of Mr. Chianelli and his less than intelligent administrators is not only outrageous, but it will probably bankrupt Milwaukee County. It is a sad day for any local government when it's leaders continue to make horribly wrong decisions based on saving face. Walker, your face can't be saved; it's got the mark of stupid all over it.

Let me just close by saying this. Look at the mess Milwaukee County is in. Do we need to take this level of ignorance state-wide? No, we do not. Let's send Mr. Walker and all of his budget cutting directives back where they belong; out of the public forum. My fervent wish is that Mr. Walker loses the election, has a nervous breakdown and ends up at Milwaukee County Behavioral Health for the treatment he has deemed appropriate for other Milwaukee County citizens. Talk about poetic justice.
The GOP golden boy is nothing more than a disgusting puppet for the ultra-wealthy. He does not care about Joe-Wisconsin. He does not care about anything; he's too empty-headed.

WALKER FOR GOVERNOR --- A BAD MAN WITH A BAD BUNCH OF IDEAS.

As an afterthought ---- where is the criminal investigation to what happened at the Behavioral Health Division? I won't rest until people are held accountable. There isn't a rug big enough to sweep this under, you hopeless morons. Put down your brooms and get the hell out of our town.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Gambling Addictions

I love to gamble once in awhile. My husband indulges me when we're on vacation, taking me to a casino, where I dutifully spend $60. Sometimes I double my money, and sometimes I lose. It's the nature of gambling. I don't take it too seriously and I certainly don't have a problem because losing money is SOOOOO painful to me. I just chalk up my losses to entertainment expenses. I've suffered guilt when I've spent a few hundred dollars and walked out with nothing, but I don't do that anymore, (A) because I'm retired and (B) because I can't stand the pain, literally.
The most I'll lose is $60, about half the cost of a concert ticket or a pair of good shoes, so it is valid entertainment for me.

Now.....here is how you can tell if you have a gambling addition.

1. You go to Macy's and buy some gold. You don't care what the gold looks like, you feel the weight of it in your hand and whatever feels heaviest is what you take to the pawn shop for some quick gambling cash. (You buy the jewerly on your credit card). You are in your sixties. If you have to go through all those steps to get some quick cash at your age, you're in trouble and you have a gambling addiction.

2. You win a huge jackpot (my estimation of a huge jackpot is anything over $500). You don't quit gambling and leave. When you finally do leave, you're in the hole $1100 in addition to the jackpot you've put back in slot machines.

3. You can't go to the casino with other people. For you, gambling is something you need to do in private, like shooting up heroin.

4. You have to pee really badly, but you can't cash out. You just can't. When you finally lose all your money, you scurry to the nearest bathroom (and they are never close by in a big casino) with wet dribbles in your pants.

5. You're hungry, you're tired, you have a headache, you're supposed to be somewhere in ten minutes and you can't leave that slot machine.

6. You go back the next day to try to recoup what you lost the day before.

7. You're consumed with thoughts of where you'll get the money to gamble later in the week.

8. You can rationalize anything, any bill that goes unpaid, any dollar spent on a slot machine that should be spent on groceries.

9. You have every intention of going to the movies or out to dinner, but you end up at the casino, instead.

10. You're lying about how much you've lost and how often you've lost. You're exaggerating about how much you've won.

Seriously, gambling is like any other addiction; very painful, very hurtful and very costly, emotionally and financially. If you have even one of the above warning signs, please get help. Everyone wants a piece of the big pie, but very few of us get it. Grow up. Get your life back. A life is worth so much more than any amount of money.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Continuing Debacle of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division

Alas, it's all a matter of public record now. Names have been named and secrets exposed.

The astounding question remains, however. Why wasn't a violent sexual predator placed in a secure facility, like the State Hospital in Mendota? The answer is relatively simple. Scott Walker, the County Executive, conspired with John Chianelli, the Director of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, to save money by not serving the needs of Milwaukee County's mentally ill clients. We all know that the politics of the Republican party is to save money, cut taxes (usually just for the wealthy)and exploit the most vulnerable members of society simply because they are the least likely people to object. I don't see any difference in what these two local yokels have done here than I do with what the Nazi doctors were doing in their experiments at the death camps.

For now, the witch hunt is on. Hopefully, rather than dredging up the less than exemplary past of the treating psychiatrist, the media and the good taxpayers of Wisconsin will place the blame where it duly belongs - on Scott Walker, John Chianelli, Tom Harding, a few other top ranking administrators who have now proven themselves as rank amateurs, and an inept and entitled nursing staff. I believe every person involved in the cover up of the rape and pregnancy of the patient at BHD should lose their license to practice medicine or administer a hospital. This should happen at the very least. I am sending a copy of this blog post to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office and asking what steps are being taken to prevent these supposed professionals from causing any further harm. I will do the same with the Wisconsin Board of Regulation and Licensing. I am FED UP with the criminal acts of people whose salary I'm paying. Falsifying medical records is a criminal act. There are more criminal acts involved here, but let's leave that to the prosecutors.

I would like to see criminal charges filed against all of these bunglers. If the victim was not mentally retarded and had any capacity to fend for herself, you'd better believe you would see a swift and equitable justice. As it stands, I seem to be just a lone voice that speaks up for injustice.

So the good taxpayers of the State of Wisconsin have a clear understanding of the cost of this debacle, to have placed the violent sexual predator at Mendota for one year would have cost $250,000. Now imagine what this case is going to cost you taxpayers over the next few decades? This is an astronomical figure brought on by an atrociously incompetent group of people masquerading as professionals.

Again, where's the outrage. Let's hope we see it in the gubernatorial election, at least.

And to all the honest, hardworking and truly professional people who have worked for many years at BHD, let's say thank you. It can't be easy being honorable and competent in that three ring political circus. Let's hope you'll move forward and continue to do great work and that you'll do it with professional management and adequate funding in the future. I believe great work is done at BHD, despite the best efforts of consummate politicians and administrative hacks to thwart it.

And finally, kudos to the media in this town, i.e., The Milwaukee Journal, for exposing and staying on top of this story.

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Optimist

I am not ever optimistic, in fact, I kind of think people who are optimists are just dazed and confused, and too lazy to ponder the bad outcomes that will probably occur.

However, I'm trying to turn over a new, more optimistic leaf. It's not easy. This world is such a freakin' paradise turned parking lot, it's hard to feel good about my fellow man. Still I AM trying.

I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me about not seeing things in so harsh a light.

For example, when I walk through the park and there is garbage strewn all over the place, except in the trash cans which are liberally placed every 20 feet, how can I love my neighbor or feel optimistic about the future of the neighborhood? I don't want to live with rats, and obviously these trash spewing f'heads enjoy crawling around in their own garbage. Put an optimistic spin on that for me, okay. I think my neighbors are trash loving rats. What would an optimist say? What would an optimist feel? I seriously don't have a clue. Here's what I feel ---- I don't give a RAT'S ASS how poor you are, how ignorant you are or how psychotic you are. Trash cans are for trash. It's not difficult, you f'n pig moron.

Optimistically, I remain, disgustedly yours.

P.S. Don't send me any religious pamphlets, please. Because if you think I feel strongly negative about garbage, just try me on religious rhetoric.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Scott Walker-Racist at Large, Running for Governor

Anyone who lives in Milwaukee understands that Scott Walker is a consummate politician, as well as an idiot. The two have become almost synonymous these days. However, Scott Walker lives in a racist bubble that is so abhorrent to common decency that I must take a moment to remark.

Everyone knows that the Republican Party is adamantly opposed to mass transit (i.e., high speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison) because, supposedly, this will hurt their biggest contributors (the auto industry and big oil). Fighting any kind of progress that is good for the common man and great for the environment is priority one of the Republican Party.

So, when President Obama visits Milwaukee, one of Walker's staffers, Jill Bader, a mouthpiece of the moronic, puts out a tweet about riding the soul train, a thinly veiled racist message that purportedly was to express Walker's opposition to high speed rail. Backfired on you, Idiot! The message clearly is that Walker is not a friend to anyone who isn't white, wealthy and without a moral compass. He simply cannot appeal to anyone outside that description. And he certainly, by this tweet, has stated boldly and loudly, "Walker Despises People of Color".

How this guy got enough backing to run for Governor is a mystery. If there are that many idiots in Wisconsin, maybe the state needs to be run by the biggest idiot of all. Maybe I'll put my "Move out of Wisconsin" plan on the fast track. I have no problem with conservative viewpoints, but the Republican Party has become far more than conservative. It is deceitful, decrepit and repugnant. It is the party of old rich white men who would stop at nothing to maintain the status quo, despite the fact that the status quo is simply NOT WORKING FOR ANYONE anymore. It's too bad that all these rich old white men have enough money to keep themselves alive, long after they should have died of old age and/or stupidity. Republicans, do your country a favor! Drop Dead and let the Next Generation have a Fighting Chance! The cesspool you've made of America is something we will all have to clean up. May you drown in fecal rot in your next incarnation.....truly a fate too GOOD for you.

Everyone knows America is on a bad road. What everyone doesn't know is that Republicans have built this road and have paved it with powerful lies and thinly disguisted bigotry. We are descending into a dollar driven tyranny. When are we going to rise up and take back America from these pirates, marauders and thieves?

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Death and Other Eventualities

I am going to a memorial service today for a young man, just turned 30, who died last Monday of an aortic aneurysm. He had suffered miserably in his short life with a medical condition that is too awful to detail. We all knew it would kill him, but we all viewed that as a detached, remote sort of a thing. And now, here it is. Not detached. No longer remote. We did that to protect ourselves, meanwhile sacrificing him.

I wonder what it was like for him with all of us being so ..... detached.....(?) from the reality of his impending death. It certainly couldn't have been emotionally comforting to him. Our from-a-distance perspective made us feel better: yes we know he's going to die, but we're not really spending a lot of time thinking about it. We, however, weren't the ones with death looming on our horizon. So there was a young man, sick, depressed, and alone. I think that being sick and having to face your mortality is a very isolating experience. You can't really talk to anyone because you just make people uncomfortable. The people you do talk to give you stupid advice because they haven't got a clue about what is really going on with you physically and emotionally. You end up living this nightmare of a life all by yourself. It's only after you die that the people who should have been there for you all along develop some insight into what your life was actually like. Then we feel horrible about losing you, and losing the opportunity to make things a little better for you.

I, for one, can only say that I'm ashamed of myself for not taking better care of Canton, and anyone else who is living a life less than ideal. I hope that I can take this knowledge and use it the next time I encounter a very ill person. I won't be so nonchalant, nor, hopefully, ignorant of that person's experience, which is very different from my own. I will miss Canton, a great artist, a true rebel, an anarchist after my own heart.

And I will try to step outside my comfort zone the next time I meet someone who is not ever going to have a happy ending --- and try to ease their pain while ignoring my own discomfort.

I apologize Canton, for not being a better friend. I hope you have found a wild and wonderful reality and you are healthy, for the first time, ever! I hope I see you again.