ugly, ignorant, and just plain sad

"The grocery manager, the anti-maskers, and the one thing he wouldn't say"

C'mon, people.

brilliant decision

Not everyone thinks that it's such a good idea to have organized football, at any level, during this particular time. USA Today's Christine Brennan penned a column that speaks for many of us: "Opinion: Big Ten's decision to play football signals darkest day in conference's sports history":

 An excerpt:

 [...]

Just as the Big Ten was looking smarter by the day as COVID-19 outbreaks popped up at Michigan State, Wisconsin and Maryland while other conferences playing football announced COVID-related postponements and soaring cases, the league’s presidents reversed themselves and decided to steer their schools and their football programs right into the teeth of what are predicted to be some of the worst days of the pandemic in October and November.

And how are they doing it? With a mountain of daily antigen tests, special delivery for Big Ten football teams only. Rapid tests for football players, but apparently not for the elderly in Ann Arbor or Columbus or Evanston, or for school children and teachers in Bloomington or New Brunswick or Minneapolis, or for students paying for their education amid the outbreaks in East Lansing or Madison or College Park.

So how will this work? Smooth as silk, I’m sure. Let’s look at Michigan State. The other day, all MSU students were asked to self-quarantine – and 30 large houses, including 23 fraternities and sororities, were ordered into mandatory quarantine – after the school announced 342 new coronavirus cases.

“This is an urgent situation,” Ingham County Health Officer Linda S. Vail said. “The exponential growth of COVID-19 cases must stop.”

So hey, Michigan State, let’s start football! What could go wrong?

[...]

Indeed.

skip the "hero" stuff

Article at The Atlantic by Karleigh Frisbie Brogan: "Calling Me a Hero Only Makes You Feel Better"

Brogan writes, "Cashiers and shelf-stockers and delivery-truck drivers aren’t heroes. They’re victims. To call them heroes is to justify their exploitation." I agree.

no hoop

Forget March Madness and the NBA.  Cats can't even find a pickup game anymore: "Coronavirus has stopped basketball across America"

Sad.

Well, folks who have a hoop in the driveway (or over the garage or whatever) can still shoot around...

letter

A letter to the editor I found at The Denver Post:

Sit quietly

If you sit quietly in one spot where you call home, memories will arrive. I am at a small kitchen table looking up at our skylight. The kitchen has been a favorite gathering place in our home during parties long past. Time sits still if you listen; the friends, the laughter, the bad jokes, pass by in your mind.

We are in a time when listening is all we have. You are able at any age to do so. What you will find, as I have, is that after all of the “vicissitudes of life,” there are people we remember, people we are bound to by birth, people who make an impression, people we love deeply, and people who love us. It is, after all, people that make our existence whole.

The realization that COVID-19 may take me at 71 threatens to crowd out my hope, interrupt my idea that more gatherings will come, and more lovely faces will grace our kitchen.

I hope that those who survive learn from this universal experience that our connections matter. We are together on this wondrous journey. We live together, die alone, yes, but most of the time, we are here with others. To survivors, make this re-discovered truth a reality. That means we share or we perish; no more winner-take-all society. Everyone matters; the baker, clerk, barista, mechanic, truck driver, nurse and teacher. Each deserves the dignity of a decent life, including those we must care for because they cannot care for themselves.

Bill J. Fyfe, Denver

pandemic

Good article that looks at the situation going forward. Paints a grim picture, but realistic, given what is known. I'm saving this link; maybe one day I'll be able to look back on it and see how accurate the author was, if I'm still around!

"How the Pandemic Will End: The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out." -- https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/

brain damaging sports

Column by Steve Chapman in the Chicago Tribune: I don't think I can watch football anymore

The most debilitating part of the sport appears to be not the rare concussion but the regular, inevitable blows to the head that occur at every level. A study conducted by Stanford researchers on Stanford players found that in a game, the typical offensive lineman endures 62 such hits, each equivalent in force to driving a car into a brick wall at 30 mph.

Ouch. Same thing with boxing, I'm thinking. But I don't know if I'm at the point where I can stop watching football and boxing. Not yet, anyway.

juiced

For years, I've been a proponent of a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables. Many elite athletes would agree.

Consider the San Antonio Spurs and their cold-pressed fruit and vegeatable juice drinks. It seems that the Spurs are kinda tight-lipped about it, but according to the article linked below, "Several Spurs see their special drinks as an all-important first step to the recovery process that staves off fatigue and injury."

They may be on to something:

"Over the last decade, and despite an older roster, the Spurs have ranked first in the league with only 1,054 missed games to injury."

Article: The San Antonio Spurs, made with 100 percent juice

great read

Check out Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's magnificent work, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. I'm about halfway through this book. Very interesting, whether looked at from an historical, a cultural, or a medical perspective.

Martha Moore Ballard lived in the Kennebec River region of Maine, working in and around the town of Hallowell. More about her can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Ballard

This treasure of a book, originally published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (New York) in 1990, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. As noted at Wikipedia, "In 1997, the PBS series The American Experience aired A Midwife's Tale. This documentary film was based upon Ulrich’s book, and Ulrich served as a consultant, script collaborator, and narrator for the film." I have not yet seen the film. See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/midwife/filmmore/index.html

new mexico green chiles

Article from the BBC: Is the chilli pepper friend or foe?

Here in New Mexico, we know what to do with chiles -- put 'em on everything! "Red or green?"

And here, we know how to spell it. :)

another cup of coffee

I wrote a bit about coffee in still just a drug, but The Oatmeal presents a much more entertaining and educational view of coffee in 15(ish) Things Worth Knowing About Coffee. Enjoy!

still just a drug

This isn't the first time I've read something like this, but BBC News Health reporter Michelle Roberts wrote about studies suggesting that for regular coffee drinkers, caffeine only brings them back up to baseline or "normal" levels of alertness: " 'People become immune to coffee boost,' experts believe."

"Although frequent consumers feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning tea, coffee or other caffeine-containing drink, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal," said Professor Peter Rogers, of Bristol University, and colleagues.

But Dr Euan Paul of the British Coffee Association recommended more research, adding: "Coffee when consumed in moderation, four to five cups per day, is safe and may confer certain health benefits, including contributing to your daily fluid intake."

Indeed. What would you expect him to say?

Health Care Reform

While I agree with Mr. Obama that health care reform is sorely needed in this country, somehow I doubt that significant changes are in store.

For most of us, it would help if we simply reform the way we take care of our own health. How many health problems are a result of things we do to ourselves? Smoking, drinking, drugs, over-eating, poor diet, lack of exercise...

Dude. Most of us just need to be smarter. Look out for #1. Take better care of yourself.

Still, I hope Mr. Obama is successful. Too many people can't get the help they need, can't afford it. There's got to be a better way.

No A/C in AZ

Found an article at azcentral.com about a Phoenix-area couple who have vowed to go without air conditioning for an entire year!

http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/decor/articles/2009/08/08/20090808acless0809.html

They also have a blog page about the experience, or experiment, whatever you want to call it.

I know that after living in the Phoenix area for 24 years, I grew tired of air conditioning, and almost never use it since I've moved to Albuquerque. But it's hard to imagine making it through a Phoenix summer without it! This couple was motivated by environmental concerns; I applaud them for their courage!

Sneaky Tactics to Make You Stuff Your Face

The MSNBC article "8 ways the food industry can hijack your brain" might give you something to think about before you load up at your favorite restaurant. Scary, coming on the heels of more news that obesity in the U.S. continues to rise.

Oprah and the KFC Promotion

Can't help but chuckle about Oprah Winfrey promoting an offer for a free meal at KFC...

Oprah's KFC Catastrophe

I wonder if she was the first in line.

Eating Right

Harvey and Marilyn Diamond's Fit for Life describes a healthy eating style focused on fresh fruits and vegetable and proper food combining. I liked the idea of having only fresh fruit to start out the day, a high volume of fresh fruits and vegetables, and not combining carbohydrates and protein at the same meal. Eating this way is a good method for keeping yourself healthy and keeping your weight down.

For more info on the concepts, see:

http://www.thedietchannel.com/Fit-for-life-diet.htm

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fit_for_Life

More On The Flu

To put things in perspective:

"U.S. seasonal flu kills 13,000 since Jan."

"Common flu far more deadly than swine flu in U.S."

From the latter article: "The Centers for Disease Control estimates 36,000 people die annually in the United States from the flu."

The Swine flu has a scary name and a lot of hysterical media coverage, but so far it's nothing compared to the common flu. Let's not get freaked out yet.

Flu Scare

It's been reported that something like 159 people have died from the Swine Flu in Mexico, although the World Health Organization (WHO) has only positively linked seven deaths to the disease.

"There are 64 confirmed cases in the United States in five states," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and so far, one confirmed death in the U.S.

Scared?

The flu kills something like 500,000 people worldwide each year, so why the current media-driven hysteria about this new flu strain? I'd say that your chances of contracting and dying from it are tiny compared to your chances of dying in a car accident this year.