Miss Peanut was put to rest yesterday afternoon. The cancer that had invaded her lungs compromised her ability to breathe. Peanut’s quality of life was number one for us. No matter how painful it was for us to say goodbye we knew it was the only decision we could make.
Peanut was a sweet, sweet girl. She was a lap dog and a bed hog and a squirrel catcher and a fence climber and a lover of zen and we will miss her so much.
Rest In peace, dear Peanut.
Not enough MAGAts are dying of Covid. We really need more super spreader events. Hoping college football will speed things up a bit.
Ciao.
I thought about holding on to the last dose in the event I come down with Covid….but then realized Peanut would benefit more than me.
Yea, people won’t take the jab but will try other UNPROVEN remedies. RIP.
Ciao.
To recap, we spend over $2 trillion on an unwinnable war in a country that fell the instant we left but we “can’t afford” to protect Americans from death by giving them affordable health care.
The median member of Congress is a millionaire, which seems important given that they’ve spent decades cutting taxes for millionaires. I’d say maybe this is a conflict of interest but the people who’d need to change this are … in Congress.
If politicians were actually concerned about “fiscal responsibility” they would raise the minimum wage so that we could stop subsidizing the poverty wages of Wal-Mart and Amazon.
Incentive system for… …politicians is to sell out their voters for corporations …corporations is to sell out customers and employees for investors …investors is to squeeze corporations to put short-term profits and growth over humanity See the problem?
Billionaires control nearly a third of all American wealth and pay a lower tax rate than pretty much everyone else Pretty weird hearing politicians saying we can’t afford stuff without including this minor detail.
~Dan Price, for info on what he did for his employees see https://www.inc.com/magazine/201511/paul-keegan/does-more-pay-mean-more-growth.html
The Covid-19 vaccine, that is.
Early on, I was on the fence about the vaccine. I was equating it with the flu vaccine – which I’ve never taken. But I think it’s pretty clear that this virus is particularly vicious – including its variants – and we need to get a handle on it and figure out how to live with it.
I generally don’t trust Big Pharma. I know too much about trial data and how they like to embellish positive results and hide the negative. I know how they, particularly with statin drugs, use relative values to falsely claim better efficacy. I know how they’re always trying to increase a drug market even if it means targeting children.
If you’ve ever watched Rep. Katie Porter question Pharma executives, you’ll know that their claim of spending so much money on research and development justifies the cost of a drug is a lie. Katie Porter is a truth teller and we need more like her representing us.
So, no, I don’t entirely trust drug companies.
Back to the vaccine. I was happy that I wasn’t eligible early on for it because I wanted to see how it all played out. I wanted to be able to look at the data and try to measure the true efficacy of the drug. I was also a little wary about mRNA. Yes, they’ve been researching for decades but this was the first to actually implement into a vaccine and use it on the public.
I’m not an anti-vaxer. I’ve had my fair share of vaccines – particularly, as a child. When I served in the military we were required to have had all the usual childhood vaccines and when I served overseas we had to get additional vaccines. But, I think the vaccine landscape has changed since when I was a child or even in the military. Pharma is continually looking for diseases to vaccine against. And the number of drug commercials on tv is mind boggling.
The problem we have today with the vaccine is a lack of trust. Some of it justified and some of it not. I do believe, however, that there is enough data available to determine that the vaccine is efficacious and adverse events are very rare. Remember, that EVERY DRUG out there will have adverse events. Humans are not all the same.
We also have in this country and the world a serious health problem. Only 12% of Americans are healthy.
“The prevalence of metabolic health in American adults is ‘alarmingly low,’ even among people who are normal weight, according to a new study. Only one in eight Americans is achieving optimal metabolic health. This carries serious implications for public health since poor metabolic health leaves people more vulnerable to developing Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other serious health issues.
Metabolic health, which is defined as having optimal levels of five factors: blood glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference, without the need for medications.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181128115045.htm
When the vast majority of citizens are sick, bad things happen with viruses. There’s a reason that most of the serious effects and deaths occurred with people who had co-morbidities – particularly, obesity and diabetes.
What no one seems to be talking about is why we’re all so sick. Just think, that if only 12% of Americans were sick instead of 88%, how much better we could have managed the virus. We wouldn’t have had a pandemic with hospitals overrun with sick patients. Think how much money we could all save if the numbers were reversed.
To me this is the elephant in the room. WE ARE SICK.
If you know me, then you that I firmly believe a low carb animal based diet is the best weapon to fix metabolic health. See Virta Health for jaw dropping results in REVERSING T2D.
However, if we got healthy, then Pharma would lose huge markets for their drugs. Big Food which produces all the junk that so many of eat would lose their markets. Our medical industrial complex would lose much of their income. The results from Virta Health are staggering. One must wonder why this isn’t front page news around the world.
I think too many big companies have too much to lose to let that happen. That’s one reason why the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are so difficult to change.
Back to the vaccine. Even though there is precedent of having required immunizations, I’m still somewhat reluctant to force people to take the vaccine. I’m also opposed to forcing women to continue unwanted pregnancies.
But the data is excruciatingly clear right now. 97-99% of people in the hospital because of Covid are unvaccinated. The Delta variant is making its way around because of the unvaccinated. I do get that there are some unvaccinated who have true reservations about the vaccine. I’m hoping that once the FDA approves the vaccine so it’s not an emergency use case that people will feel more comfortable with it. The Biden administration is working hard at outreach to vulnerable communities.
Then there are the krakens. The ones who are irrational to all except themselves. The ones who simply don’t give a damn about anyone else. The ones who are so ideological they can’t pull their heads out of their asses. To you I say, let’s make a deal. You folks who don’t want to take the vaccine please wear your mask when among other people. If you do get sick, please stay home and stick it out. Please don’t go to the hospitals where your numbers will cause the rest of us to have to mask up again. Please don’t go to the hospitals where they become overrun and causes officials to close things down again to protect us against you. Please don’t go to the hospitals and beg for them to help you.
When it becomes harder and harder to breathe, just stick it out at home…until the very last breath. You really don’t believe a hoax is going to kill you anyway, right?
Ciao.
We’ve started watching an interesting show on HGTV called “Escape to the Chateau”. It’s about a British couple who bought an old dilapidated chateau in France with the aim to renovate and use as an event destination. See their website here https://thechateau.tv.
In a recent episode, Dick (one of the proprietors) coddled some eggs for breakfast. I had never heard of coddled eggs and my interest was piqued. Coddled eggs reminded me of soft boiled eggs, which I love. They’re just cooked a little differently.
So, I began my quest to acquire some coddlers.
These porcelain coddlers are made by Royal Worchester in the UK. They will accommodate one egg each. To use a coddler, you butter the inside, break an egg into it being careful not to break the yoke and then add anything else you desire…salt, pepper, bacon crumbs, chives, etc. I opted just for salt and pepper.
I’ve always liked my soft boiled eggs on toast, so, I made some keto bread just for this occasion. Your first coddled egg only happens once. Make it count!
I’m looking forward to more coddled eggs as this is one of my favorite ways to eat eggs.
What to do after such a delicious and satisfying breakfast? Take Peanut for a walk on this gorgeous spring day.
Happy Spring y’all!
Ciao.
…that this lottery ticket is a winner!
Mirlisa's Bits and Pieces 