We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
It comes as a (tiny) weekly injection, done at home.
It is mainly an appetite-suppressant, and a highly-effective one according to a couple of patients. It can have some GI side-effects, but is usually tolerated.
It is something to consider for those who have too much trouble with food. As we have often said, it's impossible to burn off dangerous deep fat with exercise.
Topics for the Black Wellness and Healing course include "misogynoir, engaging Black youth, survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual violence, protecting yourself as an academic/ organizer doing Black liberation work, financial wellness, Afrocentric healing and spirituality, and celebrating the diversity of Blackness."
It sounds a bit racist to me but, who knows, maybe Afrocentric healing might be good. Never heard of it.
You can see where Mao came from. His horrors were just historically normal. Of course, this is historical fiction but Frazer tried to make it realistic. Sir Harry, I feel, was the original James Bond.
From Amazon:
Lusting after a clergyman’s wife, smuggling opium to Hong Kong, coupling with an Amazonian woman river pirate, groveling before a ruthless warlord, and becoming the sexual plaything of the most beautiful and evil woman in the world, Sir Harry Flashman, the supreme antihero of the Victorian era, is ready to rise to the occasion to matter what depths of dishonor he must plumb. In this uninhibited and uproarious adventure, Flashman is once again at his irascible best.
Loneliness is a sad human condition. Misanthropists, socially-phobic, and the overly-narcissistic might see it differently, but I feel that having a solid group of pals is an essential ingredient in my life. A few close friends, a bunch of lunch and couples pals, and plenty of enjoyable social friendlies. There are many things best talked about with friends instead of with spouses.
In tribal societies, everybody is, by necessity, connected but most Western people do not live that way now. Still, humans are social creatures. Humans also need support systems.
I once wrote a post about thinking about concentric social circles, from intimate confidantes to casual social aquaintances to work colleagues. It was a good post, but I can not find it.
Many people could use such advice. He hints that one thing to do is to join groups, and he is right about that. You also need to have something positive, pleasant, fun, or interesting to bring to the table. Having things in common helps a lot. Alas, some people are just not very likeable, and that is a handicap.
I know people who still have friends from grammar school, high school, and college. Lifetime friends are a blessing.
I see many people doing fairly-aggressive stretching before sports or a weights work-out. Wrong. Except for calf stretches, which are a good idea.
A warm-up for a sport or weights is a 5-minute jog, elliptical, or calisthenics things like jumping jacks. Stretching cold muscle is a bad idea. You can actually hurt yourself that way.
Stretching after a sport, a calisthenics hour, or weights might be a good idea or maybe a waste of time. If you take a calisthenics group program in a gym, you will see that they spend the last 5 minutes or so doing stretches on the floor. That feels good, if nothing else.
Psychiatrists are often more alert to perimenopausal mood and cognitive changes. Whether estrogen replacement treatment is always the best solution is another question.
The complexities of human sexuality are all out in the open nowadays. Our Greek and Roman cultural ancestors never fussed much about it. They seemed to do whatever they felt like, especially if aristocrats.
Most people just have no issues with it, but surely for some number of people sexual and/or love interests are different or variable. I have seen it many times. It's a given that sex life and love life are important parts of life. As an MD, I remain a skeptic about the trans fad because I know that people have fantasies about everything. Fantasies are always interesting.
Many people have been asking me what "testing positive" for COVID means. See today's news on the NY Yankees.
It seems clear that the more people you do nasal swabs on, the more positive results will occur. This virus will become endemic so many, and hopefully most, people will be exposed to it. Like the common cold, or the seasonal flu. Few will get significantly sick from it or even be aware of it.
The point is, a positive test does not mean that you are sick, and, if vaccinated, doesn't mean much of anything other than that somehow you were exposed. Furthermore, there are many (but still really unknown) numbers of false positives.
I think it makes sense to test people who are ill, but not random healthy people unless it is just an academic exercise.
Of course people should. It might be the best way to maintain sturdy bone and muscle while time, nature, and entropy are doing their best to destroy you.
There are mayny sources of pain for which opiates are the best temporary fix. For example, knee replacement.
The number of such patients who become addicted is tiny. What bothers me is the withholding of opiates for cancer patients, especially terminal patients with pain. Since cancer is the end of the road for roughly half of people (and increasing as other causes of final ends are being better treated), withholding pain control for the terminal out of fear of addiction seems deeply wrong to me.
Recommended. You do not need to be a STEM student or an MD to understand this history. I had not known that this author had a serious family history of mental illness.
