Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Thursday, September 15, 2016

September Update: Everyone is in Great Health!

Well, I've done it again, I've let the blog just sit here for days on end, no updates, no nuffin'.

Sorry about that. I have more excuse for that than usual. Long-time friends, in fact surrogate family members from my two decades in Las Vegas have moved across the country, back to Ohio, and in with us. That has been a tremendous reunion, extended celebration, and little time or room for much else. The Other Half is highly irritated with all things political, and has nearly banned it from discussion. . .leaving the spare time for me to actually read and consume news and info on what's going on, rather than to write about it.

The big news this week, of course, is the health of the presidential candidates. Particularly after the health scare Hillary Clinton had on Sunday. Initially, the explanation of dehydration, exhaustion and pneumonia was iffy, sounding to some like convenient cover before finding out what was "really" wrong. But mostly that's because Right Wing World has spent weeks and months creating a fictional world where Clinton is a reanimated corpse or something. In the days since, Clinton has seemingly recuperated, her doctor has released a completely credible health assessment, and all but the kooky fringe (a disturbingly large contingent of people, I will concede) should be satisfied on at least that issue.

Meanwhile, Trump--who uncharacteristically wished Clinton well on her recovery--made a spectacle of his own health, having a very showy appearance on Dr. Oz, using a second health assessment by the same quack doctor, and pretty much erasing whatever credibility gap may have existed between he and Clinton on the issue. He also seemed to fudge on his own weight, trying to pass himself off as a bit overweight when he's likely clinically obese, and trying to convince people that campaign gesticulations count as physical activity.

It's all rather tedious in total, but you know what isn't? Listening to Rachel Maddow describe it in detail. She manages to make it quite entertaining, actually! Enjoy.


Friday, September 20, 2013

Blogger Down!: Health and Family Obligations Keep Blogger Away from Blogging!

Due to family and work obligations and a persistent (though hopefully minor) health ailment requiring a doctor visit, I'll be having a difficult time getting to the blog from now through the weekend. Thanks for visiting and come back soon! I'll be back before long, and probably getting something up between all of the hubbub. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Pizza Sauce as a Vegetable?

Image from source, ThinkProgress
Yes, pizza sauce classified as a vegetable. Incredibly--unbelievably--it was already classified as such. But an attempt to strike that ridiculous notion, and to improve the healthiness of school lunches was thwarted by the GOP. Who are apparently so put off by the First Lady's "Let's Move" campaign--or let's face it, in bed with the corporations making the unhealthy food--that they'd come out against healthy food for kids.

[Excerpt]


House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable To ‘Prevent Overly Burdensome’ School Lunch Regulations

The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.

The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Some conservatives in Congress have called the push for healthier foods an overreach, saying the government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Why Can't I Blow My Nose?

Image from Anatomy-
Resources.com
A little while ago, I posted a piece on my life-long ability to sneeze with nearly 100% frequency when going out into the sun. It's called a photic sneeze, and the post attracted quite a few readers and reader comments.  This got me to thinking.  I mean, I was able to find out about the photic sneeze on Wikipedia. But I have another seemingly from birth abnormality, and I can't seem to find out anything about it. Maybe a reader might know about this.

I can't blow my nose. Well, not like a normal person, anyway. If I'm in a steamy shower, I can blow my nose fairly normally. But if I'm not in the shower, anything beyond the gentlest outward pressure "pops" my ears. When I was a child, this would cause much consternation from my mother, who just thought I didn't like to or didn't know how to blow my nose. She'd be rootin' around in my nose with a Q-Tip, trying to unclog my unblown nose. Then she'd hold a tissue to my face, and tell me to blow. . .BLOW! She'd get angry. One time, to please her, I blew, really hard. . .and blew out my eardrums. Literally. Blood and everything.


Luckily, I healed up, and my hearing seems to be unaffected as an adult. But I still can't blow my nose. And a modified version of mom's Q-Tip procedure is necessary (that, or a good honkin' in the shower). On top of this indignity, I'm rather klutzy, something I've always guessed had something to do with my messed up ears, and sense of balance. Also, in times of changing pressure (such as on an airplane), the pressure can at times become almost unbearable. And the negative affect on my hearing while flying seems to be more pronounced and longer-lasting than it does for other people.


So, let's add this up. I am a photic sneezer. I can't blow my nose. I was born with a lazy eye, so despite corrective surgery, I don't have normal stereoscopic vision (can't see 3D movies or stills). And, oh yeah, I'm gay. That's a boatload of atypical inborn traits, wouldn't you say? It's a good thing I've got a friend doing some ancestry research on my family. I'm beginning to suspect that Mom and Dad were related!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

KFC's Grilled Chicken Might Cause Cancer?


And here I thought it was the fried chicken that would get you. Who knew?

[Excerpt]

Doctors' suit: KFC grilled chicken a danger

After losing its first battle against fast-food restaurants, a doctors group went back to court Wednesday and accused the KFC chain of selling grilled chicken with dangerous levels of a cancer-causing chemical.

In a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine accused KFC of violating California's Proposition 65, which requires businesses to warn customers if they are being exposed to substances that cause cancer or birth defects. . .

Read more at: SFGate

Monday, February 9, 2009

Limbaugh Afraid His Medical Records Might Become Public

If I were Rush Limbaugh, I wouldn't want my health records released either! I mean all sorts of things have been rumored. From a deformed posterior that kept him out of the draft, to a prescription drug addiction that has been said to have caused his deafness, to a suitcase full of Viagra for a "pleasure trip" to the Dominican Republic, can you imagine what we don't know?

[Excerpt]



Limbaugh Opposes Health IT Provisions, Fears His Medical Records Might Become Public

As the Senate prepares to vote on its paired down version of the recovery package, Rush Limbaugh is still inventing reasons to oppose its passage. Today on his radio show, Limbaugh zeroed in on a $20 billion portion of the bill devoted to increasing the use of health care IT. Limbaugh warned, “Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system” and declared that this and similar health care provisions have “nothing to do with stimulus but have everything to do with advancing the liberal agenda”. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Friday, November 21, 2008

Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey Collapses During Speech

Yikes. I'm not a fan, but I hope he's OK.




[Excerpt]

Attorney General Mukasey collapses

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the no-nonsense former federal judge who took over the Justice Department after Alberto Gonzales resigned in disgrace, collapsed during a speech Thursday night and was rushed to a hospital after losing consciousness. . .

Read more at: MSNBC


Sunday, October 26, 2008

McCain Has a Memory Lapse on Meet the Press

It's not nice to make fun of a person's age, or take pleasure in another person's brain fart. Oh, who am I kidding, it can be fun, it just isn't nice. But it's too easy. And there is a cut-off age somewhere north of sixty where age jokes move from funny to mean, unless made by the older person themselves.

But when that older person is running for President, and has released their voluminous health records in only the most cursory (and unusual) way, a memory lapse is worth examining. And not just the lapse, but the way you are shown to deal with it. This is from this morning's Meet the Press on NBC.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Barack Obama to Halt Campaign to Visit Ailing Grandmother


Photo from source, MSNBC

Yikes. The breaking news in the last few minutes says that Barack Obama will be "suspending" his campaign (or at least his own participation in it) later this week to visit his ailing grandmother, whose health has taken a turn for the worse. I can't imagine that there is a particular downside to this, but in our wacky political environment, who knows?

I would think that John McCain would likely issue a very hasty "we wish the Obama family well" type statement. It remains to be seen whether they'll halt their "pallin' around with terrorists" rhetoric, or if they'll somehow try to turn this to their advantage. So, while it is a dicey proposition to pull out of your own campaign in the last two weeks, it is equally so to try to use such a serious event to either side's advantage.

Here's hoping his grandmother has a turnaround, and that the politics can be reigned in for a time.

[Excerpt]

Obama to take break to see sick grandmother

Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to fly to Hawaii to visit his suddenly ill 85-year-old grandmother, his spokesman said. . .

Read more at: MSNBC


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Cheney Treated for Irregular Heartbeat


Image from source, Yahoo! News
Grinch from CoolChaser

For a guy who seems to have no heart, Dick Cheney's heart sure seems to make a lot of news.

[Excerpt]

Cheney treated successfully for abnormal heartbeat

Vice President Dick Cheney was treated "without complication" Wednesday for an abnormal heartbeat, his office said, making a short visit to a hospital to restore his normal rhythm with an electric shock. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

John McCain Gets Lost on Stage; And What's With His Face?

The news started out funny. John McCain bumbles around, trying to find his way off the stage at an event. It was kind of like Kathy Griffin's imitation of Paris Hilton in the same situation--without the posing.



Then, the bloggers at AmericaBlog noticed that something weird happened to John McCain's face, right before he got "lost."



So, what gives? Just a tic? Nerve damage from his skin cancer surgery? Something worse? It's worth a ponder.

AmericaBlog has lots more.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

McCain's Health: What's Going On?


Image from source, AmericaBlog

This past Friday, one of the more surprising aspects of the first debate was that John McCain seemed fully awake, upright, engaged and less doddering than usual. In this event, and in his speech at the Republican National Convention, McCain seemed very different than he often has on the campaign trail. I'd really like to know how they get him pumped up for the big events,

when he seems like a slowly deflating balloon at the smaller ones.

The issue of McCain's general health has become--for some reason--an almost taboo subject in the mainstream press, or from the Barack Obama campaign. Almost nobody seems willing to touch it. I'd really like to know why.

McCain was allowed--in a now more familiar "stunt"--to release his medical records on his own terms, by letting a select number of reporters view his voluminous records for a limited amount of time. Then they pulled the records from view. MoveOn.org recently ran an ad regarding the importance of knowing the status of McCain's health, and were slammed for it, with FOX "News" even somehow shaming a skittish MSNBC into dropping the ad. But these are valid points.

John McCain is our oldest candidate for a first-term President. People don't say much about it, but the previous record holder, and the oldest candidate for a second term, was very likely experiencing the beginning stages of Alzheimer's Disease while he was President. Well, as a blogger, I have very little to risk by doing my little part to bring some of this to light. I particularly have no fear of FOX "News!"

John Aravosis and the other bloggers at AmericaBlog, have been paying close attention to McCain and his health, and they've noticed that McCain had an odd appearance on this morning's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. They quite rightly are asking, what is up?

TW has not yet aired out here, so I may revisit this topic later in the day.

[Excerpt]


Remember, the reason we are forced to speculate about John McCain's health is because John McCain refuses to release his medical records. McCain let a few journalists review his records for 3 hours, that's it. They couldn't make copies, they had to leave everything behind. They got about 5 seconds to review each of other 1000 pages, then they had to move on to the next page. It's patently absurd. But that's where we are, due to John McCain's own choice in hiding his medical records. Thus, we are forced to speculate whether our potential next president is sick or dying. . .

Read more at: AmericaBlog


Thursday, September 25, 2008

AmericaBlog Notices Something About McCain's Left Eye

I found this story fascinating, because I too have thought there was something odd going on with John McCain's face, but I couldn't put my finger on it exactly. It reminds of the strange, intermittent jaw-wiggling George W. Bush sometimes does when finishing a sentence.

I've already noticed for some time that John McCain blinks a lot. And he has these little button eyes that make it extra noticeable. So it isn't surprising that a change in the way his eyes look was setting off alarms. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this, or if it has anything to do with yesterday's bizarre behavior.

[Excerpt]

Anybody else notice anything weird with McCain's left eye recently?



Joe and
Rob both mentioned this to me in the past week, and now several readers have brought it up. I also just noticed that Atrios picked up on this too today. Something wrong, changed, droopy or puffy with McCain's left eye. Anybody else notice anything? I just searched Google a bit more and found references to his eye being droopy in April and May of this year as well. But whatever it is, it seems to be intermittent. (McCain has had 4 bouts of melanoma, and did in 2002 have a benign growth removed from under his left eye.). . .

Read more at: AmericaBlog




Wednesday, September 24, 2008

What About John McCain's Health Records?

Several issues seem to be mostly "off the table" in this Presidential campaign, at least as they pertain to John McCain. His philandering in the 70s. His involvement with the Keating Five in the 80s. His age.

But the one that gets far too little attention may be the most important. His health. McCain released his medical records in only the most cursory way. He let a limited number of reporters comb through his voluminous health records for a very limited amount of time. Then, he withdrew them.

Many people, including some doctors, are very worried about this. McCain has had cancer four times, and he's no spring chicken. When you add in his selection of Sarah Palin--a supremely inexperienced politician--for his number two spot, the matter of his health is extremely relevant. So why don't we know more?

McCain is 72. He's had cancer 4 times.

Monday, September 15, 2008

John McCain's Medical Records: Should We Know More?

The surprise naming of Sarah Palin to be John McCain's running mate has only magnified the issue of McCain's health. Should we know more? McCain did release his records--sort of. In a Cheney/Bush/Rovian way, of course. He let some reporters loose for a short period of time, to go through the records. It was a one-time-only deal.

Brave New Films has a new video explaining why the issue of McCain's health is so important.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Barack Obama's Hip. No Really, His Hip


Photo of Obama's hips in action from Chicas in the City

Below, I've posted news about a John McCain health scare. I first read about it at--of all places--Free Republic, a rabidly right wing web site. There, commenters speculated that everyone would glom on to McCain's health issue, and ignore Barack Obama's potentially terminal bone cancer--or something.

In the interest of fairness, here is the story about Obama's hip bone.

[Excerpt]

"Everything's OK" After Obama Visits Hospital

After publicly mentioning a hip injury last week while visiting the troops in Kuwait, Barack Obama decided to have it looked at tonight. . .

Read more at: CBS News


John McCain has Biopsy on Mole


Photo from source, Telegraph UK

That sounds like a goofy headline, doesn't it? But remember, John McCain is a skin cancer survivor, so this isn't just a little thing. Hopefully--and I really mean this--it's benign, and nothing to worry about. But my tinfoil hat makes me wonder if they're giving him an out. . . Stay tuned.

[Excerpt]

John McCain has mole removed from face

The Republican White House hopeful had a spot of skin removed from his right cheek.

"As I do every three months, I visited my dermatologist this morning," the Arizona senator said.

"She said that I was doing fine, took a small, little nick from my cheek as she does regularly, and that will be biopsied just to make sure that everything is fine," he told reporters on a campaign visit to an oil rig. . .

Read more at: Telegraph UK

Friday, May 23, 2008

John McCain's Health Records Released. . .Sort Of


Photo from source, New York Times

I hate to sound suspicious, but the last eight years have made me deeply cynical of politicians, particularly of the GOP brand. If John McCain is in fighting form, and perfect health,

- Why was this released late on a Friday, on a holiday weekend, the traditional political "news dump?"

- Why were reporters only allowed brief access to the records?

- Why were a limited number of reporters allowed to view them?

- Why weren't they allowed to take or make copies?

- In fact, why didn't they just release them entirely by PDF files to the whole media at large?

Sorry, this smells fishy. And I don't think I'm the only one that thinks so.

[Excerpt]

Doctors Say McCain Is in Good Health and Free of Cancer

Senator John McCain, 71, is in excellent health and shows no evidence of a recurrence of the melanoma skin cancer that led to extensive head and neck surgery in 2000, Mr. McCain’s doctors said on Friday.

Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has kidney stones and takes medication to reduce his cholesterol but otherwise has a strong heart and is good shape, the doctors said. . .

Read more at: New York Times
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