Yesterday I went to see my PCP’s PA. It was mostly about going over test results. My AIC was a 7.1, a little higher than I want it, but we3ll below the ganger range. My white count was a little high. Ellie thinks that was, because I was still recovering from pneumonia, and drew more blood to retest. My LDL was fine, but my HDL was a bit low. I ordered some fish oil caplets to boost my Omega 3s. She authorized pain meds sufficient to meet my needs. My poop test showed no evidence of colon cancer. All things, considered, I’m a perky puddy tat. I’ll retest in three months. My LIFT bus came at the back end of my window, and picked up and dropped off several people, before I got home in mid-afternoon. I had a late lunch and crashed. After breakfast this morning I cooked suppers for three days. A Lona Nap snuck up on me, so I’m running a bit behind. Several of you know Carrie. She asked me to let her friends know that she’s having Internet trouble. I hope she can return soon. TGIF!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:57 (average 6:03). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: \Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò is a staunch conservative and was vocally opposed to same-sex marriage throughout his five-year tenure as the Vatican’s nuncio (ambassador) to the United States.
He also sent an anonymous invite to Ms. Kim Davis, of anti-equality fame, to the Pope’s DC visit. While people, here and elsewhere, initially thought this was a coup for Davis and bigotry, Pope Francis turned the other cheek.
And now word comes that the incident is prompting The Vatican to replace Vigano. A friend of the Pope’s claimed he was blindsided by the meeting, and the move caused the Vatican to distance itself from Viganò, leading many to believe the Pope would quietly replace him as his “statutory retirement age” was approaching. Viganò turned 75 in January; when bishops and archbishops reach that age, they are required to submit a letter of resignation to the Vatican.
Interestingly, the Pope is thinking about replacing the social conservative warrior with an advocate of immigration.
Good riddance to a Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian. I am not Catholic, and I am not even slightly interested in practicing Catholic dogma, but I keep liking this Pope more and more.
From The New Yorker: President Obama is planning to take the nation’s nuclear launch codes with him when he leaves office, in January of 2017, the President announced in a nationally televised address on Thursday.
The President was quick to acknowledge that his decision to hold on to the launch codes was unorthodox, but said that he was doing it “to reassure the American people.”
“In recent weeks, there has been a rising level of alarm about who might have access to these codes going forward,” Obama said. “As a result, it occurred to me that the safest thing would be if I just held on to them for the foreseeable future.”
The President stressed, however, that he would follow through on his plan to keep custody of the launch codes “only if it is necessary.”
“We’re just going to have to see how everything plays out,” he said.
LOL Andy!! He might briefly consider keeping them if Hillary is the next President, but if either Fecal Dump or TRUSed Uranus wins, it's a no-brainer.
From YouTube: Robert Reich: How to Fix the Supreme Court
The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, and the Reich on the right, the seditions Republican Reich, is wrong. This video is sponsored by MoveOn.org, which released this statement on Garland's nomination. The best place to express disapproval to Republican Senators is to visit them, when they are waiting in the unemployment line.
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread–3/18/2014”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
So some of the police chose to switch to shoot first to avoid Miranda…
I thought you'd post Reich so I deleted from my possibles.
AB makes an excellent point…I'd like to think the timing was intended to coincide with the sort of surreptitious encouragement for donors to give to Clinton that Obama recently did…a disappointing element to me.
The Pope seems to be on the path of appointments revealing Biblical priorities for Catholics.
Some foods include flax seed, which also has the Omegas like fish oil.
4:29 If that's really a pine, it's magnified out of all recognition.
DKos – Yes, good news. A good riddance, and hopefully a good welcome to a more Christian replacement.
New Yorker – OMG Brilliant!
YouTube – Everyone in the United States should see this video, not least every Senator and Congressperson. But – with Americans the way they are – I wouldn;t want to wait until Republican Senators are in the unemployment line. I may not live that long.
Cartoon – And Republicans have done everything they could to undermine it ever since (including but not limited to, as jl says, preemptive bullets.
4:22 Pine blast? Maybe it is a reference to the colour.
I'm donating it.
DK: I like this Pope. I felt he was bush whacked during his D.C. visit. I am glad that he is viewing this with seriousness, and that he fired this ArchBishop. Good for him!!
NYer: Hold on to them just in case, Mr. President. LOL, Andy!
YouTube: Saw this today, and he makes it very clear. Do your job, or get fired !!!
Cartoon: "As a result of the case against Miranda, each and every person must now be informed of his or her rights when arrested."
Good report from the Doctor. Enjoy your evening, take care, and relax. Thanks, Tom.
I'm not a religious person, but this Pope should run for president here! At least he doesn't spew the hate-speech that HumptyDrumpf does and he does know how to stop someone that doesn't make any sense!!! Glad he did it and am proud of him!!!
Andy is SO RIGHT!!! Maybe he should just become the sole owner of the launch codes! There's no telling WHAT is going to happen to the presidency after he leaves office, no matter who wins!!!
I'm glad you PCP PA got your meds right. I have had a LOT of trouble since the new "guidelines" have come out. The way they have it worded puts me at odds with my doctor that has treated me for 14 years and I don't care too much for them!!!
Carrie is having internet problems? That's why I haven't heard from her. Well, I hope that she gets it fixed soon. I love her messages! They have some of the best memes!!!
Take care, TC!
Just getting ready to hit the hay, but took a gander. I agree your lab values (while not know specific numbers other than the HbA1c of 7.1) generally do not sound alarming.
BUT I'm not sure anyone's LDL can be "too low". LDL is considered the "bad" cholesterol fraction WRT cardiovascular risk, while HDL fratcion is the one you want high.
Jury's still out WRT fish oil – but I take it twice a day. (True, my Mom is 99 y/o – but my Dad died at 46 from an MI. I figure: Taking It Can't Hurt, May Help)
I brain farted and got them bass ackwards. I corrected the article. Thanks!
Glad you got such a good report today! Woo hoo!
Daily Kos: I am not Catholic, either, but I really like this Pope. I was outraged that Kim Davis had been invited for the Pope's visit. I wish that she and Sarah Palin would disappear from the news, it makes me ill when I hear about either of them.
The New Yorker: That might not be such a bad idea!
Youtube: Reich is right as usual. Shared this one.
Cartoon: One of the best Supreme Court decisions. The GOP, of course, will try to repeal it if they get the White House or a Right Winger on the Supreme Court.
Glad you had a much smoother, although busy, day.
Puzzle — 4:22 Pine blast? Maybe it is a reference to the colour.
Daily Kos — Before any of us were Christian or Jew, Muslim or Buddhist, Hindu or atheist, we were human. From what I have seen, Pope Francis tries to connect on a very human level. Obviously, this Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, feels himself above humanity. Like you Puddy Tat, I am not a Catholic and have absolutely no interest in the dogma. A Catholic grandfather who continuously called me a heretic, cured me of that. But this Pope is different in the most wonderful ways. He brings his humanity to the table.
The New Yorker — LOL! As the old English proverb goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention!" The thought of some trigger happy war monger Republican with the launch codes gives me the heebie jeebies.
YouTube — Robert Reich is such an excellent educator, but will those that desperately need to see this, that the time to watch and learn? (Sigh . . .)Not likely.
Cartoon — I wonder if we could Mirandise Drumpf if for no other reason than to get him to STFU! Hmmmm . . .
Magnificent idea!!
So good to hear you're in good health generally which means you're taking good care of your known health problems and any medication you take isn't causing nasty side effects. You must be one of the few people with low cholesterol (LDL) which is good for the heart but not so good for the brain. So taking some Omega 3 and 6 may help; if you want to steer away from over fishing, try some flaxseed as Judi suggests. Broken flaxseed added to your breakfast may help, but capsules are also available. Be careful with arthritis pain relief medications, TomCat, read up on their side effects.
DK: I don't like religious leaders in general, but for Pope Francis I make an exception. He tries to be a man of the people as well as a man of god and being a pragmatist and socialist he's giving priority to the welfare of his flock and not to writing highly theoretical and very archaic papers on Catholic dogma far away from the crowds like his predecessor. Pope Francis doesn't write much, he leaves the theology to his predecessor who's still lurking in the background, but he is quickly reforming the church with his notable speeches and by replacing the old hard-liners with younger men with more modern ideas. He recently retired the staunch conservative archbishop in The Netherlands and replaced him with the only people's bishop left after the previous pope had weeded out everyone that was progressive. That must have been quite a shock for the Vatican. Let's hope Pope Francis will do American Catholics the same favor. The Kim Davis incident may help, but Pope Francis doesn't appear to be a man who bears a grudge or who's vindictive. He genuinely seems to want to do the best for his flock.
TNY: Another brilliant column by Andy. Just imagine Drumpf with his finger near the red button, and as Stephen Colbert said: "I hope it is his finger." And Imagine his great friend Putin slighting him or worse, an enemy offending him by stating the truth… Wouldn't you wish Obama had taken the nuclear launch codes with him?
YouTube: Robert Reich couldn't be more correct. It is time to put public pressure on those "representatives". Calling them would be good, but then you probably never get past his PA, driving that poor sod insane without getting through to your representative. So I hope to see some coordinated telephone/twitter… action soon.
Cartoon: Not much help if they shot and killed you first.
Lona, for pain I take 10 mg of Oxycodone. Very seldome do I take it more than once a day, and more often than not, I do not take it at all.
So glad to hear that, TomCat. You have to excuse my bantering on about stacking medications and about side effects of medications, but I've seen three of my friends, relatives and neighbors end up in hospital recently because of for one of them it was nearly too late before the found out that some of his medications interfered with each other.
I apprtecdiate it. I get all my meds from one pharmacy and they check for interactions. my doctor reviews my meds on every appointment, and my insurance company does a detailed evaluation annually. I also use this interactions tool, every time I add a drug.
http://umm.edu/health/medical/drug-interaction-tool
Thanks TC – so glad your tests were mostly good. Sorry can't write more – pain in joints.
Hope and pray you feel better.
Thanks all! Hugs!!