Lowcarbfriend

Taunton River (Bridgewater, Massachusettes)

Good Morning …

Enjoyed this comment from the President. The weather is all about perspective.
I NY. (Especially in fall, spring, winter.) 6" of snow isn’t even a snowstorm.

"My childrens’ school was canceled today. Because of what? Some ice?"

"As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled," Obama said to laughter.
"In fact, my 7-year-old pointed out that you’d go outside for recess. You wouldn’t even stay
indoors. So, I don’t know. We’re going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness."

I was just curious after watching Oprah and Suzanne Somers today and the hormone program.

Suzanne uses estrogen and progesterone cream and says she feels wonderful, etc..etc., lost weight, has energy..etc…They are prescribed by her doctor and have to be in perfect balance for her body. She is 62..

Now..I don’t use anything like that..I have had a hysterectomy so I’m hormoneless..(but did have a pre-cancer cell), so I’m leery of estrogen..

Anyone have any thoughts on this????? Thnx.

Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door.

Upper right you can see some of the ice from my gutter, lower right deer tracks.

Good Morning …
Almost everyone ‘present and accounted for’ yesterday. Concerned about Loretta.

I lost cable for a half hour (no phone, internet, TV) – but the power never went out.

Doris: I only knew one person who ever had shingles. A former employee of mine.
She laid claim to about ten major medical conditions so I’m not even sure about her.

I have read about it and it sounds decidedly unpleasant. If there are outbreaks
in your area I guess the only thing you can do is keep your DH away from people.

When I’m pressed for time you all are stuck with pictures like "my garage".

Good Morning Everyone … Hoping to get out today.
Really need to get to Hannafords and the Post office before the next snowfall hits us.

Darren came over yesterday and chipped away at the ice and snow. I could get down it.
Not sure if I’ll be able to get up again though. lol. ….. I’ll probably give it a go.

So glad Loretta was able to let us know how she was. They certainly got hit hard there.
Some will not have power again until the middle of February.

old city Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

The Heidelberger Palace became the symbol for the Romantic era. The Romantic era
can be considered as indicative of an age of crisis. The Romantics attacked the Enlightenment
because it blocked the free play of the emotions and creativity. A famous relic of Romanticism
is the Philosophers’ Walk.

Good Morning … I’m feeling somewhat philosophical this early February morning.

From one of the Romantics, William Hazlitt:

Those who make their dress a principal part of themselves, will, in general,
become of no more value than their dress.

Even in the common affairs of life, in love, friendship, and marriage,
how little security have we when we trust our happiness in the hands of others!

Who’s Protecting Your Health?

Diet pills laced with antiseizure medicine. Soda “fortified” with vitamins and minerals. “Sexual enhancement” supplements pumped up with illegal drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently started to crack down on these and other products — moves we applaud because this important agency has taken a lot of heat for not being tough enough (as with the blockbuster pain pill Vioxx, pulled from the market after it was linked with a 30% or more increase in heart attack risk).

In December, the FDA scolded Coca-Cola for making nutrition claims about its Diet Coke Plus, which contains some B vitamins and a touch of magnesium, niacin, and zinc. This label violated a so-called jelly-bean rule that says it’s not appropriate to fortify snack foods. (Good point: Adding almost nothing to nothing is still nothing.) That’s not a huge flex of muscle by the FDA, but it was a sign that the agency may no longer let iffy claims just slip by.

Later in the month, the FDA issued a nationwide alert about 69 over-the-counter diet pills, some containing prescription drugs. The agency has issued a similar alert for 27 sexual enhancement drugs laced with chemicals it says are similar to the active ingredient in Viagra. Slipping prescription drugs into supplements is dangerous for many reasons. Quality control is poor at best. Trust us, we’ve visited such plants. In some cases, the doses are sky-high and side effects can be life-threatening.

The FDA says it’s working to have the diet pills recalled — and they’ll seize the pills and press criminal charges if manufacturers don’t comply.

Despite the FDA’s outrage, there’s no guarantee that the dangerous products are off the market. We’ve found recalled sexual enhancement supplements online in a matter of seconds. And plenty of “fortified” snack foods with zero benefit are on supermarket shelves.
The take-home message: You have to make your own smart decisions about the products you buy — in essence, be your own FDA (without all the red tape).

How? Just ask yourself these 5 questions when considering a product: