The Uterus Collector

 I can hardly believe that in 21st century America the story I am about to tell could even be true.  A brave whistleblower recently came forward with allegations against an ICE dentention facility in Ocilla, Georgia.  Among the allegations was that female detainees, non or limited English speaking, had been subjected to hysterectomies while in custody.

Nurse Dawn Wooten filed the complaint.  She alleges that the Irwin County Detention Center, a private prison contractor, of a litany of violations.  The detainees were sent to a gynecologist outside the facility, where hysterectomies were performed, often without the womans' understanding of what was going to be done.  The nurses at ICDC called the doctor "the uterus collector."  They questioned why so many procedures were being done.  The nurses thought it seemed like it was an experimental concentration camp.  That is what I thought at first.  Nazi Germany.  Josef Mengele and Eudard Wirths.  Is this any different?

While Dawn Wooten's complaint concerns a single detention center, it reflects a broader patter of abuses that occur in ICE detention centers, particularly in facilities operated by private prison contractors. More than 1,200 sexual abuse complaints from adults,  (2010-2017), and more than 4,500 such complaints by unaccompanied children.  (2014-2018).  Where is the oversight of these adults and children for health and safety violations?

Dawn Wooten, who spoke up to her superiors many times in the past year regarding a variety of health and safety violations before blowing the whistle last week, was demoted.  She feels confident that her demotion was a punishment for speaking out.  

If in fact an investigation finds that these allegations are true, something is terribly wrong.  The system is broken, and this is just one of many agencies that needs a complete restructuring.  

Is covid-19 a Respiratory Disease or a Cardiovascular Disease?

 I've been listening to podcasts and reading the writings of Laurie Garrett recently.  She is the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and expert on infectious diseases.  She's been writing about Ebola, Swine Flue and Covid-19 for decades.  When she speaks, people listen.  I was listening to her recent interview with Al Franken, and I learned a lot.

Covid-19 is not a respiratory disease, as first thought, but a cardiovascular disease.  Yes, those who contract Covid-19 often develop pneumonia.  The cells that this virus destroys are crucial cells for the proper functioning of the heart and blood and other organs like kidneys and liver.  The highest risk to developing cardiovascular disease are people with high blood pressure and diabetics.

Who is most likely to contract Covid-19?  Yes, elderly adults that may have several underlying conditions, but besides them, African Americans and Latino people of all ages. Part of the reason why, is they generally are less likely to have good medical care, and are often found to have untreated hypertension.  According to Laurie Garrett, true public intervention would consist of far more than just testing everyone for Covid-19.  

Laurie's idea is that even before testing for Covid-19, a person would be cuffed and it would be determined whether the person had hypertension.  That test takes less than one minute.  If the person was hypertensive, he would go to another line where he could be started immediately on medication and future treatment could be discussed.  Then, the person would get a finger prick to determine if they were diabetic or pre diabetic.  So, before one even had the Covid-19 test, it would be determined if they had two of the greatest underlying medical conditions in America that cause not only a higher mortality rate from the virus, but also cause many cardiovascular diseases that lead to early death.

This would be in the long run a cheap way to identify many people who otherwise are not aware of their condition and deal with it quickly and easily.  Of course this not going to happen, but it's nice to imagine how public health could intervene to really help.

It also answers the question as to why black, brown and indigenous peoples have a higher rate of Covid-19.  It's because of the health care they have not received, which leaves many of them with medical conditions they're not even aware of.  For now, let's keep testing as much as possible.  It's one of the important tools we have in fighting this pandemic.

The Social Dilemma

 If you have Netflix, a must watch is The Social Dilemma.  It's about how Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., have changed us.  Many of  us have become addicted to social media, and social media has taken advantage of the time we spend on these platforms to influence what we do, what we buy, how we think.  You may not believe it, but it's true.

Never before have a handful of tech designers had such control over the way billions of us think, act and live our lives.  Statistically, the biggest impact is in the 10-15 year old range.  You've got to watch this movie to see what's going on with your pre-teen children and grandchildren.

A 5,000 person study found that higher social media use correlated with self-reported declines in mental health and life satisfaction.  The number of countries with political disinformation campaigns on social media have double in the past two years.  64% of the people who joined extremist groups on Facebook did so because the algorithms steered them there.  These are just a few of the many informative facts I discovered while watching the film.

It's best for you to watch the film yourself to determine how life changing addiction to social media can be.  I plan to have my children watch it.  It may alter the time they allow their kids to spend on social media.  I know it's hard right now with the pandemic raging, but when you find out about the far reaching affects of hours spent on social media, you might alter your use of these platforms.  Some of the people interview for this movie were executives at Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Pinterest and other social media platforms.  Many of them have discontinued the use of social media altogether, while others have modified their use.  Watch the film and make your own decision.

Reflections

 The start of the of Jewish New Year has always been a time of reflection for me.  2020 has been a hum dinger, so I've got a lot to reflect on.  Ron's health started to decline early in 2020, so most of my time was spent caring for him.  We did celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in grand style on March 8, just days before our state was shutdown.  That is a day I will never forget, and I reflect on it often.  How many couples get to celebrate 50 years together?  What a happy day that was!

I reflect on how our family came together during Ron's illness, supported one another, and supported me.  I smile when I think about that.  I reflect on how alone I felt on the night Ron died, even though I was completely prepared for it.  You can speculate on what it will feel like, but until it happens to you, you don't really know.

I reflect on how Covid-19 has changed our lives for a long, long, time, and how that will impact my life going forward.  I am keeping very busy right now, with books, bridge, pickleball, golf and swimming, and visiting my mom in LA about once a month.  I would love to travel, meet new people and who knows what else, but that won't happen for quite a while,

I not only reflect on the past year at the start of the Jewish New Year, but I plan for the coming year.  That is hard to do right now.  For this year, my plans will be day to day.  No one knows what is to come.  The uncertainty about the future includes not only what will happen with Covid-19, but  the political future of this country, and what direction it will take.  That is very uncertain too.

Elevating Old Favorites

For years, one of my favorite frozen deserts has been the fudgesicle.  Well, a fun way end the summer is to elevate this long time favorite.  I think you will love this.  

Take a store bought fudgesicle or any plain chocolate bar.  Buy a bottle of peanut butter topping.  It's sold in ice cream aisle, along with chocolate, carmel and strawberry toppings.  Cover each fudge bar with a thin layer of the peanut butter topping.  On a separate tray, take crushed cereal, like Cocoa Puffs, and roll the fudge bar in the crushed cereal, covering all sides.  Return to the freezer to let the toppings set.  You now have an elevated fudgesicle that everyone will love.

Another similar elevated frozen desert can be made with plain yogurt store bought bars.  Melt white chocolate discs and blend with a little heavy cream to make a white chocolate ganache.  Paint the ganache on the yogurt bar.  Take a package of Lorna Doone almond cookies or similar, crushed, mix with strawberry puffed cereal, crushed, and dried strawberry pieces.  Roll the yogurt bars in the cereal and cookie mixture and cover on all sides.  Return to the freezer to harden.

Adults and kids will love both of these deserts.  In fact, making the ice cream bars is a great family project.  Kids may even have other ideas of items with which to cover the ice cream or yogurt bars.  Enjoy this modern twist on an old favorite before the hot weather disappears.

How Climate Change and the Pandemic Will Change The World

 I was watching Fareed Zakaria last Sunday, and in the last segment of his show, he talked about his new book, 10 Lessons for the Post Pandemic World.  He was talking most specifically about how climate change has already started to change where people live.  Hot climates are getting hotter, and over time, will become uninhabitable.  Wetter climates are becoming wetter, and over time will be under water.  Migration throughout the world will change, as places are no longer suitable to grow crops.  Many Central Americans that have migrated north have done so because they can no longer survive in heat and parched land that has been their home for generations.

What I especially like about Fareed is that he not only presents a problem, but also a solution to the problem.  I can't wait to read his new book.  As I watched Fareed's Sunday show I kept thinking this all sounded so familiar to me.  Of course it was.  I wrote a blog about this very subject in January, 2020!  Here's the blog I wrote more than seven months ago.  

Friday, January 17, 2020

Many American Cities Will Soon Be Under Water

I recently read The Uninhabitable Earth, which scared the crap out of me.  If half the predictions they make come true, this planet is toast.  I can't figure out why so many still don't get it.  Perhaps the predictions of the Union of Concerned Scientists will get your attention.

The steady rise in global surface temperatures is attributed largely to  human-caused green house gas emissions.  The world's ice has been melting and sea level have been rising.  Even with conscientious efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sooner or later thousands of coastal communities around the world will become uninhabitable.  In theory, with the melting of ice in Antarctica, global sea levels could rise 200 feet.  This kind of catastrophic sea level rise is just one of many potential disaster scenarios that could take place.

The UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists) released a report identifying U.S. coastal communities expected to face chronic and disruptive flooding before the end of the century.  The following communities are just some of the those that will experience at least 10% of habitable land under water:  Secaucus, New Jersey, Hampton, Virginia, St. Simons, Georgia, Margate City, New Jersey, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, Long Beach, New York, Revere, Massachusetts, Little Ferry, New Jersey, Middle Keys, Florida and St. Pete Beach Florida are some of the communities that will be partially underwater in the next 40 years.  The top  5 communities that will be effect (where at least 30% of the area will be completely underwater are Key West, Florida, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Hoboken, New Jersey and Miami Beach, Florida.  Miami Beach will be 60% underwater by 2060, and at current property value, $19.3 billion will be affected.

When are people going to realize that we must take action now?  Our children will see coastal cities disappear in their lifetime. Environmentalists and government must work together to save our planet. 

Tracing a Classic Jewish Dish: Tsimmes

 September 18  marked the beginning of the Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.  A comforting, slow-cooked beef stew with sweet potatoes, carrots and sometimes prunes, tsimmes is a traditional dish served at this time of year.  

The word tsimmes (pronounced SIMM-es) comes from  German and then Yiddish, where it came to mean "a fuss."  In the Middle Ages, it was first eaten in Germany as a meat stew with parsnips and turnips.  Later, when carrots became readily available in the 15th century, the carrots were cut in cirles like coins, which came to signify a wish for success in the new year.  As Jews migrated to Poland and Russia, potatoes were added in the 19th century, as were honey, plums and apricots.  

When tsimmes traveled across the ocean to America in the late 19th century with mostly Eastern European Jewish immigrants, it became still sweeter with the introduction of sweet potatoes.  Over time, sweet potatoes were completely replaced by white potatoes. Today, the tsimmes served in homes around the nation reflect what your "bubby"(grandma) made.  Some regions topped their tsimmes with a kugel crust, others served the stew in a pumpkin.  When you get down to it, tsimmes is just beef stew, and the seasonings, sweet or savory, depends on where your family came from.

It's the perfect dish to make to celebrate the Jewish New Year, and even if you're not Jewish, who doesn't like beef stew?

 

California Inmates Risk Death to Fight Wildfires

 Some California prisons have a volunteer program where inmates can be trained and then participate in fighting California wildfires.  There are programs for both men and women, and over 2,000 inmates participate in these programs.  The pay they receive is slightly more than the 8cents an hour that most prison inmates make.  

Inmate crews are among the first on the scene when a wildfire is threatening homes across the state.  They've played a key role in every major wildfire in recent years.  Some have lost their lives fighting fires.  Only felons with less serious felony offenses and a history of good behavior are eligible to participate in the program.  Inmates are the state's primary "hand crews" doing the critically important and dangerous job of using chainsaws and hand tools to cut firelines around properties and neighborhoods during wildfires.

When released from prison, local government fire agencies bar inmate firefighters from employment due to them being unable to gain a national Emergency Medical Technician certification required to get hired.

Social justice activists and others say it is a troubling incongruity in a state that has otherwise embraced reforming the justice system to encourage rehabilitation.  The treatment of inmate firefighters is part of a larger national debate over sentencing laws and a criminal justice system that puts far more weight on punishment than rehabilitation and redemption.

They're happy to exploit the labor of incarcerated firefighters and incarcerated people at slave wages, but once you are released, with a high level of skill to fight wildfires, you are not allowed to work.  This is just one of the justice reforms that must be dealt with.  Prison reform is one of the men issues that I hope our next Congress will deal with.

Solving the Problem of Homelessness, One Backyard At A Time

 To me, homelessness is one of the biggest problems facing our country.  Each new mayor or governor promises to address the problem, but very little ever gets done.  Our San Diego mayor sounded like he had a plan a few years ago, but I haven't seen much progress.

In Los Angeles, where over 150,000 people are homeless, things seem to have gotten worse.  Tent cities have been created under freeways, in parks, and along streets.  One particular unsightly tent city is in Brentwood, where dozens of tents, donated to the homeless by a citizen, have been set up in front of the VA residence at the intersection of Wilshire and San Vicente, winding around on to the main commercial street in Brentwood.

But wait!  There is a glimmer of hope.  Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, has commissioned a pilot project for low cost housing, called Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU).  Here's what it is.  Take the backyards of existing residences and build small, colorful units for a homeless family.  Many families don't use their backyards and are happy to help solve the homeless problem by offering their backyard.  It's a win/win situation.  The homeless have a beautiful new home, they pay some of the rent, the rest is subsidized by the government, and goes to the homeowner.  The design firm LA-Mas has been leading the drive to even out some of the most punishing development-related inequalities in Los Angeles.

As I said, this is a small pilot project that may house a few hundred families, and is in no way a solution to the homeless problem.  Homelessness is complex, but this program is innovative, and will offer a solution for a few.

I'm Back

 It's been almost three months since I posted my last blog.  A lot has happened.  I thought I would never feel like blogging again, but here I am.  I will try to find relevant events to comment on.

Ron passed away on Thursday, June 18.  (If you look at my last post, it was published on June 26, written several weeks before Ron died, when I was in the midst of a very difficult time, and couldn't find the will to write anymore).  Since early 2020 I had noticed him declining.  Part of it was ALS, but I knew something else was up.  He had lost a lot of weight, was having terrible stomach pain, and had lost his appetite.  Because of Covid-19, it was difficult to see a doctor in person.  We had our 50th Anniversary Party on March 8, just days before our state was closed down.  Ron was thin, but so happy that day, smiling almost non stop for three hours. 

It wasn't until late May when doctors started returning to in person visits that we were actually able to see his gastroenterologist in person.  X rays were taken, and around the 10 of June Ron was diagnosed with metatastic liver cancer.  

I knew that his illness would be short, but still struggled with what to do first.  My three sons were a life saver.  Everyone of them, in their own way, helped me.  Philip was able to drive here and spend several days helping me get the house reorganized for a hospital bed, hiring extra nursing care, and getting hospice here to take over his care.  Thank you, Phil.  You are a great decision maker!!  David flew here from Colorado to help too, going through sports memorabilia and other personal items that I was having difficulty sorting out.  Brian and his family came down, and took care of all his business files.  I wouldn't have been able to figure that mess out without him.  Thank David and Brian, for your help and support.

From the time hospice came on board until the day Ron died was only 9 days.  He died peacefully on a Thursday night.  Thank goodness Dan, Ron's caregiver, Pepper's dogwalker, and our dear friend over the past 5 years, was here with me.  The end of a six year decline had finally come.  

As Ron said, he wasn't going to let ALS get him, and he didn't.  He died of cancer.  In all honesty, this was a better way to end.  It was peaceful, relatively painless, and quick.  When I think about what might have been, I am grateful.

So here I am, alone (with my sweet Pepper), dealing with the death of Ron and Covid-19.  I am doing fine, feeling in many ways, relief.  Much of my pain from lifting wheelchairs, etc. have disappeared.  It is, however, a difficult time, as it is for most of us.  I am trying to put a life together as a 75 year old single woman.  I will figure it out.  I always do.  

(Sorry this is so long.  Future blogs will be shorter, but I had to explain why I've been gone so long.)