Saturday, November 28, 2020

Saturday Stories: Rapid Home Testing Could Save The Day, Pandemic Winter Rules To Rule Them All, And Yes, Kids Transmit COVID19


Michael Mina, in TIME, on why he thinks cheap, rapid, testing could dig us out of our holes long before vaccines start going into arms. 

Rachel Gutman, in The Atlantic, with the most important rule to follow to protect yourself from COVID this winter. 

Zoƫ Hyde, in The Conversation, covers what we now know about kids, schools, COVID, and transmission.



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

My #Movember Alex Trebek Tribute Moustache And Why I Almost Didn't Bother


Plainly, 2020 has been an awful year.

And I know that I haven't been blogging, but it just feels wrong to be writing about nutrition, medicine, or weight management in the face of our tragic new realities.

I do hope this post finds you and yours healthy and spared from the pandemic's impact, but I don't know that any of us have been spared, and for some of you I'm sadly sure, the costs have been beyond horrible.

Consequently I debated whether or not I was going to do Movember this year or send out this post. I'm still not convinced it's the right thing to do as people have given up so much, many have seen their incomes drop dramatically, and if an option, charity can certainly be metered out more locally and urgently (for instance we chose back in March to have a standing monthly donation set up with Ottawa's Food Bank). 

With that said, no doubt charities are hurting too, and the causes they fund haven't gone away which is why in the end I decided to throw my moustache in the ring. Contrary to what some believe, Movember is not simply a prostate cancer charity, and though some of its funds do go to prostate cancer research and treatment, Movember funds multiple men's health initiatives including those involving mental health, suicide, body image, eating disorders, substance use disorders, testicular cancer, and more. 

As a show of respect for Alex Trebek, I've done my best to shape my moustache accordingly, and as a thank you for donating, I'll send the top 3 donors a bottle of my homemade, home-grown, 6 week fermented, mesquite smoked red habanero and carolina reaper hot sauce (pictured below at the start of the ferment and ready to be bottled next weekend).


If you'd like to donate to my Movember efforts, simply click here and it'll take you to my donation page, and of course donations are all tax deductible, can be made anonymously, and every dollar counts.

Thank you and stay safe out there.

Yoni



Saturday, November 21, 2020

Saturday Stories: Antarctically Cold Vaccines, Cancelling Thanksgiving, And How Vermont Succeeded


Selinia Simmons-Duffin, in NPR Shots, on why Pfizer's vaccine needs to be kept at temperatures lower than an Antarctic winter.

James Hamblin, in The Atlantic, on honouring the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday by cancelling it this year.

Julia Belluz, in Vox, on how prioritizing supporting the vulnerable has led to Vermont's standout success in controlling COVID.

Photo By TUBS - Own work This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Adobe Illustrator. This file was uploaded with Commonist. This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Usa edcp location map.svg (by Uwe Dedering). This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: USA Hawaii location map.svg (by NordNordWest). This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Canada location map.svg (by Yug)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15949669



Saturday, November 07, 2020