MY WRITING JOURNAL

Saturday, September 4

The UK's pig producers are warning that a shortage of workers is causing a surplus of pigs to be stuck at farms.

Trade body the National Pig Association (NPA) said some abattoirs were running 25% below usual capacity. "If the government doesn't do something soon there will be a lot of perfectly healthy pigs on farms that will have to be destroyed," said Zoe Davies, chief executive of the NPA.

Each week, the number of excess pigs is growing by 15,000, the NPA said.

The shortage of workers in processing plants means they are unable to take in as many pigs to process as they normally would - resulting in too many pigs on farms. Having to house the pigs for longer, while they grow at a rate of a kilo each day, is having a severe impact on the profitability of the farms, according to the NPA.

The industry body said extra costs of feed and abattoir charges for overweight pigs means many farms are operating at a loss. READ MORE

Hungry Dog

A Four Legged Whale

Scientists in Egypt have identified a new species of four-legged whale that lived around 43 million years ago.

The fossil of the amphibious Phiomicetus anubis was originally discovered in Egypt's Western Desert. Its skull resembles that of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed god of the dead after which it was named.

The ancestors of modern whales developed from deer-like mammals that lived on land over the course of 10 million years.

Weighing an estimated 600kg and three metres (10ft) in length, the Phiomicetus anubis had strong jaws to catch prey, according to the study published by the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Wednesday. The whale was able to walk on land and swim in water.

The partial skeleton was found in Egypt's Fayum Depression and analysed by scientists at Mansoura University. Although the area is now desert, it was once covered by sea and is a rich source of fossils.

"Phiomicetus anubis is a key new whale species, and a critical discovery for Egyptian and African palaeontology," the study's lead author, Abdullah Gohar, told Reuters news agency. READ MORE

Walrus

Understanding Doodles

For Queen Victoria, it was donkeys. For Winston Churchill, it was airplanes. For Leonardo da Vinci, it was everything from crude drawings to the first workings of his groundbreaking laws of frictions.

Throughout history, humans – whether royalty or a bored office worker – have doodled.

Usually relegated to the margins of notebooks or the back of envelopes, the doodle is often considered something messy, throwaway and unconsidered.

If life is what happens when you're making other plans, then doodles are the result of your mind being somewhere else – a phone call, a meeting, a daydream.

Yet in those scrawls – be it shapes, animals, lines, names – can be something powerful, with what they reveal and how they allow us to express our creativity. Hence why a new art project is taking doodles out of the margins and placing them centre-stage.

Frequencies, by Turner Prize-winning artist Oscar Murillo, collects together 40,000 canvases that have been marked, scribbled and drawn on by more than 100,000 children from around the world.

Since 2013 Murillo has sent blank canvases to over 300 schools in more than 30 countries. The aim is to capture "the conscious and unconscious energy of young minds at their most absorbent, optimistic and conflicted" and the results are currently on show for the first time in their entirety in Murillo's former school in Hackney, east London.

"The blank canvas is like a recording device," he tells BBC Culture. "You leave it there for six months at a minimum and then you simply allow for an individual to interact with that, however they wish.

They are my collaborators, these almost 100,000 children." READ MORE

Take My Hand

Friday, September 3

Under Control

The New Biden

Understanding America Through Musical Lyrics - part 2

Understanding America Through Musical Lyrics - part 1

Populist Press

A Few Funnies

Visit with Cardiologist

Yesterday, I had my 6 month visit with my cardiologist and these visits are not just contingent upon my age but because in 2009/2010, I had 5 stents put into my heart arteries on the left side (3 in the LAD) to avoid having a triple bypass performed.

My Cardiologist suggested that I have a STRESS TEST to ascertain if my stents were still doing their job and/or if other blockages had formed that may be hindering my ability to perform physical tasks that I had previously attributed to my sedentary lifestyle resulting from constant fatigue as a result of my 13 year battle with cancer and on-going cancer treatments.

So... I have 20 days to prepare my body for this physical test that only lasts 6 minutes. But, since I have been sitting around for the last 6 months, I am not sure if I will have the physical strength to complete this test... so, a gradual build-up my my endurance will give me a slight advantage... at least I am hoping.

What saved my life in 2008 was the fact that I was healthy and tiny vessels to carry blood had been created by my own body to compensate for the blockages. For the last 13 years, I have continued with my healthy eating so I am hopeful that those tiny vessels are still there and are still operating effectively.

If my stress test shows no additional blockages, my Cardiologist only wanted to see me once a year, but I objected to that because of my ongoing battle with cancer and the fact that cancer treatments can impact the functionality of the heart... so, we agreed to continue our 6 month visits.

You have to take charge of your own healthcare sometimes and not always listen to these doctors...

Norway

Increase in Diabetes

Diabetes surged among American children, teens and adolescents to 2017, according to new federally-funded research spanning nearly 20 years finding a 45% increase in type 1 diagnoses, and a 95% growth in type 2 diagnoses.

"Increases in diabetes are always troubling – especially in youth. Rising rates of diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, which is preventable, has the potential to create a cascade of poor health outcomes," Dr. Giuseppina Imperatore, chief of the Surveillance,

Epidemiology, Economics, and Statistics Branch in CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, said in a statement issued Tuesday. "Compared to people who develop diabetes in adulthood, youth are more likely to develop diabetes complications at an earlier age and are at higher risk of premature death."

Findings published in JAMA on Tuesday indicated that Type 1 diabetes persists as the most common type of diabetes among U.S. youth. Results stemmed from an average of 3.5 million Americans under age 20 studied on a yearly basis from 2001 to 2017 across areas of California, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington State, Arizona and Mexico.

Results indicated significant increases in type 1 diabetes among Americans 19 years or younger, from 1.48 per 1,000 young people to 2.15 per 1,000 by 2017, or a 45% increase over 16 years, whereas the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among kids aged 10-19 increased from 0.34 per 1,000 youths to 0.67 per 1,000 youths, or a 95.3% increase over 16 years.

Study authors noted no significant differences in the increases in diabetes prevalence across sexes.

The study found the largest increases in type 2 diabetes were among Black and Hispanic youth, with increases in the estimated prevalence of type 1 diabetes greatest among Black and White youths. Kids under age 9 with type 2 diabetes were excluded from the study due to small sample sizes.

Diabetes is a chronic health condition impacting how the body converts food into energy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease." READ MORE

Hurts So Good

Shorter Work Week

More than ever, workers want to work fewer hours, saying they can be just as effective in less time – and happier, too. They may be on to something.

We’re living in an age of radical transformation in the workplace. Options like all-remote or hybrid – which were completely unthinkable for most people just two years ago – are now becoming part of work mainstream.

The idea of shrinking the workweek is also gaining traction, particularly in light of recent examples of workforces who have successfully trialed a reduced-hours’ week.

A shorter workweek could take various forms. There’s the four-day week, where you reduce your working hours by 20%. There are different models; everyone at a company might take the same day off, or people chose the structure that works for them, like taking two afternoons off.

Or you might just reduce the workweek by a certain number of hours, from 40 down to 36, for example. A commonality across all models is that you’re not cramming your previous work span into a shorter timeframe, like working 40 hours in four days; you are removing a portion of your total work time for the week. Most importantly, salaries remain the same.

Experts and workers alike are debating the idea, because the pandemic has forced us to take a long, hard look at the modern workplace, and associated themes like work-life balance, mental health and worker flexibility.

Proponents argue that a reduced-hours working model can help address many current work negatives, making employees more productive, healthier and happier. READ MORE

Ridin' Cowboy

Edge of Seventeen

Forty years ago, Stevie Nicks struck out from Fleetwood Mac, launched a solo career – and created a truly iconic song in the process. Nick Levine explores its power and influence.

For even the greatest rock and pop stars, striking out from the band that made their name can be a major challenge – just witness Mick Jagger's solo career. But one musical legend who had no trouble asserting her independence is Stevie Nicks.

When she went solo in earnest 40 years ago, the woman who had been integral to Fleetwood Mac's transformation into the world's biggest band carved out an identity as a star in her own right. She didn't just make a chart-topping album, Bella Donna, but came up with a stunning anthem that only seems to grow more popular with age.

Edge of Seventeen wasn't the first or highest-charting single from Nicks' debut record Bella Donna. It was preceded by Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, a melodramatic collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Leather and Lace, a more delicate duet with the Eagles' Don Henley, both of which cracked the US top ten.

But more than any other Stevie Nicks solo moment, Edge of Seventeen has entranced subsequent generations and helped to define the singer's standing as a rock icon: not just as member of Fleetwood Mac, but as an artist in her own right.

It's a song that operates on several levels – at once an instant hit of rock drama and a heady meditation on death – and seems to yield something new every time you play it. Its distinctive 16th-note guitar riff – played by Waddy Wachtel, a legendary session musician who also worked with Cher and The Rolling Stones – remains electrifying every time you hear it. READ MORE