COORS BELLY OR CORONA BELLY WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE .. DIABETES IN THE TIMES OF CORONA /COCA COLA

COORS BELLY OR CORONA BELLY ? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

When I was growing up in Australia, BEER BELLY was a common phenomenon to be seen as this photograph by Richard Tommy Campion shows.  Believe it or not the photograph was taken at the Beer Belly Competition in Gold Coast near Brisbane, Australia.

Australians have always been proud of their prowess at beer drinking and at one time or another may have held some world records for the litres per person drunk!

I remember it was Fosters in Victoria and XXX in Queensland.

There was a song by Rolf Harris which was a ditty. My Boomerang won’t come back. I am a shame to the aboriginal race..

I was a shame to the Australian nation because I could not tolerate the hops or barley that was the ingredient in the Beer and did not take to drinking beer. Fortunately, the state I grew up had wonderful selection of wines. I remember telling myself: I am going to be a junior doctor here for 3 years and there are about 200 vineyards in this state and that is a good enough time to visit them or taste them all. I proudly declare that noble purpose was mostly successful.

Strangely enough I became a Physician specializing in Endocrinology and the big bellies are somewhat of scientific interest to me from the point of view of Insulin metabolism. And what better place to study this phenomenon than the US of A? where 70 per cent of the population is overweight or obese. Coors is a popular brand of beer in the USA .. so, we could name the middle bulge as Coors Belly and attribute it to malnutrition whether by excessive beer consumption or Fast Food consumption or just plain Coca Cola …

What is the name of a popular brand of beer in Mexico ? Corona.. yes, but that word has a different connotation now. Mexicans did become obese but it is related to a great degree to their extraordinary addiction to Coca Cola and other sugar beverages. In Chiapas I even visited a Church made of Coca Cola bottles and cans!  And needless to say, San Juan de Chamula has one of the highest rates of Diabetes ..

What is Corona Belly then ?

Here the accumulation of extra pounds of fat may have to do with a compound situation, which we can address as Social Origins of Obesity

Stress plus Inactivity plus Food Disparity/availability.

During the period of this Lockdown which may extend for another month at least. (Even though I feel that the peak of this infection would be in the middle of the middle , just 15 days away)

I read somewhere that Americans can expect to put on 15 pounds on the average during this period of lockdown. Even when there was no lockdown in this land of the free (Gun shops are allowed to be open during this shutdown, as are Golf Clubs) , obtaining food was not an easy process. Majority of the calories consumed came from Ultra Processed Foods and most people were not even aware that the food or food like substances they were eating were highly processed.

So, we expect divorce rates to go up during this lockdown, but there are many other indicators that may go up: Babies for one, we can expect more babies being born. Many people who are used to eating fast food on a regular basis, would see their weight actually coming down if they are locked down. I expect the rate of Diabetes to go up as the quality of nutrition will decline

THE ORIGIN OF THE SPANISH FLU OF 1918

WHERE DID THE “SPANISH” FLU BEGIN ?  SPAIN FRANCE USA OR CHINA ?

This article is collected from multiple sources.

Just before breakfast on the morning of March 4, Private Albert Gitchell of the U.S. Army reports to the hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas, complaining of the cold-like symptoms of sore throat, fever and headache. By noon, over 100 of his fellow soldiers had reported similar symptoms, marking what are believed to be the first cases in the historic influenza pandemic of 1918, later known as Spanish flu. The flu would eventually kill 675,000 Americans and an estimated 20 million to 50 million people around the world, proving to be a far deadlier force than even the First World War.

Despite the fact that the 1918 flu wasn’t isolated to one place, it became known around the world as the Spanish flu, as Spain was hit hard by the disease and was not subject to the wartime news blackouts that affected other European countries. (Even Spain's king, Alfonso XIII, reportedly contracted the flu.)

Haskell County, Kansas:

For those of us involved in the health care of the Native Americans, Haskell is a familiar word. A school founded in 1884 were where the children were sent, sometimes forcibly, for an education and away from their Indian parents. Just 13 days after the soldiers reported sick, the infection had reached the Indian school.

One unusual aspect of the 1918 flu was that it struck down many previously healthy, young people—a group normally resistant to this type of infectious illness—including a number of World War I servicemen.

In South Dakota, where there are a large number of Indians, the chances of death of Indians were 33 times higher.

A Canadian Historian had written that the origin of the virus was China. And he pointed the finger at the Chinese Labour Corps.

A deal between the Chinese government and the allies resulted in the enlistment of thousands of Chinese who formed the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) mainly poor Chinese men from the north who were told they would be in non-combatant roles. The Canadian government had restricted the arrival of all Asians and the CLC were secretly landed at Victoria, British Columbia. They were drilled in the old quarantine station at Metchosin, British Columbia on Vancouver Island.^[10] Roughly 81,000 Chinese men were then taken on Canadian Pacific Railway trains to Halifax to board steamships to England.^[11] On arrival, they crossed the English Channel to France. After the War, over 40,000 returned by ship to Halifax and then by train to Vancouver; they were returned by ship to China.^[12] [13] Unknown numbers never made it to the war front, died and buried in BC.

More people were killed by the Flu in 1918 than the First world war.

My comments:

I had the chance to visit some of the cemeteries where the Chinese labour corps are buried.

It was so sad to see young Chinese men dead so far from their homes. They were poor and recruited in secrecy as the Chinese government did not want its citizens to be involved in that war.

Outside the city of Arras      in the North of France

I visited the Indian and Chinese cemetery from the World War I and it was sad to notice that many had died after the war had been over, possibly waiting to go back home and they were all young men.

The place was called Ayette if I remember correctly.de

Le petit poète de Côte Sauvage

Many years ago, I encountered a little poet at Cote Sauvage in the Bretagne peninsula that houses the vacation spot of Quiberon. I have been lucky in that over the course of the years, charming little spots of geography had entered my life, charmed me and left me, usually with no tears. But some stay. Quiberon has stayed. The other notables that have stayed are Cochin in Kerala, Malacca in Malaysia, Siem Reap in Cambodia.. I have sadly said good bye to Baracoa in Cuba, Suva in Fiji Islands, Salalah in Oman, Palermo in Buenos Aires, to name a few.

The Little poet said to me :

The waves are coming to say Hello to the earth.

Here is a picture of the Little poet:

Impressed as I was, when I got home, I thought about it, who it reminded me of and wrote a blog about the poetry of Cecilia Mireilles of Brasil.

And here is my blog of that day:

https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2012/11/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x.html

Today I am in Miami, in semi isolation and was very happy to receive a note from the Little poet and in it, she had enclosed a poem.

It read:

POEM ABOUT: LONELINESS

A LONELY STAR IN THE NIGHT
A LONELY CHILD WITHOUT APPETITE
A WEEPING HEART IN THE OCEAN OF HAPPINESS
AND A SOUL SINKING INTO LONELINESS

 FOR MANY YEARS BEING STUCK IN ONE PLACE

A PLACE WITH NO MORE THAN ONE FACE
AND THE CHILD SAT THERE LOOKING AT THE MOON
SHE KNEW SHE WOULDN’T BE RESCUED VERY SOON
BUT THE CHILD WAS VERY PATIENT
SHE SAT QUIETLY IN THE BASEMENT

 THE CHILD HAD NO ONE TO TALK TO

AND THE OWLS FLEW
OVER HER HEAD
SHE MISSED SOMEONE THAT WAS DEAD

 SHE CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED
SHE HAD TRIED AND TRIED AND TRIED

YOU SEE THE HAD LOST EVERTHING

SHE WAS IN A LONELY FEELING
ALL SHE WANTED WAS HER MOTHER WHO HAD DIED OF AN ILLNESS A FEW MONTHS AGO
AND THE LAST THING THE GIRL SAW WAS

WAS THE LONELY STAR

You cannot imagine what emotions went through my heart. I could not control my tears.

How come the little poet had captured the loneliness of these days most of us around the world are feeling ?

I wish I could hold the little poet in my arms, but she was at cote sauvage and I in Miami.

I translated the poem into Spanish using Google Translate:

So that I could send it to my sister in Cuba.

POEMA SOBRE: SOLEDAD

UNA SOLA ESTRELLA EN LA NOCHE

UNA NIÑA SOLA SIN APETITO

Un corazón llorón en el océano de la felicidad

Y un alma hundiéndose en la soledad

 POR MUCHOS AÑOS SE PEGA EN UN LUGAR

UN LUGAR SIN MÁS DE UNA CARA

Y la niña se sentó allí mirando la luna

SABÍA QUE NO SERÍA RESCATADA MUY PRONTO

PERO LA NIÑA FUE MUY PACIENTE

Ella se sentó en silencio en el sótano

 La niña no tenía a nadie con quien hablar

Y los búhos volaron

Sobre su cabeza

Extrañaba a alguien que estaba muerto

 Ella lloró y lloró y lloró

Ella había intentado y probado y probado

VES QUE HABÍA PERDIDO TODO

ESTABA EN UN SOLO SENTIMIENTO

TODO LO QUE QUERÍA ERA SU MADRE QUE HABÍA MUERTO DE UNA ENFERMEDAD HACE ALGUNOS MESES

Y lo último que vio la chica fue

ERA LA SOLA ESTRELLA

Within minutes my Cuban sister called me, she knew exactly how I was feeling. She said: go and see the sunset and pray that the brilliance of the sun shine on the Little Poet.

My sister wrote: Even I was crying, how beautiful , and what a heart, soon she will not be alone and her light which is infinite will come, only need a little bit of patience.

It is Friday night, I lit the candles, and said a prayer for the Little Poet.

I felt comforted in my heart. Thank you,
Le petit poète de Côte Sauvage

Since IRAN is in my heart and I love the emotion that language expresses (I do not speak Farsi), I had the poem translated by a friend of mine...

"  تنهایی  "

یک ستاره ای متروک در شب

یک کودکی تنها  بدون ذوق واشتیاقی

یک قلبی گریان دراقیانوسی ازشادی

و یک روحی که سالها درتنهایی فرو رفته و در یک مکان گیر کرده

​یک مکانی با نه بیشتراز یک چهره

و آن کودک آنجا می نشست و به ماه نگاه میکرد

او میدانست که به این زودی ها نجات نخواهد یافت

اما او کودکی بسیار صبور بود

آن کودک بی سر وصدا درزیرزمین می نشست و کسی را نداشت که با او گفتگو کند

و جغدها از بالای سراو پرواز میکردند

او دلتنگی کسی را میکرد که مرده بود، اوگریه میکرد و گریه میکرد و گریه میکرد

او تلاش کرده بود و سعی کرد و سعی کرد، اومی دید که همه چیزرا ازدست داده بود، چیزهایی را که دراحساس تنهایی خودش می پنداشت

تنها چیزی که او می خواست، مادرش بود که چند ماه پیش براثر بیماری درگذشت

و آخرین چیزی که آن دختر می دید، یک ستاره ای تنها بود

Translators comment:

: It is a very sad and emotional story It could be a true story for everyone who loved someone in their life very much;  then it would be really painful...

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER…. THE ORIGINS OF RACISM IN MODERN TIMES?

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER…. THE ORIGINS OF RACISM IN  MODERN TIMES?

I was sitting on the stretch of grass behind my sister’s house in Miami. I noticed a visitor, that I had not seen before. Ducks come and peer curiously at the books I am reading and go on with their foraging but this visitor sat there at the canal’s edge and stared at me and getting his share of this 29 C sunshine.

I nudged closer and took a photograph of my iguana visitor. Iguanas are a common site around Florida and of course they are seen in abundance in Mexico (remember The Night of the Iguana?) and the Caribbean. A marine one had evolved in the Galapagos and of course Lizards as a species are 65 million years old and there ar goannas in Australia, Komodo dragons in Indonesia and on and on.

I don’t mind them.

(habitat of the monitor lizard family)

I sent the photo to some friends and a response from Germany made me think.

The friend, a non-German living in Germany simply said : It is ugly and I don’t like them.

Suddenly my mind was flooded with so many thoughts. Hippopotamus in River Zambesi, our own Platypus, some species of fish … are they too ugly?

Beauty is certainly in the eyes of the beholder.

But when it comes as a judgement against innocent subjects, whether an iguana in Florida or a Arab refugee in Europe, what goes on your mind ?

We may dislike something because it is not like us, the classic hatred of the OTHER, but disliking an iguana perhaps is just a human nature. Iguana is a Spanish word from the Taino Indian word for it Iwana. I do not want an Iguana for a pet but I don’t think I dislike them.

When I was a child one of the lessons my jewish elders taught was. Be aware of any one who says, they hate a particular group of people, to those people we are next in line. To this day I am not interested in discourses that say that such and such a group is viewed with hate, I know we are next in line. A person cannot be racist against just one group, it is a condition of the way of thinking that we hate one group or other. They used to say Australia was least racist country but at that time there were not many non-European people living there. Now that about 10 percent of the country is of non European origin, you can see racism rise its ugly head: it is the fear of the other.

We talk about diversity, but what is diversity without tolerance? I was frightened by the amount of anti-immigrant sentiment in Hamburg, on a visit in 2018, among educated people. The tone and the language was very similar to what we read in the 1930s in Germany.  I was told more than once in Israel, the next holocaust will be in Europe and it would be against Muslims. We have a chance to prevent such horrors only if we readily accept differences, be tolerant of each other’s practices and be grateful for our good lives in the West.

For their part, immigrants in whatever part of the world, can try and integrate into the practices of their new countries and may have to abandon certain practices which are incongruous to the host countries.

During these difficult times the planet is going through, my heart is with the millions of refugees in various parts of the world. May they be protected, please.

The following prose/poem always remains with me.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

"First they came ..." is the poetic form of a prose post-war confession first made in German in 1946 by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy (including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself) following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Many variations and adaptations in the spirit of the original have been published in the English language. It deals with themes of persecution, guilt, repentance, and responsibility.

A HAPPY SONG FROM ISRAEL ..A COMBINATION OF MIDDLE EASTERN MELODIES. SHLOMI SHABAT. YUVAL DAYAN. IDAN AMEDI

We are living through a little difficult times that requires understanding of one another and also tolerant and compassionate behaviours to the others and be considerate of the feeble persons in the society. In a matter of days, the earth is recuperating, birds are singing and dolphins are swimming .. 
so here is a joyous song from Israel
People always wonder how Israel a country surrounded by enemies bent on destroying them, with people near and far envious of its technology and progress, can come No 14 on the list of HAPPY COUNTRIES in the world !  
I recommend that you come and visit and see for yourself why Israel is such a success in the geopolitical region not known for success.

I couldn't upload the video
here is the link
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGf9nBzc1g

שכשנבוא | Shekshenavo

הזמן את השנים יניס

וקצת בינה בלב מכניס

אבל ישנם דברים שהוא עוד לא גילה לי

האם יפרח לי עוד שושן

האם נעור בי ניצוץ נושן

האם בסוף הדרך מחכה תשובה לי

ואיך נדע

אם יש תקווה

שכשנבוא, שכשנבוא

נמצא תשובה

לאן נמשכת המסילה

לאן הולכת התפילה

ומי ישיב לשאלה ומי ישמע לי

ומי יפתח לי לבבו

ואם אלך לאן אבוא

האם בסוף הדרך מחכה תשובה לי.

ואיך נדע...

זה רק אני וזו רק את

וזה הרבה וזה כה מעט

ואיך נדע אם לא לריק עברו חיינו

האם עמלנו לא לשווא

האם ביתנו לא יחרב

האם תחייה האהבה גם אחרינו.

ואיך נדע...

Transliteration

Shekshenavo

Hazman et hashanim yaniss

U'ktsat bina balev machniss

Aval yeshnam dvarim shehu od lo gila li

Ha'im yifrach li od shoshan

Ha'im ne'or bi nitsots noshan

Ha'im besof haderech mechaka tshuva li

Ve'ech neda

Im yesh tikva

She'kshenavo, she'kshenavo

Nimtsa tshuva

Le'an nimshechet hamsila

Le'an holechet hatfila

U'mi yashiv lashe'ela u'mi yishma li

U'mi yiftach li levavo

Ve'im elech le'an avo

Ha'im besof haderech mechaka tshuva li

Ve'ech neda...

Ze rak ani vezo rak att

Veze harbe veze ko me'at

Ve'ech neda im lo larik avru chaiyeinu

Ha'im amalnu lo lashav

Ha'im beitenu lo yichrav

Ha'im tichye ha'ahava gam achareinu

Ve'ech neda...

https://lyricstranslate.com

the following translation into English from HEBREW done by Google Translate

When We Come | Shekshenavo

Invite the years to drive

And a little bit of wisdom in my heart puts it

But there are some things he hasn't revealed to me yet

Will flowering for me another lily

Will I spark an old spark?

Is at the end of the road waiting for an answer for me

And how will we know

If there is hope

When we come, when we come

An answer is found

Where the track goes

Where does the prayer go?

And who will answer the question and who will hear me

And who will open my heart to me

And if I go where I go

Is at the end of the road waiting for an answer for me.

And how do we know ...

It's just me and it's just you

And that's a lot and it's so little

And how do we know if not our lives have passed

Did we labor in vain?

Will our house not be destroyed

Will love revive us too.

And how do we know

1. Finland (7.809)
   
2. Denmark (7.646)
   
3. Switzerland (7.560)
   
4. Iceland (7.504)
   
5. Norway (7.488)
   
6. Netherlands (7.449)
   
7. Sweden (7.353)
   
8. New Zealand (7.300)
   
9. Austria (7.294)
   
10. Luxembourg (7.238)
    
11. Canada (7.232)
    
12. Australia (7.223)
    
13. United Kingdom (7.165)
    
14. Israel (7.129)
    

Do you want to know some of the other countries, that I am associated with, stand?

USA 18

Belgium 20

UAE.      21

France  23

Mexico 24

Saudi Arabia 27

Spain    28

Singapore 31

Brasil. 32

Chile.  39

Colombia 44

Philippines 52

Thailand. 54

Argentina.55

Portugal.  59

Jamaica.  60

Malaysia. 82

Vietnam   83

Cambodia 106

Iraq.           110

Lebanon.    111

Iran.   118

Jordan. 119

Myanmar 133

Egypt 138 

India 144