2/21/24

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

In bed at 9:30. awake and up with pain at 3:45.  39°, high of 53°, mostly sunny day ahead.  The wind is SSW at 7 mph, 3-8/17.  Sunrise at 6:41, sunset at 5:30, 10+48.   

Treadmill; pain.  I got up with considerable pain in my left shoulder and especially in my right wrist, hand, and forearm.  Yesterday the arthritis in my lower spine had me quite stooped over all day.  I'm wondering whether this is becoming permanent.  I'm also wondering when and whether and how to use Tylenol, aware of the 3,000/4,000 mg. safe limit per day.  Tylenol's instructions say 'severe liver damage may occur' if I exceed this amount and also "acetaminophen may cause severe skin reactions. Symptoms may include: skin reddening, blisters, rash.  If a skin reaction occurs, stop use and seek medical help right away."  Is this what the redness and bumpy skin on my lower left leg is about?  Is it time to send message to Dr. Chatt or am I just a wimp, a hypochondriac, a catastrophizer?  A Munchausener?!?😱  Yesterday I was wondering whether the leg rash might be cellulitis, today an allergic reaction to acetaminophen.  Nonetheless, I took 2 extra-strength Tylenol at 7:30, reminding myself of my favorite line from Groundhog Day, Andie McDowell saying to Bill Murray: "I like to see a man of advancing years throwing caution to the wind. It's inspiring in a way."

I'm grateful that, despite a painful start to this day, I still appreciate the beauty of the sun coming up in the East - the view from the front door as I let Lilly in at 7:40 a.m.  

The Rule of Law.  The Alabama supreme court has ruled, 8-1, that frozen embryos are children.  "The central question presented in these consolidated appeals, which involve the death of embryos kept in a cryogenic nursey, is whether the [1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor] Act contains an unwritten exception to that rule for extrauterine children -- that is unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed," Justice Jay Mitchell wrote for the majority.  "Under existing black-letter law, the answer to that question is no: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of location."  The court’s ruling repeatedly references God and the sanctity of life, citing the Bible and biblical scholars including Petrus van Mastricht, Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. Chief Justice Thomas Parker wrote: “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself … this is true of unborn human life no less than it is of all other human life – that even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”  Theocracy.

America's delusional defense of Israel before the ICJ.  From yesterday's NYTimes: "The latest U.S. defense of Israel on the global stage came at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where Richard C. Visek, the acting legal adviser at the U.S. State Department, urged a 15-judge panel not to call for Israel’s immediate withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory. He said that only the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel could bring about lasting peace, repeating a longstanding U.S. position but one whose prospects appear even more elusive amid the war in Gaza."  Canada was expected to argue before the court Tuesday, but dropped out, saying its written statement would suffice. Canada had asked the court not to issue an advisory opinion for fear it would disrupt peace efforts.  What independent Palestinian state?  In whose dreams?  What peace efforts?  Propaganda aimed at Americans and Canadians.  The rest of the world knows better.

Picked up Lizzie at BMS after her Forensics meeting.  A beautiful, admirable young woman.  A pride and joy.

Picked up books at the library:  The Public Library, by Robert Dawson, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki.