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Prime minister Johnson of Britain blames his coronavirus on being overweight. He can now be seen playing tennis at Winfield House, the residence of the American Ambassador. He can also be seen in the Queen's Lambeth Gardens taking a run. Both have been offered to him for use after the prime minister ran into someone at St. James Park. Boris Johnson now says as  word of advice to many middle aged people "Don't be a fatty in your fifties." Take up exercize he says to a generation of men that have just become lazy when it comes to exercize. Other things to be stronger with the virus are healthy eating habits, lots of ancient grains, lentils, fruits and vegetables. Add  yoga, meditation, call it mindfulness if you like, it works, and it is never too late. 

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Former New York Mayor writes an autobiographical children's book, "Eddie Shapes Up." Its about Koch as a youngster dealing with bad food habits and his increasing awareness about the importance of an healthy diet and and healthy living.

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Ways to know when social media use is unhealthy are shown here. It includes compulsive checking of feeds, and being anxious without one's phone. Better still do away with social media use altogether. The world did just fine in the time upto the year 2000. Social media is a relatively recent phenomenon and around for a short time to be thought of just as a fad that came and passed like so many fads before this. News media is best done by those with the accumulated experience of generations and not by social media or tech companies. Life could return to a better state of affairs that existed before all the turmoil from social media and so called tech in news that almost ditched the greatest democracy in the world. And provided the distractions from the dangers that now threaten the Free World in America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa from pandemics, food security, dependence on foreign manufacturing, high inflation, mental health, and threats from Russia and China. ...

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The instinct and habit of looking for the solution that is guaranteed to work for the patient, or the flawless solution is counterproductive and can be our worst enemy in fighting the coronavirus says this infectious disease specialist in the NYT.  What is needed to fight the virus is speed and scale he says. 

He says comprehensive use of even moderately effective treatments and solutions is the answer to get infections and deaths down substantially in the next few weeks. The widespread implementation of imperfect prevention measures therapies and treatments is important to get it under control.

 

 

Dr. Schiffer is an Associate Professor at the DIvision of Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle.

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In his commencement address to to 1000 cadets graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point, NY, DJT tells graduates to think big, take risks and hold on to the culture. He says president Dwight D. Eisenhower who graduated from West Point believed that it was important to think big the harder the challenge, as problems sometimes difficult to solve become easier to tackle when one thinks big at the larger problem. Other advice was to hold on to the momentum achieved in any task to move on to the next step which may lead to big results. And always living with thrifty habits and hard work that pays of with perseverance. A certain CEO of a large bank who has been around almost forever says most important in life is to go out and listen to people, talk to people, the only way to find out what is happening. He also says courtesy and humility are very important. These are not habits DJT mentioned at West Point but are very important in real life along with hard work and perseverance to achieve lasting results. ...

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Interview with former Mexican president Vicente Fox on the Arizona immigration bill. He says xenophobes have taken over. Fox emphasizes that the 11 million undocumented workers are the most loyal in their work habits, contribute to the US economy, and should be documented.

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Marty Makary, John Hopkins surgeon, is the DJT nomnee for head of the US Food and Drug Administration, FDA. Here a colleague of his at John Hopkins offers her experience working with Makary.  Leanna Wen says Makary is concerned about plastics, dyes, preservatives and chemicals that are entering our bodies and causing disease. Diseases that were not so prevalent one or two generations back are widespread today, says Makary. Makary wants to know why. Why has obesity quadrupled among young people in the US?Makary is also asking questions about why rates of childhood obesity are 5 times lower in Japan. Makary tell this Post reporter that ultra processed foods that are loaded with chemicals such as preservatives, artificial dyes and thickeners , take up 60% of calories Americans consume. This and poor food habits of today can cause diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and dementia. Pesticides and microplastics can cause early onset Alzheimer's and autoimmune diseases, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders. Makary wants medicine practiced in the US to direct resources to prevention, not simply hand out medicines with increasingly risky side effects. ...

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The reopening of the economy is being stalled and lockdowns, restrictions, reinstated in July 2020 as the pandemic surges. The lockdowns are being reinstated in parts of Australia, in Bihar, India and other countries, and in other places such as California restrictions are back in place. Wearing masks in public spaces is also mandatory in Britain and France as prevention measures are being taken. In Japan wearing masks is a habit from before the pandemic. India, the U.S. and Brazil, Mexico are seeing a surge.

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Elite universities with a third foreign student enrollment displacing Americans, are facing US government funding cuts. This report shows these universities turning to pharmaceutical companies and big tech monopolies that have placed added burdens on cost of living of ordinary Americans, and mental health of children, on the ability for basic literacy by 4th grade. Somewhere the basic goal of the university to educate Americans is being lost. For no more than 5 to 7% of funding these universities are willing to turn to companies that have exacerbated the cost of living crisis or monopolistic behaviours in the Nation, particularly the pharmaceutical companies, showing alevel of misguidedness in management that fails to understand the real interests of ordinary Americans. In pursuing science alone at the expense of everything else and derelict of leadership where it is needed such as cost and value, this behaviour ignores the fact that the greatest dangers to public health come from cutting chemicals in food, in healthy food and exercise habits cultivated in schools, raising the consciousness for healthy living and healthy environments in the Nation. The schools of public health at the Nation's leading universities needed to take a better stand on the dangers of proliferation of  research into viruses, and to single out breakdowns when they happened that are seen by many to have led to the pandemic.  ...

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Evan Newmark says the UAW's attitudes still go back to a different era. And without change at the UAW taxpayers who now own alarge part of GM have as a partner a union with old habits and old attitudes that contributed to GM's collapse.

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A study done by the Hudson Institute shows an increase in sales of 5.5% on average in same store sales of restaurants which increased lower calorie items on the menu. The reverse is taking place for restaurants that have neglected to do this, with these restaurants experiencing a decline in sales. This was based on research firm NPD and restaurant data at 21 fast-food and sit-down restaurant chains between 2006 and 2011. Chains that include lower calorie counts on menus include Panera, McDonalds, Denny's and Au Bon Pain chain. Federal regulations will require restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post the calorie counts in early 2014. The process of moving Americans away from eating habits that lead to obesity is moving at a slow pace. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center of Science in the Public Interest, says large serving sizes at restaurants lead to overeating and obesity. Frequency of eating at restaurants is another problem, with studies showing women who eat out more than 5 times a week take in about 290 calories each day compared to women who do not eat out that often. The healthy options at restaurants are still restricted to a small portion of menus and healthy choices are limited....

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The saving and spending habits of countries with sovereign wealth funds, Venezuela, Chile, Norway and Saudis contrasted.

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Reading for pleasure leisure reading in US at 29% and 23% for women and men in 2004 drops to 18% and 14%. Lyrarc's Movement for Global Literacy seeks to revive the practice of reading step by step including reading in English in the modern world, for improved functioning as citizens of the modern world, and enhancing the practice of reading for curiosity in different fields to expand one's horizons and that of society at large. The decline of reading is about 40% studies done by the University of Florida and the University College of London show, much larger than anyone thought possible over 2 decades in which the Nation has lost some of its dynamism. More shocking is that only 2% of 240,000 Americans followed in this study over 2003 to 2023, a mere 5000 parents out of 240,000 read to children every day. Equally shocking is that half of all Americans about 46% do not read at all and most have parents not in the habit of reading. Bad as 150 second attention span sounds  as average for Americans in 2004 UC Irvine professor Gloria Mark says this is now a mere 47 seconds. This is what social media and interactions with google, internet have done to America. The major loss is in the happiness that leisure reading and reading for fun gives us, the deep loss  for our mental well being that reduces stress and anxiety makes us feel better, says Sonke of the University of Florida study. ...

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A new study published in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that quality of diet is critical to lose weight. It is also an intuitively sensible idea. The more you cut back on bad foods- lots of processed high sugar and high calories in processed or packaged foods- the better off you are. The more fruits and vegetable take its place, the more likely you are to lose some of the weight. It is also a sustainable strategy as the vegetables and fruits have other positive effects making it possible to permanently shift to better lifestyles as part of an overall cultural change that includes exercizing regularly. Nutrition experts at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University say this is the way to go. The strange thing is that such simple and basic ideas as restoring the proper role of healthy foods in our diet require such detailed studies. Packaged and processed foods of today are part of an industry that did not exist a hundred years ago. Common sense and intuitive ideas about what is good for us can lead us to the right action, including an awareness that food eating habits have simply deteriorated and become corrupted in today's busy world. ...

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The impact of coronavirus deaths is higher for men with certain behaviours such as smoking and alcohol consumption. For infections it is not clear that the rate is much higher for men than women. The data from graphs provided by WSJ of global data from different countries shows a higher rate of infection for men in Italy, just about 52% in men in China, but a lower rate for men in South Korea and France. Some of the higher impact of coronavirus death can be explained by habits such as smoking in men- in China smoking for men is ten times that of women. In Italy over twice as many men smoke than women. Researchers say that the prevalence of the receptor that helps the new coronavirus enter human cells is higher in smokers. The other reason researchers say is higher alcohol consumption in men than women. China's data also show more men infected because most of the people in the labor trades such as construction and other work is done by men. This made them more exposed to the pathogen in the local market where the virus originated. ...

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People have to take charge of their own lives by eating healthy food and lots of fruits and vegetables, to reduce obesity in this pandemic. Studies show that people with obesity were twice as likely to end up in hospital, and 74% more likely to end up in intensive care. Efforts to rid our diets of sugary drinks and junk or processed foods need to be escalated, and exercize, walking, cycling, other activity need to be made part of our daily activity. This needs to be taken up as a fight for life, a war against decades of neglect and reckless behaviour in eating habits.  Even vaccines will not work well when body mass index BMI is over 30. Obesity has reached unbelievable and scary levels - 66% in the UK, U.S., high in the Middle East, and increasing all over the world. Added risk is high smoking levels in China and India. Coca Cola takes the place of water in parts of Mexico where obesity is high and Mexico has suffered from high coronavirus cases. ...

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Will AI reduce the curiosity that drives the creation of new knowledge and the curiosity for new discoveries that powered science and technology since 1600? Will it affect the human tendency and habit of asking questions, seeking out novel answers that is intrinsically human that AI cannot do? Scientific inventions that led to Europe leading the way and Asia falling behind after 1600 and new inventions taking place for 300 years with old theories discarded and new knowledge created are impossible under an AI arrangement. If AI existed in 1600 few new discoveries would have happened because they involve asking new questions and finding answers to these questions that take many years sometimes a lifetime of discovery and invention. Other weaknesses of AI are for example that it is fast but it cannot think- it is pieces of knowledge pinned together in different ways that come up from billions of pieces of information pieced together. It gives the appearance of thinking if one is not careful to look at it's process diligently. Its main source is using the public knowledge base built by Wikipedia, with other additions piled on top. Wikipedia may be wrong there are biases and tendencies to overlook facts in Wikipedia inherent in any knowledge exercise. These are then transferred to AI without anyone knowing about it openly, making it more dangerous in that it precludes creative thinking and finding solutions that never existed before to problems or questions, which can only be done by the human mind through its curiosity and stubborn dogged desire to find solutions to a problem.  ...

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Quiet quitting has become a phrase that means workers are working hard and doing things the way they did before, except that they are not letting a work culture that may have gone astray because of bosses  who set the wrong rules guide their lives. Even as companies such as Stellantis are taking on a new culture because of a new respect for workers work-life balance and getting a lot more from them, other companies are following older set patterns that did not include work-life balance or rejected work-life balance outright without saying this openly. Stellantis, Europe's largest car company itself shows why this is dependent on who is the CEO and what he believes in. The previous CEO had poor health habits including frequent smoking and irregular long hours without a structure of any sort that led to this being carried over into the work culture. The CEO changes and new rules are set and soon it permeates who is hired at different levels that are consistent with his habits and sense of work life balance. A new culture develops over time and gradually you have new work ethic that respects the mental health and fitness of workers and of managers, and that of the CEO. This report in WSJ starts with the premise that workers should'nt feel bad because worker are "quiet quitting" anyway after the pandemic. But in reality the statement is a bad one, as it does not say there are better models out there few as they are, that need to take pre-eminent place after the pandemic rejecting the old ones that recklessly ignored health and mental health and were less motivating for workers, and leading to less productive culture in the workplace. At Stellantis a lot gets done in regular hours so that the time after 5 or 6 pm is devoted to workers getting into exercize taking a bike ride, doing things that revitalize and build a healthy body and mind so essential for productive and good thinking type concentration in work. Emails over weekends need not be replied till Monday, and bringing up work during the weekend is discouraged. And still a lot gets done, the company will take the leading role in EV vehicles in Europe and has aggressive plans for 2030 for new EV models. See the link to Stellantis to see how this new CEO runs a company of about 100,000 employees around the world. His name is Carlos Tavares and he took charge of Fiat, Peugeot, Chrysler combined operations called Stellantis in January 2021. This is important as it is the new trend that will take hold of the work culture after the pandemic only if workers and managers ask that it be so and as the word spreads that better more productive companies that can get a lot more done is the result of such an educated workplace that respects health and mental health, and the dignity of workers and families. Look, how can it not be so when the word still has to be spread on climate change in the business world? How can one take place without the other? There is a new sense of dignity in respecting the dignity of the environment, of water, soil, and air, how not so for the mind, the body and its connection to nature around it? And no better place than Stellantis and its CEO Carlos Tavares where the old CEO ran himself down with poor work and health habits and passed away while at work in 2018, to show a new way.  In Germany this new way of work-life balance based work culture is called by a more respectful term "Feierabend" than "quiet quitting" showing that what is wrong is with the work culture and bosses who do not grasp the importance of health, mental health, and what it means to be revitalized for truly productive and thoughtful work. Quiet quitting has that sense of workers having to feel a bit of guilt about this and still thinking it is right  doing it anyway. In Germany"feierabend" is popular and accepted, it means breaking away from work at normal times such as 5 pm or 6 pm when a workday ends so that one can go out and relax with a bike ride  or something that is good for health and fitness and rejuvenates. No email, no nothing so the mind can rest and revitalize. ...

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Brazil's ever increasing production of soyabeans and investments in Brazil by China and US's Cargill ADM result in a oversupply of soyabeans in world's markets leading to lower prices for American farmers. 70% of soyabeans imports by China were from Brazil in 2024 and Cofco state owned agricultural company in China is building a large port terminal on Brazil's coast to handle soyabeans and other exports. Trade tensions with the US mean there are no written agreements farmers can count on for soyabean exports to China. China purchased 13 million metric tons from Argentina last month and committed to buying 25 million metric tons in 2026-2028. Argentina lifted its 26% export tax for the first $7 billion in agricultural exports to bolster it's peso recently. US is turning to other markets in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Europe to make up for volume lost to Brazil. For September and October there is a 45% increase in US exports in 2025 resulting from these non-Chinese buyers. No mention is made of India, yet India could in future be a significant buyer of soyabeans because of thenutritional value of soyabeans in an anti-cancer diet and the high protein content which would make Indian diets healthier. In agriculture farmers are not the ones who develop new tastes and new trends in new markets, yet this effort should be part of farmer's outreach to other nations and other cultural food habits with shifts to healthy nutrition. ...

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Getting a women's perspective on the law and how it affects women is not easy, says Justice Chandrachud of the Indian Supreme Court. He himself he says, had a straitjacketed view till he sat beside a woman colleague. "Initially I viewed the matter where women were often subjected to the worst crimes and violations from a straitjacketed perspective, but sitting with a colleague who had a more diverse exposure to realities of gender gave me the necessary feminist perspective." He also said everyone, including himself have "a lot to learn in terms of how we perceive the law and apply social experiences." Justice Chandrachud says virtual hearings resulted in more women lawyers appearing in the court, and cited technology as an enabler for women. The new CJI says about the rule of law in India, that it is the responsibility of everyone, dependent on the political culture and the habits of citizens especially the young, and not just on the paper parchment that is in the legislation and the Constitution. "In a sense all of you are guardians of our constitutional and democratic traditions and to you is entrusted the responsibility of ensuring that the rule of law is not substituted by the rule by law." ...

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Julian Payne shares with us a day in the life of Prince Charles, now Charles III, in The Times. Charles is shown to be a person of boundless energy, who is keen to help on many efforts to improve life on the planet. He gets involved in the detail of conversations which run longer than usual. He is careful not waste resources and his shoes go through remending. He starts the day with a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and tea, skips lunch and takes tea with fruit cake at 5 pm. The fruit cake is kept for use the next day and the next, so that nothing is wasted, such is his passion for no waste and using all resources carefully. Payne says he has a hatred for waste and gives much though to efficient use of resources. Dinner is at 8.30 pm and he works right into the midnight hour. His work day is relentless. And he loves the outdoors, his windows remain open. If you found yourself outdoors with the prince in winter, you may not be able to keep up says Payne.  Many say he has been highly underestimated. And his habits and his ways, his hard work, dedication, sincerity, and his sense of purpose may still surprise his country. ...

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Zoom calls in the wee hours of the morning or night, and emails at all hours, the scrambling that happened during 2020 and 2021 during work needs some structuring and laying down of boundaries. The work day got kind of crazy. Here Rachel Feintzberg offers tips on getting back to a healthier and more productive worklife by setting clear work boundaries and hours. The key experts say is to be respectful but resolute. Some tips are to follow boundaries such as a 6.00 pm for last calls you take- to do this 80% of the time and compromise on remainder. If pandemic habits are hard to break try innovative ways, like getting out on sports, cycling or gym routines at 6.00 pm. Its alway good to remember and articulate to peers and bosses that you will be most productive and producing higher quality work when you have time for taking care of your health and healthy living. Its hard depending on the boss but over 6 months it gets you to a better place. German practice of Feierabend actually refers to when you stop working for the rest of the day and is done in Germany. It sets a clear demarcation or boundary between work and leisure hours needed for healthy living. ...

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The advice to reduce cancer risk is not surprisingly the same from D. Michael Sekeres of the University of Miami- stay away from sugar, alcohol and tobacco products and take in more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, ancient grains and exercise regularly. The magnitude of what this would achieve on a a national scale when food habits have gone downhill for decades is what is also at stake. It would do what nothing else could do for the nation's health on a massive scale which is why it is the right thing to put much of our focus on, to create a culture that put much importance on the quality and kinds of food, on artificial vs natural, on food grown in good environments, on local vs shipped long distances, on processing vs not processing, all the time thinking of one's own health and what it will do for the quality of life we live. Just a fraction of the savings in medical care would pay for education and parks, green areas in neighborhoods, public health services, high levels of sanitation, leading to better well being that leads to more productive and intelligent citizens. It would lower the levels of multiple diseases and create a healthy society. ...

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The Economist magazine says Boris Johnson with his booming cheerleader habits is an attractive choice for 124,000 members of the Conservative Party as they contemplate a new leader. Now that the new Brexit Party and Mr. Farage are taking votes from Conservatives and the party polling just 11% ahead of the EU elections, with Brexit Party at 34%, the Conservatives could see his faction of no-deal Brexit as a good choice to lead the Conservatives in the battle with Labour party. Not so hastily it says. Because of three reasons. The EU is not likely to negotiate concessions to Boris Johnson, much the reverse is true. A no deal Brexit would hurt the British economy, and lacks support in parliament. The Scottish people are not represented in the leadership ranks of both parties, so there is a danger of breaking up the UK, as Scots oppose Brexit. Mr. Johnson is also seen as a risky gamble because of the mess Conservatives find themselves in, handing Labour Party under Corbyn a win. Johnson could restore Conservative Party as a campaigning machine and a governing force, even with his bumbling style, yet it could all go wrong. ...