Sorry Bill, some of us don’t like your fat shaming, anti-Vax, Islamophobic, Glibertarian ass as much as others do.

Not that I hold it against you, free speech and all, but I think you a poor representative of Atheists because you’re just too rude. I really don’t feel compelled to stand outside the Church doors and yell at the people going in and out that they’re idiots.

I might think it, but I wouldn’t stand outside. Too much work (lost 40 pounds over the last year, but that’s not necessarily a good thing).

Oh, you want my diet tips- 1) Stop Eating Crap, 2) Don’t Eat When You’re Not Hungry. They kind of hunt in a pack. Crap is food you don’t even like eating but do anyway because it’s what’s handy. That hungry thing? Are you? Are you really? Maybe you’re just bored.

I say this not to shame, these are my bad habits. So I lost some weight and 40 pounds seems like a lot (I can certainly feel it) but I was 70 over my target at least so I’m hardly wasting away. As you might imagine from my foodie commentary I don’t stint or count calories, I’ve just learned to ask myself-

“Do I really want a bowl of Instant Mashed Potatoes mixed with Cottage Cheese (makes it healthy, like the raisins in Oatmeal Cookies) slathered in Sour Cream and a Quarter stick of Butter topped with a generous dose of Salt, Pepper, and Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard.”

Look, it’s delicious and you should try it but you shouldn’t make it your go-to 30 Second meal.

People look at you funny, eat pasta (cook it ahead) and pesto instead.

Ok, huge DOOL fan and EXTREMELY upset by the reports of its indefinite hiatus, however for my fellows things are not as bleak as they might seem.

They’re on hiatus because they finished shooting really early this year, like months before renewal, so the contracts are not even up yet and Ted Corday, who still produces, has indicated his willingness to continue as have all of the principal players.

Not that you should keep your hands off the Twit button mind you.

Speaking of Social Media

I write, it’s a completely different thing.

Get Out

Basically I don’t get it. A Spritzer is the simplest, most easy to make drink ever. Target liquid (strong tasting, must dilute) and Soda, that’s it! I suppose they charge for water now, maybe it’s the convenience, but get off your damn ass! How hard is this?

Dogs

Icelandic Ultrablue

Why I hate Jet Blue

Don’t get me wrong, I hate flying at all regardless of Airline.

The Game

Surprise! It’s about MicroEconomics (I am not an Economist, I’m a Historian. I find Economists mostly delusional and faith-based).

The DJ Thing

First of all I was the Librarian, not the Mixer. Second, we were not performers, we played music.

Journamilism 101

Which reminds me-

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Gazette‘s Health and Fitness News weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Insulin AffordabilityInsulin is a peptide hormone made by the beta cells of the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store glucose for future use. Insulin helps keeps your blood sugar level from getting too high (hyperglycemia) or too low (hypoglycemia). Without insulin people with Type 1 diabetes would die. There are 65 million worldwide with the disease, 30 million in the US alone.

It was extracted and purified in the early 1920’s and the Canadian “discovers” sold the patent for the life saving drug to the University of Toronto for $1 making the process free in order to keep the drug affordable to everyone. Today, those Canadians should be spinning in their graves as insulin has become the poster child for pharmaceutical price gauging.

There are no generic insulins. Over the past twenty years, prices for the most commonly prescribed “analog” insulins have risen from about $20 per vial to well over $250 per 10 mL vial, an over 700% increase after accounting for inflation. In contrast, insulin today costs roughly five dollars per vial to produce. With deductibles far outpacing wages, insulin has become unaffordable even for well-off Americans.

The reasons for this price increase are as complicated as the American healthcare system. Carefully negotiated rebate systems have driven enormous increases in the list price for insulin, leading patients to pay far more than insurers for their treatment. High-deductible plans, designed using oversimplified microeconomics to encourage patients to shop for better prices, instead have driven people to decline potentially lifesaving tests and adopt dangerous practices like rationing. In a market where pricing is mind-bogglingly complex, where different entities pay different amounts for the same treatments, and where drugs are of life-saving importance, the American healthcare system has forced some diabetics to choose between death and financial ruin.

In response to this crisis, the World Health Organization has said the it will begin testing and approving generic insulin

Announcing the initiative in Geneva, the UN agency said that it had already had informal expressions of interest from pharmaceutical companies looking to produce insulin and have WHO assess whether it is safe for people to use.

“The simple fact is, that the prevalence of diabetes is growing, the amount of insulin available to treat diabetes is too low, the prices are too high, so we need to do something,” said Emer Cooke, Director of Regulation of Medicines and other Health Technologies at WHO. [..]

The WHO’s two-year pilot project, unveiled on Wednesday, involves the evaluation of insulin developed by manufacturers to ensure their quality, safety, efficacy and affordability.

Assuming there is enough interest from manufacturers and, crucially, more insulin available for diabetics, the scheme could be expanded more widely.

“We’re going to look at the number of companies that will apply, we’re going to look at how long it takes, we’re going to look at the outcomes and we’re going to see whether this makes sense and it really is increasing access”, Ms. Cooke said.

The procedure is known as prequalification and WHO has done it in the past for non-brand vaccines, including those used to treat TB, malaria and HIV.

This had resulted in massive savings for sufferers around the world, with 80 per cent of HIV patients now relying on generic products, Ms. Cooke said.

She noted too that some companies had already committed to lowering prices.

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