This is Year Five in my series of the progression of my Alzheimer's disease since it was first diagnosed in December 2017.
Year One was titled I am waiting for when I forget I have Alzheimer's
Year Two Traveling with Alzheimers
Year Three The Pursuit of Happiness with Alzheimerss
Year Four Alzheimers is Inexorable.
Yesterday while walking my Newfoundland despite many attempts to slow down, I fell. There was nothing around me. At one point I called my big dog (115 pounds) and pushed on her back to help get me up and balance me as I got up. As I was about 90% upright she paniced and pulled away which made me fall again. I was one half block away from my house. I lay on the sidewalk like a beached whale. This is not the first time this has happened on my walk with hills. Amazing no one walks by or drives by to see me. As often often happens when needed most my phone said try again later. After I rested I was able to get into a squat position without falling over and slowly carefully stood up. I felt my knee bleeding and I felt a scrap on my forehead from contact on the concrete. I am on a blood thinner but fortunately I had little swelling. Not like my blackeye last year.
Later I fell at home after too much alcohol and had a concussion.
As the American left embraces a platform that continues to look more and more like a socialist’s dream, it is common for those on the right to counter with the example of Venezuela as the nightmare of socialism in reality.
The myth of Nordic socialism is partially created by a confusion between socialism, meaning government exerting control or ownership of businesses, and the welfare state in the form of government-provided social safety net programs.
However, the left’s embrace of socialism is not merely a case of redefining a word. Simply look at the long-running affinity of leftists (maybe some leftists but not the progressive wing of DEMS) with socialist dictators in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela for proof many on the left long for real socialism.
I think this is a stretch.
To the extent that the left wants to point to an example of successful socialism, not just generous welfare states, the Nordic countries are actually a poor case to cite.
Regardless of the perception, in reality the Nordic countries practice mostly free market economics paired with high taxes exchanged for generous government entitlement programs.
Yes, this is the model I think Democrats are looking for!
First, it is worth noting that the Nordic counties were economic successes before they built their welfare states. Those productive economies, generating good incomes for their workers, allowed the governments to raise the tax revenue needed to pay for the social benefits. It was not the government benefits that created wealth, but wealth that allowed the luxury of such generous government programs.
Doesn't the USA have even greater wealth?
Second, as evidence of the lack of government interference in business affairs, there is the fact that none of these countries have minimum wage laws. Unions are reasonably powerful in many industries and negotiate contracts, but the government does nothing to ensure any particular outcome from those negotiations. Workers are paid what they are worth, not based on government’s perception of what is fair.
Certainily not happening in USA.
A third example of Nordic commitment to free markets can be found in Sweden which has complete school choice. The government provides families with vouchers for each child. These vouchers can be used to attend regular public schools, government-run charter schools, or private, for-profit schools. Clearly, the use of government funds to pay for private, for-profit schools is the opposite of socialism.
We can also confirm these isolated facts by looking at a comprehensive measure of capitalism relative to socialism. The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based, pro-free market, think tank, compiles a worldwide ranking of countries called the economic freedom index. Its website explains that its ranking “is an effort to identify how closely the institutions and policies of a country correspond with a limited government ideal, where the government protects property rights and arranges for the provision of a limited set of “public goods” such as national defense and access to money of sound value, but little beyond these core functions.” Clearly,(???) a socialist country should perform poorly in any ranking based on these principles.
What we find, however, is the Nordic countries rank quite high on this index of economic freedom. In fact, while Hong Kong and Singapore top the list and the U.S. ranks 12th, we can find the Nordic countries in quite respectable rankings. Denmark ranks 15, Finland 17, Norway 25, and Sweden 27. In terms of numerical scores, Sweden is only 5% lower than the U.S. For further comparison, South Korea and Japan, both considered fairly pro-free market, rank 32 and 39, respectively.
Socialism can take the form of government controlling or interfering with
1-free markets,
2- nationalizing industries, and
3- subsidizing favored ones (green energy, anyone?). I think lobbies and money for campaigns have provided a capitalist favored status for oil companies among others.
The Nordic countries don’t actually do much of those things.
Yes, they offer
1- government-paid healthcare,
2- in some cases tuition-free university educations, and rather
3- generous social safety nets, all financed with high taxes.
However, it is possible to do these things without interfering in the private sector more than required. It is allowing businesses to be productive that produces the high corporate and personal incomes that support the tax collections making the government benefits feasible. The Nordic countries are smart enough not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
If the left insists on naming a system of generous government benefits combined with a free market democratic socialism, I cannot stop them. That seems unnecessarily confusing since the government is actually running no industries other than education (and meddling somewhat in healthcare). It certainly isn’t socialism. In fact, the only reason most such countries can afford those benefits is that their market economies are so productive they can cover the expense of the government’s generosity. Perhaps a better name for what the Nordic countries practice would be compassionate capitalism.
I wonder what percentage of these countries GDP goes to defense compared to USA?
I am a professor of economics at The University of Georgia and consultant on economic issues to a variety of corporations and local governments. Taking a generally free…
I have been reviewing many books that suggest they have solutions for Alzheimers.
Especially diet.
I would now like to offer a new solution to my Alzheimers.
My 85 inch Samsung TV that I purchased for my last Father's Day.
Even after my vision improved with cataract surgery and I use hearing aides, I believe having a large screen with vivid images engages my brain much more that the 65 inch TV's I use to watch.
I have have a much larger screen in our theater room but during the recent sad Superbowl, there just was not the brightness of the large screen in the dark room compared to the large Samsung.
I can see the faces so clearly. The color of their eyes, the expressions.
Perhaps not as good as real life but during the time of Covid isolation it has been a good subsitution for the best therapy for AZ which is probably socialization.
The price of the TV is one half of what I spent on it.
$2,500 is a lot of money!
It may be money better spent than trying the diets advised an many useless supplements.
I mayself try to keep my nutritional ketosis greater than 1.0 with an Atkins type diet.
Hopefully your the person who cares for you will also enjoy it as well with you.
1-Consider Bulletproof Krill Oil for a better concentration of DHA.
I am taking 2 Krill oil tablets with 3 generic Lovaza tablets.
My cognoscopy report is already good. I added Krill to help get the DHA into the brain.
2- Replacing artificial sweeteners in coffee w/ liquid stevia or green leaf powdered stevia.
I told her Dr Sanjay Gupta is concerned about artificial sweeteners changing the stool biodome.
Thyrve reported my biodome was good.
3--Try increasing water consumption from 2 to 4 quarts/day.
I did do 4 quarts a day. It was not sustainable. 2 quarts or 64 oz is more than enough I believe. She thinks coffee is a diuretic. Peter Attia says it's not. My endocrinologist said the greatest diuretic. Amy referred to results of my Cognoscopy that suggested why that I was dehydrated. As an MD I am skeptical as my bun, creatine and sodium are normal. I need her to list the abnormal labs she is referring to.
4--Keep experimenting with incorporating liver and heart into the diet on a Preferably) weekly basis.
This I will try even though my vitamin A level is normal.
It is possible to have too much Vitamin A.
I was surprised my B vitamins were so low. She said they don't have proper methlylation and are just urinated out.
Thus when I got the exam above I started Atma's suggestion to take
Liposomal Methyl B Complex mouth spray.
In four months I look forward to repeating my cognoscopy to see if my results improve.
Based on your test sample results, you’re deficient in Faecalibacterium. Probiotics and the right foods can help you bring this back to optimal levels.
