Boanthropy

     Nebuchadnezzar II was the king of Babylon circa 605 BC – c. 562 BC and was the longest reigning and most powerful monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. 

     His conquest of Judah is described in the Bible books of Kings, Chronicles and Jeremiah. He was the king responsible for destroying Solomon's Temple and initiating the Babylonian captivity. 

     One night he had a dream and Daniel interpreted it for him. For seven years Nebuchadnezzar would be driven away from people and would live with the wild animals. During that time he would eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. 

     He was told by Daniel when he (Nebuchadnezzar) acknowledged that Heaven rules, then his kingdom would be restored. Daniel's advice was to renounce his sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. Nebuchadnezzar didn't listen and it happened just as Daniel had predicted. 

     Today Nebuchadnezzar's condition is recognized as a psychological disorder known as boanthropy in which a human believes they are a bovine.

     Nebuchadnezzar is not the only early mention of this disorder. According to Persian traditions, the Buyid prince Majd al-Dawla was suffering from an illusion that he is a cow, making the sound of a cow and asking that to be killed so that his flesh could be consumed. 

     It has been suggested that hypnotism, suggestion and auto-suggestion may contribute to such beliefs. Dreams may also play an important part. Jung for example records how a stubborn woman dreamed she was attending an important social occasion. She was greeted by the hostess who told her, "How nice that you could come. All your friends are here and they are waiting for you." The hostess then led her to the door and opened it and the lady stepped through the door into a cowshed. 

     Freud noted cases in which a mental disease has started with a dream and in which a delusion originating in the dream has persisted. 

     Boanthropy is a rare and serious psychological disorder in which a human being experiences mental metamorphosis from being a human to believing he is a cow. In this condition, patient appears to walk like a cow. They stop talking like normal human beings and begin mooing. They grab others’ attention by bellowing and bawling. All of a sudden they develop a taste and craving for grass so their diet also consists of grass, hay and silage. They graze like a cow and eat whatever plant they see because that is what cows eat. They can even join a herd of cattle to graze and browse. 

     From behavior and diet to sounds, patients with boanthropy depict the character of a cow in real life. The cause is unknown. Many link its cause to religious perceptions or witchcraft and black magic. Boanthropy can be an additional aspect of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. A person might be hallucinating a lot which leads to altering their belief that they are a human being. There is no specific treatment, but psychotherapy and medication are generally used to try and help an individual give up their delusion.

On this day in history...

     On April 23, 2020, right in the heart of the coronavirus pandemic President Donald Trump said, "Suppose if we hit the body with a tremendous light whether its ultraviolet or just a powerful light...[or] brought the light inside the body...the disinfectant [also] knocks it out, [so perhaps we could] inject it inside.” 

     Incredibly, not a few of his supporters took his advice and there was a spike in people ingesting disinfectant, but President Trump took no responsibility for that. 

The Latest From Miss Moonshine

The Legendary Jimmy Dudley

     The Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame is full of people whose departure from the team was not of their own volition. i.e. they got fired. 

     Lou Boudreau was fired as a manager and released as a player. Rocky Colavito was traded by a general manager who had a pathological need to make transactions. Manager Mike Hargrove was fired. Broadcaster Jimmy Dudley, another Indians Hall of Famer, holds a special place in the hearts of Indians fans of his era, was also unceremoniously fired. 

     James Dudley was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1909, and graduated with a degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia, where he played football and basketball. Dudley went to work for DuPont, but in 1937, took a job at a radio station in Charlottesville, Virginia. He ended up announcing games for the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. At the time popular announcers were Southerners: Red Barber, Mel Allen and Ernie Harwell. 

     After serving as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, Dudley was heard by an official at Erin Brew (a beer company), then the sponsor of Cleveland Indians broadcasts. At the time announcers were often so associated with the beer companies that if the brewery that sponsored the games changed so did the announcers. 

     On radio Dudley was paired with Jack Graney, a member of the Indians’ championship 1920 team and believed to be the first player to go into the broadcast booth. After Graney retired in 1953, Dudley was paired with Ed Edwards for two years and Tom Manning for one. Dudley also called games for the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts, as well as Ohio State football. Dudley called the 1954 World Series and All-Star Game for the Mutual network, and 1961's first All-Star Game for NBC Radio. 

     Dudley was known for his friendly, homespun style and his signature catchphrases: “Hello, baseball fans everywhere” was his opening line and he always signed off with, “So long and lotsa good luck, ya heah.” A full count on a batter was described with the phrase "The string is out" and home runs were described with a hearty. "That ball is going...going...gone!" When a batter struck out it was, "A swing and a miss! He struck him out." 

     Dudley did commercials for the Aluminum Siding Corporation, whose phone number of “Garfield 1, 2-3-2-3” is known to anyone who lived in Cleveland through the 1980s. 

     Beginning in 1957, after his broadcast partner retired, Dudley was paired with a rat named Bob Neal, who had called Browns games for radio and television since 1946. Dudley and Neal hated each other to the point that they wouldn’t even talk to each other on the air. 

     After the 1967 season, in a power play Neal forced Dudley out and Dudley was replaced in the radio booth by former Indians pitcher Herb Score, who had been calling games on television for the previous four years. Score would go on to be the radio voice of the Indians for 30 years. 

     Dudley was incensed by the move, which came shortly before spring training, not allowing him time to latch on with another team. “I consider it a kick in the teeth and a lousy thing to happen after all the years I have been with the Indians,” he was quoted as saying. He also stated, “When I left Cleveland last month I understood everything was OK. If they had let me know at the end of the season that I wasn’t wanted, then I would have had time to get another job in baseball broadcasting. Now, it’s too late.” 

     In 1969, Dudley landed a job the Seattle Pilots. After the Pilots moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers, Dudley called minor-league games in Arizona, where he made his home and games for the University of Arizona, but his major league career was over. Dudley received the Ford Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, two years before he died in Arizona at the age of 89. 

     Bob Feller. Indians Hall of Fame pitcher said, “There was not a better baseball announcer than Jimmy Dudley." 

Fellowes Brand Paper Shredder

     Our old home office paper shredder died the other day and we shopped around for a new one. A visit to Staples was fruitless as they only offered upper end machines for over $100. At Walmart we discovered the Fellowes Powershred 9C 9-sheet Cross-Cut Personal Paper Shredder for $49.88 and made the purchase. Details

     After getting it home and unpacking it the first thing that was noticeable was that it's smaller than the old shredder. That's because the paper basket (3.8 gallons) does not slide out as it did on the old one. Instead, the Fellowes model has the shredding mechanism on top of the basket which makes emptying it inconvenient, but we can live with that. 

     It cross-cuts up to nine sheets at a time and can handle staples, paperclips and credit cards, but personally I'd hesitate to put a paperclip through it! The front has a tinted see-through window so you can easily monitor the paper level. 

     The cross sections make it more secure than strip-cut shredders and this shredder cuts approximately 400 particles per sheet. It shreds for up to 5 minutes before a 30 minute cool down period is needed. 

     We had a 2-inch high pile of papers to shred and while the shredder was loud, it was fast and made quick work of the stack...less than 5 minutes so no cool down period was needed. Just don't believe the blurb on the box that says it's quiet. The main thing was that it's speed was impressive. For less than $50 it's a good buy for home use. 

 

NOTE: These shredders have a mechanical sensor bar that can get stuck causing the shredder to quit working. If it runs only in reverse the problem is likely paper jammed under the sensor bar which is located in the middle of the paper slot. If this is the case, use a long, thin, stiff wire to push the jammed paper through the grinding wheels being careful not to damage them!  In fact, a wooden chop stick is even better, or perhaps a plastic straw. 

Horse Auctions

      Some comments on this auction were critical of the Mennonite and Amish practice of selling and selling horses at "kill pens." What are kill pens? 

     Some people looking for inexpensive riding horses and ponies purchase them at auction but many of the horses sold at auctions are purchased by "killer buyers" who represent or sell to horse slaughterhouses. 

     Some horses are purchased by middlemen who take them home, fatten them up and send them to slaughter weeks or months later. Some horses end up traveling from one auction to another, changing hands numerous times, before they end up at the slaughter plant. 

     Some horses are in excellent health while others have been trucked to auction by haulers from farms where they received little to no care. Often these horses suffer from extreme neglect. Starvation is the most common and obvious affliction; some horses have bones and ribs so visible that they look like skeletons. Also seen are horses with infections such as pneumonia and strangles, wounds and serious foot problems that make it exceedingly difficult and painful for them to walk. 

     Because killer buyers are paid by the pound for the horses they deliver, they look for healthy horses in good body condition, as well as horses in poor condition that can be fattened up. Currently, there are no horse slaughter plants in the US, but horses are still being shipped to Canadian and Mexican plants. 

 

Read all about kill pens HERE

Butt Acne

     Who knew there was such a thing as butt acne, but it really does exist. Apparently it's an uncomfortable thing that happens mostly to people who exercise regularly and sweat a lot. 

     There are special creams and lotions you can buy specifically to treat butt acne, but they aren't cheap. On 4 ounce bottle I saw advertised costs $32.99, but it must be good stuff. 739 reviewers gave it 4.9 out of 5 stars. 

     Butt acne sounds interesting enough to merit further research, so if you're interested, read on... 

     Most people assume that a breakout of pimples on the butt is acne, but it isn’t really acne. Acne is a skin condition involving clogged pores. When the pores get clogged with excess oil, dead skin cells and bacteria trapped inside them then pimples erupt. Acne most often affects body sites that have a high concentration of oil glands (face, neck, chest, shoulders and upper back), but there apparently is no such thing as an excessively oily butt because the buttocks do not have a lot of oil glands. Hence, true acne on the buttocks is rare. 

     Butt pimples are most likely folliculitis or keratosis pilaris, a harmless skin condition that results from a buildup of keratin (a hard skin protein) that blocks the hair follicle, sweat glands and oil glands. This blockage causes small bumps that can look like acne. Other conditions that look like acne are folliculitis (an inflammation of hair follicles on the butt) and contact dermatitis. 

     Here's an interesting fact. Few people talk about it, but butt pimples are very common and tends to run in families. 

     Nobody really knows what causes it, but butt pimples are the result of damage to the hair follicle that then causes irritation or allows germs to infect it. According to one article the damage can come from friction on the skin, wearing tight clothing, or shaving (people shave their butt?). 

     If one has keratosis pilaris the "pimples" usually don’t hurt or itch whereas folliculitis can be uncomfortable or downright painful. Treatment depends on the cause of the pimples. If it’s keratosis pilaris there are probably also bumps on the back of the upper arms or thighs. Moisturizing the skin right after showering can help soften the skin. An exfoliant cream containing lactic acid or similar ingredients can encourage the skin to regenerate faster and prevent plugged follicles. 

     Treatment of folliculitis depends on whether or not it’s infectious. Folliculitis from irritation may improve if the source of the irritation is removed such as tight clothing of stopping the butt shaving routine. Warm compresses and hydrocortisone cream may also help . 

     Because there can be several causes of so-called butt acne, it's recommended that one see a dermatologist if the condition persists or is bothersome. Good luck trying to get an appointment with a dermatologist! They are usually very busy and booked months in advance. 

     Most butt breakouts affect the center of the butt cheeks. Common symptoms of keratosis pilaris include, rough, dry skin that can resemble sandpaper. Small, painless, bumps that can be pointy, have a white tip or center, or look reddish and smooth. It will get worse when the skin is dry or the humidity is low, such as in the winter 

     Folliculitis often affects the skin on the butt, groin, thigh, face, neck or underarm. Common symptoms include small red or white bumps around hair follicles, swollen or irritated follicles, tenderness, pain, itching or burning. In some cases it can cause pus filled blisters that open and crust. 

     Getting an accurate diagnosis is important so you know how to treat it. The risk factors for developing a breakout on the butt depend on the cause. Keratosis pilaris is genetic, so having a parent with it increases your risk. It can show up during childhood, but is most common during the teenage years. In fact, about half of teenagers have this common skin condition. Things that make keratosis pilaris worse include dry skin and dry weather. It often goes away with age, but it can persist throughout adulthood. 

     People at risk for getting folliculitis include those who gain weight which can cause friction from clothes, having acne, dermatitis or a medical condition that weakens your immune system Other causes are shaving, waxing, wearing tight clothing, or wearing clothes that trap heat, moisture or sweat, soaking in an improperly maintained hot tub and using certain medications, such as steroid creams.

     You may be able to lower your risk of developing the scourge of butt acne by changing out of wet or damp bathing suits and workout clothes right away. These items should also be washed after each use, but who does that? Make sure hot tubs are properly maintained before using. Wear loose clothing especially when it’s hot or humid. Finally, if you are one of those people who shaves their butt, be careful and use a good sharp razor. 

     When it comes to treatment, since butt acne isn’t truly acne, acne products aren’t likely to work. In fact, they may make it worse. If you aren’t sure of the cause, see your doctor for the right treatment! 

     For keratosis pilaris, moisturizing the skin while it’s still damp after a shower is a main treatment. Products containing lanolin, glycerin, or petroleum jelly are recommended. Keeping the skin soft can help prevent keratin buildup. Using an over-the-counter exfoliant cream can also help. Look for ingredients such as lactic acid, salicylic acid, urea, alpha hydroxy acid, or adapalene. In some cases, prescription-strength retinoid creams may be necessary. 

     Other home remedies include avoiding harsh soaps and vigorous scrubbing and patting the skin dry instead of rubbing. Take short showers because long showers or baths and hot water can dry out the skin, making keratosis pilaris worse. Use a humidifier during dry winter months. Wear loose clothing. 

     Folliculitis treatment depends on whether or not it's a infection and seeing a dermatologist is probably the best course of action. In the meantime, applying warm, moist compresses several times a day and use anti-itch lotions and antibacterial soap. Towels and washcloths should be washed in hot water after each use. 

     Remember that with folliculitis, physical complications can be serious because the infection can go deeper, forming boils or furuncles. The infection can also spread, causing clusters of boils called carbuncles. This can permanently damage hair follicles and the skin, resulting in scarring or dark spots.