Why You Should Take Cod Liver Oil

     Cod liver oil is an incredibly nutritious type of fish oil supplement and it contains a great combination of: 

 

* omega-3 fatty acids. While the market is saturated with hype, omega-3 fatty acids are important for heart health, improved mood, an anti-inflammatory, brain function and weight management. 

 

* vitamin A. This vitamin is important for growth and development, for the maintenance of the immune system and for good vision. 

 

* vitamin D. This vitamin is responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate as well as many other biological effects. 

 

     Besides, cod liver oil may provide you with health benefits like stronger bones, reduced inflammation and less joint pain for those with rheumatoid arthritis. A common dose is 1–2 teaspoons of fishy tasting liquid cod liver oil per day, or it is available in capsules. 

Here are 8 scientifically supported benefits of cod liver oil. 

 

1. High in Vitamins A and D 

Most cod liver oil is extracted from the liver of Atlantic cod and it is quite different than regular fish oil. Regular fish oil is extracted from the tissue of oily fish like tuna, herring, anchovies and mackerel, while cod liver oil is extracted from the actual livers of cod. It is incredibly nutritious...a single teaspoon provides 90% of the daily requirement for vitamin A and 113% of the daily requirement for vitamin D. 

 

2. May Reduce Inflammation 

In some cases inflammation can continue at a low level for long periods of time. Such chronic inflammation may increase the risk high blood pressure and several diseases, such as heart disease. Also, vitamins A and D are powerful antioxidants that can reduce inflammation by binding and neutralizing harmful free radicals. 

 

3. May Improve Bone Health 

You start losing bone mass after age 30 which can lead to fractures later in life, especially in women after menopause. Vitamin D may reduce age-related bone loss because it helps your body absorb calcium, which is necessary for strong bones. 

 

4. May Reduce Joint Pain and Improve Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms 

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that’s characterized by damage to the joints. There is no cure, but studies suggest that cod liver oil may reduce joint pain and improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis like joint stiffness and swelling. 

 

5. May Support Eye Health 

Vision loss is a huge health problem. There are many reasons why people lose their vision, but two of the leading causes are glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Both of these diseases can result from chronic inflammation. Note: although vitamin A is great for eye health, it’s not recommended to take high doses of it, as it may cause toxicity. 

 

6. May Reduce Heart Disease Risk 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and studies have shown people who regularly eat fish have a much lower risk of heart disease. This effect can be attributed to its omega-3 fatty acid. Omega-3s have been shown to have many benefits for your heart, including: lowering blood pressure, increasing HDL cholesterol, reduce the risk of plaque forming in the arteries. Plaque buildup can narrow the arteries and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Note: taking fish oil supplements may reduce risk factors for heart disease, but there is little evidence that it can actually prevent heart disease or strokes. 

 

7. May Improve Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression 

Studies suggest there may be a link between chronic inflammation and anxiety and depression and many studies have found that the omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil can lower inflammation and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additionally, studies have also found a link between increased blood levels of vitamin D and a reduction in symptoms of depression. 

 

8. May Help Heal Stomach and Ulcers

Ulcers are small breaks in the lining of the stomach or gut and cause symptoms of nausea, upper abdominal pain and discomfort. They are often caused by bacterial infections, smoking, excess use of anti-inflammatory medications or too much acid in the stomach Animal studies indicate that cod liver oil may help treat ulcers, particularly in the stomach and gut. 

 

There are no set guidelines for cod liver oil intake, so most recommendations are based on safe intake levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A and D. A common dose is often 1–2 teaspoons, but taking up to one tablespoon per day is usually safe. Higher doses are not recommended, as they would result in excess vitamin A. Cod liver oil is likely safe for most adults, but it can cause side effects including heartburn, stomach upset, and nausea. 

 

Warning: High doses of cod liver oil are possibly unsafe because they might keep blood from clotting and can increase the chance of bleeding. Vitamin A and vitamin D levels might also become too high with high doses of cod liver oil. Because cod liver oil can act as a blood thinner, check with your doctor before taking cod liver oil if you take blood pressure or blood thinning medications.

Supernumerary Nipples

     Supernumerary nipples, or third nipples as they are usually called, are a condition in which a person has an extra nipple on their body in addition to the two located on the breasts or chest.    

     The Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center states that this is a relatively common condition and many people with a third nipple may not even realize they have one. The presence of additional nipples (aka polymastia or polythelia or accessory nipples occur in roughly 1–5 percent of the population. 

 

Fun facts on third nipples: 

* Some people have had up to eight 

* Most third nipples are harmless and do not need any medical attention 

* Third nipples may be smaller compared to regular nipples 

* The condition is more prevalent in men than in women. 

* In most cases, the additional nipples are smaller and less developed than the regular nipples. 

* In the case of a woman who has given birth, it is possible for her third nipple to lactate 

* Lactation of third nipple can occur in third nipples on both men and women. 

 

     Third nipples are not always readily recognized because hey are usually smaller and less developed than regular nipples. As a result it is easy for a person to think they might be a mole. A third nipple usually appears on the front of the body between the area starting in the armpit and running down past the nipples to the genitals. This is known as a person’s “milk line.” 

     However, third nipples can appear anywhere on the body, even the hands and feet. a condition known medically as ectopic supernumerary nipples. Often people may dismiss third nipple as a mole or birthmark, but it is possible to tell the difference as moles or birthmarks tend to be flat and are unlikely to have any bumps or ridges in them. 

     There are different types of supernumerary nipples and they are categorized depending on features such as shape, size and tissue makeup. 

 

Types of third nipples: 

* Category One nipples (or polymastia,) may have an areola around it. An areola is a ring of soft circular tissue and the underlying tissue is regular breast tissue; this indicates that a full breast has also developed. 

* Category two nipples do not have an areola though the presence of breast tissue underneath is still apparent. 

* Category Three nipples is where the area has breast tissue present, but no actual nipple has formed. 

* Category Four nipples is where breast tissue has formed underneath, but no nipple or areola is present. 

* Category five (known as pseudomamma) nipples have an areola around the nipple area, but instead of breast tissue underneath, fat tissue is found instead. 

* Category six (known as polythelia) is where the nipple appears alone and there is no areola or breast tissue underneath it. 

 

     All third nipples develop while the baby is in the womb. When an expectant mother is 4 weeks pregnant, the developing embryo’s two milk lines begin to thicken. The milk lines are made of ridged tissue and will eventually become part of the baby’s skin. Two strips of tissue across the chest known as the “mammary ridges” regress in-utero, and in doing so two regular nipples form. However, there are instances where they don’t regress altogether, which can result in the creation of additional nipples. 

     It is important to see a doctor should the extra nipple cause any discomfort. For example, it's lactating or is painful pain, the nipple hardens, additional lumps form or a rash appears over the area.

     In any case, third nipples should be checked regularly by a doctor who will check for any signs of abnormal growths or unusual, activity. 

     It's uncommon, but there are some cases where an additional nipple can be a sign of a congenital breast defect or malignant growth or tumor. It is possible for the extra nipple to get breast cancer. 

     Additionally, certain types of extra nipples have been linked to various kidney conditions such as end-stage renal disease and can also be associated with cancer of the kidney cells.

     Having third nipples removed is usually for cosmetic rather than health-related reasons. Their removal usually involves noninvasive outpatient surgery. However, if a person has their third nipple, it may not be covered by insurance.

Notched US Military Dog Tags

     Once, a long time ago, I wore a set of US military dog tags. The ones I was issued had a notch in one end.   

     In the 1940s and for about 30 years, US military dog tags, known as the M-1940 dog tag, had a notch along the edge. If anybody asked what the notch was for they were told that when a soldier died on the battlefield, medics, or Navy Corpsman if serving with the Marines, would take the notched part of the dog tag and place it between the teeth of the deceased soldier. The medic would then kick the jaw so the tag would become lodged between the soldier’s teeth. The reason for this procedure was because transporting a dead soldier across a battlefield in the 1940s was difficult and his identity could be lost. But, if the dog tag was wedged between the teeth the loss of identity was unlikely. 

     Equally gruesome is the alternative reason for the notch. After a dead soldier was taken off the battlefield their decaying bodies produces gases and in order to allow the gases to escape the dead body, a dog tag was placed in the mouth, between the teeth, to keep the mouth open thereby allowing the gases to escape.

     Actually, neither was the purpose of the notch, known as a "locating notch" in military manuals. It's purpose was more prosaic. The notched dog tags used until 1970 were part of a casualty identification process. 

     The dog tag was created using a machine and the notch helped the machine hold the dog tag in place as it was stamped. Modern dog tags are manufactured by machines that do not need the notch to hold the tags in place. 

     The notch served an additional purpose. The dog tag was removed from casualties and it was placed into a handheld tool called the Addressograph Model 70 which transferred the information from the dog tag to medical records. The notch, again, held the dog tag in place in the Addressograph. 

     Of course, today's modern technology what with DNA and all, dog tags are no longer as important as they used to be.

The Problem With Masks

     Here's something Facebookers haven't yet posted any memes about. And, these are verifiable facts, not made up stories which is something rare for meme posters on Facebook!

     In the Cook County Jail in Chicago a prisoner jailed on a gun charge and for violating his bond in a drug case, had tattoos on his face, but wearing a mask enabled him to pose as another prisoner and get released. 

     The way the FBI tells it, William Rosario Lopez put on a surgical mask and walked into the Connecticut convenience store and picked up plastic wrap, fruit snacks and a few other items. Then, when the only other customer left, he went to the counter, pulled out a gun and robbed the place. According to the FBI Lopez robbed four other gas station stores over a period of eight days before he got nabbed. 

     At Aqueduct Racetrack in New York three workers were robbed at gunpoint of a quarter-million dollars. Other robberies involving suspects wearing surgical masks have occurred in North Carolina, and Washington, DC and other places across the country. 

     Wearing mask to protect others against the COVID virus is a perfect opportunity for robbers to conceal their face and blend in with honest, God-fearing people. 

     Before the pandemic, masked robbers had to remove their masks immediately after leaving the scene to avoid standing out from the crowd. But, now they can keep their masks on and blend right in. 

     Masks also mean video of the robbery are much less useful if police are unable to see a face,. Crimes in which the suspect was wearing a mask have increased nearly five fold. 

     The Los Angeles, California police department even suggests honest folks can protect themselves from being identified as being a subject by wearing a unique mask that stands out so you are not mistaken for a suspect!

3-D Wooden Puzzles

I have no financial interest in Rolife, but they sell some interesting and unusual stuff. Of special interest are their 3-D wooden puzzles. Visit site

Night Driving Glasses

     We've all seen advertising on television for those night driving glasses with the yellow lenses with the claim that they help you to see better at night while you’re driving. They’re non-prescription, yellow-tinted and often have some kind of anti-reflective coating to eliminate reflections from the streetlights and oncoming headlights that cause glare. 

     Many people have reduced vision in low light, especially older people. As you get older, other diseases like cataracts can also make it harder to see at night. And here is a scary fact: you may need twice as much light at the age of 50 to see as well as you did when you were 30! 

 

There are five signs of night driving issues: 

1) Not being able to see road signs clearly. 

2) Inability to judge distance and speed. 

3) Struggling to read car instruments 

4) Difficulty adapting to glare from headlights. 

5) Experiencing a loss of side vision. 

 

     These night driving glasses tend to be similar to shooting glasses and in some cases they are identical. Shooting glasses are yellow because this color is known to filter out blue UV rays. It's also claimed that yellow lenses improve a person's ability to see and discern objects as well increase depth perception. Shooters who wear these glasses for hunting or target shooting often find that they increase the contrast of objects against an overcast sky. But do they really help you see better while you're driving at night? 

     A 2019 study showed that people wearing night driving glasses had a harder time seeing pedestrians in their path than people who were not wearing night driving glasses. Those wearing the night driving glasses sometimes took up to 1.5 seconds longer to see pedestrians while driving. 

     Glasses with yellow tinted lenses can enhance contrast in certain daylight conditions, since the yellow tint blocks some of the sun's blue light. This high-energy visible blue light is more likely to cause glare when it enters the eye, compared to other forms of visible light. 

     Amber or copper colored lenses can block much more blue light than yellow lenses, but they also prevent more light from entering the eye, which reduces visibility even more in low-light conditions. In fact, even yellow lenses reduce the overall visible light to a degree, since they also block some blue light. This might be a good thing during the day, but not at night when maximum visibility is important.

     Researchers at Harvard's Schepens Eye Research Institute conducted a study involving 22 participants to find out whether night driving glasses provided any benefit for nighttime driving. 

     The experiments were conducted in four simulated night driving conditions with the subjects wearing either yellow tinted night driving glasses or glasses with clear lenses. Scenarios included testing with and without a headlight glare that mimicked oncoming traffic. The experiment measured the subject's reaction time to seeing a pedestrian walking alongside the roadway. 

     The study found that night driving glasses did not appear to improve how well participants detected pedestrians at night. The experiment data suggested that wearing yellow-lens glasses when driving at night does not improve performance in that critical task. 

     In fact, the results found "that wearing yellow-lens glasses may slightly worsen performance," but the finding "was not statistically significant." Their conclusion was that the findings did not appear to support the use of night-driving glasses. 

     If your eyes are healthy and you don't have vision problems and don't need prescription glasses, then it's best not to wear any glasses at all. If you need prescription eyeglasses then having an anti-reflective coating is worth the small extra cost. 

     The reasons are that these glasses will allow almost all of the visible light to enter your eyes, they will let your eyes focus properly and reduce or eliminate the glare causing reflections of streetlights and headlights in your lenses. 

     Note that the AR coating only reduces the glare caused by the eyeglass lenses themselves so there is no visual benefit to wearing non-prescription lenses with AR coating.

The Golden Gate Quartet: Old Time Religion

Durwood FIncher Interviews People

A Scary Man

     Michael Flynn is a retired Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was also the National Security Advisor under President Trump. It's scary that this goofball was once running the military, occupied a high ranking position in the government and apparently is still an influential figure in politics. 

     Appointed by Trump on November 17, 2016, Flynn didn't have the job long. He resigned on February 13, 2017, amid reports that he did not provide Vice President Mike Pence with accurate information about a conversation that he had with a Russian ambassador concerning sanctions against the country. On November 25, 2020, President Trump tweeted that he had granted Flynn a presidential pardon.

     Trump claimed that, although Flynn “didn’t do anything wrong,” he had lost confidence in the general. Trump said, “He didn’t tell the vice president of the United States the facts. And then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me.” 

     Flynn is a scary man! QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory and movement centered on false claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals, known by the name Q, claimed that Flynn worships Satan. 

     In an effort to refute that absurd claim and in an effort to proclaim his Christian faith, Flynn, speaking in San Antonio, Texas on the ReAwaken America tour which features Flynn, other Trump loyalists and anti-vaxxers who have a history of spreading disinformation about the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic, he called for Christianity to become the singular religion of the United States!

     He stated, "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God." Most Christians would, I think, shudder at the very thought of the United States having a state religion. Besides that, under the Constitution such a thing is illegal. 

     Flynn also said he taped a segment for the television program Tucker Carlson Tonight (Carlson is a political journalist who speaks on current issues). In reference to the insurrection that took place in Washington DC at President Biden's inauguration, Flynn called it the "insurrection crucifixion" and compared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Pontius Pilate, the man who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus in the Bible. He stated, "This is the crucifixion of our First Amendment freedom to speak, freedom to peacefully assemble. It's unbelievable." 

     As is all that isn't bad enough, Flynn gets even more weird. A while back he stated, “Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they’re talking about putting the vaccine into salad dressing, or salads.” That's right! Flynn is tossing around a conspiracy theory about Covid-19 vaccines being secretly put in salads or salad dressing. Flynn did not say on the video whether he actually agreed with the salad claim adding, “I’m thinking to myself, this is the Bizarro World, right.” But, why mention it? 

     Flynn did not elaborate where this information came from, but according to Snopes, in a September 16, 2020 article by Jules Bernstein for the University of California-Riverside News began with the lines, “the future of vaccines may look more like eating a salad than getting a shot in the arm. UC Riverside scientists are studying whether they can turn edible plants like lettuce into mRNA vaccine factories.” 

     Scientists are studying this possibility but have not achieved it yet. They even received a half a million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to do research on this. What they are actually trying to do is to use plant cells to produce enough mRNA to be used as a vaccine. First, they haven't accomplished it nor are they trying to turn salads or salad dressing into some kind of secret vaccine.

     Amusing was rapper, singer and songwriter Nicky Minaj's tweet about a friend of her cousin's testicles. Her tweet:

  

My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.  

 

You can read the response by the government of Trinidad and Tobago HERE.

Where did the robins go?

     Where I live robins are the harbinger of spring and a common sight in the summer. Yesterday I put some stale bread out for the birds, but, of course, this time of the year there were no robins. By the way I have never seen them eating bread. 

     Where do robins go for the winter? Do robins migrate? The answer is yes and no. While they are associated with spring and summer here, not all robins escape the winter. Unlike many long-distance migrating birds which head south en masse during the fall, robins react to winter's onset in two ways. 

     Many retreat southward. They skedaddle out of Northern Canada and the cold, snowy parts of the country and head to areas far to the south like Texas and Florida. But they are not motivated by the cold because robins can withstand extremely cold temperatures, adding warm, downy feathers to their plumage. No, their motivation for heading south is food. 

     As their warm-weather diet of worms and insects becomes scarce, robins begin searching for fresh supplies. For unknown reasons though some stay up north and tough it out just like we humans do. Robins have been observed in every US state except Hawaii and all southern Canadian provinces in January. 

     They survive by changing their diet, transitioning from insects and worms to winter fruits and berries, including junipers, hollies, crabapples and hawthorns. In the spring and summer, robins aggressively defend their territories and raise young. In the winter, they change. They become nomadic, searching far and wide for food. If a heavy snowfall persists for more than a few days they will leave in search of greener pastures, so to speak. 

     Although I have never seen one (probably because there isn't a lot of food for them in the winter around here) robins also form flocks in the winter which can number in the hundreds or thousands which is totally unlike their summer behavior where they pair up and raise young. 

     Flocking means the larger groups have more eyes pealed to spot and avoid predators. It also increases the chances of discovering food. Here's another odd fact about robins that winter over in flocks...they make little noise during winter months. Although some males begin singing toward winter's end as spring approaches and mating hormones kick in, they typically maintain a subdued silence. Taken together, these changes lower robins' profile in the northern part of their range, making sightings much less common, and leading some people to assume they have all gone elsewhere.

     The burning question is, how do robins decide whether to stay or go during the winter? Nobody knows, but it is thought that it's mostly males that remain because it allows early access to the best breeding grounds. When spring arrives the winter robins disperse and change their diet back to worms and insects. Then a few days to two weeks later the females show up. 

     Robin populations are increasing, but they are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning because they forage on lawns and other open spaces that are often sprayed with weed killers. Additionally, pesticides can also kill earthworms, a major food source for robins. Because they forage on the ground, robins often end up as food for outdoor cats. Collisions with windows, communications towers and car strikes are other common hazards.