A Word Of Warning

 about herbal teas. 

Herbal teas have become widespread the last years, you don't have to go to a specialised store any more, you can just buy them in a supermarket. 

They are sometimes promoted as a healthier alternative to "real" tea as they contain no caffeine. While they can offer some health benefits, there are also things you should be warned about, namely, that they can influence your estrogen, just like soy.

We all know that your estrogen/progesterone levels can be affected by caffeinated drinks, but it's also true about herbal substitutes.

A funny thing is that we often talk about "soyboys", but research shows that men seldom suffer from side effects of these drinks/supplements, while in women, and especially older women in can contrubute to severe hormone imbalance/estrogen dominance.

For instance, one of the most popular teat substitutes is rooibos/red bush tea. While it can boost sperm counts, it can also increase estrogen to very unhealthy levels. 

The same is true about licorice, another popular tea substitute, and hops, which are a component of some sleep aid herbal combinations.

Dandelion tea has been widely promoted as a means to balance your hormones naturally, but it has estrogenic activity, too. It can also lower your blood sugar. The same is true about milk thistle. 

Granted, for many people it won't be a problem, and they can experience many positive effects from these drinks, but it's good to know that there also could be some drawbacks connected to their use. Apparently, the effects can also vary from woman to woman. Thus red raspberry tea can be both progesterone- and estrogen boosting, which is rather confusing, so you probably should approach it individually, as in what works for you.

It could probably be helpful to search for info before one starts taking a new herbal tea.

 P.S. There is research which indicates that green tea, nettle root  (not sure if the tea has the same benefits) and possibly chamomile tea can reduce or block estrogen. Just so you know...

Neo-liberalism Killed Grandma

 It's time for our periodical corona-update. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel: since Wednesday next week, we will be allowed to visit "non-essential" stores again, by appointment (which in practice will mean that small stores will just open for everyone). And then, 1 week later, they promise us we'll be able to eat outside in a restaurant!

I already wrote myself down today for one store, others weren't so far with their planning yet. Let me tell you something, not everybody is happy! Some high-placed doctors were so free as to express their discontent with the government publicly. Which naturally leads to some heated discussions, where as usual killing grandma is still used as an argument. (WARNING: don't click on the link, it's very wicked, so there, I have warned you all:)

It's true that corona virus is especially dangerous for older people. However, apart from the ethical question whether it's fair to sacrifice the future of the (relatively) young to save 80+ers, there is something else to consider. Suppose Grandma died from corona, whose fault it really was? Was it because someone walked around without a mask, or spent too much time in the stores, or, Heaven forbid, ate in a restaurant? 

Or was it because the government cut the amount of IC beds more than in half (2300 in 2015 vs 1000 in 2020), there are problems with organising an efficient vaccination campaign and 60% of the hospital staff works part-time? 

By the way, it's not exclusively the fault of women, as the article implies. I have some 1950/60s pockets about "hospital romance" and an average doctor used to work 60 hours a week, and sometimes more (yes, they were nearly all male). Later, they discovered "work/life balance". It's now quite common to have married couples where both spouses are doctors/health care specialists and work 30 hours per week each. So we now need 2 specialists where previously 1 was enough.

Doctors used to be these noble heroes who would bravely sacrifice themselves for the public good, by entering a cholera barrack in a poor neighbourhood. They were supposed to take risks, just like soldiers do during the war. Yet, later, it just became another well-paid white collar job, while nurses changed from nuns/single women into married mothers who all want to work 2 days a week and have their vacations on time.

It's not exactly their fault, either, it's the way the powers that be have structured our society since at least mid-1970s. 

I dread to think what will happen in 20 more years, when boomers and early Gen-X massively retire, and the male-female balance in health care will shift even further, while more than 50% of the population will be over sixty. Enfin, may be these doctors from Syria we have been importing lately will save us.

On the other hand, with our technical advances, we are artificially keeping people alive who would be dead 60 years ago, after their second heart attack. There is something very wrong with a society where1/3 of the population is in the risk group, and while you can't help getting older, being overweight/obese is your personal choice. 

We also collectively decided that Grandma's place is in an institution, not at home; because taking care of the elderly generally interferes with fun activities, and nursing homes are exactly the places where the most outbreaks regularly take place. 

So to sum it up, who it was that killed Grandma? Was it anyone in particular or is it just the way our society functions nowadays? There is too much market fetishism on the right. Some things, like health care, should be about care and prevention of dangerous diseases, not about profits. So if you want to blame someone, blame neoliberalism. We have tried communism, we have tried capitalism, may be it's time for the third way/populism?

Speaking Of Chastity

 Love him or hate him (and I'm not at all a fan!) but this is really funny

it's a hard life

Check the discussion, too, it's even better...

Speaking Of Nigerians

 Since Western movies are getting worse and worse, I turned to non-Western sources and recently watched a Nigerian 2016 film called Childless Wife But I Love Her

Based on the name, you'll probably think that it is a melodrama, but in reality, it's a HORROR movie (or a mini-series, to be more precise), with some soapy elements.

The story goes as follows: the chief character Chibuzor and his wife Mirabel have been married for 6 years but have no kids still. While Chibuzor keeps hoping it will happen some day, his mother isn't so optimistic. She is mocked by other women in her village for having no grandkids. 

About the same time, Chibuzor, who has a well-paying job in town, buys a new house and his mother comes to visit. She tells him Mirabel can't get pregnant because she sold her uterus to the Devil for the powers of witchcraft. Her son doesn't believe her, but at the same time Mirabel starts behaving very strangely and claims their villa is haunted, which makes him change his mind. 

The marriage deteriorates further because Chibuzor is being pursued by his colleague and ex-mistress Sophy, but when he becomes dangerously sick, it's up to his wife and his best friend to solve the mystery surrounding the villa in order to save his life...

As you see, there is quite a lot of content here to unpack. In the beginning it's rather boring and soapy, but as the action keeps developing, it gets really thrilling so that I stayed glued and watched it all in one day (its like 3 hours long).  The main drawback was a s*x scene. Though there was no apparent nudity, it was somewhat too realistic to my taste, and some other things were borderline, too. The acting was not always up-to-date, but the mother-in-law was superb. You did want to slap her at times (many times, actually:).

On the positive side, the film gives a glimpse into a very different culture which is still very patriarchal. The wife, for instance, instead of running straight into a divorce court, is trying to win her husband back. She refuses to take revenge, saying that her God will fight for her. Religion, in this case, Catholicism, is given a very prominent place in the movie and shown a lot of respect. There is also a positive depiction of housewives.

Another thing I found interesting, were clothes. While at home, Mirabel is wearing a short skirt, but for official occasions, she changes into long formal skirts/dresses, and when going to church, adds a veil, which is unthinkable for many Western women. 

The lesson of the story is quite straightforward, the end doesn't justify the means; and if you sell you soul for worldly goods, you will pay a high price, but repentance is still possible for everyone and faith triumphs over evil. 

So would I recommend this movie? I will admit I'm not entirely comfortable with horror as genre and this film is not an exception. I'm not sure Christians should be busy with things like sorcery and witchcraft, even though I did watch it. If you are OK with it, then you can give it a try.

The Eye Of Sauron Falls On Nigeria

 Nobody is safe any more, even Africans. Whatever one thinks about the issue, every sovereign country should be free to decide it for themselves. Sanctions are an act of war. Dear Americans, people around the world don't hate you "for your freedoms"...

Horror Winter Is Over

 The last of the snow is speedily melting away as the temps rose to +10*C. It was nice while it lasted...

But I do have the proof it happened!

It was practically Norway:)

Happy St.Valentine's Day

 

 

Happy Wedding Anniversary to myself! (and my husband, of course:)

Want To Stay Healthy? Avoid Hospitals!

 All the while "non-essential" stores stay largely closed, except for "click and collect", the truth about the real source of corona infections keeps coming out, like the fact that it is spread through hospitals:

Up to 40 per cent of coronavirus infections in hospital patients during the first wave of the pandemic could have been caught on NHS wards, scientists have claimed in evidence presented to No10's top advisers.

It is as I have always suspected. Another 40% is spread through nursing homes and similar institutions, at-home care and social workers going door-to-door to remind the unemployed to brush their teeth on time. And the last 20% will be visiting, school and workplace, but, of course, we can't admit it since it would highlight our society's real problems (like outsourcing of elderly care from family to strangers), so we'll have to keep these stores closed another month, or until Germany opens theirs.

The current epidemic is a good reason to engage in fat-shaming though:

Anthea Turner has been accused of fat-shaming and an attack on disabled people with a Twitter rant on the NHS and the Covid pandemic.

The ex-Blue Peter presenter, 60, shared a cartoon of a large woman in a wheelchair, who is carrying a McDonald’s bag, warning a maskless female: “Put a mask on! You’re putting my health at risk.”

She captioned the image: “Go for it!”

She went on to criticise the “selfish attitudes” of people who she accused of “lazy lifestyle choices” that “endanger us all”.

You can read the whole article over here. 

Is Being Nice A Virtue?

 We are all told to believe that yes, it is so. But is it really true? Now I'm not saying that you should go around starting fights and being in general nasty. Yet, I do believe that modern Western niceness has been taken to a very unhealthy degree. I remember how I was taught in my English class that "English people are always saying sorry." (Not that it's much different where I live). Is it really healthy? Should you apologise when you did nothing wrong? Should you always go out of you way to please others? I don't believe it.

Before you start talking about Christian morality, Eastern and Southern Europe are much more Christian than the West, the North and the Anglos and yet they aren't afraid to stand up for their rights. They aren't such pushovers. Imo, what is presented as "Christian" nowadays is just bourgeois (Anglo-) Protestant Victorian morals. There lies the root of the modern moral crusaders and virtue signalling. Bourgeois people often hate working class because they see them as "crude" (nowadays mostly accusing them of various "isms"), and constantly virtue signal in order to prove themselves superior.

Upper classes will virtue signal in public but in private life will just live like they always used to, btw. Their status isn't in danger so they don't really have to prove anything. Bourgeoisie, on the other hand, is constantly socially striving. Think Hyacinth from "Keeping Up Appearances." The latest trend by bourgeois youth is snitching on their own family being politically incorrect for social upcummies.

This is truly despicable behaviour and no other group outside of Anglo-Europeans is doing it. "Snitches are *itches who wear stitches", comes to mind. Unless someone of your family engages in really horrific/criminal stuff (like child s*x abuse, for instance) you don't snitch, period. Snitching on your own flesh and blood for making a politically incorrect joke is lower than low. Only someone totally devoid of all honour would do it.

Being bourgeois doesn't equal being honourable or Christian by any means. Don't be bourgeois. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Don't apologise when you've done nothing wrong and you know it. It's even worse when it comes to politics. Conservatives always lose because they always want to keep moral high ground. They equal being right wing or trad with being bourgeois. The other side will fight dirty and stick by their own, no matter what, but conservatives will thought-police and disavow. 

There was a (now defunct) Christian site which used to republish religious tracts from the times of the Reformation. One of them dealt with fighting your political enemies. It rightly pointed out that "turning the other cheek" was a command on how to behave in your private interactions and had nothing to do with political struggles. "In politics", the author wrote, "one answers words with words and steel with steel". 

But even in private sphere, "turning the other cheek" simply means not starting a personal vendetta because of every little thing, it doesn't mean you should just allow yourself to be used and abused. Christian doesn't equal a doormat.  

So is being nice a virtue? In general, there's nothing wrong with being nice.We all should strive being agreeable to people around us, as far as possible. Just don't take it too far and turn into  pathological altruism.

Horror Winter Is On Its Way!

 We are supposedly getting a horror winter this weekend. First, it'll start snowing and it will keep snowing till Monday morning. They predict 20 cm of snow. Then the temps will drop all the way down to -5*C and stay this way during the day, but at night it will sink even lower, all the way down to -10*C, some unbelievable figures for my part of the country. And it will be this way for at least 10 days, and then while the day temperature will rise, at night it will stay below freezing point.

We went to town and prepared ourselves for the coming trial:) Though we are still in a lockdown, some stores are open and we could find all that we needed. Below are pictures:

This one is for me:

I do look cute in it even though I'm saying it myself:)

And some warm Canadian gloves:

And this:

Of course, we have other stuff already, like warm jackets, boots, socks etc. But it's always nice to shop for new things:)

I'll keep you all updated about our survival efforts, with pics:)

The Problem With Modern Western Marriage

 Why they suck fail.

We are moving together, if it works out, we'll get married, if not, we just separate.

Ever heard that one? Apart from it being a) sin, and b) a low class behaviour, from a purely pragmatical point of view, this approach is setting one up for failure. Why take such a drastic change (which often involves buying a new house together, a serious investment) when you aren't even certain "it will work" ? This attitude is prevalent in marriage too, "if it doesn't work out, we'll just divorce". 

You know what? Most couples who have been married for a long time have had their share of problems, sometimes serious. They stayed together because they were determined that whatever happens, it will work out in the end. They made a commitment to making things work out. It didn't just happen by a coincidence.

This brings me to my next point. People nowadays, both men and women, but especially Western women, are terribly entitled. They are the center of the universe. They only deserve the best. They can't except anything less than perfection from their spouse/partner. If a problem arises, it's obviously never them who is at fault, they just should find someone better and more suitable. Just read an average discussion board where women congregate. One will start talking about her husband and all the rest will join and tell her: "honey, you deserve better than this loser!"

Here is the funny thing, though. If you chose "that loser" it's probably because there were no princes lining up, so that's exactly what you deserve. The chance that you'll get anything better as a middle-aged, divorced woman with kids isn't really very big. It's even easier for older folks because after a certain age you'll deal with widows/widowers, not another divorced person with a baggage. 

The same goes for men, btw. Unless you are wealthy, you won't get "a nubile young woman" or whatever nonsense you read on some PUA site, but just a worse version of your own wife, plus kids of some other guy to take care of. I've seen it happen in real life, too. Divorce game only works for either very young people or those of the upper class who have more possibilities, not for the common folks.

And then there is something else. Westerners are extremely competitive. It's always "more, bigger, better" with us. Few people are just happy with what they have. Take the vid I posted previously. The lady gets lots of comments from British, French and American women who all tell her how they love what she is doing. Many of the same women just go to work the next day, often full time or close to it. They'll tell you they need money. Are we really poorer than Koreans? I don't think so.

What I noticed is that the Korean lady lives in a quite small apartment. Most of them do, even those with kids and seem content. While here in the West, families are getting smaller but the houses bigger. 

There are other Eastern women on Utube, some from Muslim countries, some from India. I even watched some African TV lately. All these ladies seem to be very husband- and family- oriented, so to say. They are pleased to create a cosy environment for their loved ones. While with Western women, it's often all about themselves, even with homemakers. It's her beautiful house, it's her successful children, she is the star of her show and the husband exists as an after thought. This way of thinking is a recipe for disaster.

Most countries in the world allow divorce. Yet in Hindu India, divorces are like 2% of all the marriages while in the supposedly Christian countries it's close to 50%. OK, our governments are secular, but many people still claim the name of Christ. Are we really in a position to send missionaries anywhere? 

I wonder.

I'm Getting Addicted!

 To Korean homemaking videos, like this one:

There are lots more on YouTube, with children and without, and one with 7 cats:)

Really cute!