Women Presidents in the World and History

Inspired by the recent elections in the United States of America for President and Vice President, I started remembering all of the women presidents and prime ministers in the world. The list is so long it cannot fit in a single post, but here is a link to a list well worth a peruse.

Madame Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, first female head of government in the world.
Indira Gandhi Prime Minister of India in 1966
Benazir Bhutto Prime Minister of Pakistan 1988
Michelle Bachelet President of Chile 2006
Dilma Rousseff President of Brazil 2011

There are so many more female leaders and some we still see in the news quite often. It is a good step for the USA to have a woman vice president, I am not downplaying it, but the US needs to move a little faster to catch up with the rest of the world in that regard.

Congratulations to the new administration in the USA.

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter form Triangle

Tonight, 10 Jan 2021, at sunset, you will be able to see three planets form a triangle in the sky. Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter will appear from our vantage point to form a triangle.

A spectacular gathering of bright planets will be the chief celestial attraction in the evening sky this weekend as Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury appear to crowd into tight quarters. 

Low in the southwestern evening sky just 30 to 45 minutes after sundown, we’ll be treated to what might be referred to as a celestial summit meeting, a triple conjunction, with the three planets fitting within a circle smaller than 5 degrees. 

Enjoy the show and please stay safe.

Health in the New Year

This year, 2021, we are still in a pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. More than ever, we need to have health in our lives.

I plan on making healthier food choices. I will still have my occasional guilty pleasure foods but overall, better choices.

I also plan to get in nature more often, especially in the backyard, since I do not want to be in a crowded park. Some people walk in their neighborhood street, or at isolated nature paths. Whatever it takes, get near plants and in the sun for mental and physical health.

If I get sick, I will go to my private doctor for proper care and prescriptions. I know people are afraid to see a doctor because of the risk of Covid, but sometimes it is necessary.

I wish you a happy and healthy New Year and hope that we can get through this pandemic.

William Shakespeare

I have been in the mood for some wise words from Shakespeare.

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

—Hamlet in Hamlet

“From women’s eyes this doctrine I derive:

They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;

They are the books, the arts, the academes,

That show, contain, and nourish all the world.”

—Berowne in Love’s Labor’s Lost

“The wheel is come full circle: I am here.”

—Edmund in King Lear

This quote is one of my favorites:

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.”

—Jaques in As You Like It

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.”

—Escalus in Measure for Measure

“I burn, I pine, I perish.”

—Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew

The Saturn-Jupiter Great Conjunction 2020

Monday the 21st of December 2020, is the Winter Solstice. A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21.

This year on the same date, the 21st of December, we are going to witness a Great Conjunction. A great conjunction is a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, when the two planets appear closest together in the sky.

How often do these two planets come as close as that? Some websites say it has been nearly 400 years, while others say it’s been almost 800 years. Indeed, the last time these two planets appeared so close was on July 16, 1623, when they were only 5 arc minutes apart — that’s actually 397 years ago.

The last time most of the world’s population had a favorable view of these two planets coming so close to each other was on March 5, 1226, when they were even closer together (just 2 arc minutes) compared to what we will see on Dec. 21.  

So, this year right after sunset, we should be able to get a decent view of this Great Conjunction without the need for a telescope or binoculars. I hope everyone can have a clear sky and the ability to witness such a special celestial event.

You can read more at: https://www.space.com/great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-christmas-star-2020-nasa-tips

Poems and Life

The Life That I Have

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.

For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

Leopold Marks

The legendary poem that has become synonymous with Violette Szabo G.C., was written by her S.O.E. instructor Leo Marks, some months before her final (and fatal) trip into France in June 1944. It was meant to be her “code” poem; lines of which were to be used in coded radio messages. When the B.B.C. transmitted cryptic messages into enemy occupied Europe, the lines of such poems would be broadcast, each line having a coded meaning for the agents.

The Medical Consultation

The consultation is the bedrock of all medical practice, and during the course of a professional lifetime, most doctors will conduct between 160,000 – 300,000 interviews4 Doctor-patient communication is a key ingredient to establishing a patient’s diagnosis and successfully managing the patient’s problem.

Being a good doctor also demands good interpersonal and
communication skills for working in clinical teams. Even doctors without direct responsibility for patient care need to be able communicate effectively and accurately with clinical colleagues. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/primaryhealthcare/migrated/documents/conshandbook.pdf

“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.” Hippocrates (circa 400 BC).

Many years throughout history and in many countries and kingdoms that have existed, patients have sought relief from pain and disease by medical doctors who have dedicated decades of their lives studying medicine in order to properly diagnose and treat patients.

Medical doctors need to talk with and listen to patients in order to present a proper diagnosis. Listening to a heart, the lungs, feeling joints and bones are all part of a normal consultation.

Even in these strange times, I still visit my family physician, an MD, to treat whatever ails me.

Nothing equals visiting an MD who listens and cures your disease.