The evening before last, there was a very good Simon Scharma programme on the TV from 9.00pm-10.0pm so I watched most of it (until I fell asleep towards the end). It was on the well-worn theme of the consequences of the Black Death which in many ways spelled the end of the old feudal order in that workers on the land were now scarce, could demand a higher price for their scarce labour and thus moved to where the work was – which we now regard as a very modern trend. There is not much to smile at these days but I came across one news item which brought a temporary smile to my lips. Donald Trump had disgracefully demolished much, if not all, of the East Wing of the White House to be replaced by a grotesque and hideous huge ballroom. Donald Trump has voiced outrage after a judge ordered a halt to the construction of his $400m ballroom at the White House. US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preservationist group’s request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts the construction project on the site where the East Wing of the White House was demolished. The legal action was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to obtain an order to pause construction until the plan has undergone independent reviews and obtained congressional approval. Whether this judgement is subject to appeal or not is not known but it seems to be one blow for sanity. Donald Trump himself is due to give a ‘major’ speech on the Iran conflict and it looks as though the ground is being prepared for an end to the conflict in Iran within 2-3 weeks. Trump will claim total victory but already it looks as though some key elements of his wish-list will not be fulfilled. It seems quite probable that Iran will retain control of the Straits of Hormuz and, for their part, will be able to claim this as a victory but the situation is confused and changes by the day, if not the hour. Incidentally, it as emerged that Pete Hegseth, the American ‘Defense’ secretary ordered his financial broker to invest heavily in the stock of arms and munitions manufacturers knowing that as the ‘war’ was announced, the prices of these would soar so this is as plainly corrupt as it is possible to be. I expect that we shall see a pause in war reporting and activities as the Easter vacation approaches but Israel is itself rampaging through Lebanon. The Israeli Knesset (parliament) recently passed a law indicating that any Palestinian who killed an Israeli would themselves be immediately subject to the death penalty but this would not apply if one Israeli killed another. This is discrimination ‘baked’ into Israeli law and is plainly an assault on democratic values but I doubt whether the legislation will ever be repealed. On the domestic front, I am now keeping up-to-date my U3A (University of the 3rd Age) calendar as I now have three forthcoming events scheduled and I have put these onto a special ‘strip’ style calendar in my living room where it will not get forgotten.
In the morning, I knew that I had a lot to fit in so I ensured that I was ready to leave the house just a tad after 9.00am in the morning to get my weekly shopping done. Then I just dropped the filled bags inside the house and then went off to have my weekly toasted tea cake and coffee in the Methodist Centre. Here I had a pleasant chat with one or two that I have got to know but knew that I needed to get back before my son and daughter-in-law turned up. When I got home, I unpacked the shopping and after my family turned up we had a meal of quiche and some fried leeks. Whilst my family were with me, I consulted with them about the most appropriate iPad to replace my aged model which is now almost nine years old but whose operating system is failing to update. I had already done some preliminary investigations and ascertained for myself that the M4 chip was more than adequate for my needs so I could afford to ignore the later M5 chip used in gaming and heavy computational work. Now the only remaining question is to whether to settle for the 11″ model which is the most popular model size or spent an extra £200 and go for the 13″ model. We conducted some experiments whilst I had my existing 11″ model and my son and his 13″ model and we played the same YouTube clips on each. I was pleasantly surprised that because of the lower resolution in which YouTube video clips are made available, the display actually looked better on my 11″ model as the images had to be ‘stretched’ a little to fit the 13″ model. So this all makes buying decisions so much the easier when I get round to replacing my iPad but in the meantime there is some rather more urgent plumbing work to demand my attention. My son and daughter-in-law ten turned their attention to questions of my diet and whether the meals I was preparing for myself were nutritionally adequate. It is true that over the years I have tried cut back on unnecessary carbohydrates. At the same time I have been attempting to cut back radically on my consumption of red meat but my family are getting worried that I might not be getting sufficient protein in my diet. I must admit that I had not realised that protein needs go up one the aging process starts in earnest so it probably quite likely that I have been falling quite a long way short of the 80+ grams of protein I need to ingest each day. So my researches now indicate that eating sufficient protein is probably very important to me nowadays and there are some of the reasons why. Protein needs generally change as you get older, particularly to address age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia. While a general recommendation for adults exists, many researchers and health organisations suggest that older adults, particularly those over 65, may benefit from higher protein intake per kilogram of body weight compared to younger adults to maintain muscle, strength, and mobility. Protein Needs Change with age in the following three areas. Preventing Muscle Loss: starting around age 40-50, people begin to lose muscle mass. Adequate protein intake helps preserve muscle, strength, and functional capacity. Second, we have Immune System and Healing: as you age, your body may require more protein to support immune function and improve recovery from illness or injury. Finally we have Bone Health in which adequate protein intake is essential for maintaining bone density and strength. So now I have a series of good practical advice to which I will attempt to adhere a constantly as I can.