It seems incredible to believe that in a country as dedicated to sophisticated ways of killing people that the United States is not capable to administering a lethal injection to enact a judicial execution. A Tennessee death row inmate set to be the first woman to be executed by the state in more than 200 years is still alive after being administered two lethal injections, her lawyers have said. Christa Pike, 50, convicted of murdering a schoolmate three decades ago, was due to be executed after the US Supreme Court overturned an earlier reprieve that had been ordered just an hour before her sentence was initially scheduled to be carried out in Nashville on Wednesday. The state proceeded with the attempted execution. However, Pike’s lawyers filed an emergency motion to halt and stay the execution, claiming she was still alive after both syringes of lethal injection chemicals had been administered. She has now been taken to hospital where I wonder whether doctors will attempt to save her life. The damage done to her internal organs such as liver, kidneys, heart and brain by administering lethal injections can only be imagined and I wonder if she will die anyway. I did consult the internet to ascertain what medical protocols are in place in cases such as this. There are some ad-hoc interventions during botched attempts. If an execution is halted or an inmate survives the initial administration while still showing vital signs (such as a continuing heartbeat or consciousness), emergency legal stays or executive orders prompt transfer to an outside medical facility. Once transferred to a hospital, standard emergency medicine and critical care protocols apply—treating symptoms like respiratory depression, hypoxia, or drug toxicity just as they would for any severe overdose or poisoning. Medics are themselves forbidden by their Hippocratic Oath as well as by statute not to assist in judicial executions which may explain why some of these attempts are botched. In the meanwhile, does this survivor have any right to life? Returning to more sanguine matters, we are now in the month of October which a month often typified by a burst of good weather even though the days are lengthening. In two days time, it would have been Meg’s 80th birthday which would normally be an occasion of some sadness. However, my daughter-in-law and I are due to travel to a village in Leicestershire which is approximately half way between Bromsgrove and Leicester so that we can have a meal with some Leicestershire friends, a friendship which goes back some thirty years and no doubt we will all raise a glass to Meg’s memory – we have just passed the point where it is 500 days since her death. When I went shopping yesterday, I ensured that I have all of the vegetables that I need for my next bout of soup preparation. Our domestic help brought along with her a bread slicing machine she had just bought second-hand and with this we managed to cut a sourdough loaf into extraordinarily thin slices which were then frozen. The point of this is both to cut down the carbohydrate count, even in a loaf of sourdough bread but also the very thin slices of frozen bread, once toasted in the microwave, are an excellent quick way to make some croutons to accompany the soup. At the weekend, I intend to make some really good vegetable stock which will be packed full of flavour but can be guaranteed to be salt free. Some of these will be destined towards the kitchen of our domestic help as will some of the soup itself. I may be tempted to buy one of these slicing machines myself but apart from bread it would mean that I can slice vegetables incredibly thinly which might be useful in my soup preparation. I have noticed that most chefs in the internet videos use very large knives to chop vegetables but most supermarkets have a policy where these are not stocked anymore in an attempt to cut down on adolescent knife crime.
After my Tai Chi class this morning, I had my customary coffee sitting at the ‘chatty table’ in the Methodist centre. Here I was engaged in conversation both with my banker friend but also with another couple who are frequent patrons of the centre. This couple have just celebrated 64 years of married life together which I find both remarkable and inspiring. We often hold conversations about current affairs. After we had spent a good half hour in each other’s company which was really enjoyable, I decided to visit my local Lidl’s store to enhance the supply of vegetables for my soup making and stock preparation over the weekend. I needed some more leeks which I purchased for about three quarters of the price that I would have paid in my local Waitrose. But I was particularly anxious to get my hands on some raw turmeric root which I located and bought in a packet for less than £1.00. But having got it home, I had absolutely no idea how to prepare to or what quantities to use. Fortunately I found an extremely informative video put on the web by an Asian lady who was the holder of a PhD in nutritional science. From this I leaned that dissolving turmeric in water or even taking pills of it is almost useless as most as most of the useful ingredients of turmeric are not absorbed by the body and hence are wasted. The trick is to add grated turmeric to stews and curries such that it can be absorbed by whatever fats are used in the cooking process. Another method which I think I shall employ is to dissolve turmeric in a glass of warmed full fat milk where the natural fats in the milk will aid absorption. The same video also warned against too much use of this herb as it can cause oxalate damage to the liver. It is advised to pair oxalate-high foods such as turmeric with calcium by eating calcium-rich foods (like milk, yogurt, cheese, or calcium-fortified plant milk) at the exact same meal as high-oxalate foods. The calcium and oxalates bind in your gut and pass safely out of your body as waste instead of forming kidney stones. I wonder how many people who buy and use oxalates are aware of how to use it safely and for maximum effect. Tomorrow, I shall indulge in some vegetable stock preparation and in the afternoon but in the morning I shall visit my friendly ‘Gifts of Love’ charity shop for my end of week coffee and see what other glass containers (for soup) are available in the local charity shops.