The recent CDC ruling on masks has left more questions than answers

As a proud resident of Tampa Bay and home of the Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers, I had minimal interest in this year’s NFL draft. However, while channel surfing last Thursday night, I could not help but stop and watch it. At least for a few minutes. I understand that the word “fan” is short for fanatic. But I also wondered what would possess people to travel cross country dressed up like a ComicCon attendee and whoop and holler for an unproven college talent chosen to play a sport…

In 1997, Don Miguel Ruiz, a Mexican physician, wrote “The Four Agreements.” Since publication, it has sold over 9 million copies in the US and been translated into 46 languages. Ruiz, whose mother was a Shaman, outlined four basic tenets for an improved and happier life. It was a follow-up to his previous book, “Beyond Fear,” and showed how we could free ourselves of a life of limitations dictated by the unhealthy habits of our minds.

The First Agreement: Be Impeccable With Your Word.

This agreement is much more than just telling the truth. It emphasizes the need to be…

The past year was undoubtedly extra hard for folks who do not cook. I get it. I am retired and have time, but my wife and I usually cooked at home, even while working. Most of us live busy lives — jobs, kids, chores, etc. Who has time to cook when you can eat out or pick up meals? The pandemic thrust many folks into the kitchen who only used it for making coffee or entertaining. I never understood how couples could eat virtually every meal out, but that’s a subject for another day.

Even if you are a rank…

His lack of understanding of what constitutes herd immunity is disturbing

I have tried to retain an objective opinion of Dr. Fauci for the last thirteen months. Many people love or hate him. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he erred. “The virus is not something we should worry about in the U.S.,” circa January 2020. Or masks are not helpful early on, then they were, and now maybe two masks are needed. However, his shifting and vague statements about herd immunity are very concerning. Last December, he argued that ninety percent of the…

I graduated from medical school in 1974. So I have had a license to practice medicine for 47 years. With my post-graduate training, I have held a continuous license in four states. Alas, you can’t stop time. I retired from active medical practice in 2015. This year I decided it was enough. The total cost of renewing was about $1,000. That included the fee to the state of Florida, continuing medical education courses (CME), and mandatory courses like Medical Errors, Domestic Violence, and Prescribing Controlled Substances. …

A year after the pandemic started, the data suggests Swedes fared much worse than their neighbors due to government policy

Last April, I wrote about Sweden’s approach to the pandemic and how they were “rolling the dice”. The country’s “laissez-faire” attitude aimed to keep businesses and the economy open while protecting the elderly and vulnerable. Refusing lockdowns instituted by many of its EU neighbors was a gamble. Let’s see how that worked out.

According to the most recent statistics, Sweden’s Covid fatality rate (1.8%) is double the average of its Scandinavian neighbors (www.statista.com). Denmark, Finland, and Norway have an average…

The essence of the disagreement is a collision between the common good and individual rights and freedom

Like most men over 65, I have been dealing with symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland for a few years now. Two years ago, I tried medications, but they all had undesirable side effects. My urologist convinced me to undergo a UroLift procedure. My prostate gland itself was not overly big. But lobes of it were enlarging and preventing good urine flow down the urethra and out of my penis. These symptoms were difficulty starting a urinary stream, a long time to emptying my bladder, and dribbling of urine after peeing, to name just a few. In the urology world…