Canada’s British Columbia 2021: Let’s get started with a couple of whites

As far as British Columbia wines go there is a bit of tyranny of Okanagan wines made available to us here in Ontario through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. I am a happy serf with that because Okanagan wines that I have tasted have been exceptional. But a break is both appreciated and educational.

The Okanagan in my humble view produces some of the best Canadian Pinot Grigio and for the most part better than Italian Pinot Grigios. So here we have a Pinot Gris from the Similkameen Valley VQA appellation. And it has a very French name to the winery, Mt. Boucherie.

It has a light salmon coloration. On the nose tangerine, apricot, musk melon, mango and peach. Busy and delicious anticipation is building. On the palate it is a full-bodied white with a long finish There is some Texas pink grapefruit, mango, peach and papaya with a slight bit of sweetness on the finish but I would not venture to classify it as off dry. I would pair it with a smoked salmon pasta. Sautee some onions and garlic, throw in some of this wine then a can of tomatoes with some basil and oregano and as much 35% cream and smoked salmon as you wish. Serve over fettucine.

British Columbia again shows its mastery of Pinot Grigio perhaps made the way it is supposed to be made. This may very well be the best Pinot Grigio I have ever had.

(Mt. Boucherie Pinot Gris 2019, BC VQA Similkameen Valley, Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery, West Kelowna, British Columbia, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 17864, 750 mL, 12.3%, Robert K. Stephen Set The Bar Rating 94/100).

Back to the Okanagan with a Quails’ Gate 2018 Chardonnay. You can tell right off the bat this golden coloured wine has an oak touch to it. But are we in ABC (anything but Chardonnay) land so named by malcontents tired with over oaked Chardonnay that was popular for many years with consumers?

So, on the nose aside from the oak, pineapple upside down cake, Matsu apples, pears and guava. On the palate it is medium bodied with a sneaky long and soft finish. It has an almost creamy texture with notes of butterscotch and pear. There is definitely some acidity but it is playing hide and seek behind the oak. A very well put together oaked Chardonnay for those who like oaked Chardonnay but it is oaked to moderation so that it can be a good sipper. I like oaked Chards with a simple as can be butter garlic shrimp, A match made in heaven. Drink by 2024 and serve cool and not cold. Not being dramatic here but serve it cold and you’ll just about ruin it.

(Quails’ Gate 2018 BC VQA Okanagan Valley Chardonnay, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery, West Kelowna, British Columbia, $24.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 377770, 750 mL, 13%, Robert K. Stephen Set The Bar Rating 89/100).

COVID Poetry Corner: “The COVID Snitch”

The COVID Snitch

Most of us decent human beings suffer from revulsion of government stoolies and spies
Oh the government loves information on COVID cheaters
and the hell with lockdown wife beaters

Not wearing a mask
in front of a judge you will bask

Not maintaining the proper social distance
the stoolie will call and you won’t have a chance

Not restricting yourself to essential travel
call the hot line and you’ll be pleading before the bang of the gavel

You low life rats are slime
finking all the time

The neighbours are having a party
get the by-law officers over there the real reason is because you thought the wife was tarty

The politico-medicos are trying to persuade you are doing your civil duty
and you just love that moral booty

You stink
you creepy low life fink

Your time will come when your own children catch you committing a violation
and we’ll laugh as your little Johnny sends you packing to the police station

Both Stalin and Hitler used informers particularly children turning in the parents
don’t you remember we were taught in school that this was so very bad
that you have forgotten this is sad
and its makes us mad
especially when you spy it makes you beam with pride
because you think you are turning back the COVID tide
until the civil libertarians discover who you are
and you’ll be covered with feathers and tar

Robert K. Stephen

Virus#26: Chapter 32 “was there any good from the COVIDs? : Finally long-term and senior care reform:”

Chapter 32 “was there any good from the COVIDs? : Finally long-term and senior care reform”

I did work at a long-term care facility in Quebec for a time while working through pre-medical university courses. My first few visits were shocking. So many older twisted, crippled and mentally lost residents. It is a real eye opener for those that take health for granted. Poor souls twisted and sick but many still with a sense of humour and a feisty spirit and they were all very well taken care of at least where I was working at.

This was not the case during COVID times. Why? Was the profit motive any different than it was before? Or was it because regulatory oversight had badly diminished? Being so ill these residents, most of whom were seniors, had comorbidities that COVID took advantage of.

In Canada it was a whistleblowing report issued by the Canadian Armed Forces who were called in to assist some long-term and senior care facilities in Ontario and Quebec where the mortality rate was through the roof. I read this report and being a physician, I am accustomed to death and disease but I cried after I read it. Quite frankly this was more murder and criminal negligence than an “accident”. I won’t repeat the vile and disgusting treatment and abuse suffered by these human beings that were detailed in these official reports.

And yes several Canadian provinces convened commissions to study these appalling conditions that were known since the 1970’s with politico promises to rectify the situation but political promises are sometimes not worth the paper they are written on. These commissions issued lengthy reports after the COVIDs departed and long-term and senior’s residences were nationalized in Canada and run according to strict medical protocols.

So many seniors had perished there were a smaller amount to care for. Most long-term care and senior’s facilities were litigated to smithereens and who wanted to risk of operating such facilities? So in effect most Canadian provincial governments had no choice but to nationalize.

Living conditions improved, medical protocols established and gone were the days of dinner consisting of a cold hot dog, mashed potatoes and salads made from decomposing vegetables.

It would have been easy to blame COVID for the high fatality rate at the long term-care and senior’s facilities but the commissions concluded it was the profit motive that lead to poorly managed facilities and a lack of any meaningful government regulation.

In the United States where “nationalization equals communism” a series of legislative reforms passed at the state level which revamped management requirements and increased regulatory oversights.

First world countries took a variety of measures to clean up these facilities including stringent regulatory oversight. So many had to die to goad governmental change.

Inflammatory diet and heart disease

Dietary Inflammatory Potential and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Men and Women in the U.S.

Author links open overlay panelJunLiMD, PhDab∗Dong HoonLeeScDa∗JieHuMD, PhDcFred K.TabungPhDadYanpingLiMD, PhDaShilpa N.BhupathirajuPhDaeEric B.RimmScDabeKathryn M.RexrodeMD, MPHcJoAnn E.MansonMD, DrPHbfgWalter C.WillettMD, DrPHaEdward L.GiovannucciMD, ScDaFrank B.HuMD, PhDabeShow moreAdd to MendeleyShareCitehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.09.535Get rights and contentReferred to byRamon Estruch, Emilio Sacanella, Rosa M. Lamuela-RaventósIdeal Dietary Patterns and Foods to Prevent Cardiovascular DiseaseJournal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 76, Issue 19, 10 November 2020, Pages 2194-2196Purchase PDF

Abstract

Background

Inflammation plays an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. Diet modulates inflammation; however, it remains unknown whether dietary patterns with higher inflammatory potential are associated with long-term CVD risk.

Objectives

This study sought to examine whether proinflammatory diets are associated with increased CVD risk.

Methods

We prospectively followed 74,578 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) (1984–2016), 91,656 women from the NHSII (1991–2015), and 43,911 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986–2016) who were free of CVD and cancer at baseline. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaires every 4 years. The inflammatory potential of diet was evaluated using a food-based empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) score that was pre-defined based on levels of 3 systemic inflammatory biomarkers.

Results

During 5,291,518 person-years of follow-up, we documented 15,837 incident CVD cases, including 9,794 coronary heart disease (CHD) cases and 6,174 strokes. In pooled analyses of the 3 cohorts, after adjustment for use of anti-inflammatory medications and CVD risk factors including body mass index, a higher dietary inflammatory potential, as indicated by higher EDIP scores, was associated with an increased risk of CVD (hazard ratio [HR] comparing the highest to lowest quintiles: 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.31 to 1.46; p for trend <0.001), CHD (HR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.36 to 1.56; p for trend <0.001), and stroke (HR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.17- to 1.39; p for trend <0.001). These associations were consistent across cohorts and between sexes, and they remained significant after further adjustment for other dietary quality indices. In a subset of study participants (n = 33,719), a higher EDIP was associated with a higher circulating profile of proinflammatory biomarkers, lower levels of adiponectin, and an unfavorable blood lipid profile (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Dietary patterns with a higher proinflammatory potential were associated with higher CVD risk. Reducing the inflammatory potential of the diet may potentially provide an effective strategy for CVD prevention.

Central Illustration

COVID Poetry Corner: The Vaccine

          The Vaccine

A plague was ravaging the nation
Ventilators and PPE were put on ration
with too many ended up at death’s station
as the medical system was facing asphyxiation

The politico-medico elite was getting uptight
the politicos knowing they’d lose in an election fight
due to never ending lockdowns eroding civil liberties even curfews at night
all for the safety of all
would be rewarded by many a political fall

And then dancing with joy a vaccine would make all right!
finally a light at the end of the tunnel bright and clear all warm and fuzzy
even through granting no liability to Big Pharma was a bit scuzzy

Rushed to production in a panic
caused scientists to go manic

For the politico medico elite
it was like a sweet dream at nighty night
but little did they see a nasty mutation of the virus was on its way
causing them to become nervous and sway
the efficacy of the vaccine decreased
and the happy faces were soon creased

The side effects increased in number
great for the media with its sensationalistic hunger
so the light at the end of the tunnel was becoming dim
and all of us were perpetually locked in
goodness this virus is a sin
let us feverishly hope not many more of us end up in the garbage bin

Mother nature can be cruel but when abuse her as we have done
she’s going to give you a nasty kick in the bum
and we don’t watch out I guarantee we will soon be all done

Robert K. Stephen

Virus#26: Chapter 31 Was there any good from the COVIDs: deficits both personal and governmental”

Chapter 31 “was there any good from the COVIDs?: deficits both personal and governmental”

When I was a wee mite in the 1960’s the three dirty words I remember are homosexuality, divorce and credit. If you couldn’t fork up the cash for most expenditures you simply didn’t make the purchase unless the sum was large you had to buy on credit such as an automobile or a house. Most people didn’t have a credit card.

Homosexuality and divorce have lost their evil lustre for the majority and for that matter so has credit. When there were bricks and mortar bank branches I would ask the teller how many people paid off their credit card balances in full and they said around 25%. Given that interest rates were sky high and just about usurious that was unbelievably bad personal finance. Then with that Reaganonomic spirit consumer spending was seen as necessary to drive the economy so that bigger house, the Mercedes SUV and a cottage put people at the edge and if you had a job to support that went well as just chug along and enjoy your well dressed appearance as you hopped in a vehicle that was leased and all was OK.

By analogy governments that had any credit worthiness happily borrowed away spewing out billions in the arm’s race, space race, military hardware expenditures Olympic Games, G7 meetings and infrastructure projects. Many pointed out that as individuals needed a stash for a rainy day when they lost their jobs or became ill and disabled so too did governments need a surplus for that rainy day. There were plenty of opposition political parties that moaned about the pitfalls of running a governmental deficit particularly when the economy was running well but when hands are getting filled with money the spending governments bought their way to re-election. I have nothing against sailors but a popular phase in the 1950’s and 60’s was the expression “spending like drunken sailors.” This is what individuals and governments were doing prior to COVID . Spending money on Olympics in 1976 originally estimated as costing $120 million but ended up costing $1.6 billion virtually bankrupted Montreal and took thirty years to repay. Welcoming Syrian refuges with hugs and warm coats by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau as they arrived in Canada on flights paid for by Canadian taxpayers was far sexier than saving money or at least cleaning up Canada’s shameful aboriginal social and living conditions.

So when COVID-19 hit there were many drunken sailors that woke up with a big headache. Millions lost their jobs, house and expensive vehicles and governments had no reserves only a big deficit so they had to spend trillions to fund mostly innocent but many greedy individuals that had been making good wages but living beyond their means. Yes there were many Mercedes and BMW’s waiting in the food lines. The health care system had faced cuts as flashy projects and government spending necessitated cutting the healthcare system. It seemed that veterans, aboriginals, minority groups and seniors were less important than medical care, housing and social costs for refugees.

To put it crudely and honestly those living beyond their means got caught with their pants down with the economic ravages of COVID. Deficit finally became a dirty word as there were not enough hospital beds, medicine and ventilators. Too bad it took millions of deaths to slap some sense into the social collective.

Virus#26: Chapter 30: “was there any good from the COVIDs: the need for a properly funded medical system”

Chapter 30 “was there any good from the COVIDs: the need for a properly funded socialized medicine system”

The death count for the COVIDs was lowest in countries with a robust socialized medical system. Socialized medical systems not only offer care for the sick but spend some effort in making sure their patients do not fall ill. This is called preventative medicine. This could be that the politicos running and funding the system realize that reducing sickness reduces the cost to the system.

If you don’t have access to such a system you simply may not have enough money to buy private insurance so in effect you have no medical care or the lowest quality medical care. For example, let’s look at the state of Louisiana in the United States. In terms of hospital admissions African Americans constituted 77% of all COVID hospitalizations yet they comprised 33% of the population.

You’ll note I say the COVID toll was the least in a country with a robust medical system. Russia and Canada once had robust socialized medical systems but continual and systematic cuts or token funding seriously compromised the health of these systems. In the COVIDs it was not the disease itself that was a serious health risk but rather the inability of the compromised health system to handle the patient load. Matters were made worse by the low-income groups being unable to access preventative care therefor making them easier COVID victims. For example 66% of all hospital admissions for COVID were accompanied by the comorbidity factor of obesity highest among low income groups who have not been educated to eat properly nor even if they have received that education could they afford to purchase the proper food and dietary supplements? So it was no surprise that the fattest nation on earth, the United States, took a severe COVID hit. Africa, India and Pakistan were also huge COVID losers as they had no medical system to speak of.

After the COVID waves subsided almost all socialized medical systems were on their knees by the time Virus #26 hit in 2030 and those without a socialized medical system,; particularly those in Second and Third World countries were virtually wiped out.

Virus#26:Chapter 29: Was There any good from the COVIDs?: “A sense of community”

Chapter 29 “was there any good from the COVIDs?; A sense of community”

There is often some good in a bad situation. The COVIDs brought about a sense of community. It may have been brought about by emergency orders which imposed social distancing, closed nonessential businesses, and prohibited large gatherings all in the name of public good. All the activities we took for granted like going to the bank, getting a haircut, having friends over for dinner and many others were now denied to us so we really had very little of our regular activities to engage in. Our geographic range was limited.

It seemed as if there were hundreds of people strolling in the streets and complete strangers actually talked to each other! Yes it was a if our worlds became simpler. In many ways it also brought with it a sense of international solidarity where the enemy was not China or Russia but a virus the world was trying to beat.

It brought families closer together and made one realize you had to work on it to keep the family whole and that was often by Facetime or Zoom. The old-style family dinner with all present instead of mom or dad at the office. Yes it was like “Leave it to Beaver”. And the nanny, for the few that could afford it, slipped into the background.

There was a sense of repression, anxiety and fear and the dreaded line ups for grocery shopping all became the main topics of conversation. And the panicked toilet paper and baked bean purchases were good for a chuckle.

Yet you know in a small town everyone knows your business so with this sense of community there were those that ratted on others on complaint hotlines. There was social shaming of those partying at the beach on Memorial Day week-end.  Community can be stifling!

All said and done the enormous depravity caused by the COVIDs caused a universal and shared sense of community.

“I’ll See You Around”: Brilliant Portrayal of Numbness

The American film “I’ll See You Around” is a brilliant portrayal of numbness.

Lucas and his ex Luzifa

Lucas (Lucas Monroe) has had a horrific traumatic event that has somewhat set the direction of his life. His father was murdered when he was six years old. Perhaps the most important line in the film is when he admits to Mariah (Maria Wilson) his off and on girlfriend that after the death of his father that he had to learn on his own the stuff all other kids took for granted. Having lost my father at nine years old that struck a resonant chord with me that I will not delve into but his words ring very true for children struck with such traumatic events. You have been robbed and cheated and for some it makes some stronger and determined to escape that trauma with achievement that road is a rough one. But some like Lucas become stuck in a rut of numbness. A sort of post traumatic stress disorder.

Lucas can’t relate fully to just about everyone but does a very good job with his three-year-old daughter Zanura (Zanura Monroe) who lives with his estranged ex Luzifa (Luzifa Gurbanova). He simply seems to drift unable to open up and make any sort of a commitment to another human being.

This is a quiet film of alienation and numbness.

Unable to relate to his recently prison released brother Kenji (Kenji Monroe) when his off and on girlfriend Mariah (Maria Wilson) says to him as she is moving to Seattle from Ithaca New York, “I’ll see you around” means most likely I’ll never see you again.

 I have just finished today reading the “Last Tycoon” by Scott F. Fitzgerald about a Hollywood mogul making films for the masses. This is not for the masses as most can’t identify with Lucas’ trauma. Perhaps unfortunately I can. I can say brilliantly acted by “no name” actors worthy of more than runs on the festival circuit. Lucas Monroe would be on my list for best actor at the upcoming Oscars but indie films and their actors aren’t included a reason I rarely watch the Oscars.

The story is based on the life of Lucas Monroe whose father was murdered. Friend and director Daniel Pfeffer made a film “While I was Gone” which was a memoir of the life of Lucas. “I’ll see you around” continues the story. As Pfeffer remarks, “Sharing his personal life felt important and brave. I discovered that Lucas’ story and his natural talent on screen were a kind of hidden magnificence. He had so much to say about his past and constantly struggled to share his feelings. I was motivated to make this film for so many reasons but most deeply because I want to build empathy.”

You can see the trailer here

You can catch the film virtually https://www.bgpics.com/movies/ill-see-you-around/

Perhaps after seeing this film which I challenge you to do so you may think very closely of the lyrics of the Temptation’s song “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and understand Lucas a little more intimately.

And Mama just hung her head and said,
“Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone. “
“Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was alone. “

Virus#26: Chapter 28: “so what happened to Canada?”

Chapter 28: “so what happened in Canada”?

COVID carnage took its toll on Canadian COVID era politicians all of them going down to electoral defeat. The simple reason might be described as rage and displacement. Why did the medical system collapse so quickly? Where were the resources to fight COVID? It would seem that the current politicos had played a role in trimming the medical system and in all honesty it was a crew of prior politicians that had started the massive cuts of physicians, nurses and covered medical procedures but it was LIFO (last in first out).Like so many COVID deaths the politicians were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A National Commission of Inquiry about the devastation of COVID never convened but rather a few provincial inquiries about the devastation about COVID in long term care facilities. Several class actions were filed against provincial and federal governments for their actions that lead to a population open to the ravages of COVID but big government power and wealth stalled and choked these class actions.

The millions of unemployed Canadians and the families of COVID fatalities were not going back to the usual Conservative/Liberal mix and out of the chaos emerged the Democratic Health Alliance (DHA) with a goal to secure Canadian’s health in the future.

The main tenets of the DHA were to close all Canadian borders to immigration. Focus spending on rebuilding the Canadian medical system and proposing alternative medicine strategies to beat back future pandemics, Their goal was to build a strong immunity system through healthy food consumption, non Big Pharma supplements and yes, yoga and mindfulness meditation. Flaky you may say but in post COVID provincial and federal elections they easily formed majority governments.

The solution was rather simple. Diet, propping up a healthy immune system and ignoring the possibility of a foolproof vaccine.

The extradition of Meng Manzouh, the CFO of Chinese Huawei, to the United States in 2021 certainly sunk Canada as a Chinese ally and trading partner. Chinese authorities executed several “Canadian spies” as a result of this “sound judicial” but politically suicidal court ruling. The kidnapping of Meng by the Canadian government in order to please Americans was poor strategy.

So the end result of this extradition was really the death of Canadian-Chinese relations. Again a nasty tariff war except of course an insatiable demand for Canadian pork from the PRC.

And the political winner was Bonnie Henry the former Provincial Health Officer of British Columbia who won the DHA leadership convention and in 2023 became the next Prime Minister of Canada.