We are all familiar with “dog doors.” Many  homes have one on a door. What about cats? Do “cat doors” exist?

Yes. For real. Generally a large round opening. Referred to as a “cat flap.”

One of the first cat doors was on the door of the Exter Cathedral in Devon County, England. The round cat door dates back to 1598. The bishop wanted a cat hole carved in the door in a size comparable to that which would accept a large astronomical clock.

Clock gears were lubricated with animal fat. The fat attracted mice. The outer perimeter of the opening was covered in animal fat. The new cat door permitted the cathedral’s cat to serve as pest control.

The clock/cat opening has special cultural significance in England. Some believe it to have been the inspiration behind the nursery rhyme “Hickory Dickory Dock.” Recall “Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock” from your childhood.

Amazing how DeSantis keeps running after Trump. He wants to out Trump Trump. He may. He’s racing Trump to the bottom of the trash heap.

On this day in 1881, President James A. Garfield died two and a half months after being shot by Charles Guiteau. Tomorrow’s blog will be dedicated to the medical attention President Garfield received during those two and a half months and the murder trial of Guiteau for having shot the President.

New COVID levels are so high they’re hovering near 2020’s initial peak. WHO urges those at high risk to take any booster they can get their hands on.

James Carville says poll numbers indicate Democrats should pay attention to the purported Biden age problem.

Carville confuses me. What is a good Democrat doing fueling a major Republican theory? What Carville did is something he should have done in the privacy of a one on one meeting with Biden. Not in front of the world!

There is a dramatic shrinking in the number of primary care physicians. The tipping point is being reached. May already have been reached.

Internal medicine and primary care practice are no longer appealing to doctors or medical students deciding on a specialty. The reason is economic. Such specialties cannot pay their bills on the Medicare fees allowed. So they retire or move on to some other phase of medicine.

A major problem!

India’s Modi is behaving like Putin or a Saudi leader if Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau is correct that agents of India assassinated a Sikh leader in June.

Modi wants to be a “world leader.” Both democratic and authoritarian  nations have been sucking up to him. The U.S. included.

The U.S. must be cautious. Do we want to go to sleep with a dog who has fleas?

An excellent Opinion piece in today’s New York Times. I suggest reading. Its title: The Idea That Biden Should Just Give Up Political Power Is Preposterous.

Enjoy your day!