USA and the Middle Finger

This one is a couple of years old, but perhaps even more true today. It's Indra Nooyi's remarks that caused a bit of a stir in 2005.

BusinessWeek:
"As I grew up and started to study geography, I remember being told that the five fingers can be thought of as the five major continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.

• Think of the little finger as Africa. Africa is the little finger not because of Africa's size, but because of its place on the world's stage. From an economic standpoint, Africa has yet to catch up with her sister continents. And yet, when our little finger hurts, it affects the whole hand.
• Our thumb is Asia: strong, powerful, and ready to assert herself as a major player on the world's economic stage.
• Our index, or pointer finger, is Europe. Europe is the cradle of democracy and pointed the way for western civilization and the laws we use in conducting global business.
• The ring finger is South America, including Latin America. The ring finger symbolizes love and commitment to another person.
• The long middle finger for North America and the United States. As the longest of the fingers, it really stands out. The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively.

However, if used inappropriately -- just like the U.S. itself -- the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble. You know what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as part of the hand -- giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers -- but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal."

Not really correct as far as hand analysis interpretations, but I think I'd agree with the bit about the middle finger's signal right now...

Splitting Fingernails & Osteoporosis

One early warning sign for osteoporosis is vertical splitting of the fingernails. This usually indicates a long-term calcium deficiency. My mother has osteoporosis so it runs in the family, and I have also had these fingernail splits a few times over the past decade. Each time I (eventually) added calcium supplements to my diet and the splitting disappeared in a few months.

These images were taken today, and show my own middle fingernail on the left hand. It was difficult to get a good photo of the fingernail split, so I played with the image color a bit so you can see it better.



Starting today I'm again taking calcuim supplements. The one that works best for me is "Mega Cal" soft chews by Jamieson. 650 mg twice per day.

I'll add new photos every once in a while so you can see the changes to the fingernail over time.