This is where I post short articles about things that I discover.
Subscribe to updates: RSS
January 10, 2024A pencil sketch of a person holding a seashell. The person is cradling the seashell in their hands. The seashell is large and spiral-shaped, and it looks like it has been worn smooth by the sea. The sketch is very detailed, and the artist has used a variety of shading techniques to create a sense of depth and dimension.
Photo taken Jun 2018.
January 10, 2024A watercolor painting of a snowman. The snowman is wearing a green scarf, and has a carrot nose. It is standing in a snowy field. The watercolor style gives the painting a soft, dreamlike quality.
Photo taken Dec 2019.
January 10, 2024A watercolor painting of a banana peel with the words “STAY OUT!!” written in red capital letters above it. There is also smaller text that says, “Trespassers will be roasted by airborne reptillian.” The banana peel is brown and looks overripe. It is sitting on a white background.
A similar art piece titled “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is a real banana duct-taped to a white wall. There are a few key differences between the two works of art. First, this image is a painting, while the Banana Duct-Taped to a Wall is a sculpture. Second, this image has text on it, while the Banana Duct-Taped to a Wall does not. Third, the banana in the image is brown and overripe, while the “Comedian” banana is yellow and ripe.
...
December 31, 2023A watercolor painting of a calico cat sleeping on a bed. The cat is curled up in a ball. Its fur is a mix of black, white, and orange. The background is light blue. The painting is done in a loose, expressive style, with washes of color and soft brushstrokes. The colors are bright and cheerful, and the overall mood of the painting is one of peace and tranquility.
December 30, 2023A eulogy to my mom’s dog Mandy. May she rest in peace.
December 18, 2023Drug regulation should not be a criminal matter, but addressed by health care providers. I urge the DEA to drop this attempt to schedule more substances.
Personal Liberty: At the heart of the decriminalization movement lies the principle of individual autonomy. Adults should have the right to choose what they put into their own bodies, as long as their actions don’t harm others. Criminalizing personal drug use infringes on this fundamental freedom, treating individuals as criminals for making private choices.
...
December 16, 2023The Director of The Centers For Disease Control’s (CDC) Oral Health Division, Casey Hannan, fumbles during a deposition for the TSCA Fluoride Lawsuit when asked to provide documentation of the studies CDC relies on to support its claim that fluoride reduces tooth decay when ingested.
Also see:
A medical consensus of public health authorities around the world has considered water fluoridation at appropriate levels as a safe and effective means to prevent cavities on a community-wide scale. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed the fluoridation of drinking water as one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th century. There is little question that supplemental fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces decay, but at what cost?
...
December 11, 2023Some feet. Original drawing is shown in upper left over Midjourney’s version.
December 5, 2023By Kate Brown
In 1987, a year after the Chernobyl accident, the US Health Physics Society met in Columbia, Maryland. Health physicists are scientists who are responsible for radiological protection at nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons plants, and hospitals. They are called on in cases of nuclear accidents. The conference’s keynote speaker came from the Department of Energy (DOE); the title of his talk drew on a sports analogy: “Radiation: The Offense and the Defense.” Switching metaphors to geopolitics, the speaker announced to the hall of nuclear professionals that his talk amounted to “the party line.” The biggest threat to nuclear industries, he told the gathered professionals, was not more disasters like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island but lawsuits. After the address, lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) met in break-out groups with the health physicists to prepare them to serve as “expert witnesses” against claimants suing the US government for alleged health problems due to exposure from radioactivity issued in the production and testing of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. That’s right: the DOE and the DOJ were preparing private citizens to defend the US government and its corporate contractors as they ostensibly served as “objective” scientific experts in US courts.
...
November 21, 2023According to epidemiological studies,1 the threshold for BMI is 20–21 kg m-2.
💥 yet 💥
We envision a world where BMI does not exist, and is not replaced with another size-based, anti-fat measure of health.2
What is the impulse behind movements like Health At Every Size2 and Intuitive Eating3?
Suppose I have depression 😟. The only thing that fills that void in my heart is ice cream 🍨. If I don’t eat ice cream, I will kill myself 🪓. On the other hand, if I do eat ice cream, I might gain weight 🎈. Which option would you rather I pick? 🗳️
...
