An approach to conflict resolution: More than one thing can be true
The past months have unearthed and amplified passionately opposing opinions about international events, in particular regarding Palestine and Israel. In addition to attending protests, calling my representatives, and having conversations with people I know, I’ve been publicly sharing my feelings about Palestine and Israel. While I stand firm in what I believe, my feelings around Read more… An approach to conflict resolution: More than one thing can be true originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 27, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Psychiatry Source Type: blogs

Personal Connections
Of the three Palestinian young men who were shot in Vermont two days ago, one is a student at Brown University, where I am on the faculty; one is a student at Haverford College, the " sister " institution of my alma mater, where I spent two summers participating in a theater program and otherwise visited often to see friends; and Trinity College in Hartford, which I have also visited at least twice. They became friends because they all attended a prep school in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Their families thought they would be safer now that they are all in the U.S. So obviously I can relate to them. At their age I was in a ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 28, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

A bit more on Israel/Palestine
 I ' m just going to outsource to Josh Marshall here, this is a bit he shows on his front page so no problem sharing it, although the rest of it is paywalled.In a few recent posts we ’ve discussed the question of whether one state or two states is the most logical or possible resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (You can see my argumenthere.) A few days ago TPM ReaderRC sent me this AprilForeign Affairs article,Israel ’s One-State Reality. It was written by three scholars at GW and another at the University of Maryland. The piece was interesting to me because it illustrates a lot of what the one st...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 23, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Straw men
I got a few comments on my post about gun safety that I didn ' t publish because they attack a straw man. I explicitly, and loudly, at the very beginning, said that I did not have any problem whatsoever with people owning guns. In fact I ' m all for it because the deer population here is out of control. This is also true of the approximately 80% of Americans who favor gun safety laws that are quite similar to the Swiss laws, which are not generally in effect in the U.S. and which the Supreme Court would probably rule to be unconstitutional. The Swiss ban large capacity magazines, automatic weapons and many non-firearm weap...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 22, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Okay, Israel and Palestine
I ' ve been circumspect about this, because people hear what they want to hear or think they ' re hearing about it, instead of what people actually say; and they believe what they want to believe. Furthermore, certain truths may not be spoken. ButFintan O ' Toole has said what needs to be said (registration required, though I have a subscription) succinctly and clearly enough that I ' ll take his essay as guidance. First, I ' ll quote his setup:If war is supposed to be the continuation of politics by other means, Israel ’s assault on Gaza seems to be the continuation by other means of the absence of politics. It does n...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 20, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Za ’atar
I’m excited about this season’s Za’atar, because its almost entirely from foraged or home-grown spices. We picked the sumac along a dirt road in Northern New Hampshire in late June. It was the most luscious, oil-packed, fragrant sumac I’ve ever encountered. (Read about how to find and dry sumac here.) The oregano and thyme hailed from Pennsylvania and New York City, grown in sis Rosemary and friend Paula’s container gardens, as well as my own window box in the mountains. I dried the sumac by laying them it for a couple of weeks on a cooling rack atop a baking sheet, and the other herbs...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - November 16, 2023 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Uncategorized food gifts handmade holiday gift homemade gifts spices Sumac Xmas gift za'atar Source Type: blogs

Yes, people really believe this
Tom Sullivan at Digby ' s blog excerpts and discusses an interview by Chauncy DeVegawith Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute. If you want to read the entire interview, Sullivan gives a link, or you may be satisfied just with his discussion.What you don ' t get a strong sense of from the post, however, is some of the specific content of white Christian nationalism. As we ' ve been reading the Bible, we know that it ' s riddled with contradictions, manifest nonsense, and theology that is inconsistent with what fundamentalist Christians claim to believe. You may have heard that Speaker of the House Mike Joh...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 6, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Gaza ’ s medical crisis
On October 11th, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the lifeless body of paramedic Hatem Awad as he was rushed through an ambulance bay in Gaza. Awad and his colleagues from the Palestinian Red Crescent had just been given the green light to head into eastern Gaza to assist victims of airstrikes, not knowing they would Read more… Gaza’s medical crisis originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 1, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Emergency Medicine Source Type: blogs

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and why medical professionals should care
On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist group, launched an unprecedented assault against Israeli civilians. Thousands have been confirmed killed, while hundreds have been taken hostage. Israel has retaliated by pounding Gaza with rockets, killing thousands more Palestinian civilians. This is the most severe escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades. The death toll continues to Read more… The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and why medical professionals should care originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 18, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Policy Public Health & Policy Source Type: blogs

Bloody Religion
“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”Steven Weinberg In 2003, I started a web page that documented the horrors of the Iraq war. The title of the page was corrie.html, because one of the first entries was about Rachel Corrie. This was it. On Sunday, 16th March 2003, a 23-year-old American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death by a bulldozer as she tried to prevent the Israeli army destroying homes in the Gaza Strip. You can read here some of the emails that she ...
Source: DC's goodscience - October 15, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Palestine war Gaza Israel Source Type: blogs

Psychedelic Science 2023 – Full Conference Review
In June I attended the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. We were told this was the largest psychedelic-related gathering in the history of the planet, attracting about 12,000 attendees and 500 speakers. In this post I’ll share about my experiences and insights from the conference. Here’s a pic from inside the Bellco Theater where the main keynotes were held. The Colorado Convention Center is sizable, and sessions were spread across many different rooms. Even though I didn’t do extra exercise on this trip, I was typically hitting about 1000 calories ...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - July 7, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Creating Reality Health Lifestyle Source Type: blogs

The Ohio Train Derailment, Safety Regulation, and the Historical Improvement in Rail Safety
David Kemp andPeter Van DorenEarlier this month, a Norfolk Southern freight trainderailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a large fire, releasing hazardous materials, and prompting emergency crews to conduct a controlled release and burn of toxic vinyl chloride. Fortunately, no lives were lost, but up to two thousand nearby residents were evacuated from their homes for nearly a week, and there are still concerns about pollution. Sober analysis is rarely welcomed after an accident like this. We believe it is worthwhile, however, to illuminate some journalistic errors and place the derailment in the context of increasing fr...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 27, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Kemp, Peter Van Doren Source Type: blogs

There Is Something About Trains, Indeed
BY KIM BELLARD Like many of you, when I heard about the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine (OH) on February 3, my heart went out to the people in that community. The train was carrying some hazardous materials, and no one was quite sure what was vented, especially when officials did a “controlled burn.”  Still, though, I didn’t think much about it; although I live in Ohio, I’m about as far away as one can be within the state. Yesterday my local water company shut off access to water from the Ohio River. “We are taking this preventative step to ensure the health, safety, and confidence ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 21, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Non-Health infrastructure demands Kim Bellard Palestine Trains Source Type: blogs

Foraged Sumac / Ottolenghi ’s Gigli with Chickpeas & Za ’atar
I first encountered wild sumac in 2015 in Pennsylvania’s Loyalsock Forest. I’ve foraged for it most summers since, both there and along the Pine Creek Rail Trail. This year’s sumac crop was a little disappointing. Despite how much I picked, most of the fruits had worm infestations that limited the amount of usable berries. (Note to self – pick sooner in the season next year…) Still, I got about a cup and a half of dried sumac for my efforts, more than enough for my needs. (If you want to know how to harvest and dry sumac to make the spice, read here.) I used the fruits of...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - September 7, 2022 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Pasta Rice & Potatoes Chickpeas Ottolenghi Sumac za'atar Source Type: blogs

Foraged Sumac / Ottolenghi ’s Gigli with Chickpeas & Za ’atar
I first encountered wild sumac in 2015 in Pennsylvania’s Loyalsock Forest. I’ve foraged for it most summers since, both there and along the Pine Creek Rail Trail. This year’s sumac crop was a little disappointing. Despite how much I picked, most of the fruits had worm infestations that limited the amount of usable berries. (Note to self – pick sooner in the season next year…) Still, I got about a cup and a half of dried sumac for my efforts, more than enough for my needs. (If you want to know how to harvest and dry sumac to make the spice, read here.) I used the fruits of...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - September 7, 2022 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Pasta Rice & Potatoes Chickpeas Ottolenghi Sumac za'atar Source Type: blogs