

Mar 1315 min read
THE WRETCHED BLEMISH
What’s the deal with the measles? ( Offered in the tone and tempo of Jerry Seinfeld, of course. ) Measles outbreaks are taking up a lot...


Mar 118 min read
"SOCCER" is like "OKAY"
OKAY I’m a fan of etymology and semantics and, really, everything to do with language; still, somehow I never gave much thought to the...


Mar 31 min read
RECORD RETURNS
The West Vancouver Streamkeeper Society was established in 2001 to restore and sustain local aquatic wildlife populations in 22...


Mar 22 min read
"PHYLOGENETICALLY DISTINCT"
Somehow I missed obelisks . Well, I suppose everyone missed it — or them . Discovered in human gut and oral bacteria, researchers...


Feb 232 min read
SILLY WHALES
We’ve never really known a lot about blue whales ( Balaenoptera musculus ); yes, despite our long history near and on the sea, blue...


Feb 157 min read
DODGEY
CONTEXT WHAT IS DOGE? Executive Order - ESTABLISHING AND IMPLEMENTING THE PRESIDENT’S "DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY " "DOGE...


Feb 1413 min read
"WE'RE AT WAR!"
After landing in Washington to start his second term, Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency under a temporary contract...


Feb 92 min read
REVENGE OF THE LIBERAL REPUBLICRATS
Much is being said about this US election and the folks coming to power. The only thing worth noting that I can spot, and something...


Feb 717 min read
PERFECTLY UNCLEAR
Nuclear power stations are like stars that shine all day long. We shall sow them all over the land. They are perfectly safe! — Mikail...


Feb 42 min read
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
A 2021 study out of Denmark estimated the proportion of cases of schizophrenia associated with cannabis use in that country doubled in...


Jan 247 min read
ANOTHER MISNOMER
Previously, I’ve tried to understand the circumstances surrounding our local homeless and overdose catastrophes. And I’ve relayed my...


Jan 203 min read
DANG: MORE FAILURES TO REPLICATE or CONFIRMATION OF OUR LOVE OF FICTION
One famous finding from social psychology is that intergroup contact is the most highly effective tool for reducing prejudice. The more...

Jan 1210 min read
NO BRAINER: HOW APHANTASIA IS LIKE ATHEISM
Maybe twenty years ago I was writing about the strangeness of finding myself labelled an ‘atheist’. To begin with, I argued that...


Dec 23, 20245 min read
NEW IN PERU
A team of researchers from Conservation International conducted a survey in the heart of Peru during the summer of 2022. Their rapid...


Dec 19, 20243 min read
NOTHING TO SEE
I was perfectly happy to disregard the “drone” reports as media-induced mass panic. And then government officials began assuring the...


Dec 12, 20241 min read
THE OTHER REPLICATION CRISIS
A paper was just quietly published showing several independent large language models, all the latest versions of the big ones from all...


Dec 2, 202413 min read
THE BRUNT
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) just published "Women and girls bear the brunt of conflicts..." In the thread...


Nov 14, 20248 min read
BUYING AN ELECTION
I don’t even know how you would explain to future generations what has taken place over the last decade. So much context is needed just...


Nov 6, 20249 min read
SO WHAT IS THIS ABOUT, EXACTLY?
So what is this fluoride panic about? It’s certainly not about the existing evidence.


Nov 3, 20241 min read
SALMON RUN
The Quinsam River, just outside Campbell River on Vancouver Island, has just seen the highest pink salmon return in a decade . And this...


Oct 19, 20243 min read
IT'S UP TO YOU
I’ve been writing for some time about the sudden and curious rejection of our age-old understanding that humans cause much, and in many...


Oct 16, 20243 min read
NOT SO FAST
According to the IUCN Red List , more than 45,000 species on Earth are currently threatened with extinction. Particularly threatened are...


Oct 11, 202413 min read
"FACTUAL FINDINGS"
I was told to go read something said to be a newly published and “damning UN report about Israeli war crimes and ‘extermination’ via its...


Oct 7, 20245 min read
INTAKE
I haven’t had a GP since 1998. I was recently given the opportunity to apply for a rare patient spot at a local health centre. Though I...