“Every hour, across the world, around 742,000 freshly hatched male chicks are born. A few hours later…” they are killed. The males are obviously of no value to the egg-laying sector of the egg economy; and of no value to the meat-producing sector, where their slow weight gain makes them an “inefficient” source of meat. Could there possibly be lessons in the global annual slaughter of 6.5 billion male chicks?

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently released its Strategic Plan for 2023-27. Most strategic plans are full of fluff and are meant only to check an administrator’s to-do box and end up sitting in a file drawer, never to see the light of day again. This plan is no exception, lacking a clear vision for a path to take on the nation’s agricultural threats. For this to happen, leadership must be held accountable for the agency’s progress.

The two long-term drivers for weight loss and control are your basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn while your carcass is at rest, and your muscle tissue’s ability to perform and sustain physical activity for extended periods moving your carcass. Both are dependent on the amount of muscle tissue you have developed through conditioning or granted through genetics. So, before you decide to withdraw from your 401K to pay for your hit of Wegovy or Ozempic or any other miraculously pitched expensive weight loss drug, you need to consider some basic physiology.

An FDA expert panel just recommended unanimously that one type of birth control pill should be sold over the counter. Drs. Jeffrey Singer and Josh Bloom argue in their opinion piece in Reason Magazine that the FDA should not only approve the so-called "mini-pill" but allow other types of oral contraceptives to be sold OTC as well – something that is permitted in 100 countries around the world.

Eat to beat it – disease, that is.
I can’t walk and chew gum – multi-tasking
Win-win, low price and high quality
The best of our technology disappears

In February, 2021, the CDC published its mask mandate in the federal register requiring a person to “wear a mask while boarding, disembarking or traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States.” Exemptions were provided for specific medical conditions. Several plaintiffs suffering anxiety disturbances from masking  (which was not exempted) sued the CDC in Florida district court for exceeding its statutory authority (and for other issues). The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and is on appeal. The case directly addresses the powers of the CDC to act during public health emergencies in interstate transport and commerce.

Last year's omnibus appropriation bill passed by Congress made a good start with cybersecurity standards for internet-connected medical devices. But it's only one tiny piece of a large and complex puzzle.

From an evolutionary view, becoming alarmed over dangerous situations is adaptive. Our fight-or-flee response has been honed over the millennium. Now, our prompt and focused attention on alarming information has been used by media – old, main, or social – to capture our eyes and ears (and wallets). What might science tell us about our increasingly alarming media diets? For that, let's first turn to hospitals.

Spring brings new growth and new hopes. COVID infections continue, as do vaccine-driven hopes for relief. The White House announced that COVID-19 national and public health emergencies (PHE) will expire on May 11, but a Lancet editorial pronounced that the pandemic is “far from over.” We have been tracking its progress for three years - It’s time to take stock and go out on the shaky limb of prediction.

A record of bias and incompetence disqualifies the The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from further roles in creating public policy for treating patients in pain.