Participate in workshops focused on topics like preventive care, healthy eating, local farming, and support for unique populations. Join public forums, social media platforms, and local news outlets committed to sharing vital health information with the community. When developing educational resources, ensure they are science-based, reflect and respect diverse cultural perspectives, and make health information accessible and relevant to everyone.
Where Did They All Go?
February 9, 2026
When I was a kid, each summer, in our neighborhood, the ‘”bug truck” would slowly spray clouds of DDT to “protect” us from mosquitoes. It used to be that whenever you hit the road one travel ritual was to clean the bugs off your windshield. There’s even a name for this concern: the windshield phenomenon. We were a bug-hating nation. Now, entomologists have documented the dra...
more100 Million People
July 15, 2022
I thought I’d read it wrong when I saw this heading in a recent posting from Kaiser Health News (KHN). I looked again and saw that the full title of the well-researched article was as follows: “100 Million People in America Are Saddled with Health Care Debt.” This is slightly less than one-third the estimated population in 2022. This 100 million includes 41% of adults “beset by a health ca...
moreA Book Can Be a Doorway
January 21, 2021
I’m an avid reader – with coffee in bed in the morning and before I turn out the light at night. I read a lot of books in 2020 and sadly can barely remember the plot of many of them. And sometimes, maybe like you, I wonder what’s the big deal with this book? Award winner? Why? Last week I brought a book home from the library and several pages in I knew this would be one of those books I don...
moreWorking for Something Better
December 15, 2024
Imagine kicking over a rotting log and finding all manner of centipedes running to escape the sunlight when darkness is their life. This is how I have come to view the healthcare industry we’re living with today. Just that, it’s become an industry rather than one of the elements committed to creating good health and promoting wellbeing. For more than a dozen years, beginning in 1982, I work...
moreThe More the Merrier?
September 15, 2024
By the time this is posted, who knows what Americans will have lived through. The 2024 state and federal elections will continue to use Plurality Voting which comes with enormous problems. Here’s an example: You’re a new congressional candidate (usually Dem or Rep) and get enough notice and support to begin to challenge the incumbent, the party’s favorite. Next, words like “spoiler” and ...
moreOut of Sight
April 15, 2024
This post is dedicated to a dear friend and an amazing woman. Several months ago, upon the recommendation of a friend, I read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It’s not an easy book to read for two reasons. One is the postmodern vision Mitchell builds within linked stories – past, present, and future. “Like a series of nested dolls or Chinese boxes,” said Michael Chabon. The other reason is t...
moreCivilization
August 15, 2022
I just discovered a book – Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress. Full disclosure - I’m waiting for it to come from the library and love the book’s cover. I did see the author, Christopher Ryan, on a “Useful Idiots” podcast https://usefulidiots.substack.com/ and thought I’d share some of what Ryan had to say. And note: a few thinkers (especially the Hobbesian guys like Steven Pin...
moreAging Is Not for Sissies
August 1, 2022
In 2006, I was hired as the Community Coordinator for a multi-year foundation grant to determine what the elderly population of a Pacific Northwest county needed in order to make their lives better. The Partnership was divided into two phases. First, the Executive Director and I held public meetings to promote the project’s goals and to gather relevant data. While it was interesting to meet stat...
moreDrowning in Cars
June 1, 2022
Recently I wrote an article for a local environmental publication on what is happening to the community where I live. Within six years of moving here, the population has soared and “infill” has become a sacred word. And without much debate from vox populi, bodacious apartment buildings and luxury condos are surrounding our historic village like a swat team encircling a hostage situation. Gone ...
moreUnions on the Rise
May 15, 2022
When Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky called Chris Smalls “not smart or articulate” in 2020, he unintentionally put another log of motivation on an existing fire. In Amazon’s mind, Smalls was just a Black warehouse worker; a mouthy guy who didn’t talk like a Harvard grad. Smalls was essentially fired for speaking out about Amazon’s COVID-19 safety failures. Many of us, especially d...
moreThe Paradox
April 15, 2022
When I finished reading Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, I had mixed feelings. Could a UC Berkley sociology professor really shed her liberal leanings and give her study subjects a fair hearing? Curious at reader responses, I looked on Amazon and found some of the fiercest ratings I’ve ever seen. More about that later. Hochschild picked Louisiana because it...
moreOLD – Who Gets to Decide?
July 21, 2021
Recently, I’ve noticed that we’re back to being “totally amazed” that some movie star still looks great at 70. Wow! We’re treated to her “whatevers” and fabulous, age-less face. Men seem to get a polite pass and are called distinguished. The rest of us are going about our lives, wrinkles and all. I admit to being occasionally shocked when I glance in the mirror or see a recent photo....
moreOld
September 30, 2019
The word "Old" is so laden with negativity, we hardly ever use it. Except, of course, if you really want to go for the jugular and then it’s usually accompanied by old fart, old bag, old dog with no new tricks, and possibly “old timer” but that is kind of dear and saved for men. Women aren’t afforded the same courtesy and become “cute or sweetie.” I stumbled into the current use of the...
moreManufacturing Hate
December 3, 2019
I just experienced my first ever “book shaming” at a local coffeeshop. After I’d settled in with my latté and muffin, I took a book out of my carry bag. Because it was close quarters, I felt the man next to me shift in his chair to see what I was reading. I admit to being curious about what people read but to my knowledge I’ve never judged a person solely on a book. First I heard the mean...
moreReworking the Workplace
November 15, 2019
I wish that when we talk about polarization we were only talking about how to protect polar bear habitats in the Arctic. But, alas, now the term’s most common meaning refers to the act of dividing, often people and opinions, into completely separate groups. We’ve gone binary in the U.S. This applies to today’s workplace as well and poses a significant challenge. Possibly for the first time i...
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