An Essay Partially Fact-checked Whilst Written — If you’re in America, you’ve probably heard of George Santos. Because I’m discussing the history of the Internet (true), and my first hard drive crashed back in 2006 (also true, although it might’ve been in 2007) taking all of my Web 1.0 data with it (a bit of a lie…

So, my 95-year-old grandmother has dementia. Before my fellow biomedical enthusiasts chime, I know that dementia isn’t a diagnosis unto itself, but is a sign of deeper disease. My grandmother hates hospitals and doctors, though, and I think everyone’s just glad we were able to confirm that we’re not the…

Q: So, when you were in treatment, you were on chemo, right? A: Yes. Both standard chemo for glioma, and a clinical trial for a repurposed blood chemo agent. Q: And how long were you in treatment? A: About a year, sum total. Q: And it was effective? A: So far…

A month or two after Russia’s botched invasion of Ukraine, the geopolitical rumor mill conjectured that Vladimir Putin had some sort of life-limiting disease. I originally saw that tidbit, filed it under “Hot NSA Goss,” and didn’t really think about it. I later saw a piece in “The Independent,” which…

Q: Are you in treatment, or in remission? A: Tragically, health is not a binary issue. It’s a sliding scale. I am currently not in active treatment, but I’m also not in remission. Q: Why? A: For some technical reason, glioblastoma never goes into remission. I’ve been utterly terrified to ask…

Q: I’m worried about telling potential employers about my medical history, and I think I’ve been snubbed by other employers after they discovered my medical condition. Are these concerns justified? — A: Fuck yes. My rule on prejudice is, if you smell smoke, there’s probably a lynch mob burning a cross nearby. Seriously, though; the way that prejudice works in America is on subtlety; if everyone went Aktion T4 on you the minute you walked in the door (more on that…

Well, Ye, The Artist Formerly Known as, weighed in with a defense of Hitler arguing that Hitler never got to tell his side. Which is odd, given that he was recently in the company of people with copies of “Mein Kampf” on the nightstand. …

In Defense of Artificial Christmas Trees A festive yuletide essay to be read by B. Karloff and Michael Caine So, the holidays are here, again, which means that people who are utterly silent on the subject the other 50 weeks of the year, suddenly have very important opinions on “real” or “artificial” trees. …

So, today, everyone’s favorite rag, “The Guardian” (my British friends refer to it as, “The Graudian,” in reference to the frequent typos), published a story titled, “Why are Americans ignoring the protests in Iran?” (no, really; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/29/iran-protests-us-media-coverage-mahsa-amini). Ignoring for a brief second how utterly egocentric the Anglophonic world must be…