When I was growing up I fawned over grey and blue eyes. To this day I often catch myself feeling envious when I make contact with someone who has colored eyes. There’s something so extraordinary and majestic about colored eyes. There has to be right? Because every poem I’ve read, every song I’ve heard romanticizes […]
Month: December 2017
Beyond Orwell: Coming Soon, to a Pharmacy Near You
New York Times health and science writer Pam Belluck, covering the FDA’s approval of the nation’s first digital drug, Abilify MyCite, used the phrase “Biomedial Big Brother” to place worries about potential implications associated with the drug’s authorization. Orwell’s metaphor invokes the image of a grand, omnipotent government force with knowledge so expansive even the […]
The Current Progress Toward Fixing the VA
One of the causes that unite most Americans is the desire to reform the VA-in particular, the healthcare component of the department. Previous presidents have either been unable or unwilling to do the heavy lifting needed to ensure that all veterans receive comprehensive, timely-delivered healthcare. One of President Trump’s bipartisan campaign pledges was to do […]
The New Kind of Compulsive Consumerism
In 2005, the great comedian George Carlin remarked that the new American pastime is consumption. In describing the people that spend “money they don’t have on things they don’t need,” he calls them “efficient professional compulsive consumers.” This reality should come as no surprise to anyone, and is especially apparent around this time of year, […]
After #MeToo, How Do Broadway and Hollywood Move Forward?
Kevin Spacey, in a now-deleted scene from All the Money in the World (image credit: Variety) The #MeToo phenomenon has resulted in an outpouring of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations throughout the entertainment industry. Besides exposing the “open secret” of sexual abuse in Hollywood, it has necessarily crossed over into Broadway and off-Broadway. Sexual predators continue […]
Catch-22: Coming Soon, to a Pharmacy Near You
Omniscience is no longer limited to God and third-person-narration. Earlier this month, the FDA gave a Gatsby-esque green light to the release of the first drug in the United States with an embedded digital digestive tracking system: Abilify MyCite. The pill contains a sensor that tracks and maintains the record of medication ingestion by patients. […]
