Author Archives: RichardB

The Dark Side of America’s Big Agriculture

10 Wednesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Environment

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Nitrate from fertilizer and manure befouls countless waterways and kitchen taps across the US. But unlike other big polluters, from petroleum to plastics, Big Agriculture has largely avoided responsibility for its dirty footprint. In no state is this arguably clearer than Iowa, where the multibillion-dollar corn industrial complex of farmers, food processors, tractor makers, chemical companies, ethanol producers and their lobbyists reigns supreme.

Your Dog Has a Unique Ability to Read Your Mind.  : ScienceAlert

05 Friday Sep 2025

Posted by in Pets

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Your Dog Has a Unique Ability to Read Your Mind. Here’s Why. : ScienceAlert

Your dog tilts its head when you cry, paces when you’re stressed, and somehow appears at your side during your worst moments. Coincidence? Not even close.

Thousands of years of co-evolution have given dogs special ways to tune in to our voices, faces and even brain chemistry. From brain regions devoted to processing our speech to the “love hormone” or oxytocin that surges when we lock eyes, your dog’s mind is hardwired to pick up on what you’re feeling.

Read the entire article at ScienceAlert

Loki the Dog reading your mind

Maria who used to be a wolf

03 Wednesday Sep 2025

Posted by in Poetry

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Maria who used to be a wolf.
once while camping in the snow
Maria crawled into a cave and was an animal
she painted herself onto the walls
every night in the dim fire light
she would dance in the shadows
hair a different colour
flickering in the walls
her sister …who used to be a wolf
told me that when she was a little girl
she dug holes in the back yard with her feet
planting bean after bean after bean
each one grew with beautiful bright blossoms
(last moon when the snow slept
I saw her)

Richardb copy right July 2006 & renewed July 2026

Veterans Affairs mental health cap

31 Sunday Aug 2025

Posted by in mental health

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‘We need to terminate treatment’: VA mental health providers say they are under pressure to limit care.’
As a group therapist about 50% of clients/patients I’ve worked with since 1981 have had some level of trauma and often PTSD. It’s not something that you want to pretend is ok.

Veterans Affairs officials insist there are no caps on mental health care, but providers in multiple states disagree.

Link to full article

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/083025_veteran_mental_health/

UCTV: Intermittent Fasting: A Strategy To Prevent Cardiometabolic Diseases

29 Friday Aug 2025

Posted by in Wellness

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Michael J. Wilkinson, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.N.L.A., explores the science and clinical evidence behind intermittent fasting and its role in promoting cardiometabolic health. He explains how aligning eating patterns with the body’s natural circadian rhythms can improve weight, blood pressure, glucose regulation, and other risk factors, especially in individuals with metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Wilkinson highlights promising results from time-restricted eating studies conducted in collaboration with UC San Diego and the Salk Institute, where narrowing the daily eating window led to improved metabolic markers and potential benefits beyond weight loss. He also outlines practical tips for safely adopting this lifestyle approach and stresses the importance of ongoing research. [

TransUnion and Google: hackers stole customers’ personal information | TechCrunch-PcWorld

28 Thursday Aug 2025

Posted by in Data hack

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Credit reporting giant TransUnion has disclosed a data breach affecting more than 4.4 million customers’ personal information.

In a filing with Maine’s attorney general’s office on Thursday, TransUnion attributed the July 28 breach to unauthorized access of a third-party application storing customers’ personal data for its U.S. consumer support operations.

TransUnion article from Techcrunch

2.5 billion Gmail users endangered after Google database hack
A hacker group gained access to Google databases and is now attempting to scam Gmail and Google Cloud users.

Gmail article from PC World