COVID just put an exclamation point on it — In 2015, a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College swabbed 400 subways cars and found traces of the Bubonic Plague. They also found Anthrax and other nasty pathogens. Considering the number of rats in the city, this is hardly surprising, and neither was our response. The city’s health…

The implications are frightening — Someone dismissed this article about magnetic brain stimulation altering beliefs about religion and immigrants as fake news, but this is something those involved with neuroscience have known for over a decade. FMRI detects the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in different regions of the brain in response…

There are levels of survival I’m prepared to accept — A typical day for me starts around 7:00 AM because my stupid body clock is still wired to the hours of my previous job. Hungover and enraged, I take valium, and depending on how drunk I got the night before, wake up again sometime between noon and 5:00 PM. If…

Criticism isn’t violence, but you get the point — Some writers are bastards, especially the self-help gurus who sucker the most desperate, and there are valid criticisms to be made of all of us, whether we’re too redundant, boring, or continually wander off on strange tangents. Still, whenever I see an article about a popular writer, I cringe. The…

We’re pro-zombie — Zombies are a critique of consumer culture. As the world is burning, we’re still blindly chasing what’s become the American Delusion of home ownership, two cars, and 1.93 kids. We’re worse than zombies because we eat our own brains. Capitalism may have brought us here, but anything that contradicts our…

Because of Emilio Estevez, and it isn’t really a reboot — Some characters are so iconic, you can’t imagine anyone else playing the part. Who else could have played Tyler Durden, Indiana Jones, or John McClane? Or more relevantly, Mattie or Cogburn in the 2010 remake of True Grit, which is superior to the original. This also has a bigger effect…

I’m unemployable — I’ve applied for a lot of jobs lately, and I haven’t done my due diligence. Places get back to me that I don’t even remember applying to, so despite my better judgment, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. One of these places was a national outsourcer…

Decades of evidence are finally undeniable — I met Dr. Vogel a few days ago at a cafe in Manhattan. It was the ninth day in a row it had reached 98 degrees. As we crossed the street to sit down in Central Park, he wiped away a wisp of grey hair that was glued to his…

Shun humanity — You have to keep living in pain and poverty in order to have anything relatable to write about, which is why success ruins so many writers and comedians. They’re no longer in touch with reality, and I’m not sure which is sadder, those who realize this or those who don’t. …