PEREGRINE PULP

I was recently looking for some statistics on iatrogenesis . That's just a fancy term for the medical system screwing up and causing harm rather than preventing or relieving it. Think: hospital acquired infections, adverse drug reactions , medical errors, psychological damage ,  and the like. However, as so often happens, I couldn't find what I was looking for but accidentally stumbled upon this extremely interesting study  on the prevalence of ineffective medical treatments

PRIVACY At the airport. In a lounge between the gates and food court, a young British family alights on a circular couch. Mom is dealing with the six-month-old and dad props up the three-year-old on the couch before quickly stepping away to find a drink. As soon as dad's back is turned the kid immediately hops over the back of the couch, down into the donut-hole of a void and crouching in concealment. Seconds later mom leans over with a look of horror on her face. Her son fou

I’ve been writing about this province's epidemic of overdose deaths and related themes for a while now. Just in recent times I’ve...

Nicholas Kristof — The New York Times Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True. Elon Musk says that no one has died because he slashed humanitarian aid. I went to South Sudan to check if that's true. It's not. Within an hour of starting interviews, I had the names of a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl who had died because of decisions by wealthy men in Washington. The visit that moved me the most was to a remote area that used to have no health car

What’s the deal  with the measles? ( Offered in the tone and tempo of Jerry Seinfeld, of course. ) Measles outbreaks are taking up a lot of time and space, even here in Canada, in the traditional and new press. Along with that, I keep reading that RFK Jr, the new head of America’s Health and Human Services, is promoting things backward and upside down as preventatives or cures and generally making everything worse, as he's always so determined to do. So what do you suspect I

SPIN Four men, two probably in their 40s and two probably in their 50s or 60s, and a child of about seven or eight are sitting at a table drinking hot beverages. Conversation revolves around cars for some time before transitioning to sports. Eventually politics and the coming election are discussed. "They're going to elect that Bank of England guy." With near-empty cups, the eldest one starts talking about how "Of course the earth don't spin." Two of the men don't respond but

OKAY I’m a fan of etymology and semantics and, really, everything to do with language; still, somehow I never gave much thought to the...

DOGBALL A camper was parked with a guy working on it. The man's dog spotted me coming from almost a block away and, like we were old friends, he ran and grabbed his half deflated volleyball, raced over to me with it. He dropped the ball at my feet and then leapt back, full of wiggle and not looking at me at all but staring intensely at the ball. Of course I booted it, intending to send him on a run. To my surprise the old boy jumped and pulled it out of the air. He quickly pl

The West Vancouver Streamkeeper Society  was established in 2001. Their objective is to restore and sustain local aquatic wildlife...

Somehow I missed obelisks . Well, I suppose everyone missed it — or them . Discovered in human gut and oral bacteria, researchers...