S.W.I.N.E.

An Acronym for Our Time

   The acronym is S.W.I.N.E. and the initials stand for Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything. It was coined over fifty years ago by Al Capp. I can't recall how I came across it, but I am surprised that it has not been resurrected and applied to the heated campus climates found today, even here in the near north. 

   I gather that Capp became rather crotchety and more conservative in his old age and that his cartoons were cancelled by many newspapers in which they had been syndicated.  While I am certainly old and crotchety, I have not become more conservative and don't think I ever was. In fact, I am a radical, in that I believe in free speech. Although many in the herd of SWINE now protest about things that I find ludicrous and which take time away from more important matters, they should be allowed to protest. They should not be allowed, however, to block those who protest against them. Having said that, I guess I can be labelled as 'conservative', given that I feel that college-age students should be mature enough not to have their feelings easily hurt and that words are different from weapons. 

   Although the provincial government mandated back in 2019 that free speech policies be established on Ontario campuses, you may wonder about the degree of oral freedom at the colleges and universities. Here are two websites where attempts are made to monitor the free speech policies and practices at universities in both Canada and the United States.

   In Canada see the Campus Freedom Index, which measures the "State of Free Speech at Canadian Public Universities." Here is a sample table from this site:

I am skeptical and think it highly likely that most universities are flunking when it comes to actual practices. Here is what it takes to get an "F".

To get an F - (University Practices)

F | A university earns the grade of F by doing one or more of the following:

*the university has denied equal access to rooms, facilities or other spaces on campus, based on the controversial or offensive content of the expression of a group or individual;

*the university has charged students or other people with offences (e.g. non-academic misconduct; trespassing) solely because of the content of their peaceful expression, in the absence of any violations of university rules or policies;

*the university has imposed security fees or other restrictions on groups or individuals because the content of their speech is controversial or offensive;

*the university has condoned the obstruction, blocking, disruption or interruption of peaceful events on campus (e.g. speakers; debates; displays, etc.) by failing to provide adequate and effective security;

*the university has failed to discipline students who engage in the obstruction, blocking or interruption of peaceful events or displays on campus;

   For the United States, F.I.R.E. is another useful acronym and it stands for Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Check out their Spotlight Database which rates policies that regulate student expression at over 475 colleges and universities. Public institutions bound by the First Amendment and private schools that promise free speech rights are rated as “green light,” “yellow light,” or “red light” institutions based on the extent to which they restrict free speech. “Warning” schools are private institutions that clearly prioritize other values above free speech. Our “Using FIRE’s Spotlight Database” page provides further information about each rating.

Sources: 

  There is a good Wikipedia entry for Al Capp and a website for Li'l Abner. 

For an obituary for Capp see: "Al Capp, Creator of Li'l Abner, is Dead at 70," Israel Shenker, New York Times, Nov. 6, 1979. If you are really interested:
"Just How Bitter, Petty, and Tragic Was Comic-Strip Genius Al Capp?", Steven Heller, Atlantic Magazine, Feb. 28, 2013. 

The Bonus:

   When he was 12, Capp lost most of his right leg in a streetcar accident, perhaps a reason for his crotchetiness.

   Those of you who disagree with all of this SWINE stuff should go at least to the Wikipedia entry for Capp, where you will learn that Capp could be a PIG.  When he did show up on college campuses (this was back when such speakers were allowed a platform) he apparently acted very inappropriately with some coeds, and was once found guilty of adultery (back when it was still a crime.)

   I have posted before about this subject. See, for example, "Dawkins Not Talking."

Virality Demonstrated

 

   This will be a short post because the information contained within it will soon go 'viral'. Actually I guess it already has, but maybe you missed it because there are so many viral things out there.  It has to do with the "Sign Wars." 

   It was this headline in a major U.S. newspaper that attracted my attention: "How Trash Talking on a Virginia Storefront Sign Led to a Friendly Fight Across the U.S. Canada Border." 

   A fellow in Christianburg, Virginia, probably bored like the rest of us during these pandemic times, put up a sign taunting the business across the road. They weren't even in the same business, it was all just done in fun and to see if anyone would even notice. Well, it did get noticed, even in Listowel, Ontario and a similar war was started there. The sign below is from the Speedy Glass store in Listowel.

 Even the fellows at the fire department got involved. 

Back in Virginia the owner of a steakhouse became aware that Canadians were also involved and "His first sign [ the one at the top] exhibited classic Canadian stereotypes" which is translated into Canadian english here: Canadians Trying to Join the Sign War EHH? You all ride on Elks for Uber Right...Bring it on Ontario!!"

   There you have it and by now probably already know all about it. 

The Bonus:
It is an odd thing that the fine town of Listowel has been mentioned twice in the last year in the U.S. press, given that all of Canada has only shown up there twelve times since 1947. The other mention involves Corey Conners, the golfer, who grew up there and now lives in Florida where he can play golf in the winter and even during the pandemic. 

One does learn from blogging. Although I have passed through and read about Listowel, I only now noticed it is missing an L.

The headline is from the Washington Post, and the author is Sydney Page, May 11, 2021. 

The Butterfly Effect

 

   Cars & Iphones

   The image above is from this morning's New York Times: "Cracked Lake Bed Is a Stark Symbol of Taiwan's Drought. Influencers Take Note," AP, May 10, 2021. I noticed it because I am still inside. It is too cold to head out.

   The current drought in Taiwan is really unfortunate for those who live there. It is also unfortunate for us, and not just because we are empathetic. That gets me to "The Butterfly Effect", which has to do with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. In the article it is mentioned that: 

Officials call the drought Taiwan’s worst in more than half a century, and it is putting pressure on the island’s semiconductor industry. More than 90 percent of the world’s manufacturing capacity for the most advanced chips is in Taiwan.

   You may recall a recent article in the London Free Press where it was noted that the Cami Plant in Ingersoll closed on Feb. 7 and will remain closed until the end of June. There is a shortage of semiconductor chips. 

Case Study

   There was an earlier article about the Taiwanese situation: "Drought in Taiwan Pits Chip Makers Against Farmers: The island is going to great lengths to keep water flowing to its all-important semiconductor industry, including shutting off irrigation to legions of rice growers." (NYT, April 8, 2021.)

   The scenario of the shortage of water creating disputes between thirsty groups is likely to happen elsewhere - for example, in the United States. Who needs the water more, the citizens of Phoenix to drink or the farmers of California to farm? That the situation is not a hypothetical one is reflected in this headline. Perhaps the folks up at the Ivey School of Business can get a case study out of it: 'Megadrought' Persists in Western U.S., As Another Extremely Dry Year Develops: The Long-Running Dry Stretch Rivals Anything in the Last 1200 Years, A Sign of Climate- Change Induced "Aridification." Alejandra Borunda, National Geographic, May 7, 2021. 

  Stay tuned. It had gotten a little warmer, but also cloudier. I may be back. 

Sotheby's

 

Act Quickly

   It is still too cold to venture outside so here is some information about an auction of items related to "Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History." Such an event is held twice a year by Sotheby's. I am aware of it because a notice about it appeared in a newspaper I was reading online. It showed up, I imagine, because I have expressed interest in some of the subjects now under auction, not because I have the means to purchase any of the things offered. Too bad for you that my interests don't range more widely. 

   This auction ends Thursday, so have a look and act fast. You can do so from the chair in which you are sitting, because the auction is online. The image above is from a "Monograph of the Phasianidae, or Family of the Pheasants, 1870-1872," by Daniel Giraud Elliot. An estimate of its value is presented and it is, 40,000 - 60,000 GBP.  Sotheby's conveniently provides a currency converter. 40,000 GBP = 68,344 CAD. You have two days and 23 hours.

The Bonus:

   Still warmly dallying, I looked further into the Sotheby's site, which you should do, even if you are not cold and bored. There I noticed another auction: "American Visionary: The Collection of Mrs. John L. Marion." A younger version of her appears above. Recently I did a post about large landowners (Real Land Lords) and she was one of them. Let's just say that she owned more than 40 acres and a mule. In 1988, Anne married John L. Marion, Sotheby's eminent chairman. She died in 2020.

Sources:

For this week's auction: "Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History."

For: "American Visionary: The Collection of Mrs. John L. Marion."

The photograph above is from: "The Trailblazing Anne Marion," by James Reginator.

Pipelines

Line 5    

  In clear violation of my blogging protocols, I will discuss a couple of current issues, but at least not the pandemic. In my defence I will say that I will focus only on the aspects of the issues which are underreported. Also, it is the case that one of the issues is "Looming", as all the headlines indicate, and by later in the week we will have been dramatically affected by it - or not. 

   Line 5 is the 'looming' issue and I will say little about it since I have already done so in the post which clearly has one of my clearest titles: Line 5.  I even provided a map. It is also is the case that there have been many stories about it. I think it is fair to say, however, that most of them indicate that clearly the shutdown will not happen and that it shouldn't because the economic results would be devastating. That is, our politicians and we Canadians mostly seem concerned only with the economic consequences, while the Governor of Michigan is worried more about the possible environmental impact on the Great Lakes if the pipeline was to burst. The irony was noticed by Rex Murphy as this headline indicates: "How's Trudeau Going to Get Out of this Line 5 Pickle and Keep Oil Flowing?" He notes: "The threat that by May 12, Gov. Whitmer will shut down Line 5 to Ontario, is so beautiful an issue it should be hanging in an art gallery.... For what have we to look at? We have two leaders, Greener than shamrocks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Whitmer, who see themselves plucked by the goddess of destiny herself, as human ambulances rushing to save the Earth from global warming."

   Although I am sure that environmental groups and Indigenous ones think a break in the pipeline would not be a good thing for the Great Lakes, the 'mainstream media' seem to worry only about the business disruption. It is sometimes mentioned obliquely that the environmental impact would be more negative if the line is shutdown, because thousands of rail cars and trucks would have to be utilized to keep us supplied. I have not yet read a good newspaper piece that discusses directly what would happen if millions of gallons of petroleum products started pouring into the Great Lakes.  I suppose it is natural to pay more attention to an event that is supposed to happen on May 12, rather than to hypothesize about one that may or may not occur a few months or years from now. It is also the case that our 'mainstream media' now have few tributaries, most of them issuing from the same source. The only Canadian newspaper I am aware of that has presented the environmental side, is one you probably don't read and may not know about - The National Observer, which recently published this article: "Line 5 is an Environmental Disaster Waiting to Happen," Trevor Greene, April 6, 2021. 

The Colonial Pipeline

   Pipeline problems developed south of the border just a couple of days ago and have yet to be resolved. In this case, the problem is not a pipeline rupture, but rather, a computer breach.  Although the headline in the Washington Post says that a "Ransomeware Attack Leads to Shutdown of Major U.S. Pipeline System," the subject of "Ransomware" is not in the newspapers as much as it could be, and deliberately so. As the article indicates:

"Ransomware attacks, in which hackers lock up computer systems — usually by encrypting data — and demand payment to free up the system, are a global scourge. In recent years, they have affected everyone from banks and hospitals to universities and municipalities — almost 2,400 organizations in the United States were victimized last year alone, one security firm reported. But the attackers are increasingly targeting industrial sectors because these firms are more willing to pay up to regain control of their systems, experts say.

“The downtime for industrial companies can cost millions,” said Robert M. Lee, the chief executive of Dragos, a major cybersecurity firm that handles incidents in the industrial control sector. U.S. officials and experts in industrial control security said such attacks are more common than is publicly known and that most just do not get reported.

Even though many cases are not made public, we sometimes learn about them and they even happen close by.  In December, 2019 you may recall that a ransomware attack cost the city of Woodstock over $600,000 even though the city didn't pay the ransom.

   There is some good news to report from the United States about concerted efforts to deal with the ransomware threat.

A task force of more than 60 experts from industry, government, nonprofits and academia last month urged a series of coordinated actions by industry, government and civil society. Their recommendations include mandating that organizations report ransom payments and requiring them to consider alternatives before making payments. Governments, they said, could provide support to help firms hold out longer. The recommendations also call for global diplomatic and law enforcement efforts to induce countries from providing safe havens to ransomware criminals.

The title of the report: Combatting Ransomware: A Comprehensive Framework for Action: Key Recommendations From the Ransomware Task Force. The link will take you to the 80 pp. report and here is the first paragraph from it:

"Ransomware is not just financial extortion; it is a crime that transcends business, government, academic, and geographic boundaries. It has disproportionately impacted the healthcare industry during the COVID pandemic, and has shut down schools, hospitals, police stations, city governments, and U.S. military facilities. It is also a crime that funnels both private funds and tax dollars toward global criminal organizations. The proceeds stolen from victims may be financing illicit activities ranging from human trafficking to the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

The Bonus:

   The attack on the Colonial Pipeline appears to have come from an an Eastern European-based criminal gang known as "Darkside" and it was done for money, not for political reasons. The same is true for the major hacking and ransomware assaults initiated by the government of North Korea - they are done mainly for the money. You may recall a hacking event from a few years ago involving North Korea. When Sony Pictures released a trailer for a Seth Rogen comedy about an attempted assassination of Kim Jong Un, a computer attack against Sony was launched that did considerable personal and financial damage (Rogen remarked, "People don't usually wanna kill me for one of my movies until after they've paid 12 bucks for it.")

   That information is from an article that will keep you up at night, or at least make you realize how big a problem 'cyber-warfare' is. Hackers seem to be able to easily get into our computers, so I hope you are able to get behind the firewall to read the article which is a fascinating and scary one: "The Incredible Rise of North Korea's Hacking Army: The Country’s Cyber Forces Have Raked in Billions of Dollars for the Regime by Pulling Off Schemes Ranging from A.T.M. Heists to Cryptocurrency Thefts. Can they be stopped?" The New Yorker, April 26 & May 3, 2021.

I thought former President Trump had solved the North Korea problem. but apparently not. 

  

Hail Storms

 Something Else to Worry About

   Today, rather than offer more contrarian opinions of which you may not have been aware, I will focus on a meteorological event which you may have missed.  It was not missed in Texas, where very, very big hail stones fell, perhaps deservedly so, on Texans who appreciate having very big things, and likely on many who think that the notion of climate change is a very big conspiracy. I insert that editorial comment because I recall reading recently that there is some concern that climate change may lead to an increase in the number of hail storms and in the production of hail much, much larger, and perhaps even more painful than kidney stones. 

    The heavy hail fell around the first of May and this headline provides all the size data you need: " 'Gargantuan' Hailstone That Fell Wednesday May Claim a New Texas Record: Some Estimates Put the Stone at More Than a Half-Foot Wide." I should add that the headline was not produced by a boasting Texas journalist, but is found in the Washington Post on May 1, 2021. While that my convince you that some very large hail stones were found, Texas readers will know that the Washington Post pushes many conspiracies.

    Although I recall reading that the coming changes in the climate may cause horrible hail storms, I couldn't remember where. After some digging, it was likely from some news stories reporting on this recent study, which says this:
Hailstorms are dangerous and costly phenomena that are expected to change in response to a warming climate. In this Review, we summarize current knowledge of climate change effects on hailstorms. As a result of anthropogenic warming, it is generally anticipated that low-level moisture and convective instability will increase, raising hailstorm likelihood and enabling the formation of larger hailstones; the melting height will rise, enhancing hail melt and increasing the average size of surviving hailstones…..

The authors indicate that such predictions are hard to make and that the composition of hail storms will vary globally. ("The Effects of Climate Change on Hailstorms," Timothy H. Raupach, et al, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 2, pages 213–226(2021).

   We don't generally think much about hail storms and when we have one we usually like running to the window to see the little, short-lived, silver popcorn-like crystals bouncing in the grass. We don't often see them in the increasingly sensational weather news reports because they have melted by the time the TV crew arrives. Floods and tornadoes are much better. 

   But, hail storms have done a lot of damage and they will surely do much more if heavy grapefruit-sized stones start coming through windshields and even roofs. By the way, the record  for the largest hail stone is eight-inches and it melted shortly after falling on Vivian, South Dakota on July 23, 2010. 

Sources: 

The place to begin is with the NOAA, which luckily, mostly outlasted former President Trump.  The U.S. has sustained 291 weather and climate disasters since 1980 in which overall damages/costs exceeded $1 Billion: "U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters."  Hail is not found in a separate category, but is included under "Severe Storms." For example:

South Texas Hail Storms - May 2020: South Texas hail storms cause widespread impact to several cities with golf-ball sized hail damaging many homes, vehicles and businesses. The highest concentration of hail damage occurred across the northern portion of the San Antonio metroplex. There was also significant damage east of San Marcos, southeast of Waco and to the west and south of Bryan and College Station. Total Estimated Costs:

$1.4 Billion; 0 Deaths

Colorado Hail Storms - July 2019: Colorado hail storms across the Denver and Fort Collins that damaged many homes and vehicles. Total

Estimated Costs: $1.0 Billion; 0 Deaths

Texas Hail Storm - June 2018: Large-hail impacts highly-populated area of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Golfball to baseball-sized hail damages

many homes, vehicles and businesses. Total Estimated Costs: $1.3 ($1.4) Billion; 0 Deaths

For a good summary of the recent bad news about the weather see: "US Hit With Record Number of Billion-dollar Extreme Weather Disasters in 2020, Esther Whieldon, Platts Energy Trader, Jan. 11, 2021.

The U.S. in 2020 experienced a record-smashing year in billion-dollar-scale extreme weather and climate change-linked disasters such as wildfires, tropical cyclones, tornados and hail storms, according to figures the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released Jan. 8.

In 2020, the U.S. experienced 22 extreme weather and climate-exacerbated disasters that each had losses in excess of $1 billion. Those events collectively caused at least $95 billion in damages, killed at least 262 people and injured scores more, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

The largest number of annual major disasters previously was 16, which occurred in 2011 and 2017. The figures for 2020 were also significantly higher than in 2019 when the U.S. experienced 14 major disasters that caused $45 billion in losses.

Scientists have projected that as average global temperatures continue to rise due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions the number and intensity of extreme weather events would rapidly increase.

See also: Hail Research (which is where the baseball picture above was found.)

Severe Weather - 101 - Hail.  

See also the National Center for Environmental Information (formerly the National Climatic Data Center.)

Some Canadian Sources:

The folks in the insurance business are paying attention. Here is a sample from a recent report from the Insurance Bureau of Canada:

Hailstorms Are Becoming More Severe and Frequent – Are You Prepared?

The frequency, severity and cost of severe weather events are rising across the country. From June until September, it’s hail season in Alberta and the Prairies. Properties in these regions are at risk of damage due to hail, heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The Calgary hailstorm on June 13, 2020 resulted in approximately 70,000 claims and over $1.3 billion in insured damages. The majority of the insured damages was to personal property and vehicles, with a smaller percentage to commercial property. It was the costliest hailstorm in Canadian history and the fourth costliest natural disaster of all time.

For a more detailed report see this one from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction: "Hail Climatology for Canada: An Update," David Etkin, York University, Feb. 2018 (47pp. pdf.) The source for this table:

Hail Storms in the Past:

Here are a few samples:

"Worst Hail Storm in Canadian History,: Elizabeth Church, The Globe and Mail, Sept. 7, 2015.

From 100 Years Ago: "Big Hail Storm at Neville Sask. Much Property Damaged in Area 30 by 100 Miles," The Globe, June 15, 1921.

"Hail Stone Stories: Remarkable Rain and Hail Storms in the Southwest," The Atlanta Constitution, April 12, 1887.

More Contrarian News For Old Codgers (OATS5)

 Still Not Whistling Past the Graveyard

   Our Old Age Theme today is presented in the form of a book review. Unfortunately the topic is still the depressing one of old age and the concomitant one of death. Although the word 'concomitant' is used deliberately, I am aware that many of the elderly colleagues in my cohort are now beginning to think that old age can be dramatically extended until all the "natural causes" of death are eliminated --- or defeated by the rigid application of a spartan and healthy lifestyle.  The question is, I suppose, how much of your life do you wish to sacrifice to delay death?

   The book under review is Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich.  They are both pictured above. You are likely to recognize her name since she has authored many books. You are also likely to assume that she is a progressive cultural critic who perhaps tackles too many topical topics to be taken seriously. Only the first part of the assumption is correct. 

   From the Introduction we learn why she questions much medical advice and also that she has the credentials to do so. It was upsetting for her to learn that it has been discovered that "the immune system actually abets the growth and spread of tumors, which is like saying that the fire department is indeed staffed by arsonists." That such a "paradoxical" finding could be disturbing is understandable, particularly since she had studied the macrophages which are now seen to be sabotaging the immune system. They were the focus of her study when she earned a PhD in cellular immunology. 

   The title of the first chapter is, "Midlife Revolt" and from these sample sentences you will be able to figure out what she is revolting against. The first sentence is: 

"In the last few years I have given up on the many medical measures -- cancer screenings, annual exams, Pap smears, for example -- expected of a responsible person with health insurance...."

Followed by: 

"I knew I was going against my own long-bias in favor of preventive medical care as opposed to expensive and invasive high-tech curative interventions...."
"I also understood that I was going against the grain for my particular demographic. Most of my educated, middle-class friends had begun to double down on their health-related efforts at the onset of middle age, if not earlier...."

"I had a different reaction to aging: I gradually came to realize that I was old enough to die, by which I am not suggesting that each of us bears an expiration date...."

"Once I realized I was old enough to die, I decided that I was old enough not to incur any more suffering, annoyance, or boredom in the pursuit of a longer life.

She gives good reasons for the decision to avoid such procedures as a colonoscopy and points out that "there are even sizable constituencies for discredited tests."

   If you are believer in "Successful Aging", then you shouldn't be reading this post and you definitely don't want to read the chapter about it in Natural Causes.  The chapter title, "Successful Aging" is in quotes, because Ehrenreich realizes there is no such thing and she takes issue with drivel such as this, which is apparently found in a book with the title, Younger Next Year, under this subhead: "Normal Aging Isn't Normal:" The more I looked at the science, the more it became clear to me that such ailments and deterioration [heart attacks, strokes, the common cancers, diabetes, most falls, fractures] are not a normal part of growing old. They are an outrage.
Naturally, Ehrenreich disagrees with the above and asks: And who is responsible for this outrage? Well, each of us is individually responsible. All of the books in the successful aging literature insist that a long and healthy life is within the reach of anyone who will submit to the required discipline.
At this point, unfortunately I suppose, I believe it is far more likely that I will die of natural causes than it is that I will be younger next year, even if I work out much more and drink much less. Some reviews follow for those who wonder if I make all of this up:

The Opinions of Others:

"Ditch the Quest for Eternal Life and Just Enjoy the Days You Have, "By Rachel Newcomb, Washington Post, May 4, 2018.
Americans have a history of obsession with fads designed to help us live forever. But to what end? Death, notes Barbara Ehrenreich in her new book, “Natural Causes,” still awaits us all. In this lively cultural history of our attempts to control our fate, she details the extreme lengths we will go to keep from dying.

"Barbara Ehrenreich Urges Us to Accept, Accept the Dying of the Light," Parul Sehgal, New York Times, April 10, 2018.
Barbara Ehrenreich wants you to know that you are going to die. Get used to it, and get beyond it... Targets include unnecessary medical tests, notably annual physical exams. The fitness craze is an easy mark — though she herself is a gym rat, Ehrenreich looks askance at workouts that suck hours of valuable time out of a person’s day and, longevity wise, have a low cost-benefit ratio.

"Your Body is a Teeming Battleground: It’s time to rethink the quest to control aging, death, and disease—and the fear of mortality that fuels it, "Victoria Sweet, The Atlantic, May 2018.

In her new book, Barbara Ehrenreich ventures into the fast-growing literature on aging, disease, and death, tracing her own disaffection with a medical and social culture unable to face mortality. She argues that what “makes death such an intolerable prospect” is our belief in a reductionist science that promises something it cannot deliver—ultimate control over our bodies. The time has come to rethink our need for such mastery, she urges, and reconcile ourselves to the idea that it may not be possible.

She starts by looking at the many preventive medical procedures we are encouraged, even badgered, to undergo—those regular physical exams, colonoscopies, blood tests, mammograms. She had always pretty much done what doctors advised (she underwent chemotherapy), figuring that it made sense to treat disease before illness overwhelmed the body. But after watching many fitness-obsessed people die early, and realizing that she herself is now “old enough to die,” she questions that premise. Where is the evidence that all the effort at prevention saves lives or delays death?

"Calm Down, We're All Going to Die, Lewis Jones, The Times, April 14, 2018.

Ehrenreich is on surer ground with her objections to the modern regime of needless, painful and even dangerous screening and testing, such as mammograms and colonoscopies (a "kinky procedure"), which appear to be chiefly for the benefit of insurance and drug companies. Those for thyroid cancer are particularly worrying. "An estimated 70 to 80 per cent of thyroid cancer surgeries performed on US, French and Italian women in the first decade of the 21st century," she tells us, "are now judged to have been unnecessary....Ehrenreich concludes her frankly dystopian survey by remarking that the diseases of ageing "clear up the clutter of biologically useless older people", and that without them "we might have to turn to euthanasia". Still, we should avoid the horrors of a "medicalised death". Some of the physicians who routinely inflict drastic end-of-life measures on their patients are so anxious to avoid them themselves that they get tattoos saying "DNR" (Do Not Resuscitate).

"A Scalpel-sharp Dissection of What it is to be Human; Barbara Ehrenreich Ambitiously Traverses the Sciences and the Humanities in Her Investigation of the Body and Human Nature," Paul D’Alton, The Irish Times, May 26, 2018.

That said, this is a book that makes a fine contribution to an essential dialogue on what it means to be human. Such a dialogue is in itself both humanising and civilising. This type of dialogue is under threat in democratic societies where policy concerning complex social issues is reduced to pronouncements on Twitter, and where dialogue concerning what it means to be human is often dismissed as a liberal-elite indulgence.

Ehrenreich's capacity to consider the complexities, contradictions and paradoxes inherent in the human condition is significant and humbling. She displays a regard and appreciation for the intellectual ground she stands on. This ground, kindly gifted through the generous curiosity of our predecessors, is a form of intellectual inheritance. Ehrenreich also recognises the ephemeral nature of this intellectual knowing, but there is nothing romantic or vague about this: her grasp of the ephemeral is muscular and delicate.

"Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich review – Wise Words on Real Wellness," Yvonne Roberts, The Observer, April 9, 2018.

You may view your body as a temple – particularly if you exercise ferociously, detox regularly, desist from alcohol, tobacco, sugar and all processed foods and positivity seeps out of every pore – but the indefatigable Barbara Ehrenreich has news for you. No amount of mindfulness, self-discipline and denial can spare you from your macrophages, the large white blood cells in your tissues that are found especially at the site of infection. They are out to get you. If they so choose, you will depart this world early and possibly painfully; control is an illusion....

This book is joyous. It is neither anti-medicine nor anti-prevention; it is pro-balance, pro-scepticism and pro-perspective. And it asks us to show a little humility. The gurus of Silicon Valley may believe they can become immortal – Ray Kurzweil, AI expert, is “reprogramming” his body by taking 150 pills a day – but death always trumps self-mastery. So, Ehrenreich argues, replace isolating self-absorption and the rejection of small pleasures with a collective celebration of what life, in all its arbitrariness, has to offer.

"Barbara Ehrenreich Contemplates Successful Aging in Her New Book Natural Causes,"

Alex Good, Toronto Star, July 13, 2018.

It may seem obvious to say that death is inevitable, but that hasn't stopped whole industries cropping up dedicated to forestalling death as long as possible and even trying, in some cases, to deny it entirely. Indeed finding a “cure for death” has become a hobby of American billionaires. It seems unfair that people with so much money should still have to die.

Despite being a bit of a gym rat herself, Ehrenreich sees a lot of these projects as misguided. Wellness has its limits. In the case of the spread of some cancers, for example, our own cells may be working against us. Most of Natural Causes is taken up with a discussion of these matters, and how wrong-headed it is to think of our bodies as holistic systems whose malfunctioning can be cured with better programming or technology.

"Living Longer a Miserable Undertaking, " Julie Kentner, Winnipeg Free Press, April 14, 2018.

Every day, people make choices to help them live longer, healthier lives. We run. We place restrictions on what we do and do not eat. We prescribe the ideal amount of sleep, take supplements and generally make living longer our life's work.

But is it truly possible for us to influence our own health against forces that deny the control we seek? “We would all like to live longer and healthier lives; the question is how much of our lives should be devoted to this project, when we all, or at least most of us, have other, often more consequential, things to do."

"Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich Review – Against Health Sages and Fitness Gurus: A Great Iconoclast Has Written a Polemic About Ageing That Sends Up New Age Platitudes and is Full of Scepticism of the Wellness Industry, The Guardian, April 12, 2018.

“Old age isn’t a battle,” she says, quoting Philip Roth, “old age is a massacre.” In the past few years, she has given up on screenings and scans. Not that she is lazy or suicidal. But at 76, she considers herself old enough to die. All the self-help books aimed at her age group tell her otherwise; they talk of “active ageing”, “productive ageing”, “anti-ageing”, even “reverse-ageing”, with a long life promised to anyone who makes an effort, regardless of factors such as genetics or poverty. But to her, ageing is “an accumulation of disabilities”, which no amount of physical activity or rigorous self-denial can prevent. If she has symptoms, she’ll have them investigated. But when a doctor tells her there could be an undetected problem of some kind, she won’t play along.

Experience has taught her that standard health checks are at best invasive and at worst a scam. Over diagnosis has become an epidemic. Bone density scans, dental x-rays, mammograms, colonoscopies, CT scans: she questions them all."

Post Script:

Stay tuned. I plan to write soon about the more upbeat and scintillating subject of SUBTITLES. The book discussed above, for example, has two of them, which is not untypical. The U.S. version: Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer.

The U.K. version: Natural Causes: Life, Death and the Illusion of Control.

Why is that? 

The Bonus:

   This is not the first time that Ehrenreich has attempted to reduce the number of smiling emojis. Here is a review of her, Bright-Sided:

"Happy Days," Hanna Rosin, New York Times, Nov.5, 2009. 

I must confess, I have waited my whole life for someone to write a book like “Bright-Sided.” When I was a young child, my family moved to the United States from Israel, where churlishness is a point of pride. As I walked around wearing what I considered a neutral expression, strangers would often shout, “What’s the matter, honey? Smile!” as if visible cheerfulness were some kind of requirement for citizenship.

Now, in Barbara Ehrenreich’s deeply satisfying book, I finally have a moral defense for my apparent scowl. All the background noise of America — motivational speakers, positive prayer, the new Journal of Happiness Studies — these are not the markers of happy, well-adjusted psyches uncorrupted by irony, as I have always been led to believe. Instead, Ehrenreich argues convincingly that they are the symptoms of a noxious virus infecting all corners of American life that goes by the name “positive thinking.”