Category: current events

  • CDC Identifies Preliminary Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Signal

    CDC Identifies Preliminary Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Signal

    The CDC announced that a prelimary Covid-19 Vaccine Safety signal has been identified in a recent update on their website: “Following the availability and use of the updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines, CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a near real-time surveillance system, met the statistical criteria to prompt additional investigation into whether there was a safety…

  • Bivalent Covid-19 Booster Protects Us

    Bivalent Covid-19 Booster Protects Us

    University of Iowa Health Care participated in research which demonstrates that people over age 65 who got the updated bivalent Covid-19 vaccine booster:

  • MLK Jr Celebration of Human Rights Week

    MLK Jr Celebration of Human Rights Week

    Martin Luther King, Jr Celebration of Human Rights week starts January 16, 2023. See the list of events here.

  • Viral Story Rabbit Holes on the Web

    Viral Story Rabbit Holes on the Web

    Sena told me about the viral story on the web entitled “A Woman Removes Painting Varnish and Uncovers Husband’s 50 Year Old Secret.” It’s dated December 27, 2022. The story is written in slide show format, which has a rabbit hole feel to it, especially after I try to verify the details. You’ve probably seen…

  • Snow Day!

    Snow Day!

    I wrote this post yesterday because I didn’t know whether or not we’d have a power outage because of high winds (up to nearly 50 mph) predicted for the Arctic Blast this week. When we’re not outside scooping our walkway and driveway, we’ll probably be playing cribbage or, God forbid, Scrabble (which I always lose).…

  • Winter Storm Coming!

    Winter Storm Coming!

    The National Weather Service alert has announced a major winter storm on the way in Iowa. Time to get ready!

  • Total Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon This Freezing Morning!

    Total Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon This Freezing Morning!

    I took my very first selfie ever with my smartphone, which I’ve had for about 7 years. The occasion is the 2nd total lunar eclipse blood moon I’ve ever seen, which started at about 2:00 AM this morning. It was so cold outside I had to wear a sweater and my winter coat with hat…

  • Get Your Tin Foil Hats Out for the Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow

    Get Your Tin Foil Hats Out for the Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow

    I just found out this morning that there’s a total lunar eclipse that will be visible starting tomorrow morning. We saw the one in May this year, and we’re excited—about getting up early in the morning around 4:00 AM. Although you don’t need to wear special eye protection for a lunar eclipse, you will need…

  • See the World’s Largest Dinosaurs Exhibit at the Science Center of Iowa!

    See the World’s Largest Dinosaurs Exhibit at the Science Center of Iowa!

    You can see the world’s largest dinosaurs exhibit at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa from October 15, 2022 to April 16, 2023. It’s a traveling exhibit, so see it before it thunders off!

  • Here We Go Again About Antidepressants

    Here We Go Again About Antidepressants

    Back in August, my colleagues, Drs. George Dawson, MD and Ronald Pies, MD wrote a rejoinder in Psychiatric Times to a review article published in Molecular Psychiatry by J. Moncrieff, Mark Horowitz and others (Moncrieff J, Cooper RE, Stockmann T, Amendola S, Hengartner MP, Horowitz MA. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review…