Over a third of Americans in recent surveys say they will decline a vaccine against COVID-19.[1] Both people with vaccine hesitancy and policy-makers need information on vaccine safety. Thus, the FDA has an ambitious program to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.[2] Unfortunately, the proposed analyses will not isolate the causal effect of vaccination. Thus, … Continue reading »
Our first vaccines can save more lives
Current CDC proposals for allocating COVID-19 vaccines will lead to thousands of easily preventable deaths. Using both age and race/ethnicity to prioritize who gets the first doses of vaccine will save more lives than current plans, which only consider age.
Mindful Music: Listen, Learn, and Love!
A silver lining of this pandemic cloud is that we have been forced to spend time evaluating our situation. I suggest sitting down in a comfy chair and really listen to music! Check out Art Shimamura’s Psychology Today blog (click here)…
Kids Stuck at Home? Tips for Keeping Their Minds Active!
Hanging out with your child at home during this extended “spring break.” Foster their learning: here are some tips from Art Shimamura’s Psychology Today Blog…
Ice agents are still performing raids – and using precious N95 masks to do so
If we want to survive, we must stop Ice raids, detention and deportation and provide protective equipment to health workers
Farmworkers are the backbone of our food system. They must be protected from COVID-19
Just like workers in other industries, farmworkers deserve the right to take time off to quarantine, to recover or to care for loved ones.
Defunding hospitals puts doctors and nurses at deadly risk
As a society, we must begin to see health and social systems, as well as the frontline doctors and nurses working within them, as more important than the banks and corporations we rush to bail out. In this moment, our lives are in their hands.
The economic consequences of social distancing
Avoidance, social distancing and panic may have enormous economic consequences
Don’t be so scared of Medicare for All
Republicans and even some Democrats are out to scare you about Medicare for All. They say it’s going to dismantle health care as we know it and it will cost way too much. Rubbish. The typical American family now spends $6,000 on health insurance premiums each year. Add in the co-payments and deductibles that doctors, … Continue reading »
The passing of a giant in the exploration of psychedelics and consciousness
Psychedelic medicines have become, over the last several years, an increasingly prominent topic of discussion. Scientific publications, essays, books, and stories in the news media describe human clinical studies investigating the efficacy of psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, and other substances to treat anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. Controlled studies have demonstrated the capacity … Continue reading »
**UK
The Economist has broken the taboo on the word we all know but are not supposed to print – and even the Economist had to use two asterisks. Referring to Brexit, on March 19th one and half million copies of the Economist had a picture of a disheveled Britannia screaming “Oh **UK. Whatever next.” Sex is a powerful emotion … Continue reading »
Medical students advocate for Medicare for All
This post was written by and on behalf of the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program chapter of Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP), which advocates for the adoption of a single-payer, universal health system in the United States. At the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP), our instructors implore us to examine the social … Continue reading »
On the contributions of mentors and role models
Last week, I learned that I was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture. I wondered what had enabled a kid that grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Jerusalem to receive this award from the Israeli president. Of course, there are the usual suspects – loving and supportive parents and family, excellent primary and secondary … Continue reading »
Flying while blind
I am not only an experienced traveler; I am an experienced blind person.
Maintaining an active brain and body — even with cancer
In 2015, I retired after an enjoyable and rewarding career as a member of the faculty in the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley. My goal during retirement was to stay active and become a freelance writer in the hopes of sharing my interests to a general readership. Along with my wife, Helen, and Kazuko, … Continue reading »
Don’t beat yourself up — be kind to yourself
When people experience a setback at work—whether it’s a bad sales quarter, being overlooked for a promotion, or an interpersonal conflict with a colleague—it’s common to respond in one of two ways. Either we become defensive and blame others, or we berate ourselves. Unfortunately, neither response is especially helpful. Shirking responsibility by getting defensive may … Continue reading »
Lifelong learning and active brains: Let’s get started!
With the luxury of smartphones, binge TV watching and internet shopping, it has become exceedingly easy to live in comfortable laziness. Yet we all realize that both physical and mental activity are essential for successful aging and healthy brains. We’ve all heard the saying, use it or lose it, but we are rarely given advice … Continue reading »
Illusions of control
Most elevators have some form of a “close door” button. Impatient elevator riders the world over push that button when they want the elevator to get moving. Unbeknownst to them, their button-pushing efforts are useless. The vast majority of building managers and elevator programmers think they know when the doors should close, and have deactivated … Continue reading »
The Irish family planning tragic comedy
As has been widely reported this week, people flew to Dublin from as far away as Brazil to vote in Friday’s referendum on abortion. In 1983 the Constitution had been amended to give a fertilized egg the same right to life as the woman carrying the embryo. Today (Saturday) the majority of constituencies have reported … Continue reading »
Facebook and the humanities: Pondering what would Oedipus do
No less disturbing than the recent news that the personal data of millions of Americans was culled from Facebook by the shady research firm Cambridge Analytica and provided to the Trump campaign, has been the behavior of the masters of Silicon Valley. The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has so far been mostly silent. This … Continue reading »