public health
What is thriving?: Pragmatists
Two people are alive In 2017, a county health department in eastern Kentucky received a grant to reduce deaths of despair. The program director, a former ER nurse, had to choose: spend the money on screening instruments to track progress, or hire two community health workers to... How should a normal person decide what's true?: Institutional trust
The pump handle In 1854, John Snow removed the handle of the Broad Street pump. He did not conduct a focus group. He did not invite Soho residents to do their own research on waterborne disease. He had a map, a theory, and the authority to act.... Are psychedelics actually medicine?: Prohibitionists
"This time it’s different" Purdue told us OxyContin was safe. Merck told us Vioxx was safe. Theranos told us a finger-prick could replace a lab. In each case, the evidence was promising, the enthusiasm genuine, the financial incentives enormous.... Why haven't we eradicated more diseases?: Effective altruists
The math nobody argues with A long-lasting insecticidal bed net costs about $2. It prevents roughly 0.5 cases of malaria per year. The Against Malaria Foundation distributes them. GiveWell estimates the cost per life saved at around $5,000.... Why haven't we eradicated more diseases?: Global South sovereignty
We are not your pilot program My grandmother walked three hours to a clinic in rural Senegal to get my mother vaccinated in 1971. The clinic was a pilot program funded by USAID. It ran for two years. When the funding cycle ended, the clinic closed. My mother got her first dose.... Why haven't we eradicated more diseases?: Public health
The last two percent I’ve driven the cold chain in northern Nigeria. That means loading vaccines into coolers, strapping the coolers to motorcycles, riding unpaved roads for hours, and hoping the generator at the health post is running when you arrive.... Why haven't we eradicated more diseases?: The Story
One disease in forty-six years Smallpox killed roughly 300 million people in the twentieth century. In 1980, the WHO declared it eradicated. It remains the only human disease ever fully eliminated. Forty-six years later, the list hasn’t grown. Polio was supposed to be next.... Will America’s next big financial crisis be online gambling . . . ?
Activists like to tell us – with plenty of justification – that lack of affordable health care is a crisis. But suppose you also have a gambling addiction, with or without health insurance?... California hit the wall? So I live in california and so not a newsom fan. I think his ideas cost us way too much. His taxes are killing us. So to list out a couple points -
1. The "Big Business" Exodus
The Paul Mitchell and Blue Diamond departures aren't isolated incidents; they are part of a trend where the "math" of staying in California no longer adds up for legacy companies.
The Revenue Trap: California relies on the top 1% of earners for nearly half of its income tax. When a billionaire like John Paul DeJoria moves his HQ to Texas, it’s not just about the jobs—it’s a massive hit to the state's tax base.
The Regulation Wall: Many companies leaving in 2026 cite the state’s aggressive new climate mandates and labor laws as the final straw. They feel the state is making it too expensive to simply exist.
2. The Oil Pipeline & Energy Crisis
There is a major showdown happening right now over the Las Flores pipeline system.
The Probe: Just this week (February 4, 2026), federal investigators (DOJ and SEC) began demanding documents from Sable Offshore, the company trying to restart offshore oil pipelines near Santa Barbara.
The Conflict: Newsom’s administration has been fighting to keep these lines closed to meet climate goals, while critics argue that shutting down local production just makes California more dependent on expensive foreign oil and drives up gas prices for regular people.
3. The High-Speed Rail "Burn"
The High-Speed Rail remains the ultimate symbol of government waste for many.
The Money Pit: Despite being billions over budget and decades behind, the state is doubling down. Just last month (January 2026), they launched a new push to find private investors because the state can no longer afford to fund it alone.
The Deficit Link: It is hard for the Governor to justify spending billions on a train through the Central Valley when he is simultaneously cutting healthcare benefits for immigrants and stripping funding from homelessness programs to plug a $3 billion to $18 billion deficit (depending on whose math you trust).
So i am wondering if Sheriff Chad Bianco ideas would not be good as well?
I myself find it quite conserning that some of these old business are leaving my suspect is high costs.
This is an overwhelmingly left leaning voter base quick to support any cause that seems noble in theory regardless of how bad the actual consequences are of said cause. This is what happens when you dont entirely think an idea through all the way. It is not pretty.... NEW Secret Indiana Nuclear energy installations
Look up FANCO nuclear. I'm in Indiana and the Rockbridge Network Republicans here are sidestepping all environmental laws, scientist, input, citizen input, public hearings, + emergency plan protocols in the event of a need for a nuclear disaster plan.... Oversimplified Mindsets. I often find that in times of great stress or uncomfortable situations, what I considered disadvantages have become of great strength. People are often told one of two extremes: their station is all their fault or it isn't. Both of these takes are disingenuous to provide comfort or fulfill an agenda, or oversimplified to avoid cognitive load. Your environment and situation HAVE to affect our outcomes. But sometimes, what are seen as adversities can become great strengths, through the story, grit, or unique perspectives one has. It can be an X factor. This is not to avoid striving for a better society where opportunities are provided, but it will return some loci of control from those who have had everything externalized, and give strength to move toward your goals.
anshbhatt.meI realized we aren’t always response able in all environments. Why I imply this is when we are exposed to neurotoxic chemical fumes in varying degrees of intensity we are so profoundly susceptible to them altering our processes naturally in place for constructive interaction with... 🐱 Community Cats Need TNR Now!
Every day, unspayed/neutered community cats produce litters that overwhelm shelters and streets—one pair can lead to thousands of kittens in years. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) humanely traps, spays/neuters, vaccinates, and returns them, stabilizing colonies by 99% over time (like... Race and IQ. I recently got dinner at a hole-in-the-wall asian spot with a geneticist named Razib Khan. Over noodles, and with a concerned glance over his shoulder, he admitted that the science is clear: race is absolutely tied to IQ. Jews are the smartest. Pretty much everyone on the continent of Africa is at the bottom.
This fact alone is controversial, but we have to be able to talk about it, and here’s why:
I nodded, and asked:
How many generations does this take to change?
Razib:
As little as three generations. For example, the Egyptians used to be the smartest, but a century of inbreeding knocked them to the bottom. Incest drops IQ by 10 points in the first generation. After that the effect weakens.
This is huge. At first glance, the controversial statement seems like a slamdunk for racists the world over. But dig into the details, and you find out 3 generations is enough to change things—this means that race and IQ are not inherently linked as far as we know, they’re just linked in today’s world, because of today’s policies and systems.
Knowing this could actually help us target where we need to focus our interventions for the next three decades. Let’s get us all up!
I am probably wrong but three generations sound simple until I realized three generations is not long enough to fix all the contributing factors such as water supply, environmental issues, clean and whole foods.... A Future to love - POLOWF
Seeing this future, this parallel universe that already exists if even only in the mind. A world where eating animals is a thing of the past. In the future humans have chosen to have a more sustainable world and longevity with higher quality of life.... Responsibility & Pests
I have very little sense of what I'm meant to do on UpTrust so I'm just going to do something imperfect and refine from here... My dog presently has fleas. Historically when this has happened I give him a bath, apply a topical, and don't have to think about it again.... What if Tariffs Are a Good Thing? I was surprised to find that this podcast made me wonder whether tariffs would actually be really good for the US economy and, more importantly, for midd-class American people.
With all the raging about how awful Trump is, it's been very hard to find any thoughtful analysis about which parts of his policies might actually be beneficial for Americans.
In this podcast, Ross Douthat (NYT) interviews Oren Cass, the Founder and Chief Economist at American Compass, a conservative think tank. Oren makes a really good case for the following:
- we've been living through a period of mostly-unchecked globalization
- because GDP has been rising, economists generally argue that globalization is good
- HOWEVER, Oren provides compelling reasons why GDP growth is not a sufficient indicator of the health of the economy. He cites things like increasing income inequality and the overall reduction in purchasing power when you factor things like households now having to have two full-time incomes to buy the same basket of things
The opportunity that tariffs provide is to buffer globalization and proactively re-shape the American economy to be more self-reliant, more inclusive and more balanced (geographically, industry-wise, etc). For example, Oren notes that globalization has been driving wealth toward tech & financial hubs, like NYC, Austin, San Francisco, while middle America has been largely stagnant. With more manufacturing, job distribution could be more equitably spread across the country.
What I liked most about this podcast were a few things:
- it provides a thoughtful challenge to the mainstream chatter that "tariffs are bad!" and "Trump is ruining our economy!"
- the basis for tariffs is actually to improve the well-being of middle Americans who are not participating in the white collar tech and financial services boom
- that it challenges the assumptions that an unfettered globalized world economy is what works best. Maybe it isn't?
The price of my favorite ice cream has nearly doubled. I like the idea of inclusiveness but don't see how making it harder for people to get medicaid is going to do that. And it is already too hard for people to qualify if you ask me.... What's your view on EMFs? What do you belief about EMFs? I keep hearing seemingly reputable people warning about them. My husband says the argument isn’t scientifically sound. If you think EMFs are harmful, why, and how do you reduce exposure? I use wireless headphones a lot- my phone not so much.
I’d love to hear more about this. Seems like a few of yall all were able to admit worry about microplatics. My wife is also worried about this, and has replaced all our kids’ plastic dishware with either metal or glass.... Reproductive rights. I have a really hard time understanding why folks support stripping reproductive rights before we’ve tackled better support for children and families in the US.
From my perspective, the better we can support children, mothers, and families more broadly, the less we’ll actually have unplanned pregnancies.
It just seems wise to really take care of those that are alive right now and try to improve their lives.
yeah i think there’s a lot research that’s gone into this, and idk if there’s a consensus yet but i’d love to get a summary. I like what Hans Rosling (Factfulness, https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$chart-type=bubbles&url=v2) and Max Rose https://ourworldindata.org/ do in terms of...