From Stanford Medicine: For a long time, drinking in moderation was considered socially acceptable, and maybe even healthy.  You supposedly protected your heart with red wine, and even reduced diabetes. But what's the current truth about moderate drinking? The idea that moderate, occasional drinking is good for your health is outdated . Decades ago, large surveys of adults began showing an association between how much alcohol someone drank and their risk of death. People who said they drank heavily had an increased risk, but those who drank nothing at all also had an increased risk compared with those who drank one or two servings of alcohol per day . These findings were well promoted by the alcohol industry. Turns out that even at low levels, alcohol can have significant negative effects on your body. Recent research. A 2025 report from the American Association for Cancer concluded that  more than 5% of all cancers in the U.S. are attributable to alcohol use . A 2025 S...

Today is Halloween.   Exactly a year ago,  we boarded the Diamond Princess in the Port of Yokohama.  I remember it so well because I had an opportunity to wear my Halloween pants I had recently purchased at Savers for $3.  I was planning to bring it on this cruise to wear tonight.  However, I couldn't find it. Exactly two years ago, or on 31October2022, my posting was titled  HALLOWEEN 2022 .  To quote from that article: As you must know by now, today is Halloween, a tradition supposedly originated with the ancient Celtic   festival of Samhain   2000 years or so years ago, when bonfires were lit and people wore costumes.   This celebration first came to the U.S.in the 1840's when Irish immigrants escaped their potato famine.  Coincidentally, there is an Irish practice where going door-to-door to collect soul cakes and offerings for dead relatives was traditional.  Failure to supply a treat could result in some practic...

Donald Trump has many times said that he is a stable genius.  He's never mouthed a number, but likes to say that his IQ is the highest.   Stephen Colbert begs to differ . There has been one report that his IQ was 156, but  this article  both says it and contests it.  If this were true, he would have been the second smartest U.S. president in history.   This list  was made in 2015. The day after Joe Biden decided to end his run for president,  Donald Trump called Biden the WORST PRESIDENT in American history .  Wrong!   Earlier this year, presidential historians announced their newest survey : FULL LIST OF OVERALL PRESIDENTIAL GREATNESS RATINGS AND RANKINGS Lincoln - 93.87% FD Roosevelt - 90.83% Washington - 90.32% T Roosevelt - 78.58% Jefferson - 77.53% Truman - 75.34% Obama - 73.8% Eisenhower - 73.73% LB Johnson - 72.86% Kennedy - 68.37% Madison - 67.16% Clinton - 66.42% J Adams - 62.66% Biden - 62.66% Wilson - 61.8% Reag...