- More about radiation hormesis. Introductory.
- Fungus improves violin tone. Combines fermented foods and global warming.
- The New Yorker ran a cartoon that the editors didn’t understand. Added later: Now that I know where the cartoon came from (see comments), I’m afraid this is the most tasteless cartoon I have ever seen in the magazine.
- How modern medicine killed my brother. “I turned to her and asked, “Well, do you tell your patients to avoid glutamate?” She looked puzzled and said, “No one told us to.””
Thanks to Paul Sas and Gary Wolf.
There’s a dialogue on radiation hormesis at
https://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/
The joke was the Tennessee family that sent its recently-adopted Russian son back to Russia in April 2010 after he proved difficult.
https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36322282/ns/world_news-europe/
The story was 6 months old when the cartoon got published in Oct 2010.
I am adjusting down my opinion of Manjoo (and his many readers who–according to him–did not know the inspiration for the cartoon). Mankoff was just answering another random question in an open internet forum.
Tom, thanks for explaining the mysterious cartoon. After reading the news story from which the cartoon derived (the boy sent back to Russia), I think the original story is incredibly sad and not something to make cartoons about.