jfballenger

@jfballenger@mastodon.world

Academic: History of medicine, health humanities, bioethics.

Author of some of the greatest books never written.

Published author of Self, Senility and Alzheimer's in Modern America. http://bit.ly/3fVOrrU. Working (alas, very slowly) on "Dementia: A Critical History" for @politybooks

Will post lots on other interests - some grappling with our generally dire circumstances like #ClimateChange, #uspolitics, some of them actually fun like #cycling and #BoardGames.

#Philadelphia #Philly

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

jfballenger, to boardgames

Saddened by news that Diné activist, musician, and author Klee Benally has died. In addition to his music and a recently published book, Benally designed and produced a board game called Burn the Fort that explores the history of indigenous American resistance to colonization.


https://burnthefort.com/

https://navajotimes.com/reznews/klee-benally-cultural-advocate-and-land-defender-dies-at-48/

jfballenger, to bicycling

"Andrea Gonzalez was a familiar sight biking around Philadelphia, helping community members connect with resources, and most recently, planning her wedding.

Last month, however, a bicycling crash left a void for the hundreds of Philadelphians she helped. Gonzalez, 33, was killed when her bike was struck by a car while she was riding in Cherry Hill."


https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/andrea-gonzales-philadelphia-community-leader-20231114.html

inquiline, (edited ) to academicchatter
@inquiline@union.place avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    jfballenger,

    @inquiline @academicchatter As a grad student in a US history dept in the 1990s, grad TAs for a large US history survey class led smaller discussion sections one day/week.

    jfballenger, to books

    What are you (or trying to at least) this fine ?

    jfballenger, to climate

    How wealthy "super emitters" are disproportionately driving the climate crisis — while blaming you.

    "Indeed, as corresponding author Jared Starr described American greenhouse gas pollution, `the top 1% of households are responsible for more emissions (15-17%) than the lower earning half of American households put together (14% of national emissions).'"

    https://www.salon.com/2023/08/22/how-wealthy-super-emitters-are-disproportionately-driving-the-climate--while-blaming-you/

    jfballenger, to random

    Dilemma: Will Leqembi ™ prolong quality of life, or more suffering?

    "When FDA approves a new cancer agent, oncologists usually ask: will it prolong duration of good quality life, or just prolong duration of suffering, and will the side effects profile be tolerable enough whether it works or not?

    "Those kinds of questions seem pertinent to the new Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) medication, lecanemab, marketed now as Leqembi ™. "


    https://caregivingoldguy.website/2023/08/07/dilemma-will-leqembi-tm-prolong-quality-of-life-or-more-suffering/

    futurebird, to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Thinking about how there must be bands who have far fewer fans* than U2 ever had but who still manage to have a greater number (absolute number not just proportion) of fans who say that band is one of their favorites ever.

    I don’t know anyone who has never heard of U2.
    I don’t know anyone who hates them.
    But I also don’t know anyone who loves them.

    *here “a fan” is someone who likes at least 3 of their songs and knows some of the lyrics and recognizes the band’s name

    jfballenger,

    Maybe they were a band that resonated more in the late 20th century? In the 80s and 90s I LOVED them, always had songs of their in heavy rotation, and am quite sure would have named them as one of the best ever.

    Now that you mention it, I still think they're great. But over the past 20 years, it's rare that I ever listen to them and doubt I would've named them as one of the greatest without this prompting.

    jfballenger, to ChatGPT

    Last term, I had a final assignment option having students use to write their final essay, then critique the results. It was great, and I'll be doing it again. Everyone in should do something like this with their class if they can. Short 🧵 on what we found.

    jfballenger, to boardgames

    I don't usually go for games just because they have cool minis, but CMON's animation collection.... 😍. The game itself is about as sophisticated as a Scooby-Doo cartoon, but that works in this case.

    Mini figures of the Scooby gang in front of the Mystery Machine.
    Mini figures of nine of the most iconic villains from the Scooby-Doo cartoons.

    skyfaller, to philadelphia
    @skyfaller@jawns.club avatar

    folks for :

    jfballenger,

    @skyfaller Thanks! Anyone following me will also see stuff about bioethics and the history of medicine.

    jfballenger, to random

    I want to ride over the Ben Franklin from to NJ this week. (Been living here 9 years and inexplicably have never done this!) What's a good biking destination in the area? Just somewhere nice to rest for a while, maybe photogenic, maybe get some good food...

    jfballenger,

    @skyfaller

    Thanks! Didn't lnow that.

    jfballenger, to random

    During May, I'll be trying to ride my bike 250 or more miles in and around Philly as part of @Pa_IPL's annual climate advocacy bike/hike. I hope you'll follow along and consider donating to support Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light's great work.
    https://p2p-usa.keela.co/2023-bikehike/fundraiser/jess.ballenger

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • kavyap
  • thenastyranch
  • ethstaker
  • osvaldo12
  • mdbf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • Youngstown
  • ngwrru68w68
  • slotface
  • GTA5RPClips
  • rosin
  • megavids
  • cubers
  • everett
  • cisconetworking
  • tacticalgear
  • anitta
  • khanakhh
  • normalnudes
  • Durango
  • modclub
  • tester
  • provamag3
  • Leos
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •