Author: Lance Garrison

Jan. 17, 2024 – When it comes to alcohol consumption, moderation is everything.Many studies over the past 20 years have suggested that people who have a drink a day or less may have a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, or all-cause mortality than those who abstain from drinking. Yet a growing body of newer research shows that those claims may be a mirage.A JAMA review of 107 studies published from 1980 to 2021 found that occasional or low-volume drinkers did not have a lower risk of all-cause mortality than lifetime nondrinkers did. But there was a significantly increased risk of…

As the Opinion video above explores, these are heady times for organized labor.Unions have recently scored big victories in the auto industry and Hollywood; an increasing number of health care workers are starting to organize; and the threat of a strike resulted in big gains for hospitality workers in Las Vegas. Elsewhere, baristas, nail salon and fast food workers, graduate students, warehouse and retail workers, tech employees, domestic workers and ride-share drivers have been mobilizing as unions enjoy levels of public support not seen since the 1960s.But it’s not all good news: The percentage of workers who belong to a…

Trump’s evolution into a Jesus-like figure for some, but not all, white evangelicals began soon after he launched his first presidential campaign. As David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University explained by email:Some of Trump’s Christian followers do appear to have grown to see him as a kind of religious figure. He is a “savior.” I think it began with the sense that he was uniquely committed to “saving” them from their foes (liberals, Democrats, elites, seculars, illegal immigrants, etc.) and “saving America” from all that threatens it.In this sense, Gushee continued, “a savior does not…

Nikki Haley did well enough in the Iowa caucuses Monday night to keep her supporters’ hopes alive. But her third-place showing, on the heels of Ron DeSantis and a mile behind Donald Trump, was also just disappointing enough to raise doubts about her candidacy.Her plan coming out of Iowa is a classic underdog strategy: Use strong early results to upend expectations in the contests to come, reshaping the dynamic of the race one upset victory at a time. So, the thinking goes, her solid-enough performance in Iowa will propel her higher in New Hampshire, where she holds a strong second…

According to The New York Post’s analysis of New York State Education Department data, “Nearly 200,000 students — or one out of five — refused to sit for the state’s standardized reading and math exams for grades 3-8 administered in the spring” of 2023.That number surprised me. There’s certainly some precedent for it, but I thought that the educational havoc wreaked by the Covid pandemic might have dampened the popularity of the opt-out movement — the tide of parents who’ve chosen to exempt their kids from state standardized testing. Apparently not.Opt-out proponents argue, among other things, that “one-size-fits-all tests punish…

Back in 2001, in a visit to the illegal West Bank settlement of Ofra, an out-of-office Benjamin Netanyahu, apparently unaware he was being recorded, boasted to his hosts that “America is a thing you can move very easily — move it in the right direction.”At the time, Mr. Netanyahu was talking about his experience with the Clinton White House; he had undermined Washington-led peace efforts during his first stint as Israel’s prime minister. But more than 20 years later, Mr. Netanyahu’s assessment feels uncomfortably familiar.Since the Biden administration pledged its early and unwavering support to Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7…

Conflict between China and the United States just got a little more likely.On Saturday, Taiwanese voters handed the Democratic Progressive Party (D.P.P.), which asserts that Taiwan is already independent from China and should stay that way, an unprecedented third consecutive presidential victory. In doing so, the island’s people shrugged off ominous warnings by China that a win by President-elect Lai Ching-te — considered by Beijing to be a dangerous Taiwan independence advocate — could trigger a war.The result should lay to rest any doubt about the direction in which Taiwan is going. Determined to maintain their autonomy, the people of…

Gaining weight is essential during pregnancy. Once the baby arrives, it’s going to take some time — potentially a year or longer — to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight. Having a baby changes everything – including losing weight. It’s different after giving birth than at other times, especially if you are breastfeeding your baby.When you’re ready to lose baby weight, how can you do it in a healthy way while you’re taking care of yourself and your little one? Here’s advice from Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, an expert in pregnancy, lactation, and kids’ nutrition, and author of Expect the Best. It takes lots of…

In recent decades, as many as three million people perished in a famine in North Korea that was mainly government-induced. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were gassed, bombed, starved or tortured to death by the Assad regime, and an estimated 14 million were forced to flee their homes. China has put more than a million Uyghurs through gulag-like re-education camps in a thinly veiled attempt to suppress and erase their religious and cultural identity.But North Korea, Syria and China have never been charged with genocide at the International Court of Justice. Israel has. How curious. And how obscene.It’s obscene because…

You’ve probably heard the term BMI (body mass index). It’s based on your height and weight, and it’s widely used to determine if you’re in a healthy weight range. But as it turns out, BMI alone may not be the best way to size up your shape.Calculated from a person’s height and weight, BMI breaks down into four categories:Underweight: BMI below 18.5Normal: BMI of 18.5 to 24.9Overweight: BMI of 25 to 29.9Obese: BMI of 30 or higherBut how useful is this number really?”Probably for 90% or 95% of the population, BMI is just fine as a general measure of obesity,” says…