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Our obsession with clean

ByDoug Anderson Evolution, Health, Lateral Thinking, Paradigm Shift

Why it’s making us less healthy

Doug Anderson

Jan 25, 2026

In the 70s and 80s I was a microbiologist and chief lab technologist in the local hospital

Throughout eons of evolution, from the lowly earthworm to the present, we’ve had a close association with dirt – which is home to millions of bacteria, moulds, etc. (Earthworms are essential for turning that dirt into the soil that sustains the plants which feed us.) Up until a few centuries ago, we didn’t know any of this but those microorganisms were and are essential to our existence. As with all animals cleanliness was not something that concerned us.

We didn’t have soap, we didn’t take showers … and we survived and multiplied.

(Archaeological research indicates that some early soaps appeared about 3,000 years ago but there is little evidence that it was in common use until relatively recently.)

We learned that there … More

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Financing the United Nations

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Money

Towards a formula which is dependable and politics proof

Doug Anderson

Jan 18, 2026

The United Nations has numerous problems but all have been exacerbated by financial considerations. Every member is supposed to pay its “mandatory assessed contributions” which are calculated by a complicated formula based on the country’s gross national income, population size and external debt, among other factors.

The problem is that not all countries pay up when they should and some withhold their payments as a way of expressing their displeasure with the decisions made and/or actions taken by the UN.

The UN budget for 2025 was $3.72 billion plus peacekeeping which is a separate budget of $5.38 billion. The United States and China have by far the highest dues which together cover more than 40% of the UN budget.

Over the last two years the United States has an accumulated debt of $3.86 billion, China … More

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… like a 10-year old kid with the hottest new Video Game … except this was real

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Media, Communications, Politics

Who’s next?

Doug Anderson

Jan 04, 2026

I can picture it – a dimly lit room at Mar-a-lago, locked doors, numerous large video screens around the walls, with Trump, his senior generals and other minions watching the invasion of Venezuela with giddy anticipation. The extraction was swift and successful – no Americans lost. (But an estimated 40 Venezuelans killed and a lot of damage to infrastructure).

I’m sure the testosterone was flowing at a fever pitch. Even the perp-walk in New York was staged as a victory lap for the TV networks with motorcades, flashing lights and armoured cars.

But that’s the easy part. Now that he’s in New York, the lawyers will have to prosecute him and that’s hardly a slam dunk. Maduro will claim immunity on a number of grounds all of which will be litigated, quite possibly right up to the Supreme Court. And then there’s the … More