Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, and National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. I want to use this occasion to rant once again about filling a pie with wonderful fruit that is mixed with a horrible, sour, gritty, and foul-tasting vegetable. Here is one of the infernal pies from Wikipedia, which has this note:
A strawberry rhubarb pie is a type of tart and sweet pie made with a strawberry and rhubarb filling. This was created when the fruits were paired up and harvested in England in June and July. The British found the sweetness of the strawberries offset the tartness of the rhubarb. Sometimes tapioca is used as a thickener.
The Brits were deeply misguided; pure strawberry pie is EXCELLENT. You just cut back on the sugar.
I have sampled the foul concoction shown above, and I’ve also had strawberry pie by itself, which is superb, and extra good with whipped cream or ice cream on it. Here’s a strawberry tart I photographed in Honolulu in 2019, right before I bought a whole strawberry pie. Now tell me: wouldn’t you rather have this instead of one mixed with rh-b-rb?
It’s also International Dark ‘n’ Stormy Day (an excellent drink) as well as Donald Duck Day, whose entry says this:
Donald Duck’s first appearance on screen was in the animated short film “The Wise Hen”, on June 9, 1934.
Here’s the cartoon; Donald shows up at 2:01. They don’t make cartoons like this any more!
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 9 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
Breaking nooz: Israel appears to have struck Lebanon again today. Iran is insistent that any deal include a cessation of hostilities against Lebanon, as it wants to maintain the terror force of Hezbollah:
The Israeli military issued an evacuation alert in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, warning people in one of the area’s largest cities of imminent strikes against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, a day after Israel and Iran pulled back from direct confrontation.
The new warning showed how Lebanon has emerged as a major wedge issue in the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran and efforts to end the war. Tehran has insisted that any peace agreement include Lebanon, while Israel has rejected any such link, insisting it will keep targeting Hezbollah, Iran’s most important ally.
Iran pulled back on Monday after it fired ballistic missiles at Israel a day earlier in retaliation for an Israeli strike near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, targeting Hezbollah — attacks that threatened to unravel a two-month cease-fire between Iran and Israel. The Iranian military said that if Israel resumed its “aggression and hostile acts,” including in southern Lebanon, “much harsher and more forceful actions” would follow. Israel has occupied large swathes of southern Lebanon during the most recent conflict.
President Trump said early Tuesday that both sides had agreed to stop the fighting, and that “a very, very good deal” between the United States and Iran could be finalized within days.
But it was not clear if the two sides were any closer to a deal on Tuesday, and there was no immediate response from Iranian officials to Mr. Trump’s comments. The president has repeatedly said that the United States and Iran were nearing an agreement to end the war, resolve the fate of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil and gas shipments.
*Amit Segal at It’s Noon in Israel describes the latest exchange of attacks in, “Israel vs. Iran: Round 3.” Trump has told both countries to knock it off, and, according to Segal, Israel is treading lightly:
Rather than 1991, Israel seems to be back in 2024, facing an emboldened Axis of Resistance alone. But in 2026, Israel is handcuffed by an additional constraint: Washington’s hunger for a deal. Tied to U.S. diplomatic goals, Israel’s retaliatory strikes have been hollowed out. Yesterday, they hit evacuated headquarters in Dahiyeh; this morning, they hit secondary petrochemical sites in Mahshahr, deliberately leaving Iran’s critical energy infrastructure untouched. Israel is using a light touch because they are more scared of Trump’s reaction than Iran is.
There are three options going forward:
- Capitulation: Israel absorbs the latest attack, allowing Iran to establish a new normal of firing occasional missiles with no consequences. The fallout is immediate: Gulf allies lose faith in the U.S., and Tehran cements its regional hegemony. Iran walks into negotiations holding all the cards, having confirmed with absolute certainty that Washington will not return to military operations.
- Restoration of Deterrence: The U.S. and Israel strike back decisively, and Tehran decides to absorb the blow. This scenario reasserts American dominance over the region and stabilizes the Lebanese front by cementing the rule: any attack on the Israel’s north will be answered with devastation in Dahiyeh.
- Rapid Escalation: The third option, perhaps flowing from a failed attempt at option two, sees the U.S. respond and Iran—calculating that it will accelerate Trump’s capitulation—resume the war. However, a renewed exchange does not guarantee a drawn-out regional conflict on the scale of Operation Epic Fury. Given the exhausted target banks and the recognition that the regime cannot be overthrown from the air, this campaign may only last a few days before another ceasefire and a return to the status quo.
There is, however, a possibility that this highly public clash is all a carefully manufactured illusion—that Trump and Netanyahu have been secretly coordinating this entire masquerade to lull Tehran into a false sense of security before a devastating strike. But even if this is a brilliant game of geopolitical chess, the clock is ticking. Every moment these attacks go unanswered, the U.S. bleeds credibility, and the more fatal it becomes to Netanyahu’s electoral survival.
What we are witnessing is a complete strategic inversion. Since the ceasefire, the U.S. feared the Iranian front’s influence over Lebanon; today, the Lebanese front is dictating the actions of Iran. In a further twist, Hezbollah was built to be Iran’s forward defense, yet today, Tehran is stepping into the line of fire to protect its proxy—it’s like Trump jumping in front of a bullet to protect his security guards. Unless the U.S. and Israel inflict massive, unbearable costs for Tehran’s “heroic” sacrifice, Iran will simply repeat this action for every proxy in its arsenal. If that happens, restoring freedom of navigation from the Houthis, returning normalcy to Israel’s north, or securing any kind of future for Lebanon will be virtually impossible short of full regime change in Tehran.
None of the options are good ones, but #1 is unacceptable, though it seems to be the path Trump is treading. There’s no doubt that Iran will strike again, and we’ll see what happens this time. If #1 is the game plan, we’ll know quickly.
*The NYT has an interview with Scott Pelley about Bari Weiss (article archived here). Remember that Weiss was more or less forced out of the NYT, so they’re on Pelley’s side, and it shows. That said, the interview did firm up my dislike of Weiss’s attempt to remake CBS without the experience to do so. “60 Minutes” was my favorite television show, and though I don’t watch it so often any more, I would be sad if it became a mouthpiece for the center right—or any ideology. A few exchanges:
At that meeting, you spoke up very forcefully. You asked Nick Bilton [the new head of “60 Minutes”] why he’d taken the job “knowing that you will never be welcome here.” Why did you decide to have that first interaction with your new boss in public and not behind closed doors?
It was behind closed doors. I was with my family in a closed room. None of this was meant to be public. Imagine I’m walking into this room with these people who have devoted their lives to “60 Minutes.” They have not received any kind of explanation. They are waiting for Bari Weiss to walk in the room in the hope that she’s going to explain why this tragedy has occurred and why it was so necessary. I’m waiting to see who comes in and it’s Nick Bilton and one of Bari’s deputies. No Bari. People are a little shocked by this. As we’re standing in there, Nick makes his way to the front of the room and does something absolutely jaw-dropping to me. He pulls out his phone and begins reading a statement off his phone in a room full of 50 heartbroken people. The callousness, the tone deafness of that, you could hear the groan in the room. They put out a big spread of bagels like we were all going to feel better. And also, if I can give you a little bit of context.
. . . Ellison then hires Bari Weiss to run CBS News. Weiss is a former opinion writer at The New York Times who left to start her own publication after claiming bias in the Times Opinion section. I never worked with her, for the record. The Free Press, which she launched, is generally pro-Israel and bills itself as pushing against what it sees as the mainstream media. What did you make of her appointment?
I was not familiar with her name, so I did some research and discovered those things that you just outlined. What concerned me was that she had zero television experience and had never managed a large global operation like CBS News. Those were red flags to me, but I thought, David Ellison thinks she’s the right person for the job. We are absolutely going to welcome her, listen to her, and give her the benefit of the doubt.
. . . One of the arguments that Bari Weiss has made about “60 Minutes” and CBS News is that they need to be brought into the modern era. Nick Bilton also said in that staff meeting with you that “broadcast is an ice cube that is melting.” Do you think they have a point, even if “60 Minutes” is reaching a huge audience now? Does its metabolism, the kinds of correspondents that it has have to change to reach a younger audience that interacts with media in a completely different way?
Of course we have to reach out to a younger and younger audience, but their argument about joining the internet age is just disingenuous. It’s almost as if Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton were sealed in a time capsule in 1990, and it just cracked open. They’ve just discovered the internet, and they’re running around telling everybody how important it is. At CBS News, yeah, join the fight. We started our first “60 Minutes” online show, “60 Minutes Overtime,” in 2010. I shoot TikTok verticals, or I used to shoot TikTok verticals on every assignment. We’re there. We’re everywhere.
Do you think Bari Weiss needs to be removed?
Oh, gosh, yes. Look, she’s a lovely person. And her Free Press organization that she founded has been very successful. But television’s not her thing. This is like somebody walking up to me and saying, “There’s a 747, there are 400 people on it, we need you to fly it to Paris.” I’m going to decline because I don’t have a clue. And it would have been so much better if Bari Weiss had been offered this job and said, “Oh, that’s not for me, I don’t know how to do that.”
Bari Weiss has come a long way since resigning from the NYT, so I’m withholding judgement on her performance at CBS News. But I’m worried that she has an ideological agenda, too: anti-wokeness, the same agenda as the University of Austin. She is not a MAGA-ite for sure, but let’s see how it goes.
*This article in the WaPo, “Ibuprofin vs. acetaminophen: Which pain reliever should you use?” (article archived here) will be something most of us would benefit from reading. For one thing, taking too much of one of these drugs can cause serious damage to your liver. My go-to pain reliever was Tylenol, but now I’m not so sure.
Both acetaminophen and ibuprofen can be used to treat headaches.
But the two medications have different mechanisms of action. Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), a class that includes naproxen (Aleve) and aspirin. These medications block enzymes that produce prostaglandins, which are pain- and inflammation-causing compounds released by the body in response to injury.
So in addition to treating pain and fever, ibuprofen is a better choice for pain accompanied by inflammation and swelling.
Acetaminophen works better for pain that is not primarily caused by inflammation, such as headaches.
And because it generally has fewer cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and kidney-related side effects and fewer drug interactions than ibuprofen, it may be a better option for some older people, those with certain cardiovascular or gastrointestinal conditions or those taking certain medications, said Gabriel Gavrilescu, chair of internal medicine and geriatrics at Cleveland Clinic in Florida.
Adults can take 650 mg of regular-strength acetaminophen every four to six hours as needed or 1,000 mg of extra-strength acetaminophen every six hours, not to exceed 4,000 mg per day. However, some experts recommend a maximum limit that’s lower. “For the elderly or people of lower weight, probably 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams would be a safer limit,” Gavrilescu said.
Acetaminophen is generally safe for most people if you stick with the recommended amounts. However, taking too much — more than 4,000 mg per day — can cause severe liver damage, even liver failure. It should not be combined with heavy alcohol use, and people taking medications that affect liver function should check with their doctor before using it
Muscle aches? Ibuprofen. Joint aches? Ibuprofen. And there are recommendations for dental pain, cold or flu, cramps, or other health conditions. But of course ask your doctor, as they say.
*And yes, more health-related news from the same venue, but this time about coffee: “Love coffee? Have the last cup at this time for a better night’s sleep” (article archived here).
There’s a catch though: People who were assigned to drinking coffee were also more active, taking an average of 1,000 more steps — the equivalent of walking about half a mile — per day than those randomized to the no-coffee group. The researchers speculated that perhaps the boost in activity is part of why coffee has consistently been shown to have many health benefits, including maybe even for longevity.
That trade-off between energy and sleep is something many of us coffee drinkers know intimately. Miscalculate, and you can end up “tired and wired”— a miserable state of mind I was in too often during medical training, living cup to cup.
Here’s the good news: You don’t need to quit. But you may need to move up your last cup to much earlier in the day than you think. Rather than the vague advice we’ve all heard to avoid coffee “close to bedtime,” researchers now have a more specific number. A 2023 meta-analysis of 24 studies on the effect of a standard cup of coffee (about 100 milligrams of caffeine) found that for the best night’s sleep, you need to finish drinking coffee at least nine hours or so before you sleep.
So if you’re in bed by 10 p.m., your last cup should be by 1 p.m.
. . .The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises adults to consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, and not all cups are created equal. For instance, a medium iced latte from Dunkin’ has about 166 milligrams of caffeine and a grande Nitro Cold Brew from Starbucks has about 280 milligrams of caffeine. A typical Keurig pod contains 75 to 150 milligrams per eight-ounce cup.
A randomized controlled trial in adult men found that, on average, a 100-milligram dose of caffeine consumed four hours before bedtime had little impact on sleep whereas a 400-milligram dose consumed 12 hours before bedtime had an impact. So if you crave an afternoon cup, switch to a less potent option to minimize the chances you’ll get the receipts at bedtime.
That’s no problem for me: I drink one latte per day, and it’s at about 6 a.m. Then that’s it for me. What with insomnia, I don’t want to risk any more. And here’s some good news for me:
It may not just be sleep that benefits from morning coffee drinking: In one study, people who restricted their coffee drinking to the morning hours seemed to have a mortality benefit compared with those who drank throughout the day.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili firmly educates Andrzej about cats:
Hili: It’s good that you stopped by, because no one has petted me in a long time.
Me: You could have come to me yourself.
Hili: You really don’t understand anything.
Hili: Dobrze, że tu zajrzałeś, bo dawno mnie nikt mnie głaskał.
Ja: Mogłaś sama przyjść do mnie.
Hili: Ty naprawdę nic nie rozumiesz.
From Quackers About Ducks; this is ME (except I’ve never dreamed about ducks):
From Bad Spelling or Grammar on Signs and Notices:
From Meow Incorporated:
******************
From Masih. Apparently these are supporters of the regime celebrating Iran’s attack on Israel. translation from Farsi
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, once again, by firing missiles at Israeli soil under the guise of “support for Hezbollah in Lebanon,” has proven that it not only places no value on the lives, security, and livelihoods of the Iranian people, but also feeds on war adventures for its own survival.
While millions of Iranians are gasping for breath under the weight of poverty, repression, and a lack of any bright future, the regime’s supporters in their gatherings welcomed the start of a new round of war and destruction with cheers, joy, and cries of “Allahu Akbar.” The very same people who silenced every voice of protest and opposition with the label of “warmonger” are now themselves cheering for war and have become the flag-bearers of igniting conflict and insecurity.
This regime sees its very existence tied to death-mongering, escalating tensions, and proxy conflicts. For these rulers, Iran is not a country for prosperity and welfare, but a fortress and a source of fuel for their war machine and belligerent ideology. Hours after this missile attack, the Israeli army, in response, struck targets in various Iranian cities. Reports indicate a second wave of missile attacks by the Islamic Republic, and the fragile ceasefire has once again been shrouded in ambiguity and peril.
The people of Iran have once again become hostages and victims of the regime’s military and ideological ambitions. Now tell me, who are the real instigators of war, or in their own words, the true “warmongers”?
سپاه پاسداران جمهوری اسلامی بار دیگر با شلیک موشک به خاک اسرائیل و به نام «حمایت از حزبالله لبنان»، ثابت کرد که نه تنها هیچ ارزشی برای جان، امنیت و معیشت مردم ایران قائل نیست، بلکه از ماجراجوییهای جنگی برای بقای خود تغذیه میکند.
در حالی که میلیونها ایرانی زیر بار فقر، سرکوب… pic.twitter.com/Yl64lem37q
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 8, 2026
From Luana: Canada’s case of mass hysteria (the article is here):
Great piece by @HadleyFreeman in Britain’s @thetimes about the Great unmarked graves social panic of 2021-26. The story makes Canadians look like gullible idiots, but it’s a valuable international case study in mass hysteria & journalistic incompetencehttps://t.co/KiibJJ8HYB pic.twitter.com/jghA1oRZQB
— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) June 7, 2026
From Emma, who knows:
Other options for single-item diets:
Milk.
Potatoes.— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) June 8, 2026
Larry is self aggrandizing:
Fab five https://t.co/bSKY9Hbw58
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) June 7, 2026
Two from my feed. The evolution of “sewing” in birds amazes me:
This bird sews leaves like a human 😳 pic.twitter.com/qGnbYDLDhD
— Birds gallery (@Birdsgallry) June 8, 2026
Another bird, with a skill in warbling. Sound up! English translation: “The warbling of the winter wren It likely harbors the greatest healing effect in history. Please enjoy the highest peak vibration frequency
ミソサザイのさえずり
おそらく史上最高の癒し効果を秘めています。
最高峰の振動周波数をお楽しみください😌 pic.twitter.com/Zqjc3F8aP9— 尊い動物 (@7wVy1) June 8, 2026
One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
This Hugarian Jewish boy was gassed as soon as he arrived in Auschwitz. He was seven years old and would have been 89 today had he lived.
— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2026-06-09T10:05:39.502Z
And one from Dr. Cobb, who ran into his ex in Paris:
Walking down a street in Paris, bumped into my ex who I haven’t seen in 30 years!!! I lived 18 years in Paris and only once bumped into someone I knew…
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2026-06-07T20:10:08.636Z
Thanks for the tylenol/ibuprofen comparison. I figured it out some years ago in conversations with my RN wife, but it had never been made clear to me by my primary care physician. I abide by your listed guidelines and my pcp monitors my liver function due to some other daily meds she has prescribed for me. As aches and pains seem to be more recurrent, I had found myself slipping down the slope to daily rather than occasional dosing with tylenol. So it is important to ask yourself if a dose is really necessary as you are about to take it.
Also, I want to point out for anyone not aware of it, the “topical advil”: voltaren. It is an over the counter (otc) cream that can be applied externally to aching muscles and joints, avoiding the gastrointestinal impacts of oral ibuprofen tablets. I first used it when a physician prescribed it (before it became available otc) for some foot and ankle pain in a dosage much higher than the current otc recommendation. As an aging former weightlifter, I find myself using voltaren on finger joints and lower back muscles often, eschewing oral Advil almost totally these days.
Don’t abide by MY guidelines, as I’m not a doctor! But the article goes give some guidelines, and I do ask my doctor if I have more than one-off pain.
Also noteworthy as a safe alternative: Tart cherry juice (or tablets thereof). There’s clinical evidence for its anti-inflammatory effects, and it’s used by elite athletes for post-workout muscle aches. I’m not an alternative-health person at all, but this one seems well enough supported to be worth a try.
Going to make myself unpopular here probably but I’m going to suggest, for many types of pain, opiates.
Only ever opiates.
When used correctly – and this is important – they are just about the safest drugs known to man. Won’t wreck your stomach or turn your liver into a bag of sand, and actually have a low (20%) “capture rate” (addiction) even recreationally, and much lower in legitimate pain management. Further, in worst case scenarios addiction is treatable.
Public perceptions, which are disastrous, are based entirely on misuse or 2nd order War on Drugs/regulatory effects.
Smarter doctors know this.
There ya go. Come at me! 🙂
D.A.
NYC🗽
You’re not wrong, David. Opiates are remarkably safe drugs, can be taken for months or years in escalating doses (to account for tolerance, a physiological phenomenon distinct from addiction) without any collateral damage to other organs.
However, the intense euphoria gives them very important abuse potential —taking them just for the euphoria and no longer for any medical indication, like pain or chronic cough from tuberculosis. (Heroin, diacetyl-morphine, was invented and advertised as a “non-addictive” substitute for morphine in TB.). This makes them socially and legally unsuitable for over-the-counter use for the trivial purposes people are educated by the television to take NSAIDs and acetaminophen for, despite the real risks these non-opiate analgesics carry with frequent and prolonged use. Especially so in elderly people with aches and pains everywhere, some of which are aggravated by social isolation, all their friends having died and children busy with their own children in distant cities or countries. But yes, some of these patients do do better with careful doses of prescribed opiates than adding NSAIDs or Tylenol, which really don’t work all that well anyway, to their other polypharmacy.
One of my professors used to say that if you are treating a no-disease disease, use a no-treatment treatment. Tylenol and Advil over the counter fill this need admirably in healthy people if not used in excess. For serious pain in sick people you need medically supervised opiates….for as short a time as possible. Three pills maybe, then switch to self-dosed placebo Tylenol with strict limits.
Leslie, out of interest, how does the body “know” that an opioid is being used medically, and not recreationally, and so “know” not to get addicted?
[Asking as someone who was drip-fed diamorphine for 3 days following a major operation, but felt no addiction at all to it, indeed I was glad to get off it since it was causing me bad dreams.]
“I wish I knew!” is the short answer, all I’ll say for now so as to not over-comment while still acknowledging your direct and important question. I’ll let the thread expand while I think about it.
Diamorphine is better known by its Bayer brand name Heroin. You must’ve been in the UK where it can be prescribed medically for severe pain, unlike in most other countries where it cannot be prescribed for any purpose.
PS The simple answer to your question is the brain – that is the organ of addiction as well as pain perception. Some brains are more sensitive to the positive mood effects of opioids than others, hence more likely to want to use such drugs over and over again even after any pain is resolved. Further, the typical doses required for euphoria are generally much higher than those that simply relieve pain, unless the pain is very severe.
My experience and understanding is that your body does not know. However, properly dosed opioids tend to stop the pain without making you particularly loopy.
Even so, long term use will lead you towards habituation and eventually addiction.
I took a bunch of them for about a year after a horrific back injury. I never took more than necessary or prescribed, but just stopping them would have led to an unpleasant few days. I talked my pain doc into prescribing enough Xanax for me to stay zombified for three days, after which I was fine.
Taking normal doses of opioids for a few days or even a few weeks is unlikely to result in any adverse effects for a normal person. It is my understanding that some folks are more disposed to addiction than others, so my experiences might not apply.
Mike (and Max now that I see his reply) nailed it. I was turning over in my mind how we might be able to tell in advance which patients with pain have brains that recoil from the effects of opiates and which ones have brains that hunger for euphoria with a self-reinforcing compulsion. In advance, we can’t. So we have to be careful and circumspect in everyone.
It’s not true that the whole population goes without good pain control just because some unknowable minority within it might get addicted. I hope that’s not what Mike meant. Everyone can have opiates for pain control. Even if we were sure that a particular patient was going to get into trouble — a heroin addict in recovery, say — we would still offer strong opiates for severe pain, because there is nothing else that really works. As a condition of allowing us the privilege of prescribing these drugs, society obliges us to reserve them for moderate-severe pain, the kind that is bad enough for sufferers to come in to see us instead of self-placeboing, and prescribe them with the possibility of abuse informing our judgment. (That anyone could take opium/morphine for himself for thousands of years is beside the point: the government decided to make the opiates controlled prescription drugs, and ban heroin in most countries, because it wanted doctors to gate-keep the social problem of addiction. Whether this is wise policy is irrelevant to the obligation to comply with it.)
The sad story of opiates for chronic pain — pain that doesn’t go away as the disease (if any) heals or remits — shows how large numbers of people can become addicted for little medical benefit and how easily doctors are swayed by social peer pressure and threats of ostracism. This is probably out of scope for Coel’s question but I would be remiss not to mention it.
Leslie I did not mean that people can’t get proper pain control on prescription. I was referring to the general availability of opioids. For example, until a few years ago low-dose codeine pills were available OTC here in Australia. On occasions when I was in pain – for example, my lower back going out to the point where I could only crawl across the floor -a few of those OTC codeine pills had the miraculous effect of allowing me to move normally again and go back to work. By contrast, weak analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen had no effect whatsoever. So I always had some codeine in my house just in case another painful condition struck. Now however all OTC codeine sales are prohibited, and to obtain any such opioid – even a relatively weaker one such as codeine – requires a trip to the doctor for a prescription. That was because some people had abused OTC codeine.
I should add that we should make a distinction between addiction – a compulsive craving to use a drug – and physical dependence/withdrawal, which is very manageable (unlike addiction).
I could not agree more if I tried with both hands.
OTC analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen are only slightly more effective than placebo for mild pain, and ineffective for moderate to severe pain. Most of their efficacy is due to placebo effects. Opioids, on the other hand, are miracle drugs when it comes to alleviating pain. If the dose is carefully adjusted to just counter the level of pain the patient has, there is little to no euphoria. But even with higher doses than that, most people do not enjoy the effects enough to become addicts. A minority do though, hence the caution in prescribing. A case of the majority having to eschew the painkilling benefits of opioids – drugs used medically for thousands of years for that purpose – due to the addictive tendencies of a few.
Both Ibuprofen and asperin work. The former for inflammatory pain, the latter for migraines, personally. Given the dose limit, I was forced to rely on the placebo effect when the kids were sick. The placebo I gave in between the 6 hour doses of actual Ibuprofen did not reduce the pain complaints significantly. The actual dose did.
I would therefore reject your assertion about the efficacy.
Clinical trials show, for example, that NSAIDS relieve headache in around 60% of sufferers vs. 50% for placebo. So I’m not saying they have no effect, just that their superiority over placebo is small. BUT they are good at reducing fever, hence the effect you observed when your kids were sick.
Headache usually isn’t inflammatory, IIRC.
I have used them, very sparingly, very successfully.
Once, when I had a bulging disc at L4-L5 (agony!) I was popping Percocets right up the frequency limit (and a bit beyond, to be honest) and this was just enough to keep me from grinding my teeth 24/7. This was, by far, the worst pain I’ve experienced. (My doctors have many times remarked, “you have a very high pain tolerance.”)
Eventual solution was epidural of lidocaine + strong cortisone. When that went in, they had to have two very large orderlies (male) lying on me, one on my back/shoulders and one on my legs, or I would have levitated through the roof. Pain beyond imagination for about a week (actually probably more like 500 milliseconds; but it felt like a week). As soon as the lidocaine kicked in (some hundreds of milliseconds) I could stand and walk normally for the first time in a month.
The cortisone allowed me to do physical therapy, which eventually resolved the problem — that and strictly using good lifting hygiene. Eventually, the bulge reabsorbed and the problem was solved (8 years or so).
Anyway, I dropped the Percocets as soon as the cortisone took hold and never felt the slightest tendency towards addiction.
Bless the poppy.
not arguing, just explaining.
Growing up, we weren’t the wellest-often, but rhubarb grew incredibly fast.
We had pie, bread, sauce (plain or on cottage cheese).
My brother and I didn’t know my mom was using it to save money.
I know well-off people who still eat pokeweed on special occasions. It’s now an enduring cultural practice long after being a necessity for the poor. Toxicity and preparation difficulties aside, it too has the advantage of being common and growing very fast.
The pie comments (I agree) added to my early morning hunger. The coffee — it’s early here and I haven’t had my first but, but it’s just now brewed. It was fine to see the bird sewing and hear the warbling. The birdsong got my cat’s attention. Time for a cup of.
I will say this about the politicians’ fixation with third-world migration, it is making Irish people (north and south) realise that traditional squabbles about things like transubstantiation are looking rather quaint.
[Remark after seeing the video of an African migrant gouging out the eyes of an Irish man and then attempting to behead him.]
It seems to be a modern phenomenon that people now expect an explanation for anything that upsets them. Understandable, of course, but not so long ago ‘stuff’ just happened.
My coffee routine: I drink two strong cups (not mugs) of Elite brand powdered coffee, black, in the morning, typically while reading this website. Mid-afternoon is definitely past my “coffew”.
🎼All my ex-es …🎶
Live in 🎶…
[ LP record scratch ]
..Paris…
I think it works!
😆
I lived in Chicago for thirty years, and only ran into people I knew twice.
I LOVE rhubarb, especially as a compote. 😀
https://www.malteskitchen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/rhabarberkompott-1.webp
Iran, the U.S., and Israel: Trump is being played. Iran is using the conflict with Hezbollah as a delay tactic—every tit-for-tat with Israel puts a time-wasting kink in the “negotiations.” And, obviously, Iran is using Hezbollah to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States, as the Israeli people (rightly) demand that their government protect them while Trump demands that the IDF hold its fire. Iran will not give up its quest for a nuclear weapon, nor will it relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz, nor will it give up its proxies except by force. Trump needs to restart the war.
Scott Pelley: Good journalist, a fixture at 60 Minutes. If he was as subordinate as it seems, there was no choice but to fire him.
Ibuprofen vs. Acetaminophen: I prefer ibuprofen, keeping to the minimum dosage to stay well within the safe range. My impression from my personal (and grossly unscientific) experience is that ibuprofen is more effective for pain. I have read that the anti-inflammatory effect is pretty low at low doses, so all you’re really getting is the analgesia—which is all I usually need. If I’m specifically directed to avoid ibuprofen—as has been the case on occasion, since ibuprofen supposedly has blood-thinning properties—I use acetaminophen instead.
On to coffee: I take the lowest dose needed to create the desired effects—a slight energy “lift,” and a sense of “well-being.” I get wonderful beans in bulk online and make my own 33% caffeinated mix. I grind immediately before brewing. It’s a wonderful morning ritual. I love how people have for decades been trying to demonize coffee, but they have only succeeded in finding out that it’s actually good for you!
I so look forward to this time of year: classes have ended, the days are warm and long, my garden has leafed out, and I get to play the happy warrior in this perennial conversation with our host about that “foul-tasting vegetable”.
Lemon and a little salt are the secret ingredients in ~all these “infernal pie” recipes. Sally uses orange but has a similar effect.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/strawberry-rhubarb-pie/
I think I can almost match the Matthew Cobb effect. Wife and I married in Honolulu in 68, lived and worked in suburban St. Louis. I went to a conference in Chicago, wife accompanying me. Wife did her Master’s (Mathematics) at Chicago, and took me on a walking tour of Hyde Park. While admiring the F. L. Wright house, we met on the sidewalk Reverend Teruo Tawata, who had officiated at our wedding in Honolulu. Only a year and a half had elapsed, nothing like Matthew’s 30 years.
Emma misunderstood the tweet she was responding to: Just Egg is a plant-based egg substitute sold in small cartons, not a diet comprised exclusively of ova.
Fully agree on rhubarb. I never liked it. Despite having grown up in the Midwest, where people were crazy for it. I can tolerate strawberry rhubard pie; but like you, think it’s a waste of good strawberries.
On Bari Weiss: I was excited about The Free Press and was a charter subscriber — for about two years. Until it became MAGA-lite and the comments sections on the articles became MAGA cesspools. I dropped my subscription and let them know why.
There are still some good articles there. But I switched my subscription to The Atlantic and haven’t regretted it.
I agree with Tim Urban that we don’t want to live in an echo-chamber (but rather an idea-lab). So I sample lots of right-leaning sources; because I want to hear many serious, intelligent opinions. I often listen to Jonah Goldberg, David French, the Triggernometry guys (though they are getting a bit too smug for me), David Frum (his podcast, The David Frum Show is one of my favorites), Glenn Loury, Coleman Hughes, Andrew Sullivan (charter Weekly Dish subscriber, I found him through Jerry on this site, a favorite), and Noam Dworman on his show Live From The Table, another favorite.
I often disagree with these people; but I value their opinions.
I lean left, so I follow lots of other people. Pod Save America (they get too self-satisfied for me sometimes), Al Franken, The Atlantic, Sam Harris, etc.