Kat McGowan

This is another one of those moments where I point out that I pitched the Washington Post on an editorial about family caregiving, an issue that affects 1 out of 4 American adults, and never got any response. Newsworthiness is in the eye of the beholder!

A screenshot of an Android app. Text: ▲ Nearby Glasses Smart Glasses are probably nearby Device: Unknown RSSI: -42 dBm Reason: Meta Company ID (0x058E) Company: Meta Platforms, Inc. This app notifies you when smart glasses are nearby. It uses company identificators in the Bluetooth data sent out by these. Therefore, there likely are false positives (e.g. from VR headsets). Hence, please proceed with caution when approaching a person nearby wearing glasses. They might just be regular glasses, despite this app's warning. Debug Log [19:08:40] Unknown (-50 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:40] Unknown (-50 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:41] Unknown (-34 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:42] Unknown (-34 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:42] Unknown (-34 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:42] Unknown (-57 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:43] Unknown (-40 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:43] Unknown (-42 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:43] Unknown (-42 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:44] Unknown (-42 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:44] Unknown (-42 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:44] Unknown (-42 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:45] Unknown (-40 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E) [19:08:45] Unknown (-63 dBm) Meta Company ID (0x058E)

I made an app.
play.google.com/store/apps/d...
Nearby Glasses is here to warn you when smart glasses are nearby.

I hope it's useful for someone.

Nearby Glasses's open source, free and rather simple
github.com/yjeanrenaud/...

It's also downloadable outside the Play Store. iOS port is in the making

Frontiers | Editorial: Exploring bereavement and public health: the role of family and friend caregivers in community well-being [Please update social media impact numbers before final publication].The circle of bereavement after the deaths of family and friends broadly influences soci...

How many times during your #publichealth course work did you learn health impacts of #bereavement? For me, that number was 0. Working w #caregivers & formers, I missed understanding that went beyond #grief. Check out special topic of @frontiersmedia.bsky.social
www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

This is just terrific. Do yourself a favor and read:

Got me through the 1990s.
Your turn: Post a banger not in English.

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jGs...)

We used to think that the benefit of GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic) was dependent on weight loss.
Now we know so many health benefits have little to do with that!
Today's report: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

MACPAC table showing how much rebates reduce Medicaid prescription drug costs.

New MACPAC data show the highly effective Medicaid Drug Rebate Program reducing gross Medicaid drug costs by 54.9% in FY 2024. Earlier Congressional Budget Office research found that Medicaid gets the lowest net prices of other federal programs/agencies even the VA: www.macpac.gov/publication/...

So it's a power move to make lots of typos and spelling mistakes? I am just figuring this out.

Here’s What the Latest Epstein Files Say About His Ties to Higher Ed New documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday reinforce that long after his criminal convictions, many prominent professors continued to communicate with him.

Here’s What the Latest Epstein Files Say About His Ties to Higher Ed: Collectively, the files underscore how deeply Epstein remained embedded in academic and intellectual circles even after his criminal history became public. www.chronicle.com/article/here...

A female Snowy Owl, with black colouring sits in a field with a few blades of grass to her left poking through the grass.

This image is a bit different than my usual "style," if that's even a thing. Much more minimalistic given the Snowy Owl sitting out in the field. Not sure how well this image translates to a smaller screen (phone, thumbnail, etc.) but thought I'd share it nonetheless. #wildlife #birds #owls

Good for her.

How HHS is implementing Trump AI mandates, in numbers

I take a look at the AI tools the nation's health agency is using for everything from controversial audits to helping the agency cope with layoffs & executive orders.

Full charts in the story @statnews.com:

www.statnews.com/2026/02/03/n...

As plenty of others have noted, one striking thing the Epstein files reveal is just an extraordinary level of moral rot among elites, even if you assume most of his eager friendly correspondents were not directly involved in his crimes.

Downfall Bovino Edition. You're welcome.

Selective silencing of the CDC:
~50% of surveillance databases have halted updates
—87% of these were vaccine related
www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
editorial www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...

In Oregon the #1 way you tell spruce from Doug Fir is: is it soft?
Doug Fir = yes
Spruce= ouch, no

That is adorable! Congratulations

hapax legomenon!

The Limits of Violent Authoritarianism Trump’s authoritarian desires are boundless. But the past year proves that his ability to impose them on America is not.

I am taking down the paywall for this one, as I believe it remains relevant as a reflection on the limits of the authoritarian assault – and the need to push back against the idea that America is inevitably and irresistibly marching towards a Trump dictatorship.

This week’s piece:

Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.

there are so many gutting stories, but this one is hitting me extra hard. just imagining wael tarabishi slowly dying without his dad there to care for him because he was jailed by ICE makes me…i don’t have words. this country is disgusting.

Pretty galling what the first urologist tried to do here. www.statnews.com/2026/01/21/w...

Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program

Holy hell, what an obituary

The way I drive mine? yes

yesss

US Reverses Deep Cuts to Safety Agency Niosh, Reinstating Hundreds The Trump Administration is reversing its deep staffing cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reinstating hundreds of employees.

"Last April, HHS had informed staff of plans to terminate around 90% of NIOSH's roughly 1,000 employees, eviscerating the agency." Nine months later, the decision is reversed and layoff notices to workplace safety workers have been revoked. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

C.D.C. Brings Back Hundreds of Suspended Workplace Safety Employees

The Trump administration reinstated on Tuesday hundreds of CDC employees who had been placed on administrative leave in April.

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/h...

Senior Editor, Science WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

hi! do you want to be my editor? i know you do - come work with me

The milkman! Friday mornings. Decades before instacart.

DRAMA! House to vote on clean subsidy extension this week, while Senate GOP scrambles to slap together something acceptable... When last we checked in on the U.S. House of Representatives before Christmas, there was much High Drama after four supposedly "moderate" (aka "extremely vulnerable") Republicans gave up on trying to ...

🚨 NEW: DRAMA! House to vote on 3-yr extension of enhanced #ACA tax credits this week...while Senate GOP tries to cobble together SOMETHING acceptable:

acasignups.net/26/01/07/dra...