Category Archives: Featured

Ostracism and “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th February 2017

Tweet Ostracism was an interesting feature of the Athenian democracy, if you can call a city-state which granted the suffrage only to adult male land owners a democracy. About 30 to 50 thousand of about 300 thousand Athenians were eligible to vote. Unsurprisingly, democracy in Athens lasted little more than a century. Ostracism derives its name from…


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Salt Intake in Chronic Kidney Diease

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th January 2017

Tweet How much salt people should eat continues to be a murky issue. A paper in the February 2017 issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases examines the issue of salt (actually sodium) intake on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD) stages 2-4. It is a commentary on…


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The Vulture Has Landed

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th December 2016

Tweet I’ve been out of the country for a few weeks, but am now back (see below for the gruesome details). Thus regular posting will resume. First the important stuff.  If you take a cruise bring your own salt and a shaker. No cruise line I know of has decent salt shakers. They tend to…


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Life Expectancy in the Elderly

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th November 2016

Tweet Americans have a lower life expectancy than people in other developed countries. This lower longevity has been often used to disparage medical care in this country as being inferior to that of other similarly advanced nations.  Such an accusation is made acute by the high cost of American medical care – the highest in the…


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Statins For the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th November 2016

Tweet The use of statins (drugs which lower blood cholesterol) for the primary prevention of CV disease has been controversial since the drugs became available almost 30 years ago. Primary prevention is the prevention of a disease which the patient does not have, eg a stroke or a heart attack. Secondary prevention is the prevention…


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Shostakovich Violin Concerto #2 and Symphony # 7

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th June 2016

Tweet Disc 6 of Valery Gergiev’s Shostakovich cycle contains the 2nd Violin Concerto and the Leningrad Symphony (#7). It was recorded in performance in February of 2014. The soloist was Alena Baeva. The violin concerto, written and first performed in 1967, was the last concerto composed by Shostakovich. It was dedicated, as was the 1st,…


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Daisy For President

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th May 2016

Tweet Can a dog run for President of the United States? The answer is an unequivocal yes! Let me quote the Constitution: No person except a natural born citizen , or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adaption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither…


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The Genetically Modified Organism in Your House

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th April 2016

Tweet Vermont in a spasm of enlightenment has mandated that all genetically modified foods sold in the Green Mountain State be so labeled. According to numerous polls 90% of the population of the USA thinks this a good idea. This is the same concerned and informed group that by an 80% margin supports labeling food…


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Cosmosapiens – Book Review

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2016

Tweet Cosmosapiens by John Hands Subtitled Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe, John Hands’ book attempts to explain the origin of the universe and our place in it; and he does so in less than 600 pages (about a quarter of a million words) including many tables and figures. Amazingly, except for a stumble…


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Verdi Chords

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th December 2015

Tweet One of the most distinctive characteristics of Giuseppe Verdi’s operas is his use of chords to resolve or punctuate the moments of greatest emotional and dramatic tension as his story reaches a crisis point. This simple device would seem within the grasp of almost any composer, but Verdi’s use of it is unique. Below are…


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