the aphorisms

by hippocrates

"so what do you do all day?" is frequently asked of me since i've been out of school and unemployed. i keep myself busy with study and hobbies. today i came across 'the aphorisms' by hippocrates. bound in leather, this volume smelled like it's been around for decades and not opened for almost as long. each aphorism was printed on one page in greek, latin, and english.

hippocrates frequently implicates bloodletting:

Pregnant women if plethoric may be purged from the fourth to the seventh month; but even within these periods moderately: earlier or later purging must be cautiously avoided.

The back part of the head being in pain, relief is found by opening a vein in the forehead.

he also often invokes common sense:

Neither fasting nor fulness, nor any other excess, is advantageous.

Delirium attended with laughter is less dangerous than delirium
attended with a serious mood.

and the occasional hedging of advice:

Fumigation with aromatics promotes menstruation, and would be
useful in many other cases, if it did not occasion heaviness of the
head.

the book makes a great christmas gift for someone who appreciates camp by anachronism.

david is reading



david is watching



david is wearing



david is listening to

whole foods fail

i literally laughed out loud when i heard what john mackey, c.e.o. of whole foods, published in the wsj a few days ago:

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America.

hahahaha. it is bs arguments like this that makes me hate lawyers and the legal institution of our fine country. the declaration of independence and the constitution combined is about thirty pages long. such brief documents cannot list every single "right" that is entitled to the people. the supreme court has decided that we all have a right to privacy, abortion, marriage, education, and to remain silent when the police is fucking with you, and none of these are mentioned in the constitution.

escape to sf

for all of the misgivings i feel about san francisco, there is a reason to be here now. the city is quite literally one of the coolest places in america, at least during these sweltering summer months.