15 May 2026

Ugh. This is how misinformation starts. Science Alert (which should have researched this better before publication) has this article titled: A Common Vitamin Has a Complicated Link to Cancer. At first I thought it was going to be about niacin, vitamin which has some link to carcinogenesis. But no, it's about an old observation regarding vitamin B12 levels. This is an issue that comes up repeatedly, because when someone who has cancer has a vitamin B12 level checked, it can be very high, which has led to suspicion that high vitamin B12 levels cause cancer. The explanation is that vitamin B12 is bound not only by transcobalamin, but also by haptocorrin, and it is the latter that is elevated with cancer and other conditions. When we measure vitamin B12 levels, we are measuring the vitamin bound to holotranscobalamin (which is biologically active) and the vitamin bound to haptocorrin (which is biologically inactive). Elevations of haptocorrin caused by cancer and certain liver diseases makes the vitamin B12 level increase, but that is only an epiphenomenon. There is no available assay for holotranscobalamin in the U.S. – only in the U.K. and it's not approved for use here. That would clear up this whole mess.

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There's an undergound market of thieves dedicated to unbricking stolen iPhones. They don't have a secret backdoor. It's all done by phishing and social hacking.

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How Fear Becomes Policy. The Stranger is aghast at so much surveillance everywhere. But in a society where we have so many thieves, arsonists, thugs, and other general a$$holes, there is no choice but to have surveillance so that we have some chance of catching them and applying some justice.

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Who owns your VPN? 62 VPNs run by just 10 companies. This information is really important when evaluating VPNs. The companies that own multiple VPNs seem to me like they have other priorities than assuring your privacy.

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Earth is flying through ancient supernova debris. This may explain the increase in meteor and bolide sightings recently.

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Your Brain Can Learn Things When You’re Unconscious. Not only learn things but also solve problems. I've had many experiences where I've solved a vexing problem by thinking about it overnight, waking up with the answer.

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The pattern continues. Some Portland institution hires someone with the DEI creds, and before long they prove unsuited for the job and get fired or resign, then walk away with a generous severance pay. It just happened again with PCC. People ask why their contracts allow them to be richly rewarded as they depart. Perhaps this is because without such clauses, no one would take the jobs. From the comments:
Bennings obtained her Piled Higher and Deeper in Higher Education Administration from Texas Tech in 2015. Since then she has held numerous jobs, none last much over 3 years. Texas Tech 3-years, Clovis Community College 1-year, Kellogg Community College 2-years 7 months and PCC for 3 years, 10 months. In the hiring world we call that a troubling pattern. Who is doing the backgrounds and reference checking for these hires?

At her previous position as president of Kellogg Community College, she fired the DEI officer and gave the position to herself. She knows how to work the system.
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The proposed layoffs accompany a host of other measures that Cudd says the university is using to bridge the deficit. These include savings from vacancies and retirements (estimated at roughly 48 employees and $7.2 million in savings) and eliminating cost-of-living increases for unclassified unrepresented staff and university administrators. Notably, the university is also raising tuition—Cudd said the university’s board had approved a roughly 5% increase at its last meeting. 
Pay more, get less. Sad.