Posted inHealth

Acupuncture is an example of the games health insurers play with benefits

Though I can't prove this scientifically because I'm not a controlled experiment, there's good reason for me to believe that I've benefited from my acupuncture treatments for low back pain and the related sciatica from Karen Kaufman. I talked about this in a June 2024 blog post, accurately titled "I benefited from my sessions at Salem's Innerhealth Acupuncture Clinic." I'm convinced that Kaufman helped relieve the sciatica pain in my right leg considerably. Naturally I can't be sure of this, since I'm not a random controlled experiment, just one person who was drawn to try acupuncture after physical therapy didn't…
1
Posted inSalem

Ugh. Paid on street parking coming to downtown Salem July 1

Three days a week I have to park in downtown Salem so I can go to my Tai Chi class on Court Street between Liberty and Commercial. My instructor posted this not-so-cheery card from the City of Salem, alerting us students to what is coming July 1. I find the "Get Ready to Meet Beep Beep Salem" annoying. Sure, if Beep Beep is the dog (if that's what the animal is) driving a little red car, that would be entertaining. Also, decidedly illegal, since I doubt a dog could pass the DMV test for a license. But Beep Beep Salem…
No Comments
Posted inBooks

Book recommendation: “A Walk in the Park” by Kevin Fedarko

I read a lot of books. They're a mixture of nonfiction and fiction. But I'm not into "literary" versions of these genres. I buy nonfiction in order to learn something. I buy fiction in order to entertain myself, usually in the spy/thriller/espionage sort of writings.  (The Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva that I enjoy a lot comes closest to literary fiction, being very well written; however, I doubt Silva's books truly qualify as literary fiction.) However, near the end of 2024 I saw a list of 100 recommended nonfiction books published last year. I figured I needed to broaden…
1
Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Avelo Airlines, which flies out of Salem, is being paid for deportation ICE flights

It was controversial when in 2023 the Salem City Council paid $2.4 million from the city's general fund to make airport improvements that were needed to attract commercial air service to Salem -- even though at the time the City of Salem was facing a large budget shortfall and was hoping to raise $25 million a year from a payroll tax on workers. Avelo Airlines, a low-cost carrier, ended up coming to town. Now Avelo is enmeshed in a controversy of its own making due to the airline contracting with the Trump administration's ICE agency (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for…
No Comments