I was in Whole Foods over the weekend, picking up a few things. The founder of WF was a big libertarian, right? One of those guys who believed we could “heal ourselves” by choosing the correct organic foods, and anyone who didn’t — whether because of cost or attachment to Doritos — well, it sucks to be you. And that’s how I came to associate the chain with the MAHA movement, which believes much the same thing.
Then I stumbled into the supplements aisle, and hoo-boy, do these people swallow a lot of this crap. Food is all you need to heal you, along with ten thousand sketchily vetted, surprisingly expensive capsules that almost all come with zero evidence of their efficacy other than a vaguely worded article on some website, as well as the all-important recommendation by either an Instagram influencer or your personal trainer, or both.
The older I get, the less of this stuff I’m even tempted to take. For me it’s vitamin D because I live in a sunless pit six months of the year, vitamin B taken at the same time to remind me I remembered the D (because B turns your pee neon-yellow for a few hours), and that’s it. The truest words I’ve heard in some time came on Chapo Traphouse, when one of the guys said, “Sooner or later, every con man will try to sell you supplements.”
Of course, also, many of these supplements are sold via Amazon, a company I am trying my best to boycott, or at least deal with as little as possible. (I just ordered two books direct from the publisher, in case you doubt my commitment.) I am just one small, angry, bitchy person, but as I cannot launch a torpedo at the Bezos yacht on its next trip to carry the new Mrs. Bezos to her next adventure, perhaps collecting another environmental award, I can at least withdraw my business.
And yes, I know Amazon owns Whole Foods now. I only shop there once in a great while.
I imagine we all saw at least one or two pictures from the tackiest wedding of the century (so far). The guest-arrival photos were a nightmare of mermaid hair and squashed boobs. The bride, on her third marriage and the mother of three children, wore virginal white. The witnesses seem to have been chosen from a list of the randomly famous. Are they actually friends with this far-flung group? The Kardashians? The Kushners? Tom Brady? Oprah? Do you get the feeling Mr. or Mrs. Bezos have any friends they’ve known longer than a decade? A childhood or college friend they’ve kept on the Christmas-card list? I don’t get that feeling. If so, they might have married in a similarly lavish ceremony at this or that Bezos house, and not have to take over a European city for a week to get the right backdrop for the photos.
Tacky-tacky-tacky.
It’s hot again here, and I want to read the new Laura Lippman book. So here, have some amusing bloggage…
The Department of the Interior’s efforts to revise unfavorable stories about American history at National Park Service sites appears to be backfiring — instead of reporting incidents of “negative” history as directed by new signs, visitors have used the signs’ QR codes to submit hundreds of comments in support of the park service.
In a 65-page leaked document provided to SFGATE by the National Parks Conservation Association, the hundreds of comments that have poured in through June 16 show overwhelming support for better funding for national parks and increased protection of public lands.
“This felonious Administration is the very definition of un-American. The parks belong to us, the people. … Respectfully, GO **** YOURSELVES” reads one comment that has been reported through multiple parks and is directed to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
“Rangers, have a lovely day. You are appreciated,” the commenter added at the end.
“This park is perfect. Please tell Trump to go **** himself,” reads a similar comment posted through Keweenaw National Historical Park in Michigan.
…and have a pic of me and Dustin meeting Laura Lippman herself last week, at a book-signing in Toledo:
Does she look nervous or tired? We were at the very end of the line. Great dress, LL.
Alan Stamm said on June 29, 2025 at 6:25 pm
Great jacket, DB.
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Dexter Friend said on June 29, 2025 at 6:29 pm
I was sent to a chiro in 1989 for hip pain. This quack had me wait in a room lined with shelves of supplements. I came with X-rays ; he observed them and said what I really need was…then he procured 6 bottles of pills and well…I high-tailed it outta there pronto. No Sale.
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Mark P said on June 29, 2025 at 6:42 pm
Alt National Park Service has some cool “resist” stickers and pins. I wish they had a cloisonné pin with Smokey Bear wearing a ranger hat with RESIST on it. I would wear it all the time rather than American flag pin, which I don’t wear. I’m planning to visit a national park or two this fall. I hope they still have the report-your-neighbor fascist forms available. Fucking Nazis.
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Julie Robinson said on June 29, 2025 at 6:47 pm
Saw a few pictures of Bezos and his inflatable bride, didn’t read any stories. Instead I read about the Dogist and his new wife, who knew each other from way back but only got romantic a few years ago. And then another, about a couple who first met as 11 year olds at camp, and another about Huma Abedin and her new husband, a Soros son. All three stories were sweet and hopeful. All from the NYT.
And now I must go look up the Laura Lippman book. Is she really tall? ‘Cos I didn’t think Nance was short.
Happy Birthday to Jodi!
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Suzanne said on June 29, 2025 at 7:04 pm
When I was going through cancer treatments and saw more specialists than I thought possible, one of the first questions I was usually asked was about my supplement intake. When I said that I took Calcium and vitamin D only, the response was invariably a one word statement, “Good!”
I will never understand why people who won’t get a flu shot will pump unregulated and untested pills purchased at Walmart or the local health store into their system and think they are living so much healthier than the average person. The wellness industry makes billions and billions every year off people who won’t take meds prescribed by actual doctors who they see as nefarious frontmen and women for the pharmaceutical industry which they claim makes too much money by pushing pills.
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Brandon said on June 29, 2025 at 7:40 pm
Amazon, a company I am trying my best to boycott, or at least deal with as little as possible.
What happened to Nance’s Kickback Lounge? Did Amazon end that program?
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nancy said on June 29, 2025 at 8:46 pm
I guess. I need to clean up that side rail.
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candlepick said on June 29, 2025 at 9:37 pm
Bookshop.org lets you buy books while supporting the local independent bookstore of your choice AND/OR all independent bookstore. Created to be an alternative to the Evil Empire. I believe the Kickback Lounge could be revived there as well.
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Gretchen said on June 29, 2025 at 10:36 pm
Julie Robinson: thanks for the phrase « the inflatable wife ». I’ve been trying to put my finger on what looks so wrong about her, and pumped up balloons falling out of her dress in every picture sums it up.
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Deborah said on June 30, 2025 at 5:51 am
The inflatable bride’s cinched waist has me puzzled. What did she do with her internal organs in that area? Does she have an iron corset in there?
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Jeff Gill said on June 30, 2025 at 7:21 am
Glad to see Laura Lippman got to meet Nancy & Dustin!
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David C said on June 30, 2025 at 7:47 am
The supplement industry prospers for the same reason the Republican party does. They’re both can say any goddamned thing they want to because they’re unbound by the truth. There are a lot of people, like my wife, who don’t feel well that medicine can’t tell them why. Supplement makers jump into the void with cocksure statements that they can fix it.
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Julie Robinson said on June 30, 2025 at 8:06 am
Look up the muppet character Janice. Puffed up lips, cheek implants, etc. Janice was ahead of her time.
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Heather said on June 30, 2025 at 8:59 am
I canceled my Amazon Prime account earlier this year—I’d been dithering about it and then one day there was an announcement on the homepage: “All seven seasons of The Apprentice now available on Prime!” That did it. I don’t shop at Whole Foods either, but it’s out of my way anyway.
I take magnesium regularly because it’s supposed to help relax your muscles, and I work out a lot.
Had a nice weekend, despite my growing sense of impending doom. Went to the monthly Chicago Critical Mass bike ride on Friday evening, which is always fun and relaxing, and this one ended at the beach since it was so hot. A jump in the lake refreshed me for the long ride home. Saturday I went to a vintage clothing/housewares sale run by some prop stylists, where I found a few inexpensive treasures, then went to dinner with friends. Sunday I hit a beach in the suburbs, followed by beers at a brewpub. It was what a summer weekend should be, and damned if I’m going to let these fascists in power take that away from me.
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alex said on June 30, 2025 at 11:03 am
The one and only supplement with any scientifically proven efficacy:
https://wapo.st/4nmAtQF
Free gift article.
Yes, psyllium powder. It helps you poop. I take it. The one drawback is that it can interfere with your body’s uptake of pharmaceutical meds if taken at the wrong time.
For a while it seemed like beef tallow was being hawked as the new panacea for all that ails you, and then RFKJ came out as a big proponent, which by all rights should tank its sales.
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Mark O said on June 30, 2025 at 1:27 pm
I wonder how RFK Jr is tied into big beef tallow.
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Jakash said on June 30, 2025 at 2:17 pm
I get the animosity toward Mr. Bezos, and share it. When he bought WaPo, I really thought that was a good thing and he seemed to say and do the right things with regard to that — for a while. At some point, he seems to have really gone all-in on adopting the persona and behaviors of a Batman or Bond villain.
I kinda get the bad attitude toward “Whole Paycheck,” given the holier-than-thou ethic that seems to be attached to it and many of its shoppers. But the attitude tends to annoy me, since we’re among its shoppers, alas. It’s the closest store to us, and in Chicago, at least, neither the employees nor most of the customers are acolytes of “the MAHA movement,” as far as I can tell.
I just don’t see why it should be despised for having pioneered the idea that eating healthier food might be a good thing, whatever the politics of its founder (and now Amazon). Many of their 365 organic store-brand products offers better quality and a lower price-point than what I can get at the Jewels, in my experience, and their produce is usually superior.
Vitamin D is the only supplement I take, but you can get plenty of supplements at Target, Kroger or Jewel, so I certainly don’t hold that against WF, in particular.
That being said, hat-tip to Alex: I’ve taken psyllium for 30 years. I don’t consider that a supplement, however; I consider that a cocktail!
Another hat-tip to Julie for “his inflatable bride.” I saw as little about that wedding as one could, while still skimming Bluesky and the regular news, and this was my primary take-away. Lampshade or vase, take your choice:
https://bsky.app/profile/misterjayem.bsky.social/post/3lsmvr3ns3s2e
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jcburns said on June 30, 2025 at 2:29 pm
Nice seeing noted author Laura Lippman hanging with the blogosphere hoi polloi.
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Dexter Friend said on June 30, 2025 at 2:36 pm
I started out with LA Formula in 1976, at the order of my doctor. The the ancient brand Metamucil came to the Midwest, and LA Formula was gone. I have chugged down a glass of Metamucil in water daily since Jimmy Carter was boycotting the Moscow Olympics and cancelling all credit card applications. No shit…I applied for my first credit card then, I was an upstanding citizen with a good job and bank accounts, but Jimmy had the authority to stop banks from issuing new credit cards.
I sense raised eyebrows? It happened to me.
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ROGirl said on June 30, 2025 at 5:01 pm
For my purposes I much prefer Ebay. The searches give me better results and aren’t filled with ads and garbage filler, pricing is almost always better, and shipping is often included.
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Colleen said on June 30, 2025 at 10:33 pm
I also share the puzzlement at the anti vax/pro unregulated supplement crowd. I’m on a bariatric multi vitamin and occasionally experiment with pre and pro biotics in hopes of helping my lifelong case of rumbly tumbly. I used to have to give myself B12 shots. That was fun.
I once had a college roommate who wouldn’t take Tylenol for a headache because she didn’t like putting drugs in her body. But she DID like putting copious amounts of alcohol in said body.
People are weird.
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Jeff Borden said on July 1, 2025 at 9:46 am
Front page of today’s NYT…
While ICE goons are arresting and detaining farm workers, day laborers, dishwashers and landscapers, you’ll be thrilled to know tRump is returning MS-13 gang members to El Salvador, where they work for the slimy dictator of that poverty-stricken nation. The hypocrisy is beyond measure.
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Ann said on July 1, 2025 at 9:56 am
I left Prime four or five years ago and don’t miss it. We never actually got two day delivery up here in the U.P. anyway and the Amazon website has gotten so full of sponsored ads that it’s no longer even a good way to find a specific item. I did, however, take the bait a few years back where they gave me $100 or so if I got an Amazon branded Visa card. I pay it off every month, so at least they don’t get any interest from me, and I use the points I collect to buy things off the Amazon wish list that our local homeless shelter maintains.
A little eye bleach. I love Chris Ware’s work. https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/06/chris-ware-usps-stamps/
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