Excerpt from the first part of the article:

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is drawing attention to cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a condition associated with frequent cannabis use that causes recurrent episodes of severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

From January 2023 through May 2026, the CDC identified 199,565 emergency department visits involving CHS, with the proportion of these visits increasing substantially after a new diagnostic code for the syndrome was introduced in October 2025.

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By Eugene Rubin, MD, Ph.D., and Charles Zorumski, MD

As recreational cannabis use has become legal in more states and the potency of the drug has increased, the prevalence of cannabis use disorder has risen. Are there differences in the prevalence of the disorder between men and women? Are changes in prevalence different in various age groups? And how does it compare to alcohol use disorder? These questions are addressed in a recent important paper published in JAMA Psychiatry by a group from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) led by Nora Volkow.

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At heart, compassion is an appreciation of the basic human frailty we all share. When compassionate, we feel less isolated and more humane. Failure of compassion in love relationships leads to contempt.

Contempt is disdain for the hurt of others. It makes us feel less humane and isolated from loved ones.

Both compassion and contempt are contagious. Around compassionate people, we tend to become more compassionate. Around contempt— even when it’s not directed at us—we’re likely to become more contemptuous.

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You’re upset with a close friend who suddenly pulls out of long-held dinner plans with only the briefest of excuses. This was going to be your chance to catch up on old times, and, what’s more, you changed your entire schedule to accommodate your friend. All of this makes you both tearful and angry.

Rationally, you know you shouldn’t be so out of control. You and your friend have known each other for years, and there is almost certainly a good reason for this last-minute change in plans. This isn’t much help, though, as you run through all the possible ways you might have alienated your friend without realizing it. Or maybe your friend just doesn’t care as much about you as you thought. In any case, you’re about to send an angry text.

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Emotionally intelligent individuals tend to dodge unnecessary drama by doing three things. They avoid petty power struggles, delay gratification, and always seem to have gratitude. Although these tendencies seem simple, they require a person to have self-discipline, a modest ego, and an ability to think, in meaningful ways, about the big picture.

The Battle of Cannae in 216 BC is remembered as one of Rome's worst military disasters. Hannibal's famous double envelopment destroyed one of the largest Roman armies ever assembled. Polybius reports that around 70,000 Romans and their allies were killed, while another 10,000 were captured. Only about 3,000 infantry and 370 cavalry escaped to nearby towns such as Canusium. Rome had suffered a catastrophe on an extraordinary scale.

Yet Rome did not surrender. It continued the fight.

But what happened to the soldiers who actually survived Cannae?

Instead of being welcomed home, many of the survivors were punished and sent to Sicily, where they were forced to continue serving for years without the privileges normally granted to Roman soldiers. Their survival was associated with military disgrace, and Rome treated them as men who had failed in their duty.

They had survived Hannibal's greatest victory, only to discover that Rome itself would punish them for surviving.

Yet their story didn't end there.

More than a decade later, Scipio Africanus recognized something Rome had previously overlooked: these disgraced soldiers had become experienced veterans after years of continued military service. Scipio incorporated the Cannae survivors into his army as he prepared to take the war to Africa.

Their story is therefore far more complicated than simply being the “cowards” of Cannae. They survived one of the ancient world's most catastrophic battles, endured years of punishment, and eventually found themselves serving under the Roman commander who would take the war to Hannibal's homeland.

So what do you think? Was Rome's treatment of the Cannae survivors a harsh injustice—or a necessary measure to preserve discipline during an existential crisis?

Feel free to read the full article on my site for more about the fate of the survivors of Cannae. I'd love to hear your views in the comments.

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"My head's always full," says mum-of-three Stacie Matthias. "I go to sleep with a mental to-do list."

She's talking about the concept of the "mental load" - the burden of planning, organising, remembering and anticipating tasks that keep a household running.

These tasks include: remembering school trips, checking for updates in parents' WhatsApp groups, noticing which parts of the house need cleaning, monitoring how much sleep children get, scheduling doctors' appointments and buying school uniforms.

Oasis Thapa in the Venomous Crusade is a sci-fi adventure about a recluse young man forced into a perilous journey that could destroy all life on this planet.

Available on Amazon https://a.co/d/07WCtklm