both sides

On the last Friday of each month I curate some of the observations and insights that were shared on social media. I call these Friday’s Finds.

RETRACTED: Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, for Humans

via @Jan Wildeboer

The article’s conclusions regarding the carcinogenicity of glyphosate are solely based on unpublished studies from Monsanto, which have failed to demonstrate tumorigenic potential. The handling (co) Editor-in-Chief also became aware that by the time of writing of this article in the journal, the authors did not include multiple other long-term chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity studies, that were already done at the time of writing their review in 1999. —Science Direct [undated retraction but assumed to be recent, after 25 years since original publication]

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” —Viktor Frankl

It’s expensive to be poor. It’s ironic but true. You get charges and fees for everything. Higher interest rates. Overdraft fees. Late fees. Having only enough to buy what you need right now instead of buying in bulk. Losing your job because you can’t afford to get your car fixed. Losing your car because you don’t have a job. Even your mental faculties are drained, as you are forced to continually eat low-nutrition foods, “sleep” in miserable conditions, and be exposed to toxins and lack of medical treatment. The lack of liquidity wipes you out. Life really does kick you while you’re down.

You can’t tell someone trapped in that vicious cycle to “just” get a job or “just” make responsible decisions. Sometimes, no amount of good decision-making can stop the vortex sucking them down. So the next time you are tempted to place moral judgment on someone who lives in poverty, think twice.

Signed, someone who has been both a Have and a Have-Not. —@Aaron

“Prolonged exposure [to airborne viruses] in shared, poorly ventilated spaces, which potentially includes several infectious sources, drives respiratory virus transmission more than close contact.”—Nature 2025-11-27

We find that the emissions from the investments, private jets and superyachts of 50 of the world’s richest people is more than the consumption emissions of the poorest 2% (155 million) of people combined. In just over an hour and a half, through their investments, superyachts and private jets, a billionaire will emit more than the average person will emit in their lifetime. Our research signals that climate breakdown cannot be avoided without reducing excessive wealth concentration among an elite few. —Oxfam: Carbon Inequality Kills

The debate, by Cathy Wilcox