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A book that reads like a novel; it’s humorous, it’s a love story. Dr. Christopher Labos, an imaginative cardiologist and epidemiologist at McGill University, takes us through multiple longstanding misconceptions about different foods and drinks, and along the way provides outstanding educational value. Video snippet from our conversation. Full videos of all Ground Truths podcasts can be seen on YouTube here. The audios are also available on Apple and Spotify.

Note: I mistakenly sent this column out earlier today only to paid subscribers, so I’m resending it so all readers can see it. Apologies if you get it twice. Operator error! -Dave B. The Washington Post boldly published graphic photos and video online this week as part of a continuing series on the damage inflicted on Americans by the AR-15 rifle during mass shootings. No readers are forced to look at the images.

Sometimes we feel obligated to do things because we think if we don’t, it will mess up the relationship. This happens in families, friendships, and even business relationships. We may participate in the office potluck, or go on an outing somewhere we don’t really want to go because we’re worried about what will happen if we say no. Saying yes sometimes feels like it’s a part of being in a relationship.

“Doesn’t that have wizards and magic?” That was the question my pastor asked me when I talked about going to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I reassured him that yes it did have magic in the story, but the man who wrote it had led C.S. Lewis to Christ. This assuaged him, but even Narnia’s magic is unacceptable for some. At one denominational meeting, I had to endure an angry pastor demanding Lifeway stop selling The Chronicles of Narnia because it was full of magic and witchcraft.

Deepfakes are on the rise. Scams featuring Tom Hanks, MrBeast, Elon Musk, and consumer advocate Martin Lewis made headlines in 2023. These scams were about money. Others were motivated by a mix of humor, trolling, or misinformation. This past week, we saw two examples of manipulation that have raised public concern to new levels and spotlighted two other areas of concern: sex and politics Last week, sexually explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift began appearing on social media.

The issues about Titan’s hull thickness and window pressure rating have been brought up a lot. And the general sense of recklessness and/or “too much” risk-taking by its founder/CEO. Therefore I won’t personally focus on those aspects here. A more thorough disaster investigation may help to settle whether one or more were in fact the proximate cause of this tragedy. I wanted to consider other potential take-aways. AND I won’t repeat the great details and analysis in this Twitter thread:

Albert Brooks guest-starred as himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm in its most recent season and the premise was that he was holding a funeral for himself that Brooks, still alive, was able to watch his friends eulogize him from an adjoining room. (In true Curb fashion, it ended badly, first Larry David turned the funeral into a roast, and then Brooks was exposed mid-funeral as a “COVID hoarder.”) Brooks’ older brother Bob Einstein, also known as Super Dave Osborne, died in 2019, and two years later, had an HBO documentary made about him called The Super Bob Einstein Documentary.

Contributions of property to a business entity, whether existing or newly-formed, in exchange for equity are commonly treated as nonrecognition transactions. In other words, the contributor’s contribution of appreciated property generally does not trigger recognition of gain. Instead, the contributor’s basis in the contributed assets is reflected in the basis of the equity interest created in the exchange. In the estate planning context, which tends to rely on disregarded entities and tax partnerships, this nonrecognition treatment can be extremely important.

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. ―Voltaire George Washington, our indispensable founder, viewed education as integral to our nation-building project. In his final will and testament, executed at Mount Vernon on July 9, 1799, Washington provided a bequest for the establishment of a national university. Washington … ncG1vNJzZmiikaKytL%2FTq6aco16owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwvI6dnJ%2Btnpl6qa3Rr5irnA%3D%3D