Hil, it's been so weird to me to have Bellefonte in the news - we lived there when I was a small child but moved to south Jersey when I was 4 It's a place that appears more in stories that my parents told than in my actual memories.

Though it is interesting that crystallized sugar wasn't widely known in the West before the Crusades

There's a book I read in college called Sweetness and Power, which is all about sugar, and the meaning of sugar, and the rise of sugar as a product, and its role in industrialization. Fascinating stuff, given that I still remember it so clearly 25+ years later.

But one of the things I learned was that sugar, as a preservative (which it is), was considered to be medicine, and in medieval times was given to the wealthy as a treatment for illness. It's fascinating to look at how things have changed in the last couple hundred years--sugar went from being something only the very wealthy had access to, to being a health hazard in that it's in everything.

Mummies also used to be a medicinal item that only wealthy could afford. For some reason, they never caught on in the same way sugar did.

Finite supply of mummies?

I hope that's not the only reason! There did seem to be a problem with cheap knock offs too.

So it turns out the mysterious LA sidewalk lungs are not from a human.

Set of disembodied lungs found lying on L.A. sidewalk

eta: Link has a photo of some lungs.

So not zombies? But we can't rule out ritual sacrifice.

I was reading through a blog on being frugal and noticed a headline for "insurance for Christians" and clicked. Interesting!! [link]

I have decided that this refers to the Jensen Ackles scene in Blonde. And that's ALL it can ever refer to

Unsurprisingly, me too.

Hmm.

a group of Christians who share medical expenses.

Basically, you pay a certain share per month. In our case, it would be under $300, which is less than half of what we pay now. Each month we would send that money to a family who has submitted medical expenses that need reimbursement. If we had a medical need, we’d submit our bill for reimbursement, and other families would send us money.

The $300 or so would only cover us up to $100,000, which isn’t much. So we’d probably opt to pay $400 more per year to be covered up to $1 million. Still, that comes out to less than $350 a month, still a big savings from what we’re paying now.

To become a member of Samaritan Ministries International, you have to be a Christian and be willing to live by some guidelines that are generally accepted by Christians (attend church regularly, don’t abuse drugs, etc.). None of the requirements would be a problem for our family.

So...where does this break down? I understand that you have to live according to good Christian mores--go to church, no drugs, etc. And no pre existing conditions

They don't cover preventative things...like preventing pregnancies? I am not yet sure.

Oh, and:

After you submit your expenses, they are processed and your need is published in the monthly newsletter, so others can pray for you. Specific members will be assigned your need and will send their monthly share to you, so you can pay your bills.

It's pretty clear it's not a national scope problem. Religiously homogeneous communities would do the best.