Since the advent of the printing press, around 1436, by German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg (and much earlier, in China and Korea), the written word has had a staggering effect on our world. Venice – a primary, Mediterranean shipping hub in the late 15th century – was fertile ground for a fledgling global news network, as…
Editorial Page
Pull, Don’t Be Pushed
By Andy Valencia The world is coming for you, no invitation needed. Your phone rings, a notification chimes, a spam pops into your inbox. For every time your phone rings and it’s a loved one, there are many more selling you extended warranties or potency pills. We give them their very own words, like “spammer”…
Entertainment
All Aboard! January Issue is Here
Grab your copy of The Vashon Loop at businesses and more throughout the Island. Don’t live on Vashon? You can access a copy in pdf form, under Current Issue in the above menu.You can also read all the articles below.
Editorial Page
How Substack Supports Writers and Readers
If you haven’t heard of Substack, you’re in for a treat! Substack is an online platform designed to support writers, bloggers, philosophers, citizen journalists, and literary creatives of all types. The designers of Substack believe good writing is invaluable. What we read, what we learn, what we think, and how we engage in the world…
Island Voices
Staying Healthy With the Seasons
We are in the time of Winter, Rest, Earth, North, Elderhood. Elson M. Haas, M.D. wrote the book, “Staying Healthy with the Seasons.” I was drawn to this knowledge in the 90s, and Haas’s book was very influential on my learning journey. The insights he shared resonated with my inner knowing, and enlivened my passion for health and wellness….
Island Voices
Snowballs and Snowboards
It’s just not nice to be hit with a snowball with a rock in it. At Cove, we forbade the use of rocks. They took the fun out of a good snowball fight. We hid behind the walls of our forts, a wall of giant snowballs that could be four or five feet high. Behind the wall, we…
Health Matters
The Problem With Anti-Lectin Diets
Lectin-free diets seem to come and go with some regularity. At present, Dr. Steven Gundry’s “Plant Paradox” is the most popular version. Anti-lectin diets urge people to stop eating all grains, legumes, and nightshades. They claim that these specific foods contain lectins, a type of protein that binds sugars and can cause cells to stick…
Health Matters
Turn Off the Stress, Breathe Deeply
After two years of pandemic stress, lockdowns, and mask wearing, most people are breathing shallow, contracted breaths. This is what happens under extreme stress. Pre-pandemic, the average person accessed 20-40% of their breath capacity, depending on whether they held trauma or were managing daily life stressors. Can you imagine what it is like now? It…
Editorial Page
It Was a Pleasure to Balance
“It was a pleasure to burn.” As many remember, that is the opening line to “Fahrenheit 451.” Published in 1953, it still occupies the #7 spot on the New York Public Library’s list of their most-borrowed books of all time. Its author, a pulp magazine story writer from the Midwest, tapped most of it out on…
Terms of Concern
Terms of Concern
In March 2021, Forbes Magazine ran an article titled, “The Roots of Conspiracy Theory.” According to Helen Lee Bouygues (the author), “What’s needed is a more nuanced understanding of what drives conspiracy theories, and what kind of interventions can actually be effective against them.“ Labeling conspiracy theories as “far fetched ideas,” she reminds us that…