Steve Balog, 1955-2025

Steve Balog (Stephen John Balog), 69 of Berkeley, Calif., passed from this world unexpectedly on March 16, 2025. Cause of death was complications from an undetectable form of liver cancer that spread rapidly through his body. Steve passed in hospice care and was surrounded during his final illness by his brother David of New York and dear friends Jayne Sorensen of Oregon and Kym Olsen of Arizona.

Steve had a myriad of passions which he pursued. He loved music, particularly jazz, old movies (and new), making friends, sports, cooking and so much more.

But as a gay man, the movies and the music Steve loved were not written for him. The romances were all heterosexual until recent. There were no role models for gay relationships, at least none that were readily discernable. Bullied as a youth, Steve too often found silence and isolation to be a safer choice than engagement. He would withdraw his ready smile and witty personality, "scanning the room," in LGBTQ parlance. Steve lent his support to help his community, delivering meals to AIDS patients and attending churches supportive of the gay community. He recently participated in a gay men's support group for senior gays in Berkeley.

Steve found a niche for himself as a respected accountant in the nonprofit world of the San Francisco Bay area. He took leadership positions at the Jewish Community Center and at the Contemporary Jewish Museum over the past 25 years. He helped every organization he worked for not only with his attention to detail and software skills but with his special interpersonal abilities.

Uniquely, of his many interests, Steve loved Basset Hounds and baseball, as long as the players and owners weren't too greedy. He was a great supporter of progressive causes extending from the Human Rights Committee to the Audibon Society, to Mother Jones, The Nation magazine and the National Wildlife Federation.

Steve was born in Yonkers, NY on August 6, 1955 to Marion and Andrew Balog. He was a graduate of Fordham Preparatory School and Johns Hopkins University. 

Steve was cremated and a memorial service is planned for this summer. His brother David is planning a service this summer in upstate New York that will be streamed live. For more information, write to dbalog99@gmail.com.

Thank you.

Tear Down the Lincoln Memorial? The Terrifying Threat of Trump's Project 2025

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Trump’s War on LGBTQ People

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Heroes of Democracy: Dr. Martin Luther King

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Harriet Tubman, American Moses

Jackie Robinson, Broke Baseball's Racial Barrier

Ida B. Wells, Documented Lynching, 

Pioneered Social Services for Blacks

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The Twenty Worst Americans: What History Can Teach Us

"Thoughtful and Thought-provoking"

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2023

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PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

At first glance, David Balog’s The Twenty Worst Americans may seem to be a simple laundry list of villainy. But this is no tirade of personal grievances; nor is it a whining screed against those who think differently than the author.

Instead, Balog has called upon his background in history writing to present the citizens whose behavior he sees as particularly heinous (Harvey Weinstein, Paul Castellano), ignorant (Phyllis Schlafly, Eddie Cicotte, Betsy DeVos), vicious (Dan White, Rupert Murdoch) or simple grifters (Henry Ford, Charles Coughlin, James A. Baker and Donald Trump). There are twenty short essays in all. Each is easy to read, pleasantly brief, but never glib or lightweight. Balog has something to say and he says it plainly.

Balog calls upon an encyclopedic knowledge of history to make his points, which he does not hide behind manipulative propaganda. No, we know where the author stands and he is transparent in his views. What surprises us is his gentle tact while discussing subjects that could infuriate readers if presented by a lesser writer.

"All of which makes some of his choices that much more challenging. Balog has personal knowledge of William Safire. As a fellow history writer, I have certainly read many of Safire’s books. Some are quite good. But his affairs—business and personal—seem to veer far from his written work. It is eye opening, and this begs the question that many of us must face sooner or later: at what point do we toss out the better work of creation because its creator was repulsive? We enjoy the distance of centuries between us and, say, a Caravaggio or Michelangelo. Those who are closer to our time strike us where we live.

There is much to take exception to, of course.

In just one example, I have published enough about the Roosevelts to have different views on FDR than Balog. This is as it should be. The moment we accept every word of any individual as inviolable, we start on the dangerous path that Balog decries in this book. Heated discussions are part of what make this kind of text interesting.

Balog occasionally digresses into information that is only tangentially related. This is when the author is at his best.

In my favorite example, in the chapter on Bill Maher, Balog provides eight fascinating pages on the physical and neurological aspects of gender, well supported by medical experts. As with his section on FDR, Balog demonstrates a rare talent for engendering discussion without badgering or patronizing.

I agree here, I disagree there; but by the time I was done, I had learned something and want to learn more. I can think of no higher compliment.

--David Bannon, author, historian

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Table of contents

Author’s Note………………..

Prologue……………………………

Chapter 1. Antonin Scalia – Supreme Court Justice Whose Personal Views Moved America Back to 1787…….

Chapter 2. Bill Maher – Quickly Moving from Progressive to Regressive……

Chapter 3. Elizabeth Holmes – Blood money and a Monumental Scam……

Chapter 4. Donald Trump – Enabling the Catastrophe of Covid-19……..

Chapter 5. Trump, The Early Years in New York City: Wilding Among the Powerful…..

Chapter 6. Rupert Murdoch – Power for Power’s Sake…….

Chapter 7. James A. Baker, III – Republican Fixer and Mastermind of Bush v Gore…….

Chapter 8. Phyllis Schlafly– Baking Cookies to Stop Equal Rights……

Chapter 9. Paul Castellano – Real-life Godfather…..

Chapter 10. Franklin D. Roosevelt – Allowed Incarceration Camps for Americans of Japanese Descent……….

Chapter 11. Betsy DeVos – The Education Secretary Clueless About Education…..

Chapter 12. Eddie Cicotte – Throwing Baseballs, Games and the National Pastime………

Chapter 13. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney – Author of the Worst Decision in Supreme Court History that Ignited the Civil War…….

Chapter 14. Herbert Hoover – The Great Humanitarian with Political Hands of Stone…….

Chapter 15. William Safire and the Death of Political Civility…….

Chapter 16. Walter O'Malley – Changed America's Pastime into a Cold Business…….

Chapter 17. Father Charles Coughlin – Pastor, Media King and Dangerous Anti-semite……

Chapter 18. Henry Ford – Pioneer of the Automobile and Hitler Ally……

Chapter 19. Harvey Weinstein – As a Movie, Rate Him X…….

Chapter 20. Dan White – The Politician Who Killed Two Political Icons –,,,…

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Artificial light at night may increase risk of diabetes

 

New study reveals that exposure to outdoor artificial light at night is associated with an increased risk of diabetes

Date:

November 14, 2022

Source:

Diabetologia

Summary:

A new study finds that outdoor artificial light at night (LAN) is associated with impaired blood glucose control and an increased risk of diabetes, with more than 9 million cases of the disease in Chinese adults being attributed to LAN exposure.

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Exposure to artificial LAN at night is a ubiquitous environmental risk factor in modern societies. The intensity of urban light pollution has increased to the point that it not only affects residents of big cities, but also those in distant areas such as suburbs and forest parks that may be hundreds of kilometres from the light source. The authors note: "Despite over 80% of the world's population being exposed to light pollution at night, this problem has gained limited attention from scientists until recent years."

Earth's 24-hour day-night cycle has resulted in most organisms, including mammals, having an inbuilt circadian (roughly 24-hour) timing system which is adapted to the natural sequence of light and dark periods. Light pollution has been found to alter the circadian rhythm of insects, birds and other animals, resulting in premature death and loss of biodiversity.

Artificial LAN has also been implicated as a potential cause of metabolic dysregulation through altering the timing of food intake. Rats exposed to artificial LAN developed glucose intolerance, exhibiting elevated blood sugar and insulin. Another study found that mice exposed to nocturnal dim white light of minimal brightness for 4 weeks had increased body mass and reduced glucose tolerance compared to animals whose environment was completely dark at night, despite having roughly equivalent energy consumption and expenditure.

Associations have also been found between artificial LAN and health problems in humans. A study of night-shift workers found that those exposed to brighter LAN were more likely to have disrupted circadian rhythms, as well as a greater risk of coronary heart disease. Other research found that higher LAN exposure was associated with a 13% and 22% increase in the likelihood of being overweight and obese, respectively, while exposure to LAN in the bedroom was reported to be positively associated with the development of diabetes in elderly people.

The potential impact of outdoor artificial LAN was revealed by a study in South India which used satellite images to map light pollution and compared this with data on general health markers among adults across the region. With increasing LAN intensity, there were corresponding rises in average body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure and 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol levels in the exposed population.

Diabetes is a critical public health problem in China, and the onset and progression of the disease is largely governed by behavioural and environmental risk factors. The nation's rapid urbanisation and economic growth has resulted in a dramatic increase in urban lighting, and the number of people exposed to it. Those living in cities are prone to being shifted away from a natural 24-hour day-night cycle, to one of round-the-clock working and leisure time, often staying out late and being exposed to artificial LAN.

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7-8 hours of sleep improves health

 

Credit: © Brian Jackson / stock.adobe.com

Less than five hours' sleep a night linked to higher risk of multiple diseases

Date:

October 19, 2022

Source:

University College London

Summary:

Getting less than five hours of sleep in mid-to-late life could be linked to an increased risk of developing at least two chronic diseases, finds a new study.

Getting less than five hours of sleep in mid-to-late life could be linked to an increased risk of developing at least two chronic diseases, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

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The research, published in PLOS Medicine, analysed the impact of sleep duration on the health of more than 7,000 men and women at the ages of 50, 60 and 70, from the Whitehall II cohort study.

Researchers examined the relationship between how long each participant slept for, mortality and whether they had been diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases (multimorbidity) -- such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes -- over the course of 25 years.

People who reported getting five hours of sleep or less at age 50 were 20% more likely to have been diagnosed with a chronic disease and 40% more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases over 25 years, compared to people who slept for up to seven hours.

Additionally, sleeping for five hours or less at the age of 50, 60, and 70 was linked to a 30% to 40% increased risk of multimorbidity when compared with those who slept for up to seven hours.

Researchers also found that sleep duration of five hours or less at age 50 was associated with 25% increased risk of mortality over the 25 years of follow-up -- which can mainly be explained by the fact that short sleep duration increases the risk of chronic disease(s) that in turn increase the risk of death.

Lead author, Dr Severine Sabia (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health, and Inserm, Université Paris Cité) said: "Multimorbidity is on the rise in high income countries and more than half of older adults now have at least two chronic diseases. This is proving to be a major challenge for public health, as multimorbidity is associated with high healthcare service use, hospitalisations and disability.

"As people get older, their sleep habits and sleep structure change. However, it is recommended to sleep for 7 to 8 hours a night -- as sleep durations above or below this have previously been associated with individual chronic diseases.

"Our findings show that short sleep duration is also associated with multimorbidity.

"To ensure a better night's sleep, it is important to promote good sleep hygiene, such as making sure the bedroom is quiet, dark and a comfortable temperature before sleeping. It's also advised to remove electronic devices and avoid large meals before bedtime. Physical activity and exposure to light during the day might also promote good sleep."

As part of the study, researchers also assessed whether sleeping for a long duration, of nine hours or more, affected health outcomes. There was no clear association between long sleep durations at age 50 and multimorbidity in healthy people.

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