‘The image of the bill, now shared widely on Reddit, shows a charge for “skin to skin after c sec.” The Reddit user who posted it explained more in a few comments. He wasn’t exactly mad about the charge — he said the hospital did a great job delivering his son. Instead, it more of spoke to the absurdity of American health care…’

Source: Vox

‘The Japanese climate is not exactly conducive to mummification. There are no peat bogs, no arid deserts, and no alpine peaks perennially encased in ice. The summers are hot and humid. Yet somehow a group of Buddhist monks from the Shingon sect discovered a way to mummify themselves through rigorous ascetic training in the shadow of a particularly sacred peak in the mountainous northern prefecture of Yamagata.

Between 1081 and 1903, at least 17 monks managed to mummify themselves. The number may well be higher, however, as it is likely some mummies were never recovered from the alpine tombs.

These monks undertook such a practice in emulation of a ninth-century monk named Kūkai, known posthumously as Kōbō Daishi, who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism in 806. In the 11th century a hagiography of Kūkai appeared claiming that, upon his death in 835, the monk did not die at all, but crawled into his tomb and entered nyūjō, a state of meditation so profound that it induces suspended animation. According to this hagiography, Kūkai plans to emerge in approximately 5.67 million years to usher a predetermined number of souls into nirvana.’

Continue to read for a detailed and harrowing description of the three-year process leading to mummification before death, via Atlas Obscura

Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton … Donald Trump? It could happen, according to a law professor and consumer-protection expert.

Source: Pacific Standard

Should patients be able to access their doctor’s political affiliation as easily as their educational background?

Source: Vox

‘Trump has too long a history of being Trump to ever make a concrete shift toward being presidential… Remember that moment in the first presidential debate when Trump gave an angered speech about how good his temperament is. Yeah. That’s what we’re talking about.’

Source: Vox

Although these pieces may seem tiresome, I feel it is incredibly important we keep them in the public eye to prevent being inured to Trump’s incompetence and menace.