Black Power + Gay Pride > Mental Disorders

One might think that the combined cultural power of racism and homophobia would doom a fairly large portion of the population that was both black (or African-American...oooh, I hate that term almost as much as the phrase Oriental) and gay to depths of depression and other mental problems that would doom them to their own private hells.

Not so fast, says the Science Blog. Turns out that black gay men and lesbians have fewer mental disorders than similarly situated whites.

According to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations, blacks and Latinos do not have more mental disorders than whites. Based on the theory that stress related to prejudice would increase risk for mental disorders, researchers typically expect that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals face prejudice related to both racism and homophobia and therefore would have more disorders than their white counterparts. Contrary to this expectation, however, the Mailman School study found that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals had significantly fewer disorders than white individuals.

There's an interesting finding. The first thing that comes to mind is this: perhaps homosexual blacks feel more culturally accepted in society than white homosexuals? Is that possible?

It's a valid question. If you are expecting a enlightened and well reasoned response, I honestly don't have one. But it's still curious.

Can I Start A Bottled Water Company?

Yep, I've been on a sporadic hiatus.  Between holidays, working two jobs and doing freelance work (expect yet another announcement soon, as I started this project a few weeks earlier), visits, and everything else, my posting has been going down... this in spite of ReaperCat, drunken astronauts , Lindsey Lohan, and the newest Harry Potter book.  How I've been able to keep from posting is beyond me.  I must have been asleep.

 

But what finally makes me post again this week?

 

Tap water.

 

PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

 

Via CNN.

 

Seriously, I'm all about the importance of water.  I live in a pretty high altitude, where water just... leaves.  It's here, then it's not, and if you don't hydrate, well, you've got problems.  But I am most certainly NOT a fan of bottled water.  Why?

 

Think about this.

 

Water and plastic.

First, it's lukewarm.  Then it travels.  The water and the plastic bottle heat up.

Then it arrives at it's destination, and goes into a freezer, where it suddenly becomes cold.

 

Then it goes into another location.  It's hot again. 

Then it's cold again.

 

After who knows how many iterations of hot and cold this water becomes, one seriously has to think, what is the chemical impact on the water actually in this plastic (meaning made from petroleum products) bottle by the time you drink it?  Have you ever gotten a bottle of water that tasted... different?  I have.

 

And speaking of petroleum, I'm not crazy about that either.

 

So I don't buy bottled water anymore.  Love me some tap water, though.  Apparently, so does PepsiCo.  So do yourself a favor.

 

1.  Buy a metal water bottle.

2.  Turn on your faucet and fill it up.

3.  Think of the $1.09 you just saved versus buying the bottled stuff.

4.  Profit.

 

Sure, South Park fans, I added a step.  But at least now you know how to get the "Profit" part of the plan.

 

10 Instant Life Improvements? Surely You Jest

Apparently, jest they do NOT.

Many of our problems come from within our own minds. They aren't caused by events, bad luck, or other people. We cause them through our own poor mental habits. Here are 10 habits you should set aside right away to free yourself from the many problems each one will be causing you.

Thank Lifehack.org for this article.  Then read the article in its entirety.

I especially liked this suggestion:

Don't hang on to the past. This is my most important suggestion of all: let go and move on. Most of the anger, frustration, misery, and despair in this world come from people clinging to past hurts and problems. The more you turn them over in your mind, the worse you'll feel and the bigger they'll look. Don't try to fight misery. Let go and move on. Do that and you've removed just about all its power to hurt you.

This sounds like the most intelligent thing that I'll read all week, and this week I've read some amazing things.

You mean that I shouldn't ruminate over that girl that I dated in the 11th grade whose best friend I took to the Homecoming Dance?

I think I'll sleep well tonight.

All Things In Moderation

Perfect news for men.

 

Heavy multivitamin users were almost twice as likely to get fatal prostate cancer as men who never took the pills, concludes the study in Wednesday's Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Here's the twist: Overall, the researchers found no link between multivitamin use and early-stage prostate cancer.

The researchers speculate that perhaps high-dose vitamins had little effect until a tumor appeared, and then could spur its growth.

More wonderful news from Yahoo, but don't shoot the messenger.

 

Someone once told me that his doctor told him that if he lived long enough, he'd get prostate cancer.  He did.

Now, too many vitamins might help small cancers beat you?

 

That's it.  It's steak tonight.

 

Men: Perhaps The Next Endangered Species?

Men had better make themselves useful, and fast.

 

Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today.

Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells from a woman's bone marrow tissue after showing that it possible to produce rudimentary sperm cells from male bone-marrow tissue.

The researchers said they had already produced early sperm cells from bone-marrow tissue taken from men. They believe the findings show that it may be possible to restore fertility to men who cannot naturally produce their own sperm.

But the results also raise the prospect of being able to take bone-marrow tissue from women and coaxing the stem cells within the female tissue to develop into sperm cells, said Professor Karim Nayernia of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Creating sperm from women would mean they would only be able to produce daughters because the Y chromosome of male sperm would still be needed to produce sons. The latest research brings the prospect of female-only conception a step closer.

Thank the Independent for this.  They found the information.  Those Brits sure know how to find the juicy stuff, don't they?

 

Being able to create sperm from, gasp, BONE MARROW is huge.  What a tremendous scientific achievement!  Now, though, I'm envisioning a world without men....

 

- No Super Bowl Sunday.

...I'd miss the commercials, but meh.

 

- No Boy Scouts.

...but we'd still have Girl Scout cookies.

 

- The Pope?  Female.

...interesting idea.

 

- Oprah as President.

...we could do worse.  Much, much worse.

 

- Most popular spectator sport is probably figure skating.

...a terrifying prospect, but who watches TV anymore?

 

So far, I'm shockingly unfazed.  Maybe that's because I have a daughter myself (so the selfish genes will live on), but really, I was waiting for that BLAM impact, and haven't seen it yet.  Interesting.

 

Time to face it, gentlemen: we can be replaced.  Stop being just that guy who only makes an intelligent decision when there is a decent woman there to let you know that you're being a goofball.  Adapt or perish!

 

 

 

 

 

Stop That!

What an interesting post.  Presenting...Productivity 501 - 17 things that you should stop doing.

I personally enjoyed these nuggets:

 

Losing Telephone Numbers -- Your cell phone should sync with your computer.  We are past the days where a phone only held 25 numbers.  If someone calls, take the few seconds to record their name in your phone, so it will be transfered next time you sync your computer.

 

Manually Depositing a Paycheck -- That is what direct deposit is for.  If you spend 15 minutes every two weeks dealing with depositing your paycheck that is 65 hours over the next 10 years. Put this time to better use.

 

and...

 

Watching Commercials -- Use Tivo to skip them.  Use Netflix and just skip television all together.  Buy the shows you want to watch off iTunes.  If you had a friend who spent 20% to 30% of your time trying to sell you things you didn't really need, would you put up with it? (If you have a friend in network marketing, you may have already experienced this.)

 

I have to say, on many of the items listed in the article, I have to agree.  I can add some suggestions to this, though, quite easily.

 

- Stop giving every perceived illness, sickness, order or general disorder an acronym.  ADD.  ADHD.  EDD.  EPMD.  Gak.  Call things what they are.  In fact, overall, acronyms are a bane on mankind; instead of telling someone exactly what something is, the vastness of humanity is supposed to decipher an acronym every time someone says something.  Not everyone is an expert on everything, and people that insist on using acronyms imply that they are experts, when in most cases they are most certainly NOT.

 

- Stop over medicating.  Let's be honest with ourselves, you and I.  Everyone is sick, somehow - depression, overweight, allergies, , insomnia, inability to concentrate, etc.  What's not true is that all medications hold the answer, and ingesting a bunch of chemicals into your body for whatever reason isn't always the lifesaver it's cracked up to be.  If you don't believe me, find a friend that's on antidepressant medication and read the list of possible side effects.

 

- Stop under tipping.  I think that this might be a mostly American problem, but does anyone actually know what your average server makes?  I've been one, and I'm here to tell you; it isn't much.  Not only that, but waiting table can be HARD.  If you can't afford the 15%, perhaps you should eat at home.  Please, tip your waitress.

 

- Stop Making Sense.  Ok, I added that just to make sure you are paying attention.  But feel free to pick up that flick - perhaps by using one of the handy ad links to your left.  I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Why Intelligent People Tend To Be Unhappy (Part 1 of 2)

Digging through the Internet, I happened to, by chance, come across this article that attempts to explain why smart people are not the happiest people in the world's big tent.

 

Western society is not set up to nurture intelligent children and adults, the way it dotes over athletes and sports figures, especially the outstanding ones. While we have the odd notable personality such as Albert Einstein, we also have many extremely intelligent people working in occupations that are considered among the lowliest, as may be attested by a review of the membership lists of Mensa (the club for the top two percent on intelligence scales).

Education systems in countries whose primary interest is in wealth accumulation encourage heroes in movies, war and sports, but not in intellectual development. Super intelligent people manage, but few reach the top of the business or social ladder.

Children develop along four streams: intellectual, physical, emotional (psychological) and social. In classrooms, the smartest kids tend to be left out of more activities by other children than they are included in. They are "odd," they are the geeks, they are social outsiders. In other words, they do not develop socially as well as they may develop intellectually or even physically where opportunities may exist for more progress.

Their emotional development, characterized by their ability to cope with risky or stressful situations, especially over long periods of time, also lags behind that of the average person.

Adults tend to believe that intelligent kids can deal with anything because they are intellectually superior. This inevitably includes situations where the intelligent kids have neither knowledge nor skills to support their experience. They go through the tough times alone. Adults don't understand that they need help and other kids don't want to associate with kids the social leaders say are outsiders.

As a result we have many highly intelligent people whose social development progresses much slower than that of most people and they have trouble coping with the stressors of life that present themselves to everyone. It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of prison inmates are socially and emotionally underdeveloped or maldeveloped and a larger than average percentage of them are more intelligent than the norm.

 

This was posted on Scribd, by Bill Allin, who is a sociologist who is most certainly more experienced than I on topics in this realm.  Thank Digg, where one can find many articles worth reading.

 

I would say this.  Read the article.  Think about it.  Then, steel yourself for the Part 2, coming soon (assuming that I can find the original posting), where I will explain to you in minor detail why this might be correct, and how a person can change this tendency without losing their mind, shunning society, and dying, finally, a broken old man on the street.  Or a broken old woman in some other way.

ANTI-Depressants...Perhaps

The Freakanomics Blog has an interesting post on anti-depressants where they conclude, at least by one account, that they do.

This is an obviously important question on many fronts, especially since SSRI's are among the most heavily prescribed drugs in the world, and because their safety and efficacy have lately been seriously questioned.
So it would be helpful to know if, at the very least, anti-depressants decrease the probability of suicide. In this new working paper, Jens Ludwig, Dave E. Marcotte, and Karen Norberg conclude that they do indeed.

Everyone that takes any medications, especially ones that are designed to affect your brain, of all things, should find out all of the side effects of those meds before they take them. 

 

Free Stuff For Kids

Lifehacker brings the goods on kids' freeware.

 

KidsDomain has put together a massive list of freeware for kids, sorted by subjects such as Art, Science, Math, Creativity, etc.

There is a lot of stuff here, and it's all free. Try building a train diorama, or printing out one of dozens of free coloring books, or check out the free card games (Caveman Cards, anyone?). This would be a great site to visit with the kids for a few rainy/snowy day activities.

I am so all over this.  If Kids Domain can keep kids occupied in a healthy, educational, and creative way, they certainly have my support.  I will be quite pleased to give them a try, and will probably blog the results, knowing my general geekitude.

Don't Eat That!

Oddly, I came across a couple of fairly interesting food related items today.

 

First there's this from Nutrition Action - Ten Foods You Should Never Eat.  Here's a excerpt:

 

7.  Snack Attack

Unless you're suicidal, why on earth would you want to wolf down a Burger King Quad Stacker – 4 hamburger patties, 4 slices of cheese, 8 strips of bacon, plus sauce and a bun? That's half-a-day's calories (1,000), one-and-a-half-days' worth of saturated fat (30 grams), 3 grams of trans fat, and more than a day's sodium (1,800 mg). Urp!

 

and...

 

9.  Tortilla Terror

Interested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 1,180 calories and 19 grams of saturated fat as three 6-inch Subway Steak and Cheese Subs. Getting the burrito with no cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat by two-thirds, but you still end up with 950 calories. Yikes!

I'd like to note these items for the record.

a.  I like cheese.

b.  I like bacon.

c.  I'm very impressed, but not surprised, by the fact that one Chipotle Chicken Burrito can have as many calories and saturated fat as THREE 6 inch steak and cheese subs.  I once watched a guy attempt to eat five Chipotle burritos in an hour on a bet.

 

He didn't make it. 

 

Those things are huge.

 

In light of this important health information, imagine my surprise when I came across this gem.

The Bad Foods For Dogs List

Here is a list of common foods that are bad or poisonous for your dog. If you suspect that your dog might have eaten any food that might be toxic, contact his/her vet immediately.

 

You can thank Moore's Haven for this.  Me, I thank the Internet.  It's not a bad idea to go check this out either.

Did I learn anything?  Yes.  Don't feed the dog booze, apricots, baby food, grapes, baby food or onions, among other items on the list.  It would seem, though, that steak, which is what every dog really wants anyway, is the ticket.

 

Just don't add salt.
 

He Who Controls The Spice Controls The Universe

Eat turmeric.  Clue:  It's in curry, people.

Recently a number of natural compounds--such as resveratrol from red wine and omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil--have begun to receive close scrutiny because preliminary research suggests they might treat and prevent disease inexpensively with few side effects. Turmeric, an orange-yellow powder from an Asian plant, Curcuma longa, has joined this list. No longer is it just an ingredient in vindaloos and tandooris that, since ancient times, has flavored food and prevented spoilage. A chapter in a forthcoming book, for instance, describes the biologically active components of turmeric--curcumin and related compounds called curcuminoids--as having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties, with potential activity against cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic maladies. And in 2005 nearly 300 scientific and technical papers referenced curcumin in the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database, compared with about 100 just five years earlier. Scientists who sometimes jokingly label themselves curcuminologists are drawn to the compound both because of its many possible valuable effects in the body and its apparent low toxicity. They ponder how the spice or its derivatives might be used, not just as a treatment but as a low-cost preventive medication for some of the most feared ailments. As a treatment, it also has some enticing attributes. Because curcumin targets so many biological pathways, it could have benefits for cancer therapy: malignant cells may be slow to acquire resistance to it and so might have to go through multiple mutations to avoid the substance's multipronged attack. That's from Scientific American.  Not kidding, this is for real.  Can curry help prevent cancer?  Diabetes?  Alzheimer's?  Zing! I have a sudden urge for Indian food.

I Will Never Get Money From The Tobacco Lobby

That's concentrated evil.

 

EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon State University study suggests that anti-smoking ads by the tobacco industry targeted at youths and their parents do not work and might actually encourage some teens to smoke.

At best, the ads have no effect, said Brian Flay, a professor in Oregon State's department of public health in Corvallis, one of nine researchers who studied tobacco-industry ads. He said some ads, particularly those aimed at parents, may actually encourage smoking.

Cigarette maker Philip Morris USA disputes the results. Philip Morris says not only has it spent $1 billion to develop and disseminate advertising aimed at deterring youth smoking but it also has research that shows the ads work. It says the ads are based on widely accepted research and don't carry hidden messages.

That's the Seattle Times.  Via Fark, and oh, how Fark rocks.

 

People:

1.  Tell your children not to smoke.

2.  Tell them more than once.

3.  If you smoke, try like Hell to quit.  It will kill you.

4.  If you don't smoke, don't give people Hell that do.  Believe me, they want to quit and can't.  Be encouraging if you can, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, The Excuse We All Wanted

Too much exercise can be bad for you.

 

"The real sweet spot, as you would expect there to be in any biologic system, is around an hour a day," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon at Columbia University and co-author of "You: The Owner's Manual." "After that, it's hard to show a great benefit."

There are no widely accepted recommendations for when adults should lay off exercising partly because health officials are worried about Americans being too sedentary, not too active. But it's also difficult to say with precision when healthy exercise becomes unhealthy among a population that includes extremes from triathletes to couch potatoes.

"It's so idiosyncratic, that's the tough thing about it," said Carl Foster, a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

William Haskell, professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, says that in general the risk of harm begins to outweigh the benefits for adults after more than an hour a day. Above an hour, it's questionable whether you're going to get much more from it, he said.

 

ABC News.  Via Fark.

That makes sense in my worldview.  Moderation, baby.

 

So Close

I'm sure that everyone knows about James Kim by now.  I've been reading his stuff off and on for years.  I say hero.  But I grate at just how close he was.

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — The San Francisco man who sought help for his stranded family and got lost in the snowy wilderness died of hypothermia near a fishing lodge stacked with food, authorities said.

James Kim, 35, had no way of knowing about the Black Bar Lodge. His body was found in shallow water feeding Big Windy Creek, about a mile away from the lodge, where he could have found shelter, warmth and enough food for months, authorities said Thursday.

That the Houston Chronicle.

 

Arrgh.  Arrgh.  Arrgh.  So close, yet so far away.  Rest in peace, Mr. Kim.  At least you went out on your feet, trying to save your family. 

 

The world sighs, James dies, and that's about the extent of the poetry in it.

 

All praise Harlan Ellison.

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday To Me

Yippie!

 

Actually, I'm typically very low key about birthdays.

But today is mine, and I'm definitely not low key.  Why?

 

I QUIT SMOKING.

 

All of the nicotine is out of my system.  The last cigarette that I had was Tuesday, and that was only one.  Therefore, it's all gone.  All that's left is beating the habit.

 

What method did I use?  Nothing.  Willpower.  Cold turkey.

 

Personally, I endorse this method, because lozenges, patches, shots, gum.... they all have nicotine.  That's the part that you have to break.  Ever wonder why cigarette companies are quick to endorse these quitting methods?  Well, I'm thinking that it's no coincidence.

 

So.

 

That was my birthday present to myself, and my daughter, this week.  I've tried to do it before, but for some reason, I think that this time it will stick.

 

I'll keep you updated.

Eat Meat, Get Cancer

Is there a major food group that won't kill you?

 

CHICAGO -- Eating red meat may raise a woman's risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart, two new studies suggest.

Women who ate more than 1 1/2 servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one study found.

The other - one of the longest and largest tests of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women - found that the popular pills do no good, although there were hints that women with the highest risk might get some benefit from vitamin C.

Consult Seattlepi.com for that nugget of wonderful news.

 

Yay. 

 

Seriously, I wonder if before the advent of pumping up meats and such with hormones that this was an issue?  I mean, people are meant to eat meat and vegetables, right?  Isn't that the way it was supposed to work out?

 

I'll keep watching.

 

In the meantime, I suspect that there will be a lot of frustrated sons, husbands, and boyfriends out there very, very soon, when they can't eat a steak at home.

 

 

 

Children And Bad Stuff

Our kids.  Why do we hate them so?

 

Fetal and early childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment can damage the developing brain and can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)--autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and mental retardation. Still, there has been insufficient research done to identify the individual chemicals that can cause injury to the developing brains of children.

 

From the Science Blog.  Show them some love.

 

Look.  How hard is it to try to keep kids (and senior citizens, frankly) healthy?  As the world's weakest citizens, they should be the ones that we protect the most.  Instead, we give our kids chemical poisoning, hormone-stuffed food and liquids, too much sugar and salt and Ritalin, which is, interestingly enough, chemically similar to cocaine.

Thank Wikipedia for that cite, by the way.

 

Perfect.  And I didn't even mention the school shootings.

 

Society, stop sleeping.

Good for the FDA

Good.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government revived efforts Monday to widen access to the morning-after pill, but only to women 18 and older, issuing a surprise announcement that it was reconsidering over-the-counter sale of the emergency contraceptive almost a year after it was thought doomed.

The Food and Drug Administration notified manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. early Monday that it wanted to meet within seven days to iron out new steps the company must take in its three-year battle to sell the pill, called Plan B, without a prescription to at least some women.

Thanks, CNN.

 

The apparent non-evilness of this particular move, given the FDA's long and glorious history of pure, unadulterated evil confuses me.

Someone well-connected is about to, no doubt, make a LOT of money.

For All You Shaver Haters Out There

I've got some shaving help for you.

 

I hate shaving! Thankfully I don't have the same problem as some other men which requires me to shave every day, but even at every second day it's a hassle. Is there anything simple I can do to slow my facial hair growth so that I need only shave, say, once a week at most?

 

Metafilter, via Lifehacker, yet again.

 

I friggin' HATE shaving.  I'm not sure of anyone that I know that likes it.

 

Straight razors, anyone?  Where?

 

 

Beer For Your Health

More good news for beer drinkers.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A main ingredient in beer may help prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to a new study. But researchers say don't rush out to stock the refrigerator because the ingredient is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink more than 17 beers to benefit.

 

Harumph. 

I suppose that I now have friends that are bulletproof.  Alas, no beer in my fridge.