Weekend Thoughts - 5.2.15

Image by Jason Devaun, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! I hope the week treated everyone well. Let's jump right in for some deep weekend thinking.

1. One of my favorite resources for personal development, Steve Pavlina, published a superb post titled The Spiritual Path of Veganism that discusses the relationship between humans and our extended family of flora and fauna that share space with us on Earth.

2. Here is an interesting read on Newsweek about how Homeless Millennials Are Transforming Hobo Culture. A subject I have a fascination with but no personal experience, the article discusses how recent technology has changed a lot of things for the modern homeless wanderer .

3. Thad McKraken from disinformation published a post recently titled Why I Don't Do Psychedelics Very Often Anymore that resonates strongly with me. It serves as a wise reminder to tread lightly when it comes to psychedelics. 

4. Regarding the recent situation between police and community in Baltimore, The Baltimore Sun published an article about how Freddie Gray was a victim of the war on drugs. If you want to improve police/community relations in America, you simply must support drug war reform.

5. As a fan of the jam band genre of music, I thought this article about Why Music Needs More Phish on Windpanther was spot on.

6. If you're interested in trail running you simply must check out The Ultimate Resource Guide for New Trail Runners from Doug Hay at Rock Creek Runner. It is an amazing resource guide that includes book, podcast, movie, and website suggestions, as well as gear advice and nutrition recommendations. Highly recommended.

7. Some new trend data that has been reported on Food Navigator-USA.com is showing that the vegan diet is becoming more mainstream, especially among millennials, whose values include environmental preservation and a sense of social responsibility.

That's all for this edition of Weekend Thoughts. Have a great week next week and we'll all reconvene here next Saturday for another thought session.

Weekend Thoughts - 4.25.15

Image by Elizabeth Haslam, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday, y'all! I didn't collect too many links this week before I left for an out-of-town wedding, but I scheduled this edition of Weekend Thoughts to automatically publish at the usual Saturday morning time. Without any further ado, let's get to thinking.

1. The New York Times brings us Simple Rules for Healthy Eating by Aaron E. Carroll. It's a good review of healthy eating practices. Not too much detail here, but who couldn't use a refresher?!

2. The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu reports that the FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades. Hsu breaks it down quite well in his lede: 

"The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000."

3. Monsanto Knew of Glyphosate/Cancer Link 35 Years Ago via Global Research. Yet another article showing that the corporation Monsanto is not the most ethical corporation around.

I hope you enjoyed this week's links and I look forward to bringing you more of the same next weekend! Until then, keep thinking wilder!

Weekend Thoughts - 4.18.15

Image by Mutiara Karina, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday, y'all! I have a great selection of links this week to share, so let's get started.

1. Cops have killed way more Americans in America than terrorists have via Boing Boing.
Were you aware that US police have killed at least 5,600 people since the year 2000? The actual figure is likely much higher because citizens killed by police are not consistently reported, but either way the tally is many more than the amount of people who have died from terrorist attacks.

2. US Govt Agency Admits That Marijuana Extracts Can Kill Cancer Cells via Reset.me.
Although the United States Government classifies cannabis as a Schedule I substance with a high risk for abuse and no medical benefits, the National Institute of Drug Abuse published the following paragraph on its website this week:

"Recent animal studies have shown that marijuana extracts may help kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others. Evidence from one cell culture study suggests that purified extracts from whole-plant marijuana can slow the growth of cancer cells from one of the most serious types of brain tumors. Research in mice showed that treatment with purified extracts of [tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD)], when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation."

This should come as no surprise to someone familiar with the medical benefits of cannabis, but it highlights one aspect of the government's utter hypocrisy regarding the plant.

3. Human Rights Watch Sues DEA Over Bulk Collection of American's Telephone Records via Electronic Frontier Foundation.
It's good to see that there will at least be a fight regarding the DEA's illegal domestic spying tactics that the organization used for the past few decades. I'm not all that optimistic that justice will be served in this case, but I support the effort to punish the DEA for its illegal activity.

4. DEA: Bad Boys Sexing Up Colombian Prostitutes Supplied by Drug Cartels via Ladybud.
This certainly hasn't been a good week for the DEA's public image. In addition to the unveiling of a longstanding illegal surveillance practice, it turns out that DEA Special Agents have allegedly been having sex parties with Colombian prostitutes that were hired by drug cartels. The agents were also allegedly given money, gifts, and weapons by the cartel members. And the response from DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart? None of the misbehaving agents were fired, and seven of them were simply punished with suspensions ranging between one to 10 days.

5. White America's Silence on Police Brutality is Consent via Gawker.
This article discusses white America's perception that the nation's police are doing a good job despite the disparities between how various races of people are treated. The situation may change for the better once more influential white folks step up and speak up in favor of reforming how we handle policing in this country, but until then we will most likely see racist policing continue.

6. Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It's time for a medical marijuana revolution via CNN. It's always nice to see such a reputable and powerful voice as Dr. Gupta's recommending that we legalize medical cannabis right now. His article explains the reasons behind his declaration and discusses his new documentary called Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution. I'm excited to see him coming out so firmly in favor of medical cannabis and am inspired by his courage.

That's all for this week. I realize that the links were heavy on cannabis, police, and the DEA, and I hope to bring more variety to Weekend Thoughts next week. Have a good rest of your weekend and I hope you'll return next Saturday.

Weekend Thoughts - 4.11.15

Image by Larry, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! I have a lot of links for you to enjoy this weekend, so let's get started.

1. Rare and Unseen Color Photographs of America’s Hippie Communes from the 1970s—via The Vintage News. This is a nice collection of unseen photographs of American hippie communes from the 1970s. The people in these communes look so free-spirited and quirky. Although there are a lot of well-known issues with communes, this does make me wish I could live off the grid for the rest of my life.

2. Psychoactive Plants in the Bible—via Philosopher's Page. I found this account of psychoactive plants found in the Bible to be fascinating. It's quite obvious that there were consciousness-altering plants that inspired the stories in the Bible, and this article gives a good overview of what the plants were, how they were used, and the psychoactive effects they generated.

3. 7 Things You Should Know About Matcha—via Health.com. Matcha is a special form of green tea that was used traditionally in Japanese meditation practices. I find it to be quite enjoyable and this article is a good introduction to this type of tea.

4. Is the Internet Killing Middle-Class Jobs?—via The Week. "The robopocalypse for workers may be inevitable. In this vision of the future, super-smart machines will best humans in pretty much every task. A few of us will own the machines, a few will work a bit — perhaps providing "Made by Man" artisanal goods — while the rest will live off a government-provided income. Silicon-based superintelligence and robots will dramatically alter labor markets — to name but one example, the most common job in most U.S. states probably will no longer be truck driver. But what about right now? If you're unemployed or working part-time instead of full-time, or haven't seen a raise in years, should you blame technology?"

5. Obama Steps Up Commutations, Feeding Drug War Prisoners’ Hopes—via Forbes. This is a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot of people in prison for non-violent "crimes". Hopefully the commutations will continue, with more prisoners of the drug war being released.

6. Vegan Diet Best for Planet—via The Hill. "The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a federally appointed panel of nutritionists created in 1983, decided for the first time this year to factor in environmental sustainability in its recommendations." Naturally, the meat and dairy industries are pissed off about this information being incorporated into dietary recommendations, but that doesn't take away from the truth that a vegan diet is best for environmental sustainability.

7. U.S. Directs Agents to Cover Up Program Used to Investigate Americans—via Reuters. This shouldn't be surprising at all, but the Drug Enforcement Administration was collecting data on Americans long before the National Security Agency. Now on top of that, the U.S. government wants information regarding the DEA's domestic spying covered up and kept away from American citizens.

8. American Cops Just Killed More People in March than the UK Did in the Entire 20th Century—via The Free Thought Project. There is something incredibly wrong with the way that policing is done in our country. This is a mind-blowing headline, and the article backs up the claim with statistics.

Enjoy the reads for this weekend and I'll see you next week!

Weekend Thoughts - 4.4.15

Image by Christian Weidinger, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! I have been doing some spring cleaning around the house and purging unnecessary possessions, to make the atmosphere at home calmer and less cluttered. The weather is looking brighter and warmer, which is exciting and uplifting. There will be less links this weekend, as I am still determining the best way to collect them throughout the week. Below are my recommended articles from the past week:

1. Feeling Intense Emotions Doesn’t Make You Crazy — But That’s Not What Big Pharma Wants You to Think — via reset.me. An excellent interview with Julie Holland, author of the new book Moody Bitches, about the pharmaceutical industry's treatment of women, the slick advertising techniques used to market drugs, and how experiencing strong emotions is not a signifier of an underlying health issue.

2. Inquiry of Silk Road Website Spurred Agents' Own Illegal Acts, Officials Say — via New York Times. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and Secret Service have resigned after being formally charged with money laundering and wire fraud. Rather than turning in $1.6 million of Bitcoins gathered from the investigation of online marketplace Silk Road, these agents have been accused of transferring them into their personal bank accounts.

3. Verizon Wireless Customers Can Now Opt Out of 'Supercookies' — via New York Times. The article's lede: "Verizon Wireless customers now have the ability to completely opt out of the phone carrier's controversial ad-targeting program that tagged users with undeletable tracking codes, which critics called 'supercookies.'" If you would like to opt out yourself, you can do so on Verizon's website.

4. Psychedelic Drugs 'Safe as Riding a Bike or Playing Soccer' — via Newsweek. A report on a letter published recently in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, that argues that drug policies must respect the rights of individuals who choose to use psychedelics as a spiritual, personal development, or cultural activity. It is encouraging to see positive coverage on psychedelics making it to publications like Newsweek.

That's all for this weekend. Enjoy the articles and I will share more next weekend!