Weekend Thoughts - 6.6.15

Image by Holger Ejleby, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all. Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. A great article from iRunFar that focuses on the health benefits and overall importance of ensuring that runners get sufficient sleep each night. Sleep is something that I really need to focus on, myself. This article was a great reminder that it is extremely important.

2. A fairly thorough guide for referring to transgender people, which is timely due to Caitlyn Jenner's announcement of her gender transition that was published this week. This certainly isn't one of my most knowledgeable topics, but I've been interested with the language that is used in the trans community for a few years after listening to several episodes on the C-Realm Podcast that cover this topic.

3. Although I'm getting to this one a week late, the United States Justice Department has indicted 14 FIFA soccer officials with accusations of rampant corruption. It really makes you wonder if the matches themselves are fixed, as well...

4. Jay Michaelson at The Daily Beast published a fairly decent piece titled "Can Ecstasy Replace Xanax?" that discusses the potential for using MDMA as a replacement for common pharmaceuticals used to treat health issues ranging from PTSD to social anxiety. A good overview for someone unfamiliar with the topic, although I was surprised that it didn't mention the hard work that MAPS has been doing with regard to MDMA research.

5. An internal investigation has reported that undercover investigators were able so smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through TSA checkpoints 95% of the time. That means the organization is only catching 5% of truly dangerous items at the security gate. My opinion? Shut them down. They're not effective at their jobs, so why should we still be dealing with them?

6. A somewhat provocatively-titled article on The Atlantic, "Why Pot Smokers Are Skinnier" examines the results from research at the University of Nebraska that analyzed participants' fasting insulin and glucose levels, insulin resistance, cholesterol levels, and waist circumference. The results show that current cannabis users sported significantly smaller waist circumference than participants who had never used cannabis and had higher levels of HDL, also known as "good cholesterol". Although it's not exactly clear how this happens, the findings suggest that cannabis may improve insulin control and regulating body weight, which may explain why cannabis users have a lower incidence of diabetes.

7. From Re/code, AT&T Says Subsidized Phones, 2-Year Contracts Going Away. From the article: "Like unlimited data plans, the two-year contract and the subsidized cellphone are on the endangered species list." If this signals an overall trend in the mobile phone industry, we may be paying much higher prices up-front for our devices, but less money in the long run.

8. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published an article detailing its opinion about the passing of the USA Freedom Act that is worth a read.

9. An interesting bit of research on disinfo about how plants know when they are being eaten. As a member of the vegan community, one of the things that frustrates me is when fellow vegans get on their high horses about how morally superior eating plants is over an omnivorous diet. I'm glad that research is being done to determine how much harm we are causing to the plants that we consume. My personal take is that all life must consume other forms of living (or dead) matter to survive, and while it is nice to be in a camp that strives to minimize the harm that we are causing to other life forms, I find it foolish to think that eating a vegan diet is completely harmless.

10. I also really enjoyed this article from disinfo about how pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are not victimless crimes against science. It served as a good reminder for myself to judge the sources of my information. There is an explanation of the efficacy of the scientific method, and I really enjoyed this quote: "Science might not be perfect but it is the best tool mankind has developed to understand itself and the world around us."

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 5.30.15

Image by theclevelandkid24, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all. Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. Fortune published a piece that explores the jobs that automation will kill next. Careers such as commercial airline pilots, journalists, lawyers, managers, and financial advisors are considered to be in the middle of the difficulty range compared to other jobs. The latest theories about automation predict that middle-skill jobs will be hit the hardest, because employees at the upper-end (engineers and scientists) and lower-end (plumbers and electricians) will be less threatened by automation practices. This article comes at an interesting time for me, as I recently reviewed Marshall Brain's Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future, which describes a future where automated robots eliminate half of the jobs on the market.

2. An excellent article from The Age that starts with the powerful lede, "It would be nice to say that the war on drugs had achieved nothing. The truth is far worse." Author Michael Coulter goes on to explain the current state of the drug war by highlighting the damage the war has done to the world's citizenry and pointing out that the damage from the war is far greater than any potential damage from the drugs themselves.

3. This week, I stumbled across this interesting idea: a chat room for psychedelics. The tagline is "Join psychedelic researchers, therapists, explorers and advocates to discuss...". It hasn't launched yet, and it only taking names and email addresses now, so I can't predict how it will turn out. But I wanted to share it with the Think Wilder audience nonetheless!

4. VICE UK has an in-depth article about synthetic cannabinoids (sometimes referred to as "Spice" or "K2"). Well worth a read for someone interested in the topic, concerned friends or family members, people in the medical profession, and psychonauts.

5. For those of us following the news of US Border Patrol's illegal detainment, search and assault of criminal justice student Jessica Cooke, this article from Reason dives a bit deeper and discusses how the organization is actually used (illegally) as an extension of the country's war on drugs.

6. Maj. Neill Franklin, a 34-year veteran with the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Departments, wrote a short piece explaining how the drug war has created more violence and made neighborhoods more dangerous. Franklin is also the executive director of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), an organization consisting of current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who speak out against the failures of our existing drug policies.

That's all for this edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 5.23.15

Image by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all. I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend below:

1. A thought piece by Bassnectar, one of my favorite EDM (Electronic Dance Music) artists, about how to think for yourself and question authority. Also, while you're at it, check out what he had to say recently about the licensing of his music and general musings about EDM culture.

2. Geoff Roes at iRunFar.com has an interesting piece about the factors that cause a peak performer in ultra-running to experience a decline in performance. I found the discussion of ultra-runners opting to dabble in multiple race distances to be fascinating. Roes is correct–that isn't something that we see in other race distances, and it certainly could have a lot to do with a decline in overall performance.

3. An article on The Atlantic that discusses the undeserved abuse that the DEA has been handing out to passengers on Amtrak trains as of late. The more news that comes out about the DEA, the less legitimate and more criminal of an organization they seem to be.

4. The couple at Holy Scrap have been on a six-month road trip around the Western United States, living out of a Honda Element with their dog while they travel. They posted a thought-provoking article this week about the lack of available free space in our country. The following question is raised: exactly how long are we allowed to be in a space without forking over cash to a person, business, or organization?

That's all for this edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 5.16.15

Image by Ashton Pal, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday, y'all! I was a bit under the weather this past week, but I have still gathered an excellent selection of reads for you to ponder this weekend.

1. Emily Guendelsberger from Philadelphia Citypaper went undercover as an Uber driver to find out what it's like to be behind the wheel of an Uber car. A fascinating read, but what sticks out is the paltry amount of money that Uber drivers receive for their services. A great read for anyone who has ever hailed an Uber (or Lyft, for that matter) as a rider.

2. DrugAbuse.com has a really interesting piece analyzing drug use at various music festivals. Burning Man seems to be to most well-rounded with its selection of substances, from what I can see.

3. An odd post on Boing Boing about a real book titled Dating Vegans. It seems sad to me that there is actually a book out there that is about dating vegans - do vegans really need to be that discriminatory in our dating practices that it would require a guidebook for dating?

That's all for this edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 5.9.15

Image by Erik Eckel, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! I've got a well-rounded selection of links for you to read this weekend. 

1. Something that is hitting hard for me right now is the myriad controversies in nutrition science. Questions like "What is healthy food?" and "How much of it should I eat?" have been ricocheting throughout my brain this week. Quartz has a thought-provoking article on how the cult of healthy eating has more in common with religion than science. The piece's author, Alan Levinovitz, argues that nutrition science is difficult to research effectively, and he cautions his readers to not fall prey to healthy "fad" diet claims. I admit that I have tried many different types of "healthy" diets, to varying degrees of success. I make sure that I never put complete faith in any particular diet, and instead use the experimentation phases as a method for testing the diets for myself. However, I agree with Levinovitz's main argument - finding a truly healthy diet backed by substantial and trustworthy scientific evidence seems nearly impossible.

2. This Sriracha Avocado Chickpea Salad recipe from Healthy Slow Cooking looks scrumptious! After all, it's got three of my favorite things - Sriracha, avacado, and chickpeas!

3. New research has come out showing that there may be bacteria from fecal matter in beards. The findings essentially show that there are bacteria in beards that resemble bacteria found in the human gut. This may be because beard hair is coarser and can trap germs and grease more effectively. First of all, as a man with a beard, I have no plan to shave my beard. Second, I have to wonder if this is more germ and bacteria fear-mongering that will result in overall decreased immune function, rather than the reverse. After all, over sterilization is a thing.

4. One of my favorite video games, Portal, is being turned into a hyperdimensional pinball game. Pinball is one of my favorite arcade-style games, so the combination may prove to be entertaining. For those of you not familiar with Portal, it is a first person shooter game that has mind-bending puzzles in 3D space. Highly recommended. I may actually purchase the pinball version of the game - it's only going to be $2.99 for consoles, Mac, and PC, and $1.99 for mobile devices. The game will be released on May 25th.

5. A fellow Reality Sandwich writer, Bernardo Kastrup, was featured on one of my favorite podcasts last week: Lorenzo Hagerty's Psychedelic Salon. The topic is incredibly intriguing and this was an exceptional episode of the podcast that I just have to share. Bernardo describes the concept of a cosmic nervous system in great detail that resonates with me on several levels. Here is an excellent summary by Lorenzo:

"Today Bernardo Kastrup returns to the salon with more metaphysical speculations. Supplementing his recently released book, "Brief Peeks Beyond," he touches on the so-called hard problem of consciousness faced by materialists. In his examination of the dominant materialistic world view, Bernardo reveals the forces behind our value systems, which in turn determine our behavior. He ends with some very concrete suggestions for five things each of us can do to make the world a little better. However, my favorite section of this talk comes when he suggests that cosmic consciousness at-large may actually be experiencing what we humans call multiple personality disorder."

6. As an Apple fan, I enjoyed this brief piece titled One day they'll understand Apple on Ken Segall's Observatory. He argues that pundits that don't understand Apple's behavior in the present must look to its behavior in the past, as Apple is one of the most consistent companies in the technology industry. I agree with Segall's message here.

That's all for this edition of Weekend Thoughts. See you next time - and until then, keep thinking wilder.