Weekend Thoughts - 9.19.15

Image by Francois de Halleux, 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 thought-provoking piece from Wired that describes the tendency of technology workers to be picky about choosing a city to relocate to, sticking mainly to San Jose (Silicon Valley) California, Seattle, San Francisco, and Austin. Technology jobs are growing at twice the national average for all jobs, which makes this an interesting issue—with so many jobs available in that field, why aren't they being filled across the country? The issue is multifaceted and the article does an excellent job addressing several points.

2. In the span of several hours, a news-story broke about a 14 year-old 9th grader in Texas who was arrested the previous day and suspended from school for bringing a homemade clock that his superiors mistook for a bomb, and was quickly personally invited by President Obama to visit the White House. I'm astounded not only by the fact that the original judgment call was poorly-made, but that it made it to Obama's desk in such a short time. What an amazing time we live in. Of course, most people pointed out the racial issue (Ahmed Mohamed is a Muslim name) in this story and missed the fact that school zero tolerance policies are utterly insane, regardless of race.

3. Speaking of ridiculous school zero tolerance policies, how about this case where a student was suspended from school for a year for possessing a maple leaf and a lighter?

4. A fascinating collection of vintage cocaine advertisements from the 70s and 80s, back when it was possible to market and sell the substance.

5. This video on Disinfo explores an interesting thought concept—if a robot that you own and control accidentally murders another human being, should you be held liable for its actions? I'm continuously fascinated by all of the new implications that artificial intelligence is bringing up. Stay tuned for more links on that topic, because I definitely like thinking about it and sharing it!

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

Weekend Thoughts - 9.12.15

Image by William, 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 brief summary of how being vegan tremendously helps the environment. Aside from the scientifically-proven health benefits and demonstrating compassion toward animals, this article details how vegans are actively combatting the largest source of carbon emissions (meat), how climate change creates and exacerbates human and animal health issues, the plunging cost of vegan diets compared to omnivorous diets, and how vegans have a drastically-reduced carbon footprint. Studies have shown that vegans save 1,100 gallons of water, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, 30 square feet of forested land, 45 pounds of grain, and one animal's life each day. To me, going vegan was a no-brainer decision, although it can require a bit more planning and acceptance of increased responsibility than the standard American diet. Having been a vegetarian for two years and a vegan for 1.5 years, I don't see myself ever going back to my prior omnivorous ways and greatly enjoy my current lifestyle and diet. I do understand that it is not for everyone, but I believe that everyone can take steps, no matter how big or small, toward a more sustainable diet.

2. An article on the "dark side" of coffee explores the harms that the drink can cause and suggests healthier alternatives for readers to try. Although many people have no doubt seen studies showing that coffee is beneficial to health, there is enough contradictory evidence showing that it is actually damaging instead. I imagine that we may be in an era that believes coffee is beneficial to one's health, similar to how previous generations believed cigarettes were healthy. The article is definitely worth a read, and it's worth considering whether drinking coffee is actually helping you or not. I would suggest doing what I have done before: cut out coffee for several days, weeks, months, or years, and then return to it and see how you feel.

3. Is American car culture being replaced by technology and social media? An article explores the emerging trend of age-eligible teenagers who opt-out of obtaining their driver's licenses at 16. Back in the day, teenagers were more-than-excited to earn their licenses as soon as they hit the required age mark, but nowadays they are opting to wait longer. The article proposes the idea that maybe the ability to reach more people and explore more of the world via a mobile phone has replaced the desire to get behind the wheel. 

4. I enjoyed this light-hearted piece about the science behind why we kiss. It turns out that it is a combination of nature and nurture—kissing most likely originated from a missed attempt to smell another human up-close-and-personal style, and the act is a learned behavior that most hunter-gather societies don't share.

5. Former federal prisoner Michael Santos explains how he learned about the Internet and published a website from inside prison. His story is full of great tidbits, like how he realized a lot had changed in society when he got online and saw that the average attention span was drastically shorter due to the short formats that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Vine have popularized. I was especially enchanted by the way that he used the Internet to help him achieve success in the real world, which is generally a very difficult for ex-prisoners to do.

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

Weekend Thoughts - 9.5.15

Image by mark6mauno, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. An interesting take on AI in an article titled Will Artificial Intelligence get high? This is something I had never considered before, but it is an interesting concept to explore. I like this quote at the end: "So if there ever is an epic battle between the sentient machine and humanity, AI has already won; because we are starting to depend on it—and only because we designed it that way."

2. ATTN: 5 Charts That Prove the War on Drugs Is a Nightmare. Here are the main points:

1. More federal prisoners are being given longer sentences than before the 1980s—average prison sentence for federal drug offenders rose 36% while sentences for all other offenders declined 3%.

2. Sentences have become increasingly harsh for federal drug offenders—probation has virtually disappeared as a sanction for them.

3. The war on drugs hasn't stopped people from using illicit substances—in fact, illegal drug use has increased.

4. Federal law enforcement agencies have been targeting mostly low-level drug offenders—nearly half of those sentenced for drug crimes in 2009 were street-level dealers or below while suppliers and importers represented just 11%.

5. Reduced sentences does not translate into higher recidivism rates.

I definitely suggest taking a look at the article and sharing it with your family, friends and open-minded colleagues.

3. In commemoration of today's holiday, Jury Rights Day, I wanted to share an article about how Denver is unconstitutionally harassing citizens that inform the public about the process of jury nullification. For those of you not in the know, jury nullification is a legal practice that gives the jury in a trial the right to acquit a defendant (even if the members of the jury may believe the defendant performed an illegal act), because they don't believe the defendant should be punished for it. This has proved to be a very powerful tactic in drug war reform, as juries can decide to simply not punish a defendant for a law that may have been broken, on the collective opinion that the law itself is unjust. The fact that Denver is attempting to prevent people from spreading information about jury nullification is upsetting and wrong. More people ought to know that they can have a huge impact when serving on juries, so please share the knowledge about this practice with your friends and family.

4. In a news story that reminded me of the stoner comedy Biodome, it seems that NASA has initiated a Mars isolation experiment on Earth by securing six people for one year inside a dome in Hawaii. The idea behind the experiment is to maintain a Mars-like environment with no animals and limited vegetation and keep the team in isolation to prepare them for living on Mars. The structure they are living in is 36 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall, and the crew is expected to eat foods like powdered cheese and canned tuna, only go outside if fully dressed in a space suit, and have extremely limited access to the Internet. I'm sure they won't be laughing nearly as much as Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin did in the movie.

5. A new study shows that long exposure to minute amounts (below the level permissible in U.S. water) of Monsanto's Roundup can lead to liver and kidney damage. The research looked at prolonged exposure to the herbicide and one of its key ingredients—glyphosate. Do these findings constitute more evidence that we should let our wildlife grow wilder?

6. This article on why drug tests are a massive scam really nails it. I've long been a ferocious opponent of the drug testing industry, and this article points out many of the reasons that I have come to that conclusion. Among some of the best tidbits from the article: the tests are easily beaten, they discriminate against drugs that are actually less harmful, they waste money for employers and provide a constant revenue stream for private corporations that administer them, and they don't deter drug use. In many cases employers end up losing their most qualified employees due to drug testing. Gifted and talented students are prevented from participating in extracurricular activities due to drug testing, and/or lose their access to federal aid for university. Did you know that 90% of positive drug tests are attributed to cannabis use, and that if you smoked a joint three Friday nights ago and remained completely sober since then, you would likely still test positive for cannabis use? Why is it acceptable for alcohol users to get completely blitzed in their free time with a drug that is far more harmful than cannabis, yet smokers are discriminated against through the unconstitutional practice of drug testing? If you have any doubts about the lack of merit concerning drug testing, I beg you to read this article.

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

Weekend Thoughts - 8.29.15

Image by Tina Sbrigato, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Health information researcher, writer, and teacher Deane Alban wrote a brilliant article on Reset.me that covers the topic of how processed foods hijack the brain. Among the shocking tidbits included: the United States ranks last among developed countries in life expectancy and overall health and modern wheat is an addictive substance that produces a high similar to heroin, morphine or Oxycontin (in fact, administering naloxone, which is normally used during heroin overdoses, will eliminate the withdrawal process from wheat!). People don't often think of foods as drugs, but they certainly behave as drugs in the body, often producing undesirable psychoactive and physiological effects as well!

2. This article from Psychology Today suggests that mere exposure to conspiracy theories can make you less pro-social and less likely to accept established scientific principles. Dubbed the "Conspiracy Effect", the author argues that it isn't necessary to believe in the conspiracy theory; it is sufficient to have simply come in contact with the theory itself. According to his research, this can lead to a paranoid delusional worldview and a distrust of science. This part really got me: "...studies have shown that people who believe in conspiracy theories often espouse mutually contradictory explanations about the same event and are even eager to endorse entirely made-up conspiracy theories. In sum, it's not really about the actual evidence but rather about whether a theory is consistent with a larger conspiratorial worldview." At any rate, it's definitely worth assessing your current reality-tunnel, a concept that Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson often used to describe individual worldviews.

3. I found an article titled It is Time We Discussed Abolishing the Police from Counter Punch to be interesting. Especially this part: "There are many people who think the police exist to fight crime. The reality is that the police exist to maintain the status-quo with the rich on top and everyone else fighting for scraps. During the uprising in Ferguson last year comedian Chris Rock commented, 'If poor people knew how rich rich people are, there would be riots in the streets.' The police represent the first line of defense between the rich and the rioters. Those involved in the Black Lives Matter movement—the latest challenge to the racist status-quo—learn quickly the true function of the police as they are shouted at and insulted by police in riot gear who hem in their marches, as they have their photos taken by police surveillance teams for further investigation, as they deal with the never ending stream of plain-clothes cops intimidating, monitoring, sowing seeds of distrust. Knowing the political role of the police perhaps it is time to stop hoping for reform and start imagining a world without the police." There are certainly legitimate situations where it seems like we would need official enforcement, such as a volatile hostage situation or a burglar attempting to escape on foot. But the ongoing trend of police groups infiltrating Left-leaning political reform movements certainly does seem like the law enforcement organization is positioned between the haves and the have-nots, as the author has described.

4. Cop Shoots and Kills Man Threatening Him With a Spoon—Although the cop had a body camera available, it was not turned on. Although it is upsetting that a man with a spoon was murdered by a cop, it does make sense though: cops prefer foods that don't require utensils, like donuts.

5. Some great videos on The Real History of Drugs have been making the rounds this week. The videos are short and take a look at some of the racist underpinnings of the drug war. The drugs featured include cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, opium, and LSD. I highly suggest giving them a watch—you may even learn something that you didn't know beforehand!

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

Weekend Thoughts - 8.22.15

Image by Minoru Nitta, 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 reminder to stay positive, an article titled "Negative Thinking: The Number One Cause Of Chronic Depression And How To Overcome It" points out that negative thoughts attract more negativity. The piece makes a point about proof of the results of positive thinking, claiming that "Proof is not the result of what is true. Proof is the result of what you believe." Chronic negative thinking can be a real problem, and my main advice is to remember to smile!

2. Vice published an article on the need for a regulatory organization in the recreational drug market. Rather than the outright banning of all psychoactive substances other than the exempted few, which causes a host of public health and safety issues as well as criminalizing a group of otherwise law-abiding citizens, why don't we focus on ensuring the safety, purity, and efficacy of these new psychoactives?

3. Mrs. Homegrown at Root Simple wrote a piece on the value of trees that is worth reading. To summarize her points briefly: trees increase property values, cool the environment, absorb rain and share it with other plants, assist with cleaning water, absorb and store carbon, improve air quality, create food and habitat for animals, and heal the soul. Give her article a read for more detail, and while you're at it, check out the rest of the blog—I've been reading it for at least five years now and have enjoyed it immensely.

4. I found this take on the "Thanks, Obama" meme to be pretty spot-on. It's interesting that the meme can be used in a sincere way as well as a sarcastic one. Obama's presidential career has certainly proved to be an compelling one to follow.

5. There is finally some scientific evidence showing that e-cigarettes are about 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco. I think it's beyond clear to anyone who has tried both vaporizing and smoking that the vapor is easier on the throat and lungs than smoke. It's nice to see some scientific research being done in this arena, because for what feels like the longest time there hasn't been much research to speak of. Vaping is almost all around better than smoking—it tastes better, it smells better (and the smell dissipates extremely quickly), it's easier on your body, it can be less expensive, and it can actively aid in smoking cessation. The one thing I can think of that smokers may miss is the huge clouds of smoke that you can get from smoking, although many vaporizers produce full clouds of vapor instead. If you're a smoker, and you haven't tried vaping, I highly suggest you give it a try.

6. In the aftermath of Jeb Bush's recent statement supporting giving the NSA broader powers to spy even harder on Americans, a news story broke at The New York Times explaining how AT&T helped the NSA spy on Internet traffic on a vast scale and was in fact the most enthusiastic and top surveillance provider for the agency. For many decades, the United States government has relied on eager cooperation from AT&T to spy on immense quantities of Internet traffic. Now if only we could get the same amount of transparency from the other side of the equation—looking into our own government—that they are forcing on us...

7. Local (Durham, NC) vegan chef Kathy Hester featured a post on her blog Healthy Slow Cooking that centers around building a vegan pantry with dried beans. As an amateur vegan chef and bean-lover myself, I enjoyed her piece—especially the links to articles debating whether or not to presoak dried beans before cooking, the must-have beans to stock your shelves with, and the more uncommon beans to sample for a fun treat. There are also several recipes to try out, although I can't vouch for them personally as I haven't attempted to make any of them yet. I had the great fortune of meeting Kathy at last year's inaugural Triangle VegFest in Raleigh, NC and found her to be an engaging speaker with a warm personality and a wealth of knowledge about vegan cuisine. Her specialty is slow cooking, so give her blog a read if that piques your interest!

8. And speaking of Triangle VegFest, the 2nd annual event will be held in Raleigh, NC's Moore Square on October 17th from noon to 5PM. The event is free to enter and features tasty plant-based foods, exhibitors and vendors, and a lineup of fantastic informational speakers (including a favorite of mine, Chef AJ—a knowledgeable and extremely inspirational plant-based chef and culinary instructor). I hope to see you in the Square for some veggie-related fun and learning!

9. A writer tested out the Polyphasic sleep practice for a week and found it to be similar to taking LSD. The topic of Polyphasic sleep holds a sort of fascination for me although I haven't given it a try yet. It is the practice of breaking sleep into several segments spread throughout the day rather than one long segment of sleep overnight. I found this account to be entertaining and enlightening, with some great tips for going to sleep—even for regular sleepers!

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