In an attempt to find something interesting, I searched Flickr for "art" and found Ben Heine. I am most impressed with how prolific he is - lots of art. Lots of variations on certain themes.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
npd
This just in:
It is no longer "Narcissistic Personality Disorder", it is "personality disorder with narcissistic and manipulative traits"
Friday, November 26, 2010
Food and Livin
Rambling about caloric restriction... there is a lot of recent research out there that makes the caloric restriction diet questionable.
I suspect that those great endurance athletes with phenomenal VO2 maximums have a price to pay. All that mitochondrial activity leads to increased oxidative stress and accelerated aging or age related illnesses.
The Sirt3 enzyme ...acts on mitochondria, structures inside cells that produce energy and that are the sources of highly reactive forms of oxygen known as free radicals, which damage cells and promote the effects of aging.
Another speculation: Weightlifters and bodybuilders beware - all that ramped up protein synthesis could be killing you. As a gym rat who defaulted into bodybuilding just to have some sense of progress, I have been sensitive to the idea that all this increased metabolism and cellular activity is essentially burning my gene candles at both ends. We only have a limited number of cell divisions before the telomeres run out unless telomerase is increased - which it is through "exercise". The question is whether cardio training is superior to resistance training in upregulating telomerase activity. Also, does increased protein consumption negate the benefits?
IGF-1 is a key hormone for weightlifters, but it has a complex set of pros and cons regarding cancers and aging.
Speed of Expansion of the Universe
Apparently the universe is expanding (at least) almost as fast as the speed of light.
velocity = distance / time
= 13.1 billion light-years / 13.75 billion years = 0.953 times the speed of light
Given:
b) ...new observations have spotted the most distant galaxy ever seen. The galaxy’s light comes from about 13.1 billion light-years away
But, apparently, this is grossly over simplified (ie, Half-Baked):
Snobflation
Snobbery induced inflation...
Why buy something cheap and convenient when everyone else can too? Better to buy something that shows your buying power! You should always buy the best you can afford because - what would people think?!
Nano cars may be super cheap, but that's like buying obviously cheap clothes, jewelry, watches, etc - people will think you have neither style nor money!
On the grand scale, however, does this attitude actually drive up prices in general? I am sure it has an effect on conspicuous goods, but probably less so on goods that are not revealed as some sort of fiscal fitness indicator. So cars, clothes, jewelry, organic foods, and houses might be subject to competitive snobflation (I'm better than the common rift-raft - I'm with the got-it-together crowd), but behind-the-scenes water, phone, and electric bills might not be driven up by the inflation of keeping up with the Smiths
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Faith Healing, Organics, and Libertarianism
Trust me, what is natural is what is best.
All the modern problems are the result of meddling where we shouldn't.
Take it from the bibly, God will take care of you and meet your needs!
Natural food is healthy!
Economic intervention is evil!
No more medicine!
No more increased crop yields!
No more government!
Let the invisible hand of Gaia cure all of our ills!
The good Lord, organic food (and medicine!), and the economy are all self-regulating systems that will take care of themselves if we let them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)