Magic mushrooms

The natural world is full of wonder: who would have thought twenty years ago (besides the "stoner" community) that psycho-active mushrooms might have medicinal use?  Native peoples quite possibly used such medicine, hopefulyl modern society can find a useful place for it as well.

www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112391707/lasting-happiness-found-with-hallucinogen-use/index.html

When companies lie

Reebok recently agreed to pay $25 million for their false advertising of their "toning" shoes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/28/reebok-ftc-idUSS1E78R0N620110928

Reebok claimed in advertisements that the shoes would tone calf muscles and gluts.  Doesn't that sound great?  For a for extra bucks, put on your shoes like usual and get a workout!  Not so much.

The company blatantly disregarded people's intelligence, made false claims, and sold a product under false pretenses.  What was their punishment?  Barely a slap on the wrist.  Considering that the shoes cost ranges from $12 to $300, and the company sold millions of these shoes, one does not have to be able to do advanced calculus to figure out that Reebok made a bunch of money even after paying the fine.

Sadly enough, many people trust that companies have done the research and that the "28% more toning of the butt!" claim was tested by scientists in a lab.  Now, people don't like to admit that they've been duped and the news that Reebok lied will spread a lot less quickly, if at all, than the initial false claims.

If the average consumer wants to learn from this, what is the "take away" lesson?  Look for facts, research, and hard evidence: doubt every claim a company makes.  Remember, they are not looking out for your best interests, they are only trying to increase sales and make more money.

P.S.  I have nothing against making money.  "Atlas Shrugged" is a brilliant book and should be on the must-read list for everyone.  It's when consumers stop thinking and blatantly start accepting anything they are told is when the problems happen.  Take the market back in control of the people who actually run it (you!) and make informed decisions.  That should be the responsibility of every thinking human.

Fat Prejudice

When you see someone is is obviously over weight, perhaps even obese, what do you think?  A good majority of human sensory comes in through our eyes (excepting those who are blind, yes).  We make assessments based on what we see and based on previous experiences in life.  The current American culture is obsessed with being thin, do to the readily available amounts of low cost, high calorie foods found most everywhere.  Wealthy = thin, poor = fat.  So, are Americans hating fat people because we see then as poor?  Are there other reasons?  Here is an article to get you starting in thinking about the topic:

http://fitbie.msn.com/2011/09/26/do-americans-hate-fat-people-fight-prejudice-against-overweight?gt1=50002

There is plenty more reading out there on the topic.  Try searching "obesity stigma" or similar phrases and key words.  Feel free to comment on what you find!

Just enough of everything...

Did you know that apples could be harmful to your health?  No, seriously.  Eat enough of them for long enough and you will most certainly have deficiencies in your diet and resulting health problems.  Well, the same is true for a lot of things: too much water or too little, too much food or too little, too much of a drug or too little...  Recently, people have started admitting that salt is not all bad.  Yes, evil, evil salt is no longer considered evil.  This article

http://www.menshealth.com/health/do-you-need-more-salt

focuses mostly on the iodine in salt (which is added, not naturally there).  Salt itself is good in certain quantities (recall the sodium-potassium pump from cellular biology class?), but too much can be harmful.  Like most every, take it in moderation.