Outlandish Observations: Mother's Day quotes from Diana Gabaldon's books

Outlandish Observations: Mother's Day quotes from Diana Gabaldon's books

BCG: Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance

This is an important paper for a couple of reasons.

• It's true. 
• It was produced by a very well established group that's about as mainstream as you can get. Views and news of this type have been available for several years now in the alternative/fringe media. The fact that such a well-established and prestigious organization as the Boston Consulting Group is now publishing what has been known for years by a small, knowledgeable few means that the world does, in fact, need to address these issues.

This being said, I completely concur with the issues presented in this paper. But I must respectfully disagree with the solutions presented.

I contend that we need to re-think capitalism itself. I contend that corporations (especially multi-national corporations) are a major contributing factor to our present situation and are not even mentioned here as part of the solution. I contend that the solutions given are designed to maintain the status quo as much as possible, but it may be time to let the status quo go the way of feudalism.

BCG Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance Jan 2013

Amish Poop & Bitter Yams

I found this very, very interesting, indeed.

There is a correlation between certain gut bacteria and obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, psoriasis and, yes, even cancer.

All this when scientists began a very detailed study of Amish poop. Um? Well. sorta . . .

Gut Bacteria Linked to Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome Identified

Aug. 15, 2012 — Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified 26 species of bacteria in the human gut microbiota that appear to be linked to obesity and related metabolic complications. These include insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels, increased blood pressure and high cholesterol, known collectively as "the metabolic syndrome," which significantly increases an individual’s risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

 ...

"We identified 26 species of bacteria that were correlated with obesity and metabolic syndrome traits such as body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose levels and C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation," says the senior author, Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D., professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We can’t infer cause and effect, but it’s an important step forward that we're starting to identify bacteria that are correlated with clinical parameters, which suggests that the gut microbiota could one day be targeted with medication, diet or lifestyle changes."

 ...

Dr. Fraser notes that the research team, led by Margaret L. Zupancic, Ph.D., then a postdoctoral fellow at IGS, also found an apparent link between the gut bacteria and inflammation, which is believed to be a factor in obesity and many other chronic diseases. "This is one of the first studies of obesity in humans to make a link between inflammatory processes and specific organisms that are present in the GI tract," Dr. Fraser says, noting that participants with metabolic syndrome who had elevated serum markers associated with inflammation tended to have the lowest levels of good bacteria that have been reported previously to have anti-inflammatory properties.

 ...

The original article can be found HERE.

And simultaneously in China we have THIS.

Chinese research proves bacteria to blame for causing obesity 

The battle of the bulge can be frustrating, with small victories overshadowed by major losses.

But research may bring some comfort. Bacteria, and not just gluttony or laziness, may be to blame. The bacteria can actually make genes generate fat.

...

A research team led by Zhao Liping, a professor of microbiology and associate dean at the School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, pointed out the precise link between a particular kind of bacteria and obesity.

The paper was published on Dec 13 in the journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.

It showed that a pathogen, or infectious agent, isolated from the gut of an obese human induced obesity and insulin resistance in germ-free mice.

In the clinical study, researchers found an excessive growth of endotoxin-producing bacteria, accounting for 35 percent of the gut bacteria, in an obese patient whose initial weight was 175 kg.

After an intervention with specialized nutritional formula, the bacteria decreased to non-detectable amounts and the patient lost 51.4kg.

It provided the key piece of evidence.

...

The intestinal bacterium involved was Enterobacter cloacae.

"The endotoxin released by the bacterium can activate a gene that helps generate fat. And it also deactivates a gene that consumes fat," Zhao said at a news briefing on Tuesday in Shanghai.

Zhao's study on the connection between obesity and gut microbiota came from personal experience.

...

Again, find the original article HERE.

Read both articles. Learn what can be found by doing a detailed study of Amish poop, and what can happen when eating bitter yams.

~K

Rudity, or the process of being rude.

Ofttimes I am bestruck by the mere coincidence of rudeness in public, or "rudity" as my daughter used to call it.People seem to believe that they are above waiting, beyond rules and lacking in proper courtesy to hold doors for others, or take their turn when it is...gasp...their turn!

Today was not exception. Today was a day when the Gods conspired to have me be behind a total asshat, a fool who believed waiting in line at a Starbucks was a criminal offense. Why did he no just leave and go elsewhere without any further adieu? Because he was one of those type of people who enjoy inflicting misery on the masses, spouting self aggrandizing bullshit and crowing about his "right" to be served.

As far as I am concerned, he can go fornicate himself.

New Underwater Volcano Discovered Near Baja

Having some quakes again down near the California - Mexico border. This may be the reason.

Weird Underwater Volcano Discovered Near Baja

Unlike most deep-sea basalt lavas, the rhyolitic lavas on the Alarcon Rise were very thick and pasty, like chunky peanut butter. As they emerged from the underwater volcano, they formed large, angular blocks, some of which tumbled down the sides of the volcano, eventually covering the sides of the dome in talus.

SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists have discovered one of the world's weirdest volcanoes on the seafloor near the tip of Baja, Mexico.
The petite dome — about 165 feet tall (50 meters) and 4,000 feet long by 1,640 feet wide (1,200 m by 500 m) — lies along the Alarcón Rise, a seafloor-spreading center. Tectonic forces are tearing the Earth's crust apart at the spreading center, creating a long rift where magma oozes toward the surface, cools and forms new ocean crust.
Circling the planet like baseball seams, seafloor-spreading centers (also called midocean ridges) produce copious amounts of basalt, a low-silica content lava rock that makes up the ocean crust. (Silica, or silicon dioxide, is the main component of quartz, one of the most common minerals on Earth.)

But samples from the newly discovered volcano are strangely rhyolite lava, and have the highest silica content (up to 77 percent) of any rocks collected from a midocean ridge, said Brian Dreyer, a geochemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The results were presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. [50 Amazing Volcano Facts]

...

Original HERE

Um? In other words, this is the same type of volcano as Mount St Helens that erupted in 1980

Asteroid Video

You know that there was a YouTube I saw quite some time back about the number and severity of earthquakes, first in Japan leading up to the big one they had last year. Then someone did the same thing for the entire planet.

Now there's the same thing for the number of asteroids striking the planet! I had no idea! Take three minutes to watch this.

~K

Bank Settlement Proves Hypocrisy

Hey everybody!! I think I wanna go out and really, really, really break some laws today!!! Doesn't that sound like fun?

Oh! Wait. Never mind. Sorry, I almost forgot. I'm not a member of "that" class.

Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke

If you've ever been arrested on a drug charge, if you've ever spent even a day in jail for having a stem of marijuana in your pocket or "drug paraphernalia" in your gym bag, Assistant Attorney General and longtime Bill Clinton pal Lanny Breuer has a message for you: Bite me.

Breuer this week signed off on a settlement deal with the British banking giant HSBC that is the ultimate insult to every ordinary person who's ever had his life altered by a narcotics charge. Despite the fact that HSBC admitted to laundering billions of dollars for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels (among others) and violating a host of important banking laws (from the Bank Secrecy Act to the Trading With the Enemy Act), Breuer and his Justice Department elected not to pursue criminal prosecutions of the bank, opting instead for a "record" financial settlement of $1.9 billion, which as one analyst noted is about five weeks of income for the bank.

...

Though this was not stated explicitly, the government's rationale in not pursuing criminal prosecutions against the bank was apparently rooted in concerns that putting executives from a "systemically important institution" in jail for drug laundering would threaten the stability of the financial system. The New York Times put it this way:

Federal and state authorities have chosen not to indict HSBC, the London-based bank, on charges of vast and prolonged money laundering, for fear that criminal prosecution would topple the bank and, in the process, endanger the financial system.

...

Um? Okay. So. We're told that laws are laws are laws. We are a nation of laws. Appears, however, that laws are or can be selective. 

Of course, we already know this. Wonder if anyone else will notice the hypocrisy?

Merely documenting.

Original can be found HERE

~K

What Next

Okay . . . now what?

I always wanted Aley to have a "home" where she could highlight her writing. And I really like reading "trogs" (a travel log).

These were the main two reasons I started this. Beyond this, the sky's the limit.

What say readers? What would you like to read/see?

~K

New beginnings.

Today I was the recipient of Smart Lipo on my neck and chin...I found out I have a lovely mandible! I am bruised and tired right now, but am on my way to being a new woman, and it feels good. Some people get boob jobs, others tattoos, I got a new look and I am feeling positively radiant!

Life will never be the same.