Scree

noun : an accumulation of loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope or at the base of a hill or cliff.

My oath

Published March 21, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 21  ·  

This entry is part 14 of 72 in the series My Journey

I’ve been slowly collecting small thoughts so that I could begin writing something about my journey. Over a year ago, I found an oath on Nerd Fitness, but hesitated committing; There are bits in this oath that will demand 40+-years-big-ship-small-rudder sorts of changes of me. I’ve been revisiting it periodically to see how it felt each time I tried it on.

I love it. I’m committing to it.

My oath:

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I shall make no excuses and hold no grudges.

I care not where I came from, only where I am going.

I don’t compare myself to others, only to myself from yesterday.

I shall not brag about successes nor complain about my struggles, but share my experiences and help my fellows. I know I impact those around me with my actions, and so I must move forward, every day.

I acknowledge fear, doubt, and despair, but I do not let them defeat me.

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Low oil prices

Published March 21, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 21

I would argue that falling commodity prices are bad news. It likely means that the debt bubble which has been holding up the world economy for a very long time–since World War II, at least–is failing to expand sufficiently. If the debt bubble collapses, we will be in huge difficulty.

~ Gail Tverberg from, Low Oil Prices

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What is the glycemic index?

Published March 17, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 17  ·  

This entry is part 9 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

Scientists have known for years that normal blood sugars follow this kind of rapid increase, slow return to normal curve. At some point someone asked the question: do different foods cause a different curve? In other words, if someone eats a piece of cake does that make a different blood sugar curve than if that person eats a bowl of ice cream?

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/metabolism/what-is-the-glycemic-index/»

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Boards don’t hit back

Published March 16, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 16  ·  

Along with that, Bruce taught me to strive for reaching my potential. I might never get there, but the mere fact of trying, learning, and failing is what makes life worth it. I truly hope that when the credits roll on my movie (it’s an Adventure Superhero Comedy…a new genre), I can look back and say, “I did the best I could to fulfill my potential.”

~ Steve Kamb from, Boards Don’t Hit Back

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Measuring our successes

Published March 15, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 15  ·  

It happens in homes, in our relationships and our jobs, in learning, and even in innovation (as ‘technical debt’): the sense of being trapped by circumstances.

Many have felt themselves in a situation of hopelessness, of not having time to claw their way out of survival mode, and get their head above water. Often conflicting interests stack up to trap you in indecision, and it’s when you are at your most vulnerable that others tend to attack rather than help.

~ Mark Burgess from, Poverty Traps

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The War

Published March 14, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 14  ·  

Yet in the practice of parkour there is also a war being fought: a psychological battle that we are presented with every time we step up to a jump or a movement we have not yet mastered, every time the fear of failure or falling rests its dark gaze upon us and tells us to give up, to go home, to try it another day, to excuse ourselves into accepting defeat.

~ Dan Edwardes from, The War

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Fast way to better health

Published March 11, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 11  ·  

This entry is part 8 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

When researchers restrict the caloric intake of a group of lab animals to about 30 to 40 percent of that of their ad libitum (all they want to eat) fed counterparts, they find that the calorically restricted animals live 30 percent or so longer, don’t develop cancers, diabetes, heart disease, or obesity. These calorically restricted (CR) animals have low blood sugar levels, low insulin levels, good insulin sensitivity, low blood pressure and are, in general, much healthier than the ad lib fed animals.

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/intermittent-fasting/fast-way-to-better-health/»

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Advice from Bill Watterson

Published March 9, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 9  ·  

It’s surprising how hard we’ll work when the work is done just for ourselves. And with all due respect to John Stuart Mill, maybe utilitarianism is overrated. If I’ve learned one thing from being a cartoonist, it’s how important playing is to creativity and happiness. My job is essentially to come up with 365 ideas a year.

~ Bill Watterson from, May 20, 1990

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…from May 20, 1990: Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson

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Communities versus networks

Published March 8, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 8  ·  

Unfortunately, true community in our modern world is hard to find for soldiers and civilians alike. Instead, we increasingly live out our lives as members of networks. This transition from community to network life is truly at the heart of the increasing feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and anomie that many people experience in the modern age. We’ve never been so “connected” — and yet so isolated at the same time.

~ Brett McKay from, Communities Vs. Networks

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How does life fat thee?

Published March 5, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 5  ·  

This entry is part 7 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

A group of scientists from multiple institutions looked at a number of other reasons that we could be in the midst of an obesity epidemic that have nothing to do with diet and exercise, or as they call them, the Big Two. They make the case in an paper published online in advance of print in the International Journal of Obesity that so many have so fully accepted the Big Two that pretty much no one has bothered to look for any other causes.

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/weight-loss/how-does-life-fat-thee-let-me-count-the-ways/»

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The tenth amendment

Published March 3, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 3

A central part of the American Right’s false Founding Narrative is that the Tenth Amendment trumps the Constitution’s creation of a powerful central government that possesses a mandate to do what’s necessary to provide for the country’s “general Welfare.” In Right-Wing World, the Tenth Amendment gives nearly all powers to the states.

~ Robert Parry from, The Right’s Tenth Amendment Myth

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Is anarchy the answer?

Published March 2, 2015  ·  All posts on Mar 2

Might not be the “anarchy” you think of at first: Ross criticizes this model from both sides: First, the options offered to the people are too limited and too easily manipulated by those with money and power. My favorite expression of this situation comes from the Cake song “Comfort Eagle“

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke.
The wacky morning DJ says democracy’s a joke.

~ Doug Muder from, When Centralized Institutions Fail, Is Anarchy an Answer?

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Carbohydrates and gallstones

Published February 27, 2015  ·  All posts on Feb 27  ·  

This entry is part 6 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

A persuasive article in the June issue of Gut, a British gastroenterology journal, presenting data on the relation of excess carbohydrate intake in men to the development of gall stone disease.

Before we get to the article, let me give a brief review of gall stone disease…

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-diets/carbohydrates-and-gallstones/»

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Fit for purpose

Published February 26, 2015  ·  All posts on Feb 26  ·  

For me, fitness and health are just a means to a larger end – something to enable me to live as I wish, to accomplish what I want, to face any challenge and adversity that may come my way and do my best to overcome it. Fitness isn’t the goal in and of itself; it’s just a tool, a part of my training which in itself is simply to allow me to follow my path for as long as I desire. It’s a by-product of living my life to the fullest, nothing more.

~ Dan Edwardes from, Are You Fit for Purpose?

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If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat

Published February 25, 2015  ·  All posts on Feb 25  ·  

This entry is part 12 of 72 in the series My Journey

Don’t ever confuse the two, your life and your work. That’s what I have to say. The second is only a part of the first. Don’t ever forget what a friend once wrote to Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator had decided not to run for reelection because he’d been diagnosed with cancer: “No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office.”

Don’t ever forget the words on a postcard that my father sent me last year: “If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”

~ Anna Quindlen from, A Short Guide to a Happy Life

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From Maria Popova’s A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist.

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Monopoly’s role in inequality

Published February 24, 2015  ·  All posts on Feb 24

Here’s the point: Maybe you couldn’t watch Jon Stewart for a week, but the problem had nothing to do with either you or Jon Stewart. He wasn’t asking for a raise; you weren’t balking at the price of watching the Daily Show. But both you and Jon were irrelevant when two giant middlemen had a power struggle.

~ Doug Muder from, Monopoly’s Role in Inequality

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Magnesium and inflammation

Published February 21, 2015  ·  All posts on Feb 21  ·  

This entry is part 5 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

The lipid hypothesis of heart disease is rapidly being supplanted by the inflammatory hypothesis, which, for my money, is much more on the mark. The researchers who have spent their careers doing cholesterol research are not going down without a fight, however.

~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/magnesium-and-inflammation/»

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