Craig Constantine

Gerrymandering →

Published February 19, 2015 · All posts on Feb 19

So how did the People vote (narrowly) for a Democratic Congress but get a Republican one instead? That’s certainly not what the Founders intended: The reason there are more House districts than Senate seats and all congressmen have to go back to the voters every two years is that the House is supposed to closely reflect the will of the People.
Why didn’t that work? Why didn’t the House come out with a slight edge for the Democrats, or something closer to a 50-50 split reflecting a close popular vote?
~ Doug Muder from, How Gerrymandering Painted the House Red

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Conspiracy theories on facebook →

Published February 18, 2015 · All posts on Feb 18 · Internet Tech, Thought and Philosophy

Do you believe that the contrails left by high-flying aircraft contain sildenafil citratum, the active ingredient in Viagra? Or that light bulbs made from uranium and plutonium are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly? Or that lemons have anti-hypnotic benefits?
If you do, then you are probably a regular consumer of conspiracy theories, particularly those that appear on the Italian language version of Facebook (where all these were sourced). It is easy to dismiss conspiracy theories as background noise with little if any consequences in the real world.
~ Alessandro Bessi et al, from Science Vs Conspiracy: Collective Narratives In The Age Of (Mis)Information

They gavage with grain →

Published February 15, 2015 · All posts on Feb 15 · Health

This entry is part 4 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

They don’t gavage the ducks with steak, eggs, and ham – they gavage them with GRAIN, that wholesome stuff that most of the brain-dead nutritional advisers recommend you eat a half dozen times a day (the ducks only get it three times per day, and look at their livers).
~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/saturated-fat/foie-gras-cest-moi/»

Busy is an addiction →

Published February 14, 2015 · All posts on Feb 14 · Thought and Philosophy

The issue, just like exercise, is that each time you build, the high becomes slightly harder to achieve. Part of your hormonal reward is based on the fact the thing you just built has never been built before. It’s novel and your brain commensurately rewards the new because it has learned after millions of years of evolution that doing so is collectively good for our species.
~ Rands from, Busy is an Addiction

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Who do our representatives represent? →

Published February 13, 2015 · All posts on Feb 13

Who do representatives represent?

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Hint: It’s not you. A pull-quote would be mis-leading from this one. it’s short, so just go read it.

Remembering the fallen →

Published February 12, 2015 · All posts on Feb 12 · Society

Yes, let’s honor those who died in the nation’s many wars.
But if we do not want to keep adding to the soldiers’ graves, let’s also ask why they died.
~ Howard Zinn from, On Memorial Day, Words from the Late Howard Zinn

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Why the austerity fraud matters →

Published February 9, 2015 · All posts on Feb 9

But this week a controversy broke out in economics, and it actually deserves your attention. A paper that has had a major influence on public policy around the world turns out to be wrong. And not just wrong in a subtle way that only geniuses can see, or even wrong in an everybody’s-human way that you look at and say, “Oh yeah, I’ve done that.” This one was wrong in three different ways that make you (or at least me) say, “That can’t be an accident.”
~ Doug Muder from, Why the Austerity Fraud Matters

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Really, you should read this. Foundations have moved.

Dietary guidelines →

Published February 8, 2015 · All posts on Feb 8 · Health

This entry is part 3 of 25 in the series M. Eades' Blog

I believe a big part of the problem can be laid at the doorstep of the US Government, specifically the USDA and their Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Dietary Guidelines).
~ Michael Eades from, «http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/girth-of-a-nation/»

The mind wants comfort →

Published February 7, 2015 · All posts on Feb 7 · Motivation, Parkour, 7 for Sunday

[T]he mind wants comfort, and is afraid of discomfort and change. The mind is used to its comfort cocoon, and anytime we try to push beyond that comfort zone very far or for very long, the mind tries desperately to get back into the cocoon. At any cost, including our long-term health and happiness.
~ Leo Babauta from, The Lies Your Mind Tells You to Prevent Life Changes

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Fish don’t know they are in water →

Published February 7, 2015 · All posts on Feb 7 · Society

If you know a little history, you might see some of this, and think that today’s culture battles are part of a tradition that goes back to FDR …
If you know a bit more history, you might see that this culture war stems from North Eastern progressive tradition dating back to the US Civil War.
The truth is that our culture war does date to the Civil War. Just not the US Civil War in 1861. It’s the English Civil War in 1640s I’m talking about.
~ Clark from, «http://www.popehat.com/2014/10/10/strange-seeds-on-distant-shores/»