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Can You Go to Canada If You Have a DUI?
Almost 7 years ago, while going through some personal issues, I made a terrible mistake and ended up being convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in the State of California. It was a dark period in my life, but I have moved on and learned my lesson. This spring, however, my intoxicated driving conviction […]
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‘GoT’ Hid Six Iron Thrones Around the World for an Epic Scavenger Hunt
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
Sending fans to the literal ends of the Earth to find them.
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UCP Candidate Eva Kiryakos Drops Out Over Social Media Comments
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
The Alberta candidate, who made transphobic and Islamophobic statements in the past, said she was being “bullied” by someone threatening to smear her.
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Smoking up Before Sex Can Lead to More Intense Orgasms
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
A new study reveals that science is on our side.
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Ryan Howard Was TV’s Best Villain Ever
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
Forget Walter White, the temp from ‘The Office’ truly showed us the evil modern man is capable of.
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How it Feels to Discover Your Son Was the Secret Founder of Silk Road
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
Ross Ulbricht is serving a life sentence for creating the world’s first online drug marketplace. We spoke to his mum Lyn about their journey.
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The Anonymous Lives of Phone Sex Operators
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
Talking intimacy, secrecy and the tricks of the trade with the women whose voices have soundtracked thousands of orgasms.
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Grindr Users Talks Highs and Lows After 10 Years of the App
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
We asked a few men how the much loved and loathed app has changed gay life for better and worse.
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DC’s Trumpiest Congressman Says the GOP Needs to Get Real on Climate Change
Posted March 25, 2019 by Geoff Dembicki
“We can believe the climate deniers or we can believe our eyes,” Florida’s Matt Gaetz said in an interview.
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Shoppers At UK Supermarkets That Got Rid Of Checkout Aisle Junk Food Purchased 16% Less Small Pack Junk Food One Year Later
Posted March 25, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
So it wasn’t a randomized trial, but the results were interesting nonetheless.
In the UK, a number of supermarkets electively decided to stop the sale of impulse buy small pack checkout aisle junk food. Researchers curious about the impact had a peek at their sales date.
What they found was encouraging and they detailed their findings in their article Supermarket policies on less-healthy food at checkouts: Natural experimental evaluation using interrupted time series analyses of purchases. Plainly put, when compared with purchases from supermarkets still selling checkout aisle small pack junk, shoppers purchased 16% less small pack junk food from supermarkets that didn’t offer checkout aisle junk food temptations.
Given the ubiquity of junk food in checkout aisles, and here I’m not just talking about the supermarket, but pretty much any and every checkout aisle, cleaning them up is a very real target in improving our food environment. And before you say it can’t be done, it’s been done with tobacco’s “Power Walls” (but some irony here in that at least some of the new walls hiding cigarettes are being used to advertise junk food)
Related Stories
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- Why Fund Or Publish Diet Studies That Have Little Relationship With Real Life?
- Surprise? Offering In Class Breakfasts of Cereal, Muffins, Juice, and Milk For 2.5 Years Increases Obesity In Students
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#541 Stashing everything in a junk drawer
Posted March 25, 2019 by Anonymous
“Honey, have you seen my measuring tape?” “I think it’s in that drawer in the kitchen with the scissors, bobby pins, scotch tape, nail clippers, barbecue tongs, extra buttons, old birthday cards, stained take-out menus, thick rubber bands, matches, garlic press, stack of Christmas napkins, old cell phone chargers, instruction booklets for the VCR, some […]
The post #541 Stashing everything in a junk drawer appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Hurricanes to Deliver a Bigger Punch to Coasts
Posted March 24, 2019 by guest
Read time: 5 mins
By Ryan P. Mulligan, Queen’s University, Ontario
When tropical cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira, Mozambique on March 14, a spokesperson for the UN World Meteorological Organization called it possibly the the worst weather-related disaster to hit the southern hemisphere.
This massive and horrifying storm caused catastrophic flooding and widespread destruction of buildings and roads in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi feared the death toll might rise to more than 1,000 people.
Cyclones, also known as hurricanes or typhoons, are intense wind storms that can take thousands of lives and cause billions of dollars in damage. They generate large ocean waves and raise water levels by creating a storm surge. The combined effects cause coastal erosion, flooding and damage to anything in its path.
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How to Make a Bunny Napkin (Bunny Napkin Fold)
Posted March 23, 2019 by Anonymous
A simple and quick video tutorial on How to Make a Bunny Napkin (Bunny Napkin Fold). So cute for an Easter table setting! I really love Easter. Everything about it feels fresh and hopeful. It’s the time of year when the sun seems to shine brighter, the birds are singing and the air smells like rain. This is such a welcome relief after our long winter. All of this sunshine has inspired me to start planning for Easter with some decorating, menu planning and table setting ideas for our scrumptious Easter feasts! This year for Easter we are hosting a […]
The post How to Make a Bunny Napkin (Bunny Napkin Fold) appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.
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ExxonMobil Could Be Banned From EU Parliament After Failing to Show at Climate Hearing
Posted March 23, 2019 by guest
Read time: 4 mins
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.
ExxonMobil could be the second company after Monsanto to lose lobbying access to members of European Parliament after it failed to turn up to a hearing Thursday into whether or not the oil giant knowingly spread false information about climate change.
The call to ban the company was submitted by Green Member of European Parliament (MEP) Molly Scott Cato and should be decided in a vote in late April, The Guardian reported.
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Saturday Stories: Artists’ Deaths, “Nanny States”, And Astral Weeks
Posted March 23, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
Elizabeth Weil, in The New York Times Magazine, with a long read on former artist colony cultivator, and now on trial (starting in April) for 36 deaths, Max Harris.
John Coggon, John Middleton, Farhang Tahzib, and A.M. Viens, in the BMJ, on the “nanny state” logical fallacy.
Lindsay Zoladz, in The Ringer, on Van Morrison’s masterpiece Astral Weeks and how at age 50, it’s still finding new fans.
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Petco Lets ‘All Leashed Pets’ in Its Stores, So a Couple Brought—Wait What
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Allow us to introduce you to Oliver, a 1,600-pound African Watusi.
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‘Shrill’ Is the Mona Lisa of Body Positive Television
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
“It’s about surviving and ferociously, defiantly thriving in a world that refuses to see us as anything but a ‘before picture.’”
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‘All Rhetoric and No Action’: Oil Giants Spent $1 Billion on Climate Lobbying and Ads Since Paris Pact, Says Report
Posted March 22, 2019 by Sharon Kelly
Read time: 7 mins
A new report by a British think tank estimates that since the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world’s five largest listed oil and gas companies spent more than $1 billion lobbying to prevent climate change regulations while also running public relations campaigns aimed at maintaining public support for climate action.
Combined, the companies spend roughly $200 million a year pushing to delay or alter climate and energy rules, particularly in the U.S. — while spending $195 million a year “on branding campaigns that suggest they support an ambitious climate agenda,” according to InfluenceMap, a UK-based non-profit that researches how corporations influence climate policy.
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A Japanese spacecraft visits an asteroid – and will bring back a souvenir
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
A visit to an asteroid may reveal the secrets to life on Earth
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“Weird wonders” in China – new half-billion year-old fossils from the dawn of animal life
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Unearthing a treasure trove of Cambrian era fossils in China
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Your gut bacteria are actively involved in your emotions, how you think, and even behave
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Your brain and belly are in fact, connected
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How long does it take to dream a dream?
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Dreams only happen at some points during sleep
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Our farming ancestors are the reason we can say ‘f’ words today
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
How our switch to soft foods has affected our speech
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Mysterious green icebergs from Antarctica might be fertilizing the southern ocean
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Green icebergs might be feeding the southern ocean
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Reflections on water, the “lethal, limitless, life-giving frontier”
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
A Johnson Sea Link research sub 500 metres under the Gulf Stream off the east coast of Florida. (Photo: Triton Submarines LLC)
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Checking in with David Saint-Jacques in orbit
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques looks through a window in the cupola of the International Space Station. (Photo: Canadian Space Agency/NASA)
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#542 Wrong-colored foods
Posted March 22, 2019 by Anonymous
Believe it. There’s something great about eating foods that aren’t the color they’re supposed to be. When you chomp on those deliciously mutant creations, it’s a feast for all your senses. Since the days of cavemen eating albino monkeys, we’ve been loving the unexplainable brain-jarring jolts of happiness that come with eating foods so wrong […]
The post #542 Wrong-colored foods appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Eight facts about water in Canada
Posted March 21, 2019 by Anonymous
Nettilling Lake on the south end of Baffin Island in Nunavut is the largest freshwater ecosystem in the Canadian Arctic archipelago. (Photo: Reinhard Pienitz/Can Geo Photo Club)
March 22nd is World Water Day, a United Nations-led initiative to provoke conversation and action on water issues around the globe. The theme for 2019 is “Water for All.” Goal number six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals envisions a world where everyone has access to clean, safe water — but billions of people around the world still live without it in their households, schools, and places of work.
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Opinion: It’s time for Canada to stand up for sharks
Posted March 21, 2019 by Anonymous
Millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins. A bill currently before the House of Commons proposes to ban the import and export of shark fins in Canada. (Photo: Albert Kok/Wikimedia Commons)
There is a crisis in oceans around the world….
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If You Tie Exercise To Weight Loss It Can Lead To Statements And Recommendations Like These
Posted March 21, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
I’ve long called for a rebranding of exercise to promote it on the basis of all of its incredible benefits, and explicitly not in the name of weight loss.
While on paper there’s no doubt that people can lose weight through exercise (and in research studies too), in practice they generally don’t. And though there’s also definitely the suggestion that exercise helps to keep weight off (or serves as a marker or inspiration for maintaining a whole slew of weight responsive behaviour changes), when it comes to public health, I believe focusing on weight loss as the outcome of choice in exercise interventions risks those interventions’ dissolution when weight loss doesn’t occur.
Helping to make my point is a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. The study, Implementing School-Based Policies to Prevent Obesity: Cluster Randomized Trial, looked at the impact school based nutrition and physical activity policies had on weight.
The study found that while school based nutrition policies seemed to have an impact on weight over time, school based physical activity policies didn’t.
Not measured of course, or at least not mentioned, were the impacts those physical activity policies might have had on other health related parameters (blood pressure, blood sugar, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, mood, sleep, attention, learning, physical literacy, and more) – things that I think the literature would support as being far more likely to see exercise-related improvements.
But it’s the study’s abstract’s conclusion that got me, as I think it does a great job of highlighting the risk of clinging to exercise as an important driver of weight loss. Here it is in its entirety (highlighting mine),
“This cluster randomized trial demonstrated effectiveness of providing support for implementation of school-based nutrition policies, but not physical activity policies, to limit BMI increases among middle school students. Results can guide future school interventions.”
Suffice to say I think it’d be an incredible shame if results like these guide any future school related physical activity interventions, as the benefits of exercise are myriad, something these results wholly ignore, and if these results guide anything, they’d guide the avoidance or elimination of school based physical activity policies which would let kids down on so many levels.
Related Stories
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- Surprise? Offering In Class Breakfasts of Cereal, Muffins, Juice, and Milk For 2.5 Years Increases Obesity In Students
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#543 That separate compartment in your stomach just for dessert
Posted March 21, 2019 by Anonymous
My parents drove downtown last week. They cruised along wet highways onto narrow streets to catch up with me over dinner. We walked a block from my apartment to a small restaurant where we squeezed into a booth and squinted at the small-font menu under the dim lighting. Wedged between a couple holding hands and […]
The post #543 That separate compartment in your stomach just for dessert appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Global Banks, Led by JPMorgan Chase, Invested $1.9 Trillion in Fossil Fuels Since Paris Climate Pact
Posted March 20, 2019 by Sharon Kelly
Read time: 6 mins
A report published today names the banks that have played the biggest recent role in funding fossil fuel projects, finding that since 2016, immediately following the Paris Agreement’s adoption, 33 global banks have poured $1.9 trillion into financing climate-changing projects worldwide.
The top four banks that invested most heavily in fossil fuel projects are all based in the U.S., and include JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Bank of America. Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays in Europe, Japan’s MUFG, TD Bank, Scotiabank, and Mizuho make up the remainder of the top 10.
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Five key takeaways from the Arctic Frontiers conference
Posted March 20, 2019 by Anonymous
Aili Keskitalo, the president of the Sami Parliament of Norway, speaks at the “State of the Arctic” session at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway. (Photo: Terje Mortensen/Arctic Frontiers 2019)
After two months of Arctic night, bracketed by brief windows of expanding twilight, the sun makes its annual return above the crest of the mountains surrounding Tromsø, Norway, on January 21. Locals mark the occasion with a traditional treat of “sun cakes,” a kind of raspberry-filled Norwegian doughnut.
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‘They Have Lied for Decades’: European Parliament To Scrutinise Exxon’s Climate Science Denial
Posted March 20, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 7 mins
With millions of students taking to the streets and oil majors increasingly facing litigation, the fossil fuel industry is finally being held to account for its contribution to the climate crisis.
This week, the EU is taking this accountability up a notch, with ExxonMobil’s decades-long denial of climate science facing the scrutiny of MEPs and the public at a hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday.
During the two-hour session, scientists, campaigners and a historian will examine the history of climate denial and in particular the misinformation spread by Exxon, with MEPs able to ask questions about the role and behaviour of the oil major.
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Simple Succulent Wreath for Spring
Posted March 20, 2019 by Anonymous
Make this Simple Succulent Wreath for Spring for less than $20 and with just a few simple supplies! Today I’ve joined a talented group of bloggers, and we are sharing 28 pretty spring wreaths with you! Thank you to Krista of Happy Housie for organizing. Make sure to check out all the wreath tutorials in the links at the bottom of this post! xo I seem to have a theme going on this early spring. I’m all about plants…plants, succulents and cacti everywhere! And this Simple Succulent Wreath is just an extension of that. In case you missed my previous spring decorating […]
The post Simple Succulent Wreath for Spring appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.
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How we chose the cover: May/June 2019 Canadian Geographic
Posted March 20, 2019 by Anonymous
Cover options for the May/June issue of Canadian Geographic.
There’s a general rule at Canadian Geographic that readers love polar bears. More than practically any other animal, they stir feelings of awe in nature. People travel thousands of kilometres and at great expense to see them in the wild. They inspire calls for habitat conservation and climate action. They sell covers.
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#544 Science fairs
Posted March 20, 2019 by Anonymous
It all starts with a poster board. Getting mom to drive to the drug store to load up on the thick flimsy is a great start to a great project. Grab a sheet of white, a sheet of neon pink, and if you’re lucky one of those thick cardboard three-folds. Come on, we both know […]
The post #544 Science fairs appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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US Government Knew Climate Risks in 1970s, National Petroleum Council Documents Show
Posted March 19, 2019 by guest
Read time: 10 mins
By Kaitlin Sullivan, Climate Liability News. Crossposted from Climate Liability News.
A series of newly discovered documents clarify the extent to which the U.S. government, its advisory committees and the fossil fuel industry have understood for decades the impact carbon dioxide emissions would have on the planet.
The documents obtained by Climate Liability News show how much the National Petroleum Council (NPC), an oil and natural gas advisory committee to the Secretary of Energy, knew about climate change as far back as the 1970s. A series of reports illuminate the findings of government-contracted research that outlined the dangers associated with increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
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Environment Remains Under Siege Two Years Into the Trump Administration
Posted March 19, 2019 by guest
Read time: 6 mins
By Emily Gertz, The Revelator. Originally posted on The Revelator.
Two years into his presidency, Donald Trump has racked up some high-profile policy failures. There’s no wall spanning the length of our southern border, no denuclearization underway in North Korea, and ethics scandals have swamped his administration.
But when it comes to environmental policy changes, the administration’s record of success has been remarkable.
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How to Propagate Spider Plants
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
If you’re looking to increase your houseplant collection, this is the easiest way to do it! I’m going to show you How To Propagate Spider Plants! Spider plants are seeing a resurgence in popularity and I’m loving it. I grew up a kid in the 70’s and 80’s when spider plants were all the rage. My mom grew them and hung them from macrame plant hangers she made…oh man, if only I’d had the foresight to keep those treasures…who knew how popular macrame would become again! While I don’t think I’m going to be hanging plants from my ceilings any […]
The post How to Propagate Spider Plants appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.
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Why I Don’t Celebrate Marketing Fruit To Children By Way Of Cartoon Characters
Posted March 19, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
A few weeks ago I noticed the Center for Science in the Public Interest giving kudos to Disney and to The Lego Movie for their licensing of their cartoon characters to sell pineapples and bananas.
I don’t share their enthusiasm.
In part that’s because neither Disney nor the Lego Movie have any qualms licensing their characters to sell crap to kids. McDonald’s recently announced that Disney’s happily taking many millions of dollars from them (actual dollar cost not announced, last was $100 million) to once again include Disney toys in their Happy Meals, while the Lego Movie, well they’re already in Happy Meals.
But my bigger objection is that we shouldn’t be targeting children with advertising in the first place because why should anything be advertised to a population that has been shown to not be able to discern truth from advertising? And so even if the advertisements happen to fit with your definition of what’s good for kids, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s plainly unethical to allow advertising to target children period.
