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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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I Make $1,000 a Week Writing Essays for Lazy Students
Posted May 20, 2019 by Anonymous
Helping kids scam schools has turned into a full-time job for me.
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‘Game of Thrones’ Ended in the Worst Way Possible
Posted May 20, 2019 by Anonymous
In ‘The Iron Throne’, the final episode of ‘Game of Thrones’, nearly every decision made was the wrong one.
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#501 Correctly picking the fastest moving line at the grocery store
Posted May 20, 2019 by Anonymous
You can do it. Motor around filling your basket with food before spying the checkouts and picking your poison. Here’s five tips for living life in the fast lane: 5. Skip your greens. Keep away from shopping carts full of strange produce. Anyone with little bags of cilantro or parsley is a guaranteed slowdown because […]
The post #501 Correctly picking the fastest moving line at the grocery store appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Daily Horoscopes: May 20, 2019
Posted May 19, 2019 by Anonymous
The moon is in Sagittarius today.
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Just a Coincidence the Final Episode Airs This Weekend?
Posted May 18, 2019 by Balbulican
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Saturday Stories: Dietary Guidelines, “Vaccine Injury”, and “Chronic Lyme”
Posted May 18, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
Kevin Bass, in his blog Nutritional Revolution, with the data driven case on how you can’t blame people following dietary guidelines for a country’s obesity rates.
James Hamblin, in The Atlantic, on the truth behind vaccine injury compensation.
Abby Hartman, in It’s Training Cats and Dogs, with her first person account on walking to, and then away from, treatment for “chronic lyme disease”.
Pic By Alan R Walker – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
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Native Renewables: Powering Up Tribal Communities
Posted May 17, 2019 by guest
Read time: 5 mins
By Tara Lohan, The Revelator. Originally posted on The Revelator.
There’s something amiss in the Southwest. The region has the best solar potential in the country, yet thousands still live in homes without electricity. The problem is especially acute in native communities like the Navajo Nation, which was passed over in earlier efforts to bring electricity to rural communities.
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Garfield’s Lament: Grumpy Cat Was a Meme Born Dead
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Garfield and Grumpy Cat are selling the same joke. So why do they have completely different digital lives?
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Tyler, the Creator’s Fractured Gems and 11 More Albums for Heavy Rotation
Posted May 17, 2019 by Noisey Staff
This week’s essential listening also includes wild raps from Megan Thee Stallion and crushing grindcore.
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This Is What Fish Oil Supplements Actually Do
Posted May 17, 2019 by Mark Hay
Is fish oil really just snake oil?
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Florida Captures, Kills Giant Lizard That Terrorized Local Community for a Year
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
The elusive, human-sized reptile was nabbed by wildlife authorities.
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Nostradamus Predicted ‘Game of Thrones’
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Yes, 16th-century French astrologer and noted seer Michel de Nostredame, aka Nostradamus, saw the fight for the Iron Throne coming centuries away.
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Life Coach Tony Robbins Faces Allegations of Sexual Harassment
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
The news comes in the wake of his controversial comments around #MeToo.
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Alex Jones’s Pepe the Frog Copyright Trial Will Help Decide Who Can Use Memes
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Are memes fair use? Or can you be sued for sharing and profiting off them?
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We need plastics – how do we avoid choking the planet with them?
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Plastics are the scourge of the Earth: What we can do about it?
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Learning from tragedy – a baby lacking critical brain cells and a medical detective story
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
A tragic story of a baby born without microglia cells sheds light on brain development
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Processed food is full of bad stuff, but the real problem is you eat too much of it
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Processed food creates a slippery slope where people eat too much of it
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Why do Canada geese honk while migrating?
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
They honk to communicate their position in the flock
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‘Siri, does my baby have an ear infection?’ An app does medical diagnosis
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Your smartphone could soon diagnose your child’s ear infection
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Moonquakes show the moon is still geologically ‘alive’
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
The moon still has activity geologically
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#502 Fully justifying whatever horrible thing you’re eating
Posted May 17, 2019 by Anonymous
Let the grease glisten, mayo drip, and soda fizz. Here are three ways to make the magic happen: 1. Veggie Validation. My friend Mike is king of this hilarious move. “Gotta get my greens,” he’ll say, while chomping dill pickles on the couch playing video games. “Carrots are good for you,” he’ll smile, while licking […]
The post #502 Fully justifying whatever horrible thing you’re eating appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Antarctica’s Ice Is Melting 5 Times Faster Than in the 90s
Posted May 16, 2019 by guest
Read time: 3 mins
By Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.
Yet another study has shown that glaciers in Antarctica are melting at accelerating rates.
Almost 25 percent of the West Antarctic ice shelf is now thinning, and the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers are losing ice at five times the rate they were in the early 1990s, CNN reported.
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Princess Anne made an Honorary Fellow of the RCGS
Posted May 16, 2019 by Anonymous
John Geiger, CEO of the RCGS, presents Princess Anne (right) with an RCGS Fellows neck badge in St. James’s Palace today in London as Deborah Apps, president and CEO of Trans Canada Trail looks on. The badge denotes the Princess Royal’s status as an Honorary Fellow of the RCGS. (Photo: royal.uk)
It’s an addition that will make the Royal Canadian Geographical Society that much more royal.
Princess Anne was today made an Honorary Fellow of the RCGS at St. James’s Palace in London, England, during an audience she had granted to John Geiger, the society’s CEO.
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12 photos to inspire your summer adventures
Posted May 16, 2019 by Anonymous
Photos to inspire your summer adventures from the new Ultimate Canadian Instagram Photos special issue, on newsstands now. (Photos, left to right, top to bottom: @ms.chels, @roryffarrell, @eyeforthis, @j_macindoe, @theradicalc, @nick_osbourne, @brianwlackey, @ronniekinnie, @anatoletuzlak, @nicolebutzphoto, @gord_follett_photography)
The Atlantic Ocean glitters from the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, N.S. Fireworks light the skies over Stampede Park in Calgary. The late afternoon sun peeks through the temperate rainforest in Lynn Canyon Park, B.C. Take inspiration from the 40,000-member strong Can Geo Instagram community and explore the unique places and wild spaces that Canada has to offer this summer. For more wanderlust-worthy images, pick up the third edition of Ultimate Canadian Instagram Photos, on newsstands now.
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Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast – Episode 6: Johnny Issaluk
Posted May 16, 2019 by Anonymous
Actor, athlete and motivational speaker Johnny Issaluk speaks after being announced as the newest Explorer-in-Residence of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society on May 13 in Ottawa. (Photo: Ben Powless/Canadian Geographic)
At 45 years of age, there seems to be very little that Johnny Issaluk hasn’t done or at least tried.
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#503 Walking into class and seeing that it’s a substitute teacher
Posted May 16, 2019 by Anonymous
Postpone the pop quiz, torpedo that test, and forget about a tough math lesson today. No, now’s the time when energy bolts blast through brains as everybody revs up for forty-five minutes of whispering, passing notes, and tossing paper airplanes. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Twitter —
The post #503 Walking into class and seeing that it’s a substitute teacher appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Plastics Industry on Track to Burn Through 14% of World’s Remaining Carbon Budget: New Report
Posted May 15, 2019 by Sharon Kelly
Read time: 9 mins
The plastics industry plays a major — and growing — role in climate change, according to a report published today by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
By 2050, making and disposing of plastics could be responsible for a cumulative 56 gigatons of carbon, the report found, up to 14 percent of the world’s remaining carbon budget.
In 2019, the plastics industry is on track to release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 189 new coal-fired power plants running year-round, the report found — and the industry plans to expand so rapidly that by 2030, it will create 1.34 gigatons of climate-changing emissions a year, equal to 295 coal plants.
It’s an expansion that, in the United States, is largely driven by the shale gas rush unleashed by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
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Designed in Canada, deployed in Mozambique
Posted May 15, 2019 by Anonymous
A pregnant woman and a traditional birth attendant ride in a motorcycle ambulance during a simulation of how the vehicle will be used to take women in labour to hospital in Mozambique’s Nampula province. (Photo: EA-HPRO Consortium-IMCHA Initiative)
It was designed and tested in Saskatoon, but now a motorcycle ambulance is helping communities in Mozambique ensure that pregnant women can get to the medical care they and their newborns need. Part of an ongoing series of stories about innovative projects in the developing world, a partnership between the International Development Research Centre and Canadian Geographic.
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#504 Acrobatic snoozing moves
Posted May 15, 2019 by Anonymous
Everybody loves a good snooze. That’s where you groggily dive back into the sleepy underworld for a few more minutes of lazy-boned bliss before waking up to get your day on. It’s even better when you tap the snooze button with a bit of acrobatic showmanship that keeps you dreaming before your wide-awake self invades […]
The post #504 Acrobatic snoozing moves appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Firm of Top Biden Advisor Anita Dunn Works for Fracked Gas Giant Dominion Energy
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 3 mins
An uproar ensued last week within Democratic party circles with the news that Heather Zichal, a former fossil fuel company board member, is serving as an advisor on climate change to presidential hopeful and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Yet the fossil fuel connections of Biden’s burgeoning circle of advisors do not end with Zichal.
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Trump Praises LNG Exports in Louisiana as His Trade War with China Threatens the Industry
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 6 mins
Today President Donald Trump appeared at Louisiana’s $10 billion Cameron Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export facility to promote LNG exports and American “energy independence.”
Trump’s visit to the Cameron Parish terminal comes the day after his escalating trade war, which he called “a little squabble with China,” led China to raise tariffs on U.S. LNG from 10 to 25 percent — a major blow to the U.S. industry, which could slow America’s massive plans to expand LNG export facilities.
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Six awesome things that happened at the official opening of Canada’s Centre for Geography and Exploration
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Left to right: Wade Davis, Alex Trebek, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Royal Canadian Geographical Society CEO John Geiger unveil a plaque commemorating the official opening of Canada‘s Centre for Geography and Exploration on May 13, 2019. (Photo: Ben Powless/Canadian Geographic)
It was perhaps the biggest night in the 90-year history of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
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Warren Buffett, Fear, and Greed in Fracked Oil FieldsÂ
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 7 mins
Warren Buffett, CEO of investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway, is considered one of the top investors in history and can back up that track record with a personal wealth of around $90 billion. Buffett is known for advising investors to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
In the U.S. fracked oil industry, this month can be read like a textbook version of Buffett’s fear and greed adage. The shale industry showed plenty of signs of fear while Buffett made a massive “greedy” bet on the future of the Permian Shale in Texas and New Mexico, assuming it will produce oil profitably and investing $10 billion in Occidental’s purchase of shale producer Anadarko.
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RCGS announces the new Alex Trebek Medal for Geographic Literacy
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Alex Trebek addresses the audience at the official opening of 50 Sussex, Canada’s Centre for Geography and Exploration, in Ottawa on May 13. (Photo: Andrew Lessard/Canadian Geographic)
Alex Trebek, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Honorary President, is a lifelong champion of geographical education, having received the RCGS’s Gold Medal (in 2010) and its Lawrence J. Burpee Medal (in 2015) for his contributions to the advancement of geography. Now his legacy will be honoured once more, with the renaming of the RCGS’s Geographic Literacy Award to the Alex Trebek Medal for Geographic Literacy, announced at the official opening the Society’s headquarters at 50 Sussex Drive in Ottawa on May 13.
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Calling People Successfully Maintaining Long Term Weight Loss “Unicorns” Is Dehumanizing, Unhelpful, And Misleading (And No, 95% Of Weight Loss Efforts Don’t Fail)
Posted May 14, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
A few weeks ago I tweeted about a patient of mine who is maintaining a 19% weight loss for 2 years, and who attributes her success to keeping a food diary and tracking calories, as well as to including protein with every meal and snack.
The point of my tweet was a simple pushback to those who want to claim that calories don’t count or that counting can’t help (like The Economist for instance whose recent article entitled Death of the calorie was the main reason I bothered to tweet), and those who claim that the only way to lose weight is their way (these days that’s usually either #keto or #lchf).
A great many folks weighed in with their success stories, and some pointed to the National Weight Control Registry (where their over 10,000 registrants have kept off an average of 70lbs for 5.5 years). Others though weren’t having it.
Instead they asserted that 95% of diets fail, that the weight loss industry was predatory (much of it is, no argument there), and called people who have succeeded “unicorns“.
Unicorns. Not people. Mythical creatures.
And the implication of course is clear. Sustained weight loss is impossible. Those who succeed aren’t human, or to succeed they employ superhuman efforts, sometimes even described as disordered eating and/or that those who succeed must be miserable. Consequently, trying is futile and those offering help (like me, as to be clear I am the medical director of a behavioural weight management centre) are unethical, and are motivated by greed (despite the obvious irony that those championing non-weight loss programs are targeting the very same population of people and regularly charge a great deal of money for their services).
But boy, there sure are a heck of a lot of unicorns roaming around for something that supposedly fails 95% of the time. Putting aside the anecdotal facts that we all know people who have maintained weight losses as well as my own office based experiences this 2010 systematic review found that one year later 30% of participants had a weight loss ≥10%, 25% between 5% and 9.9%, and 40% ≤4.9%. In the LOOK AHEAD study, 8 years later, 50.3% of the intensive lifestyle intervention group and 35.7% of the usual care group were maintaining losses of ≥5%, while 26.9% of the intensive group and 17.2% of the usual care group were maintaining losses of ≥10%. And in the recent year long DIETFITS study the average weight loss of all participants was > 5%, with over 25% of participants losing more than 10% of their weights.
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| The Examine.com waterfall plots of the DIETFITS data |
(And for an interesting thought experiment, have a peek at this thread from Kevin Bass that argues that even if the 95% failure number were true, those outcomes would be worlds better than the vast majority of medical treatments currently being offered for other chronic diseases)
So where does this 95% number come from? Certainly I could imagine it to be true if the goalpost for successful weight loss was total weight loss and reaching a so-called “healthy” or “normal” BMI. But that would be as useful a goalpost as qualifying for the Boston Marathon would be for running whereby the vast majority of marathoners won’t ever run fast enough to qualify to run Boston. Does that mean non-qualifiers should be discouraged from running and told that running is impossible? It’s also important to contextualize failures. If the methods being undertaken to lose weight are misery inducing overly restrictive diets, it’s not people who are failing to sustain them, it’s that their diets are failing to help them (which, with full disclosure, is the premise of my book The Diet Fix).
As far as what needs championing, it’s certainly not failure. Given the medical benefits of weight loss, as well as the real impact weight often has on quality of life (especially at its extremes), what we need to collectively champion are the embrace of a plurality of treatments (including ethical behavioural and surgical weight management programs and greater access to them), along with more effective medications. What can simultaneously be championed is the removal of blame from the discussion of weight, fighting weight bias and stigma, recognizing that a person need not have a so-called “healthy” or “normal” BMI, that scales don’t measure the presence or absence of health nor measure lifestyles, respecting people rights to have zero interest in losing weight or changing their lifestyles, that there is value to changing behaviours around food and fitness regardless of whether weight is lost as a consequence, and acknowledging that intentionally changing lifestyle in the name of health reflects a tremendous degree of privilege that many people simply don’t possess.
Given the evidence maybe we can stop with the unhelpful, dehumanizing, and misleading unicorn talk, and while we’re at it, stop telling everyone that failure is a foregone conclusion.
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Announcing the winners of the 2019 Classroom Energy Diet Challenge
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Going an hour without power, calculating your carbon footprint, and teaching your family how to use less water. These are just a few of the 16 energy-related challenges that more than 27,000 students from across Canada took part in during the 8th annu…
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#505 The last few hours before the weekend
Posted May 14, 2019 by Anonymous
This is known as The Funrise. Chatty buzz fills office cubicles, laughs echo down high school halls, and the clock ticks a little bit faster as we all smile and get ready for a couple big days of AWESOME! Photos from: here — Follow me on Facebook — — Email message — “Hey Neil, […]
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Dementia: It’s More Than Alzheimer’s Disease
Posted May 13, 2019 by Marijke Vroomen-Durning
Say the word “dementia,” and most people think about Alzheimer’s disease. We can’t blame them; Alzheimer’s disease affects almost 6 million Americans and many millions more across the world. It is the most common cause of dementia. But d…
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Energy Regulators May Reconsider Rules Critics Say Fueled America’s Oil and Gas Pipeline Glut
Posted May 13, 2019 by Sharon Kelly
Read time: 4 mins
A little-noticed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announcement could have an outsized impact on the oil and gas pipeline industries — if the commission decides to snap shut loopholes that analysts say create financial incentives to build too many new pipelines in the U.S.
The way the rules are currently written can allow unusually high profit margins for new pipeline projects. Since 1997, FERC has allowed certain new pipelines to rake in 14 percent profits — a rate far higher than the returns presently generated by, say, corporate bonds — with little eye to how that compares to profits available from other investments.
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Expedition team makes record-breaking dive to bottom of Mariana Trench
Posted May 13, 2019 by Anonymous
The DSV Limiting Factor in the Pacific Ocean. The world’s deepest-diving operational submarine, it completed several trips to the bottom of the Mariana Trench earlier this month. (Photo: Reeve Jolliffe)
A team of explorers, including a Canadian-born submarine builder, has broken records and made history in a series of dives to the deepest point on planet Earth: the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
