It is fitting with the
holiday tomorrow that we look at some of the positive benefits of
dark chocolate. It takes only two to three ounces of dark chocolate
per week to achieve these benefits.
Dark chocolate is in the top 10 dietary sources of antioxidants,
along with seasonings like cloves, mint, anise, cacao powder, black
chokeberry, and black elderberry, according to the European Journal
of Clinical Nutrition. Dark chocolate is also rich in bioactive
flavanols and theobromine. These have good effects on the cells of
our hearts and blood vessels.
The Journal of the American Heart Association research showed that
eating dark chocolate helped people who have peripheral artery
disease walk farther and longer.
Eating dark chocolate is linked to significantly lower blood
pressure. Systolic blood pressure (top number) for people who ate
dark chocolate went down by three points. Diastolic (bottom number)
blood pressure went down by two points.
Researchers followed a group of more than 37,000 men for 10 years
and counted instances of stroke. The numbers showed that those who
ate about 63 grams (2 oz.) of chocolate per week had a lower risk of
stroke, compared with those who ate no chocolate. Five additional
studies also showed lower stroke risk, on average by about 20
percent for chocolate eaters.
Those who had the dark chocolate saw an average drop of 12 percent
in their LDL cholesterol, known as bad cholesterol, which is linked
to higher risks of heart disease.
A June 2014 study found that eating dark chocolate helped people
better cope with stress.
I could go on about the super benefits of dark chocolate covered
bacon, but will save that for another day.
Feb 13, 2015
Mind Control
Our minds are so powerful, that we can
actually heal ourselves through the power of thought. The difficulty
is that sometimes we need to be tricked into it. We need a reason to
believe we have the power. The placebo effect gives us a reason and
has been well documented.
In a
recent study, researchers found a patient's perception or
expectation of a drug based on how much it costs, significantly
affects the drug's efficacy. The medical team gave a group of
volunteers with Parkinson's disease two shots of a placebo drug
for the disease and participants were not told it was a simple
saline solution. Doctors told the patients they were receiving two
drugs, one shot and then the second after the first wore off.
Prior to administering the shots, doctors told the participants
each drug had proven equally effective, but one cost $100 per dose
and the other cost $1,500 per dose. Both doses were the exact same
saline solution.
Results
showed the 'expensive' placebo minimized hand shaking and improved
motor skills among the Parkinson's disease patients more
effectively than did the 'cheap' placebo. Researchers also found
the difference in efficacy was most pronounced among patients who
admitted to expecting an improved result from the expensive
version of the drug. The study was recently published in the
journal Neurology. I think I can. I think I can. . .
Placebo Affect
Ted Kaptchuk’s first randomized clinical drug
trial, All the patients had joined the study hoping to alleviate
severe arm pain: carpal tunnel, tendinitis, chronic pain in the
elbow, shoulder, and wrist.
In one
part of the study, half the subjects received pain-reducing pills;
the others were offered acupuncture treatments. The pills his team
had given patients were actually made of cornstarch; the
acupuncture needles were retractable shams that never pierced the
skin. The study was designed to compare two fakes.
In both
cases, people began to call in, saying they couldn't get out of
bed. The pills were making them sluggish, the needles caused
swelling and redness; some patients’ pain ballooned to nightmarish
levels. Almost a third of his 270 subjects complained of bad side
effects. The side effects were exactly what patients had been
warned their treatment might produce. Most of the other patients
reported real relief, and those who received acupuncture felt even
better than those on the anti-pain pill.
Rum
It was originally called rumbullion. Richard Ligon in 1651 said,
“Rumbullion alias Kill-Devill . . . is made of suggar cane
distilled, a hott, hellish and terrible liquor . . . will
overpower the senses with a single whiff.”
The
world rumbullion formerly existed as either Royal Navy jargon for
“an uproar” or Creole slang for “stem stew” It was shortened to
rum years later, but its reviews did not get any better. In 1654 a
General Court Order was issued in Connecticut to seize and destroy
“whatsoever Barbados liquors, commonly called rum, Kill Devill, or
the like.” Demon rum was first coined by Timothy Arthur in his
1854 temperance play “Ten Nights in a Barroom,” and it wasn't long
before the phrase came to describe all forms of evil alcohol.
Wordology, Hair of the Dog
The expression, “hair of the dog that bit
you” refers to an old method of treating a rabid dog bite by
placing hair from the same dog on the wound. We now use it to
acknowledge the practice of soothing a hangover (actually alcohol
withdrawal) by ingesting the same substance that caused the
problem. The earliest known reference to the phrase "hair of the
dog" in connection with drunkenness is found in a text from
ancient Ugarit dating from the mid to late second millennium.
This
metaphor first surfaced in a 1546 collection of English colloquial
sayings: “What how fellow, thou knave, I pray thee let me and my
fellow have a haire of the dog that bit us last night. And bitten
were we bothe to the braine aright.”
Applied
to drinks, it means, if overnight you have indulged too freely,
take a glass of the same drink to soothe the nerves. "If this dog
do you bite, soon as out of your bed, take a hair of the tail the
next day." Aristophanes used the Latin 'similia similibus
curantur' (like cures like) and it exists today as the basic
postulate of classical homeopathy.
During
the 1930s, cocktails known as Corpse Revivers were served in
hotels.
The
Hungarian translation to English is, "(You may cure) the dog's
bite with its fur," but has evolved into a short phrase
"kutyaharapást szőrével" that is used frequently in other contexts
when one is trying to express that the solution to a problem is
more of the problem.
Among
the Irish and Mexicans, the phrase "the cure, or "curarse la
cruda" in Spanish is often used. In Costa Rica the same expression
is used but it refers to a pig as in: hair of the same pig.
In
some Slavic languages (Polish, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian,
Slovenian and Russian) hair of the dog is called "a wedge" (klin),
as in dislodging a stuck wedge with another one, which is used
figuratively with regard to alcohol and in other contexts. The
proper Russian term is – опохмелка "after being drunk", which
indicates a process of drinking to decrease effects of drinking
the night before.
In
German, drinking alcohol the next morning to relieve the symptoms
is sometimes described as ein Konterbier trinken "having a
counter-beer." In Austria people have a reparatur-seidl
"repair-beer." In Portuguese people speak of uma rebatida "a hit,"
meaning to strike away the hangover with more alcohol. There
is a new Belgian beer called Snuffles and it is brewed
exclusively for dogs. Maybe a new term, 'Hair of the Human' will
come into vogue.
Phone Spam
Finally a bit of help with the decreasing phone spam.
Forward spam texts to 7726. Your carrier will respond and ask you
what number it came from.
Good to Know Costco
You can go to Costco and buy alcohol
without a membership. Also, you can fill prescriptions and get
shots at their pharmacy, eat at the food court, get your eyes
checked, and use a Costco gift card bought for you by a member.
Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Vagrants, and Vagabonds
Hobo, tramp,
and bum are all terms for a person who is homeless and without a
steady job. While most folks use these words interchangeably, there
is a slight difference between the three. A hobo is someone who
travels from place to place looking for work, a tramp is someone who
travels, but avoids work whenever possible, and a bum does not care
to work or travel.
While no one is quite sure how the word “hobo” developed, it seems to have originated in the American West after the US Civil War, when many discharged veterans were looking for employment. The hobo population also increased during the Great Depression, as unemployed men took to train-hopping with the hopes of finding better prospects on the road. Although “hobo” is a slang word, its meaning was well known by the late 19th century and Funk and Wagnall's even listed “hobo” in the 1893 edition of its dictionary. It was derived from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand", or a greeting such as "Ho, boy!". Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America, 1998 that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of homeward bound.
The British Hobo Museum exhibits hobo history and lore. Initially just a "Hobo Convention" museum, in the late 1990s it evolved into the Hobo History Museum.
The word “tramp” comes from a Middle English verb meaning to “walk with heavy footsteps,” and, like “hobo,” it also became widely used after the Civil War. It initially referred to migrant workers searching for permanent work, but it was later used to designate those who “prefer the transient way of life.” In Britain the term was widely used to refer to vagrants in the early Victorian period. It is also used for a sexually promiscuous woman.
Lately, the word is experiencing a bit of resurgence as many wanderers have adopted the title to more clearly differentiate their way of life from hobos. Some, for example, intentionally avoid participating in the economic system and therefore take pride in their 'tramp' status and may even view themselves as superior to hobos.
A vagrant could be described as being "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging." Both "vagrant" and "vagabond" derive from Latin word vagari "wander." The term "vagabond" is derived from Latin vagabundus. In Middle English, "vagabond" originally denoted a criminal.
Panhandling is a solicitation made in person for immediate donation of money or other gratuity. Bottom line, most bums, tramps, and vagrants, but only some hobos panhandle. All politicians and some other groups and individuals engage in panhandling or public fundraising for many causes and charities.
While no one is quite sure how the word “hobo” developed, it seems to have originated in the American West after the US Civil War, when many discharged veterans were looking for employment. The hobo population also increased during the Great Depression, as unemployed men took to train-hopping with the hopes of finding better prospects on the road. Although “hobo” is a slang word, its meaning was well known by the late 19th century and Funk and Wagnall's even listed “hobo” in the 1893 edition of its dictionary. It was derived from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand", or a greeting such as "Ho, boy!". Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America, 1998 that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of homeward bound.
The British Hobo Museum exhibits hobo history and lore. Initially just a "Hobo Convention" museum, in the late 1990s it evolved into the Hobo History Museum.
The word “tramp” comes from a Middle English verb meaning to “walk with heavy footsteps,” and, like “hobo,” it also became widely used after the Civil War. It initially referred to migrant workers searching for permanent work, but it was later used to designate those who “prefer the transient way of life.” In Britain the term was widely used to refer to vagrants in the early Victorian period. It is also used for a sexually promiscuous woman.
Lately, the word is experiencing a bit of resurgence as many wanderers have adopted the title to more clearly differentiate their way of life from hobos. Some, for example, intentionally avoid participating in the economic system and therefore take pride in their 'tramp' status and may even view themselves as superior to hobos.
A vagrant could be described as being "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging." Both "vagrant" and "vagabond" derive from Latin word vagari "wander." The term "vagabond" is derived from Latin vagabundus. In Middle English, "vagabond" originally denoted a criminal.
Panhandling is a solicitation made in person for immediate donation of money or other gratuity. Bottom line, most bums, tramps, and vagrants, but only some hobos panhandle. All politicians and some other groups and individuals engage in panhandling or public fundraising for many causes and charities.
Oxford University Press Guidelines
The news is that Oxford
University Press has issued guidelines instructing authors of
children’s books to avoid references to pigs, sausage, or anything
else that might be construed as porcine for fear of offending
Muslims. It has no specific policies issued instructing authors not
to offend Christians.
Feb 6, 2015
Happy Friday
The journey of a thousand laughs begins with a single chuckle.
I plan to share a thousand laughs while enjoying a Happy Friday!
I plan to share a thousand laughs while enjoying a Happy Friday!
Dalai Lama
“Man surprised me most about humanity,
because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he
sacrifices money to recuperate his health and then he is so anxious
about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result
being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives
as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really
lived.”
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