Congress does not care what you think. This sickness of the U.S. political system can be demonstrated in one graph. Bottom line of this research: It doesn't matter what most Americans want their politicians to do.
Josh Silver of Represent.US presents the plan: Here is more. The plan boils down to this:
We are protecting our communities and our country from corruption by passing city, state and federal Anti-Corruption Acts. Problem = Corruption. Solution = Anti-Corruption Act. The American Anti-Corruption Act sets a standard for city, state and federal laws that break money’s grip on politics:
- Stop political bribery by making it illegal for elected officials to raise money from interests they regulate.
- End secret money by mandating full transparency of all political spending.
- Empower voters with an opt-in, individual tax rebate for small political donations.
I had heard that using artificial sweeteners can cause obesity, but hadn't before seen an explanation. This article by Tom Philpott of Mother Jones describes the mechanism:
[A] slew of studies have shown that faux sugars may actually contribute to the very diet-related maladies they're marketed to protect us from—type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, strokes, and heart attacks... [T]hose who drank at least one diet soda per day were 43 percent more likely to suffer strokes and heart attacks than people who drank none, even after controlling for such factors as weight, level of exercise, diabetes, high blood pressure, and intake of calories, cholesterol, and sodium. Another large population study, published in 2009, found that daily diet soda drinkers were 67 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who shun them—again, even after adjusting for lifestyle and demographic factors. ... Purdue University behavioral neuroscientist Susan Swithers suggests that fake sweeteners do their dirty work by confusing our digestive systems' Pavlovian response to sugar. When you smell food, she explains, you begin to salivate and your stomach begins to grumble; that's your body preparing for what it assumes from experience is a hearty meal to come. Similarly, she says, a sweet taste is a "pretty good indication that sugar is going to arrive in your body"—that is, a blast of easily digestible calories. So, quaff Pepsi, and your body starts releasing digestive hormones and increases its metabolic rate, "because you have to expend energy to get energy out of your food," she explains. Fake sweeteners appear to subtly disrupt the trillions of microbes that live in our digestive tracts. But when you start ingesting sweet blasts that then don't deliver the usual calorie blast, your body no longer knows what to expect. As a result, Swithers says, tests have found that "animals who have experience with artificial sweeteners don't seem to be as good at regulating their blood sugar levels when they get real sugar"—hence the associations with diabetes and other metabolic troubles. And this mechanism would appear to be independent of the kind of low-calorie sweetener used.
Eric Barker shows the research: worker bees are not the most successful workers, and it's because they are focusing only on the work while ignoring their social needs and becoming unhappy in the process. Barker recommends this excellent TED talk by Shawn Achor: Another helpful post is Barker on getting organized/happy.
Most Christians I meet embrace only the most popular teachings from the New Testament, but ignore all of the embarrassing passages from the Old Testament, all the while claiming that the Bible is the most important book in the world. This site reminds Christians that Jesus himself embraced all the Old Testament.
1) “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19 RSV) Clearly the Old Testament is to be abided by until the end of human existence itself. None other then Jesus said so. 2) All of the vicious Old Testament laws will be binding forever. "It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB) 3) Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn’t the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place." (Matthew 5:17 NAB) 3b) "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16 NAB)