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Fat Chance
The American Medical Association has approved a measure that calls obesity a disease “with multiple pathophysiological aspects requiring a range of interventions to advance … treatment and prevention.”
+ Does it make sense to refer to obesity as a result of something other than personal behavior and choice? If you’ve wondered about that question, you should definitely read David Berreby’s piece in Aeon: The Obesity Era. It turns out that humans aren’t the only creatures getting heavier. And in many cases, we’re not quite sure why.
+ When you think of healthy eating, do you think of Dunkin’ Donuts? They are about to become the first fast food chain to serve gluten-free products. I just hope the gluten-free donuts come with probiotic-infused fillings.
+ Some people try to cut calories by inhaling alcohol instead of drinking it. Unfortunately for them, you can inhale calories too.
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The Non-Believers
“We push threatening information away; we pull friendly information close. We apply fight-or-flight reflexes not only to predators, but to data itself.” Chris Mooney has some interesting takes on the science of why we don’t believe in science (though I’m sure he knows half his readers won’t believe a word he’s written).
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The Incarcerated
Crime rates rise and fall. But in America (where we have the highest rate in the world) incarceration numbers continue to grow. “There are more African-Americans in the corrections system today — in prison or on probation or parole — than there were enslaved in 1850.” Newsweek’s Joshua DuBois on the fight for Black men.
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Just Stand There
On Monday night, Erdem Gunduz stood motionless with his hands in his pockets in Turkey‘s Taksim Square. Within a couple of days, the “Standing Man” movement had gone viral and spread to other parts of the country and world. This is both the story of one protestor and the story of the remarkable speed with which a single image can have a worldwide impact in the age of social media.
+ Reuters has a comparison of the mass protests in Brazil and Turkey.
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A Bit Fit
Here’s a question many of us have asked ourselves at one time or another: How little exercise can I get away with? According to a recent study, the answer could be as low as four minutes. Were only a few of these studies away from the no minute workout.
+ BBC: The psychology of workout music.
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The Journalist
Michael Hastings, a young journalist best known for his piece that got General Stanley McChrystal fired, died in a car crash at the age of 33. Buzzfeed’s Ben Smith remembers his colleague who “was really only interested in writing stories someone didn’t want him to write — often his subjects; occasionally his editor.”
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Miami Pound Machine
In one of the more exciting NBA games in recent memory, the Miami Heat’s Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer in overtime to send his team’s series with the San Antonio Spurs to a game seven. But thousands of Heat fans completely missed the end of the game (and were heard pounding on the stadium doors) because they left late in the fourth quarter in an epic fan fail.
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Empty Suit
For decades, the Men’s Wearhouse chain has been strongly associated with its founder George Zimmer and his signature line: “You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.” Well, things look different for Zimmer today. He’s been canned by the board of the company he founded. It’s not clear that the commercials will change though. The company still “has the legal right to his image as well as 500 hours of footage of Zimmer.” (Spolier Alert: If you’re not convinced of his guarantee after 350 hours or so, you should probably stop watching.)
+ Fashion Victims: Though they may not actually end up doing the time, Dolce and Gabbana have been sentenced to 20 months in prison for tax evasion. If they do end up in jail, I predict that stripes are going to he huge in the Fall.
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Glass Backwards
You toss a bottle into the recycling bin. And somehow that old bottle becomes a new bottle. Here’s NPR’s Planet Money with 6 gifs that explain how this happens.
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The Bottom of the News
“We fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk over a real sheet of paper.” We’ve probably all had similar thoughts in this age of streaming content. But that quote comes from 1871. Here’s XKCD’s look at the pace of modern life.
+ It’s pretty hot in Alaska this week.
+ I moved out of my house where the neighbors are doing a massive construction project to an apartment where the upstairs tenants just started one of their own. So I can definitely relate to this excellent McSweeney’s piece: An Imagined Conversation Between the Construction Workers Upstairs From Me.
+ This throne still has game. Scientists in Cyprus have found that a castle’s toilet found among the ruins still holds parasites left behind by the Crusaders.