35 life hacks you should know

check it

List of unsolved problems in philosophy

HMMMMMM....

Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law

NPR--feeding us some truth (full article)

Update

My turn for an update I guess. I'm gonna go bullet-point format so I can keep track of what I'm saying.

-Jhane and I broke up two weeks ago. This seems to be going around (Dante, Michael). The impetus wasn't mine, but it's definitely a move in the right direction. Maybe more so for me, because I loved her unconditionally (literally, without condition) and therefore don't have a problem not being together, because I can still love her and support her if she needs it. Which she does right now, because she's bipolar, went off of her medication two months ago, and is having a hard time finding ways to be happy, mainly due, I think, to a lack of passion and curiosity. We almost broke up this summer because I tried to explain, maybe not in the most delicate manner, how love is best when its a) not exclusive or possessive and b) unconditional. Not sure she's there yet, which is a bummer, but it is what it is. I feel good about it now.

-I decided like three weeks ago to go ahead and do pre-med requirements before I graduate, which basically means a ton of lab classes (Chem. I and II, Organic Chem. I and II, Physics I and II, two semesters of biology, biochemistry, stats...). But I was planning on doing all of those anyways, with the exception of Physics, so I figured what the hell. Might as well set myself up in case I decide to go in that direction later. And then I started thinking more about medical school as an actual possibility, and have been liking the idea more and more over the past two weeks. I'm taking Human Physiology right now, which is hard as shit, but it's a ton of fun and I actually enjoy doing the homework and problem sets. Which is probably an indication that I might want to go in that direction, and advanced physiology, if it's not research, means medicine. So we'll see.

-I've started looking at summer research programs across the country. The National Science Foundation sponsors thousands of undergraduate students to attend hundreds of schools to do research in everything from computer science to neuroscience to ecology and astrophysics. My friend Colin did a program this past summer at UMass in computer science and made $4,000, which is pretty typical for REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates). They usually give you a food stipend too, and set you up in a nice living situation. They're all about ten weeks, starting between mid-May and mid-June. This would definitely put a damper on any summer plans, and I obviously wouldn't be able to spend most of my summer at home, but if I can get into one its an awesome opportunity and would help me figure out if I'm interested in that kind of stuff (I'm looking into programs that do research in physiology, molecular and cell biology, neuroscience, genetics, and combinations thereof). Looking into this has also helped me realize how the government fosters the domestic advancement of science, as all of the programs are specifically designed to recruit students to become research scientists. They probably do a good job, spending about 6,000$ per student just in stipend, room, board and travel... makes research seem pretty attractive when they're paying you to get an introduction to it. They usually give about 500,000$ to each research site as well, and they have at least one hundred just in the biological sciences classification. Crazy.

-I've been trying to put on weight this semester, but without access to a scale its pretty hard to track progress. But I've definitely put on a few pounds, if my eyes aren't lying. I've been following the CrossFit Football website, which focuses mainly on developing speed, strength, and power, and I've been having a lot of fun with that. And put 40 pounds on my five-rep max deadlift in seven weeks. Not bad. Working out takes up about seven hours a week, on top of frisbee and whitewater kayaking. Not a ton of free time these days.

-Which reminds me that I've been doing whitewater kayaking, one pool practice session per week and a five-hour day trip every friday. Super fun, and highly recommended to anyone with access to a college outdoors program. It's getting a little cold to be padding in chilly rivers though.

-I'm super psyched to spend January in Guatemala, especially now that Chris, Dante, Mikail and Graham are all coming. Its gonna be a blast. Probably more fun than the WFR last winter.

-Hampshire halloween is on friday and things are going to get crazy, like usual. I'm going to try out ecstasy and see how it treats me. Should be fun. A bunch of people on the frisbee team just ordered reversible pinnies that say hampshire lacrosse on them, with a hammer and sickle and crossed lacrosse sticks, so a bunch of us are going to be lacrosse bros for halloween. Creative? Not really. But so ironic. Hampshire fosters an inflated sense of irony, unfortunately.

Education

Gattaca

Nathan have you seen this awesome film? I think you might dig it!

Rap News vs News World Order (The war on journalism)

CHECK IT!

North Slope Oil Fields--A BIG FUCKING LIE

So it was recently published that less than 10% of oil in the originally surveyed North Slope region actually exists--initially estimated at 10.6 Billion, ONLY 896 Million actually exists...the lies, the greed

stepping out to space

A Sad Truth

Athletic disposition is predetermined. There I said it. I have learned several facts in my kin class that I think you might be interested to know.


Reflex speed/fluency(cognitive not motor reflex "how fast you think"): In healthy individuals the only thing that determines the speed of these traits is axon diameter which is genetically predetermined and cannot be trained. In case you were wondering bigger is better in this case.

proportion of muscle fiber types: Muscle type cannot be converted from fast twitch to slow twitch and the average human has around 50% of each. In a muscle bi-opsy of Hussain Bolt's Vastus Mediallus it was determined that there was 82% fast twitch muscle fiber. Similarly Lance Armstrong would have unusually high proportion of slow twitch muscle fibers. And of course, you guessed it, proportion of muscle fiber type is genetically determined.

Muscle size: you may believe that muscle size is very training dependent, and you would be right, sort of. In a study of untrained mature males on max bicep curl weight there ended up being a very large distribution. The lowest weights were in the 20s and the highs were somewhere in the 80s range. So, assuming a 50% increase in strength via training the lowest would be 30 and the highest would be 120. In other words, though muscle size is trainable, your base mass/strength is genetically determined and as seen, that makes the most significant difference.

Aerobic endurance/VO2 Max: also genticly dependant.
sorry the last one was lacking but I am tired and I still have to do physics homework. punch line--> None of us can train to be lebron james :,(

.

Best Drunk Party Costume

Money = free speech: This lawyer helped corporations spend in election

This man just pulled a conservative Derek Jensen move, its all about the leverage, the pressure points--inducing large impacts. He faces no persecution. James Bopp Jr.


A conservative Indiana lawyer engineered the string of legal victories that have enabled corporations and wealthy individuals to channel tens of millions of dollars into this year's midterm elections secretly, a study by campaign watchdogs has found.

The Passenger

story of stuff

Memetics

something to consider

Some one had to do it...

some crazy wall out in europe--

Black Dynamite!

Just watched this with chris--

WWU this year

Since I like the idea of giving and getting periodic updates about each others lives I thought would spend a little time and let you guys know whats going on in Bham. As you may know over the summer I committed myself to god. just kidding. I committed myself to getting a pre physical therapy undergrad degree. Since Physical therapy is a fairly competitive field the commitment entails that I get great grades until I graduate to compensate for my directionless unmotivated marijuana induced stupor that caused my erstwhile 2.9 GPA. So far so good, all my classes are interesting to me this quarter and now, armed with an intrinsic desire to study, good grades are coming easily. On that note I am taking my first major specific class this quarter, motor control and learning, and its extremely interesting! Im learning about the stretch shortening reflex(plymetrics), dynamic vs ballistic vs static stretching, and many other practical issues related to fitness. I am very impressed Matt, alot of what I have been learning you having been telling me for quite some time. The other classes I am taking this quarter are nomads of Eurasia (surprisingly interesting, I am learning alot about pastoralism, a form of food production that farming cultures dont really understand), Appreciating cinema( easy A GUR), and physics(Blech). Outside of school I am planning on getting my NCAA personal trainer certification this quarter and working as a PT at the rec center for the remainder of school. As for staying active my main activities include indoor soccer, climbing (I got my first v5 dante! Matt P got it the same day... hes so f'ing good at everything) and BJJ/mma. I got a membership at a MMA gym in town and barring the week that I had elbow problems I have been going 5 days a week and it has been an extremely gratifying experience. It is an incredible work out on top of learning practical skills. And as far as the grappling is concerned I find that I am excelling, I submit blue belts that have been training for 3 years and the owner of the gym has asked me if i want to teach kids classes, definitely stoked on that. I suppose a major theme in my life right now that I am exploring is discipline, it can be very taxing at times but also extremely satisfying, well see where this experiment goes. I like my house mates, im waging war on my liver with pabst, and the weather will soon be to cold for comfertable bike riding. Thats my life in a nutshell right now. Hope to see yall over thanksgiving break/what are your plans?

Power house productions

http://www.powerhouseproductions.org/

with the help of Juxtapoz magazine an arts collective bought a couple of houses to experiment with -- i guess they are affiliated with Taubman College

an arts collective in detroit it remodeling a house...

Hey Chris or anybody else interested have you heard of Taubman College?

Update on FourYearsGo

Thank you everyone for the input that you have added in this direction, whatever it may be. generally it seems that most are interested in trying to put together this project--i apologize if it seems to be stumbling blindly forward(if at all). i've been hesitant to grab the reins of plotting the project, kind of letting people step up in the project however they feel is appropriate--but realize that it could at least use a structure. in regards to the contest itself, i'm not sure exactly what the guidelines are for responding to the video they posted i believe that it may be similar to sierra club's best summer job video contest that chris applied for (its archived in the blog). Also i'm not exactly sure when the contest begins or when it ends.

--with all of that said--

///Chris mentioned last night that we may as well ask mark about the project and see if he'll give out any more info--especially what the contest will entail.

///i was thinking that since we have so many great community members around us that we should come up with a set of outline-ish questions, a survey, an interview kind of thing--that could be used at dinners, lunches, or breakfasts. especially in regards to chris and i and our free time--i would love to use this project as an excuss to have dinner with friends and talk. the intention being that we could record either written or tape the conversations and ideas. so for this we need to come up with a set of questions/directions that could be used to explore "the fouryearsgo" concept ----which leads me to-->

///FourYearsGo is a fairly large webiste and we need to go through it and check out all of the alliances, philospohy, videos, all of the stuff on their website to understand what their intention is so that we can allign our project to the same


-so we need to go through the website( if everyone could make a small post about something cool they found on the site )

-so we need to come up with some questions and directions (if everyone could post a little about that too)

Leaves of Grass

If you like Edward Norton so much you wanted to see him act with himself. If you like Grass. If you like Walt Whitman --this may be the movie for you...just watched it its decent, a stoner movie not for stoners

Christine O'Donnell re: Separation of Church and State

Christine O'Donnell is running for Senate in Delaware. This video is of here in a debate that takes place at a law school. She seems to be confused about the constitutional separation of church and state...and its enshrinement in the first amendment. Like, she doesn't know that that's where it is. No joke. Obviously she's a tea partier, but for real?

127 Hours

Check out this movie; starring James Franco, directed by Danny Boyl, based in the Canyonlands... couldn't be better.

theDailyshow

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Eric Cantor Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

he's actually got some good talks after the show with his guests unedited

Did anyone else catch this??--i know its sorta old

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Ore on Terror
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

New York Times

This is kind of connected to Ben's postings on the ted talks--has anyone else seen this still in the news or have we already conspired...

Network (1976)

i've probably posted this before...--sorry for the intro, all the other versions have been blocked from embedding...it really starts a minute thirty into the clip

if you haven't seen this movi--your missing out!

Reign Of Assasins

Badass action. crazytwistedawsome plot. great cinematography. foreign. need I say more?


Dante you would definitly like this movie! If memory serves you showed me a movie that was very similar to this, i think it had "leaves" or "tea leaves" in the title iand it had a scene where asains where chasing other asaisn on bamboo polls throwing spears, do you know what im talking about?

shrinkage

i recently shrunk the blogs page posts to 30 -- to allow a quicker load of the webpage--previously it was somewhere around 50...does anyone object?

Third World Vulnerbality / First World Accountability

Slide Showed

Hipster: the Dead end of Civilization

Adbusters

Hobo Fights - round 1

found this on my phone, more rounds to come

Backpacking Lifestyle

Hey everybody, it’s nice to read all your comments, see you posts, and chew on the thing's you've all been talkin' about.

This is what’s been on my mind, and it will certainly go under the “outdoor” section:

As most of you know, I have been working on a website since mid-Summer. The original idea I had was to create a gear blog where we could all dump our pictures, stories, and reviews of our gear. With the intent going into it, that if done well enough we could become gear testers for companies such as Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear, GoLite, etc... As I have found out, building a website is very difficult, but not as hard as making one that people will actually want to look at, and read. There have been many things I’ve learned along the way, that go far beyond the graphic element of a web page. How do we build credibility? How do we put ourselves out there, and more-so how do we get well known? Well, that’s why I’m writing this to you all.

It is time that I tap into the great resource I have at my hands, which is all of you. I’m here to light the review-writing fire under your outdoorsy asses. So here’s what I need:

-Thorough reviews on different pieces of quality gear that you have. We will be more successful in the long run if we target certain companies. Since between us we have four Nemo tents, that would be a fantastic place to start, but to our advantage, between us we have a wide range of gear from almost all the big companies.

There will be categories on the website, i.e. Backpacks, jackets, base layers, stoves, sleeping bags, tents, etc - So we need reviews for all of them. I have gotten a good start on reviews, and have almost 15 written, but we need many more to even be noticed, because we got competition. Hopefully one day a forum can be opened up where other viewers can write their own reviews. I’m writing this on my laptop, but when I get home I’ll post an example of a review that I’ve written. You are all good writers, and I have no doubt that you can write a compelling few sentences on why you like the product, where you’ve used it, and how it saved you from getting water-logged on the John Muir. Everyone who writes a review will get credit for it, which addresses the biography section.

-Also, if one or two people are super enthused with this idea and want to pick up more responsibility, I have an XXX@backpacking-lifestyle.com account for you.

-I want stories as well, bring in the practical aspect of spending time on an extended backpacking trip, along with the spiritual and mystical components of being in the woods. Write about the personal importance of spending time in the woods. Talk about the philosophy of backcountry nutrition, leave no trace, or ultralight. Find environmental initiatives - write a quick blurb about why we should care, and that can go up too. Those are just a few things.

-There is much more that I have to say, and other aspects I have not revealed here, but you get the idea. I implore you to share your ideas about how we could make it all the more awesome as well, for we have many possibilities.

So guys, if you are interested, write some reviews with your free time, or just get the brain-storming going here. Since gear (and in the bigger picture the wilderness) is a way of life for us, it should come without to much strain.

Thank you,

Mikail

Roofies

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxJ1fPkfM5nV6nvy55B3kcOAY-BgD9IOGPO00?docId=D9IOGPO00

Roofies are fucked up

Dont argue with an Ibex

Check It!
I almost died of laughter watching this last night...

tedtalks

Brain Waves

I just posted this link in my comment to Dante's last post, but I couldn't hyperlink or embed the video so here it is again. The video shows Ken Wilber entering different states of consciousness and the concurrent reading on an electroencephalogram (EEG); there's narration, so I won't say anymore. But your mind will be blown.

Impacts and Influences 4YG

so to facilitate the first step of the fouryearsgo contest i think it would be great if we started to amass a reference list. let us just post all of the great educational tools, sites, videos, people, books, that we know that have influenced us in regards to this concept of redefining our culture, in regards to what you think would be applicable to this contest. have you watched any tedtalks that may relate, any random youtube videos that are inciteful, any podcasts, any books. If you could when posting the book or site please provide a quick description of what it is and why...( i don't want this to be forced ) but it would be successful if every one (that means YOU) posted four references that you felt could be helpful



also if so one wants to click around on the website itself and explore some of the awesome videos and repost them on the blog that would be great too!!!

umm...bruises...

my finger is now certified to function as a maxi pad

was originally planning on having my finger drained by our family's doctor in seattle but last night it became too much-- i went to harrison around eleven--the emergency room was filled-- when i finally got in he injected a local anesthetic and just ginsued the shit out of it--then drained an insane amount of puss-- its on the healing track now though!...

FOURyearsGO

So i'm trying to push this forward a bit more. for those who haven't heard: this group is going to be hosting a video contest--inviting people to define what can happen in four years--they hired a professional design team to produce the above commercial(they've done nike ads and so on) to give the challengers something to bounce off of. i had a great conversation with chris and corbin this weekend and feel that this competition could push us in that direction!

-so to start i would like to begin a dialogue about our future (click here for the site)--what threatens it --what is at stake--and so on and so forth--i'm posting this as i head home from work so i'll facilitate it better when i get some more comp. time BUT i would love for anyone to jump on and move it forward--this may seem labor intesive and redundant--as all of us have been plowing this concept for some time but REALLy this is a great in if we put in some hard work!!

footage of tevon's happenings (found on alex's FB)

Ethiopia, Addis to Omo from Alexander Nazerian on Vimeo.

sunday was dark

my liver became the densist object on sunday, a black whole, curling my body in wards: elbows to my knees, forehead to my stomach-- pulling all of my organs down and to the right--relinquishing me of all the placid water i knew-- a black ant being squeezed--squeezed from two relentless fingers throbbing my ears deaf--and the sensation of rotten food, of rotten death grabbed my inards without the smell wrenching my body--my vision dimmed: my limbs lost their motors and sank: the taste of nothing rolled through--my body convulged like a dead battery, not violently but un controlled--chris is going to have to provide you with what i said, what i muttered, what screamed in my head--

i believe there was talk of this...

in the action of posting but found this along the way

plant perception

So here I am, sitting in my office, and I wonder why/how people make the decisions they do. Furthermore, I wonder how chance/luck factors into the decisions that one makes. I want to elaborate on these ideas in terms of me.

first off,chance and luck are factors that should be embraced in the flow of life but underlying them, i bleieve, are pre conditions that we can actually control, exteriorly/from third party views they are obsereved as luck as chance.

INTENTION. INTENTION. INTENTION.
(one of them is intention and i don't have time to elaborate on the others, i am at work)

this summer was an incredibly hectic summer for me, a lot was happening, but somewhere admist all the happening the concept of intention sunk in. i think the theme sits so staunchly with me because of my interest in art, creation, systems, activism, and the general desire to understand what seperates a scribble from a portrait--a kiss from love--a day from living--laughter from happiness.

from scribbles you can create a potrait but a scribble alone will always fall short--so what is that difference:

Michael: let us take your interaction with claire: was your encounter simple chance? from the little i know i would suggest the fact that you had plugged yourself into the rock gym, outdooring, RA'ing, the frat, and your accessible personality it was inevitbale that you would meet claire. the social touches YOU created along with the communities understanding of who you are was positevly reflecting so that encounters with attractive blonde, blue eyed girls would be possible. the question then is, was that your intention? was that what you wanted?

a distinction i've chosen to take in my life is to not live to make money but live a life that produces wealth. to not enter a relationship for the sex but create a healthy relationship that allows sex. such shifts in thought open a path that allows one to focus in a more transcendent sincere engagement-- i think ben touched upon some of this in his post too in relation to some of his recent actions.

MIchael, look back at your relationship with school, the fact that your at whitman with an awesome scholarship was the direct result of your staunch intentions--you wanted to get into a competitive school and you now haave that.

an example of intention is our blog--i want to ensure that we remain friends for a long time, i want to document our journey and unfolding of life, i want to remain connected, and thus i jumped started our blog--we'll see how it unfolds...i have hope.

INTENTION. INTENTION. INTENTION.

just like you have learned to succeed with school michael, i'm sure if you put yourself to it you could learn to succeed with women. simply because we struggle should not mean we dissmiss it as chance.

in terms of physical versus personality? --there are a lot of fish in the sea--a good fisherman is patient and doesn't reel in just because something is nibbling, he may tow the line a bit but if its not what he wants he'll let it go.


in terms of the polar dynamics of me and chris--they simply refelct the ebb and flow of life and the limitiations of time. the good things don't last forever but if they were real they will always come back--the crucial part is to turn the lows into our impetus' --i may have ended a relationship with chelsea BUT i benefitted greatly from that experience--what are the things that you learned from your time with claire, its too easy to say fuck it when it all falls--what will you do differently--would you have joined long distance running if it were not for her-- women aren't PHD's and Bachelor certificats--once you've entitled them as your GF they aren't going to stick forever its a tricky engagement of trust and great opportunity to practice the act of giving unconditionally--chelsea was a huge challenge but from it i feel more confident --it gave me focus and challenged my priorities--i honestly think i enjoy life more because of all that i fought through--and on a side note she plans on coming back down next weekend to hang out...

and fuck it the next woman i find will be even more awesome--and the challenge of finding her is exciting...

How do you know you're doing the right thing and making the right choices?

So here I am, sitting in the Whitman College Library, and I wonder why/how people make the decisions they do. Furthermore, I wonder how chance/luck factors into the decisions that one makes. I want to elaborate on these ideas in terms of 1) dating/relationships and 2) jobs/careers/lifestyles.

For example:

1) dating/relationships.

Prior to the end of last semester, I had a fling of sorts with this girl named Hannah for about a week. Pretty cute, and we really clicked in terms of personality. Pretty outdoorsy (she spent 11 weeks doing trail maintenance this summer), and still kinda girly. i.e., enjoys getting dolled up and going out to parties and whatever. She also sings and plays the guitar, which I think is really dope. Anyways, part way though, Claire comes along, and I immediately drop Hannah and decide to make something happen with Claire. Claire and I have similar interests, but in the end, Claire and I don't last because we never really clicked, and I realize that I made the decision to be with Claire because she was physically more attractive.

The thing is, Claire just seemed to pop out of no where; i.e., sheer coincidence/luck of meeting a pretty, attractive girl. I was like "wow, this is awesome, how did this even happen to me? This girl is awesome." But in the end it just didn't work out. wtf. I wonder why I decided to go for the girl that I found more attractive (Claire) over the girl that I clicked really well with (Hannah). How does that even happen?

At the same time, there's this girl Heather that is probably one of my best friends at Whitman, but I don't really find her that attractive. I spent three hours just hanging out and talking with her, and it went by amazingly fast. But I don't find her that attractive. Why couldn't she just be more attractive?

Will I find the "right" person? And I ask a question, which is more important, physical looks or personality?

2) jobs/careers/lifestyles.
And now here I think about Chris and Dante

Chris first. I wonder how it worked out that he met this really cool/attractive girl named Ali, got along really well with her, and he seemed really happy. That is, luck in terms of relationships worked out really well for him. He just met this girl in physics class, and it just worked. Now he's with Kate, and it seems to work out really well too. So luck in relationships worked out really well.

But now, he just got fucked by a ladder and his knees really hurt... how does that even happen? How can someone do so well in one category of their life (relationships), and then life just comes around and fucks with another category of their life (career/lifestyle). Chris can't really go exploring like had intended, and now he has to sit at home and watch movies.

Why does this happen?

Dante. You're not with Chelsea anymore because you weren't feeling it being so far away from her. This indicates that the dating/relationship realm just isn't working out for you. But then in terms of career/lifestyle, you landed a boss job that actually makes a difference in the world. And this job just came out of nowhere. Cindy just happened to point you somewhere, and somehow, feeling under-qualified, happened to land this job. However, what it really comes down to, is that you're super qualified for this job.

Really, I feel like like Chris and Dante are diametrically opposed. Whereas Chris has relationships working for him, Dante doesn't. However, Dante has lifestyle/career going for him, and Chris doesn't.

How does that happen?

yeah that did happen...

US apologizes for infecting Guatemalans with STDs in the 1940s