January 22, 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 3)

Some excellent citation in the comments as well,,,

Glyphosate toxicity: Looking past the hyperbole, and sorting through the facts. By Credible Hulk

You may at some point have heard people speak of glyphosate as being “less toxic than caffeine or table salt.” What they’re referring to when they say that is what we call its LD50, which a standard way of quantifying acute toxicity. A substance’s LD50 is the dose at which 50% of the subjects who ingest that amount will die of complications from an acute overdose, and it is measured in units of mass of the substance per unit mass of the subject (usually mg/kg). See, one of the most fundamental principles in all of toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison,” which was famously coined by Paracelsus, the father of toxicology. Most substances have some amount beyond which they become toxic. Many substances that are benign, beneficial, or even essential to human health in one range of concentration will become harmful if taken in sufficiently large amounts. Even water can be toxic if you drink enough of it. So, you can’t just look at it as though there were some toxic things in the world and some non-toxic things, or that something that is toxic at one dose is bad in any dose, simply because that’s not how toxicology works.

Here you can find a very brief introduction to concepts in toxicology, but for now, suffice it to say that students are generally taught about three main types of toxicity: acute, chronic and subchronic.
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However, that was only a matter of acute toxicity. Many opponents are willing to concede that the acute risks are fairly minimal, but they worry about the risks of long term low-level exposure. The EPA took that into account as well. The EPA dealt with this issue by setting maximum safe levels of residues called “tolerances.” The USDA tests crops each year to make sure that herbicide residues do not exceed the permitted tolerance levels. If any crops contain residue amounts higher than tolerance levels, the USDA reports the information to the FDA, who has the regulatory power to recall foods, levy fines and take other actions to prevent the foods from reaching consumers.

In case you’re wondering how these tolerances were arrived at, the EPA tested glyphosate on numerous animal species. They then used the result from the MOST sensitive species tested as the basis for setting the Reference Dose. The RfD represents the level at (or below) which daily aggregate dietary exposure over a lifetime will not pose appreciable risks to human health.
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Another issue worth addressing is the recent IARC and WHO reclassification of glyphosate as a Class 2A carcinogen. The IARC classification process isn’t designed to serve as a statement on risk analysis, and for that reason, it did not take into account actual common usage practices. They placed glyphosate in the 2A category, which includes “probable” (albeit unconfirmed) carcinogens such as emissions from frying food, hairdresser products and burning wood. It mainly pertains to application protocols rather than minuscule trace amounts in food.

Consequently, banning glyphosate as a knee jerk reaction to its recent classification would be similar to never going out of the house in the daytime because sunlight is carcinogenic. Actually, it would be even less sensible because sunlight is in an even higher class of carcinogen than glyphosate. Think about it. It’s in the same classification as manufacturing glass, burning wood, emissions from high temperature frying, and work exposure as a hairdresser. Alcohol and sunlight are both higher on their carcinogen scale than glyphosate, and neither of those cause cancer with conservative exposure either.

Startling new finding: 600 million years ago, a biological mishap changed everything

If life is effectively an endless series of photocopies, as DNA is transcribed and passed on from one being to the next, then evolution is the high-stakes game of waiting for the copier to get it wrong.

Too wrong, and you’ll live burdened by a maladaptive mutation or genetic disorder. Worse, you might never live at all.

But if the flaw is wrong in exactly the right way, the incredible can happen: disease resistance, sharper eyesight, swifter feet, big brains, better beaks for Darwin’s finches.

In a paper published in the open-access journal eLife this week, researchers say they have pinpointed what may well be one of evolution’s greatest copy mess-ups yet: the mutation that allowed our ancient protozoa predecessors to evolve into complex, multi-cellular organisms. Thanks to this mutation — which was not solely responsible for the leap out of single-cellular life, but without which you, your dog and every creature large enough to be seen without a microscope might not be around — cells were able to communicate with one another and work together.
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Prehoda and his colleagues began to look into what genes could be responsible for allowing the choanoflagellates to work together.

“We were expecting many genes to be involved, working together in certain ways, because [the jump to multi-cellularity] seems like a really difficult thing to do,” he said.

But it turned out that only one was needed: A single mutation that repurposed a certain type of protein. Instead of working as enzymes (proteins that facilitate reactions inside the cell) the proteins were now what’s known as an interaction domain. They could communicate with and bind to other proteins, a useful skill for cells that have decided to trade the rugged individualist life for the collaboration of a group. In the wild world of pre-complex life, this development was orders of magnitude better than Twitter for getting organisms organized. Every example of cells collaborating that has arisen since — from the trilobites of 500 million years ago to the dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and you — probably relied on it or some other similar mutation.

All of the Reasons Why Tom and Gisele's Diet Is Actually the Worst, Revealed

Campbell has managed to fit in every single piece of dietary insanity on the planet into one meal plan. It's borderline impressive how someone can cram so much non-scientifically based information, fear-mongering of healthy foods, and just plain old bullshit into one neatly tied, organically wrapped package. Yes, the diet may sound healthy, given that it's loaded up on fruits and vegetables. But it also cuts out so much food that it's composed of more air than fiber. Do you have to do all that to be healthy? Let's parse through this hodgepodge of dietary insanity.
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Notice that Gisele was gorgeous and Brady won a few Super Bowls way before this glorified hipster took over the cooking duties in their household? It's because their abilities and looks have very little to do with his cooking as they were probably eating healthy diets before he showed up. Their diet now does sound fairly healthy, even if some of the more delicious things in life are removed. A diet loaded up on healthy grains, vegetables, fruits, and some lean meat sounds like a good one. However, the arbitrary rules are absolutely not necessary, and all it's doing is showing that they have a lot of money to throw around on turning food into a game.

How do you eat a healthy diet? The basic advice still stands. Get your fruits and vegetables (conventional, organic, frozen, and fresh are all fine). Whether you eat meat or not, get enough protein to support muscle growth and repair. Get enough carbs to fuel your activity level. If you're not sure how much of all of this you should eat, talk to your doctor and a registered dietitian, but not a chef who arbitrarily cuts out food groups.

Pat Robertson: Beware Satanic Rock Music That 'Summons Demons'

“It depends on what rock you’re listening to,” he said. “Some of the stuff is just evil. They used to talk about killing your parents and there were just some other things. There were odes to Satan. You don’t want that stuff coming into your mind. There’s some beat that’s out there that, you know, probably isn’t all that bad, although in one Indian context, they were playing rock music and the person said, ‘Why are you calling on the demons?,’ because that was the kind of music they used to summon demons.”

One day from the "5th Annual International Day of Protest Against Hereditary Religion" which is taking place on January 23, 2016. Here is part 4 of 4 from 2014 to tickle your appetite.



Let's give her some attention, shall we,,,

‘Repent’ the gay away: Wife of Mormon leader tells gays to pray for ‘sexual harmony’ with God

“When we are desperate to become the people we were born to be, our vision changes,” Nelson opined. “We see the Adversary’s temptations for what they really are: tricks to make us forget our true identity and our destination.”

“We may realize that a burden is holding us back,” she said. “That burden may be spiritual pain which always accompanies bad choices and unrepentant sin. The truth is that unrepentant sin is like a magnet for more sin. So if you need to repent, start now.”
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“We each need the savior’s help to become the people we were born to be,” she insisted. “Perhaps we need the gift to have our sexual feelings be in harmony with eternal laws.”

“When we are desperate for any gift of the spirit, that is when we will finally pray with all the energy of heart for that gift,” she added. “I pray that this year that you will have some moments of anguishing desperation that will propel you further along the path to becoming the man or woman you were born to be.”

“Your true self is spectacular, never settle for less.”

Two words - Ashley Madison,,,

Tony Perkins: 'Blood On Our Streets' Because Of Gay Marriage, Family 'Confusion'

“The promise of strong efforts these past seven years to restore fatherhood and reestablish family life in our poorest communities has faded completely,” he said. “Instead, national policies have sown confusion about the very definition of family. President Obama has extolled the virtues of fatherhood even as he has fought for same-sex marriage, in essence saying two same-gendered person can parent as well as a mom and a dad. This contradictory message is more than disappointing. For our children throughout the country, it is devastating. It reduces mothers and fathers to genderless caregivers. Our children deserve better: They deserve a mom and a dad.”

“And we pay a price for this incoherent, ideological campaign by havoc in our homes and blood in our streets,” he added. “That’s why we have to re-empower American parents. The decision of our courts on contraception for minors, abortion on demand and redefining marriage have gravely weakened the family.”