Our Earthquake

With all the talk about the recent earthquake that hit Illinois, I thought I'd share this article I found:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080418/sc_livescience/scientistsevenbiggerquakecouldhitmidwest

It talks about the likeliness of another earthquake hitting in the near future. What I was wondering was, what would happen if we actually did have a large earthquake in the area?

My thoughts were this:
Unless you have taken a geoscience class and actually payed attention when learning how to deal with an earthquake, there are almost no people in the Chicagoland area that would know what to do. This could put us in a "perilous times" of real sorts, not just on the political side of things. Thoughts?

Sleep vs. Exercise and Diet

As you may know, my topic for Junior Theme is about sleep deprivation in Americans. The book I am reading (Light's Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival) brought up some very good points, and I thought I would share some of them with you. A major point in the book that I found interesting, although not directly connected with my topic, is the correlation between exercise and GAINING weight. And I don't mean converting fat to muscle type of weight, I mean increasing food intake and fat percentage. The author had a good argument. He states that when you run, your body immediately thinks you are running for your life. This triggers the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. The increased level of cortisol, paired with adrenaline, creates a temporary euphoria. But when you exercise vigorously a few times a week or more, the cortisol levels do not get a chance to subside, causing your body to be in a constant state of distress and crave fatty foods.

Junior Theme

For Junior Theme I am researching sleep deprivation and stress. My main question is "Why are Americans so reluctant to see sleep as productive?" It is a very interesting topic, especially since walking around the halls of New Trier the majority of the people you see are sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation is a main cause of obesity, leading into type II diabetes and heart disease, depression, and cancer. A main problem we have is staying away from artificial light. There are normal light-dark cycles our bodies have been trained to go through for centuries, eating more in the long summer days to prepare for the famine of winter. Artificial light allows us to stay up late, night after night, and we trick our bodies into believing we are in an eternal summer. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Problem is when we never get to hibernate and sleep off all the extra food we're eating, we gain weight and become unhappy, irritable, and sick. Yet we think this just means we need to exercise more. Quite to the contrary, mon ami. Sleeping will solve all of your problems. Well, almost all.

St. Patty's Day MOVED???? Can they do that???

Apparently they can, because they just did. Many Catholic Churches worldwide held mass for St. Patrick's Day on Friday, March 14 this year instead of this coming Monday. Why? Because this year the real St. Patty's Day occurs during "Holy Week" which apparently is "the most sombre week of the Church calendar year". Well, I definitely wouldn't want to be stuck going to one of THOSE masses.... Luckily for us, no more of this confusion will be happening while we're alive - this is the last time St. Patrick's Day will overlap with Holy Week until 2160.

(http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1636038)

Past Idealism and Realism: just LIFE

We have been putting so much emphasis on realism vs. idealism in class that I think we have in fact lost sight of the real picture: not everything is that straightforward, and people don't always have one view or the other. Many people just live their lives, and no one needs to judge whether they are a realist or an idealist. So where did this all start? People believe in what they want to believe in. Some people are chronic dreamers, while others are pessimists. But the majority of the planet consists of just plain old PEOPLE. Who are we to judge whether they are a realist or idealist? We will never have all the facts of their lives and will never be able to analyze them fully and correctly. So why do we try?

"New Sins"???

The Pope recently released a list of the "new sins" that have to do with the sins of the modern times. Things that were not relevant before include "going green", but at the same time can this really be considered a sin that damns you for all eternity? That might be a little harsh, if you ask me. I didn't even know there was a list of sins in the first place. Why does there have to be a list? Sins are different for every situation and personal beliefs, so HOW can there be a list?

http://green.yahoo.com/news/nm/20080310/hl_nm/pope_sins_dc.html

Pharmaceuticals Found in Drinking Water of Over 41 Million Americans

Apparently there are trace amounts of various pharmaceuticals in the drinking water of millions of people worldwide. These drugs range from anti-convulsants to mood stabilizers to sex hormones. The amount of these drugs that our water contains is way less than an actual dosage of the drug, but what will happen to our bodies after being exposed to them for a long period of time? Will the drugs become less effective when we actually need them? Or will the effects be more serious?
Also, I found it interesting that some cities, Chicago included, refused to test the water, and other cities lied about the results. If it is widely known that almost all drinking water has trace amounts of drugs in it, why not embrace the problem and try to be the city that actually does something about it?



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i