Research find common genetic variations in autistic people

Researchers have found that many people with autism share common genetic variations, a discovery that may improve diagnosis and offers the promise of developing treatments for the frustratingly mysterious disorder.

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The decline and fall of high-fructose corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup first started trickling into our food supply about 40 years ago; by 1984, it was flowing from just about every soda fountain in the country. These days HFCS accounts for almost half of all the added sugars in the U.S. diet, but the corn Niagara may soon be over.

More damning evidence against fructose emerged just last week in an important study from the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Researchers in California recruited volunteers to drink a glass of Kool-Aid with every meal for 10 weeks; half took their soft drinks sweetened with fructose, the other half with glucose. By the end of the study period, both groups had put on weight, but the subjects getting fructose had more visceral fat—the kind that adheres to our organs and is associated with heightened risk for atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. The fructose group also showed higher levels of LDL cholesterol and lower insulin sensitivity.

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You don't have to be hardcore to reap the mega benefits of cycling.

You were onto something when you proudly shed those training wheels. Cycling is a multitasking cardio workout that fries fat and demolishes stress without pounding you into the ground. Here's why it's time you got yourself a set of wheels...

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Bachmann Links Swine Flu To Democrats, Gets History Wrong

What an embarrassment. 

"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

Unfortunately, Bachmann's facts are a little off. Republican President Gerald Ford, not Carter, led the country during the last outbreak of the virus.

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Colbert Study: Conservatives Don't Know He's Joking

A study from Ohio State University, which proves, with math and stuff, that lots of conservatives seem to not understand the intrinsic, underlying joke of The Colbert Report:

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Rove mocked spending on flu preparedness

Bush’s Brain doesn’t appear to be quite so prescient in the face of a potential global flu epidemic. Writing in a column in the Wall Street Journal in February, Rove attacked Democrats for what he dubbed as reckless spending — stimulus money being doled out to industries “that added jobs last year.” Among them? Education and healthcare.

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GOP Stripped Flu Pandemic Preparedness From Stimulus

US markets scared by our unpreparedness for swine flu outbreak -- something Obama and the dems anticipated and tried to deal with in the stimulus package. Once again, the GOP forced flu prep out of the debate, mocked it and ridiculed it as not belong in the stimulus package.

...and once again, the dems were right.

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Just like that...

"You don't have to go to Disney World to find Space Mountain. It's right here."

The Banality of Bush White House Evil

Torture was a tool in the campaign to exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would support a war that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda.

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Napster founder Shawn Fanning's newest brainchild

"It's Twitter for gamers."

He started Rupture in 2006 to help gamers find out what their friends are playing and connect. The online service, which was sold to Electronic Arts in June, is expected to launch this summer.

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Freed Pirate Hostage, Slams "Disgusting" Rush Limbaugh

Shane Murphy, second-in-command aboard the ship seized by Somali pirates this month, is happy to be home. But he's not happy to be sharing turf with land-lubber Rush Limbaugh, who politicized the pirate affair by referring to the pirates as "black teenagers."

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U.S. Soldier Killed Herself -- After Refusing Torture Duty

Peterson, 27, a Flagstaff, Ariz., native, served with C Company, 311th Military Intelligence BN, 101st Airborne. Peterson was an Arabic-speaking interrogator assigned to the prison at our air base in troubled Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq. According to official records, she died on Sept. 15, 2003, from a "non-hostile weapons discharge."

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So It's Official, Then: Ashton Kutcher Got Punk'd

All the frothy utopian rhetoric of social networking aside, and regardless of the rise and fall of media conglomerates, big media is almost always about The Few profiting at the expense of The Many's attention.

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17 Foods With The Most Caloric Bang For Your Buck

Have you ever wondered what foods have the highest Caloric counts? The following is a list of some of the worst foods in the world for you - in health terms - as well as a breakdown of exactly how you get what you are paying for. After reading this, you ‘ll mostly likely vow to never eat these menu items again.

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet

In an interview with the inventors of Twitter, a simple quest to find out if they are as annoying as their invention.

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Meghan McCain "Old School" Republicans Are "Scared Shitless"

"I feel too many Republicans want to cling to past successes," said McCain. "There are those who think we can win the White House and Congress back by being 'more' conservative. Worse, there are those who think we can win by changing nothing at all about what our party has become. They just want to wait for the other side to be perceived as worse..."

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Why Evolution is True | Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy Blog

"As an astronomer, my familiarity with the details of biological evolution are about on par with that of an interested layman. I’m familiar with the concepts of descent with modification, genetic mutations, natural pressures for adaptations, and the like. I’m less familiar with other aspects, like allele frequencies, how specifically pressures can change adaptations, and what transitional fossils are in the record, but I can probably hold my own against your run-of-the-mill creationist."

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The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time

Atheism is generating quite a lot of attention these days. Prominent atheists are getting the word out about their views in increasing numbers and generating lots of public debate on the proper place of religion in governments and societies in the modern world.

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Guy makes real life Mirror's Edge video while freerunning

Parkour enthusiast AZO has been making Youtube videos for a while, but this time around he does his thing with a camera in hand and recreates the look and feel of the gameplay for Mirror's Edge.

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10 Superfoods You Should Be Eating

Some you know - like avocados, pumpkins and beets - but what about kamut and tempeh? Here's what you need to know - and what these foods can do for you.

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Krugman: "Republicans Embarrassing To Watch"

Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn't feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.

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Mexican Ambassador Tells US To Consider Legalizing Marijuana

Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan joined CBS' Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation today and said the U.S. should take the debate over marijuana legalization seriously. He said, "Those that suggest that some of these measures need to be looked at understand the dynamics of the drug trade."

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"It's hard to come up with shit to say sometimes" or "who blogs when they're completely happy?"

I've noticed something over the last couple of weeks...

I've got nothing to say.

Seriously, I've been trying to come up with stuff to say/blog for the last couple of weeks and I've got nothing. I don't have any complaints, I'm happier than I've ever been in 42 of living, and I'm in the best shape of my life, hands down. I've put 1500 miles on my bike since January 1st, and I'm eagerly awaiting the warm water and Spring surf with my new wetsuit and 165 pound body in tow.

My food/diet/intake is astounding. I'm averaging 1848 calories a day without even trying hard. Broken down that's averaging 313 grams of carbs a day, 26.52 grams of fat (roughly 13% of my diet is fat) and an AMAZING 110 grams of protein a day. This allows me to ride about 20-30 miles a day with fantastic recovery. I supplement my rides with quick, easy, liquid carbs on rides as needed, and so far I've been able to just fucking CRUSH the rides I've been on. Effort feels fantastic, and my endurance is nothing short of breathtaking for a guy my age who was in my condition less than 6 months ago. I'm easily* banging out 150 situps a day and for the first time in my life I actually have a full blown six pack. Just ask my wife!

The most fun I'm having right now involves turning myself on to new and exciting ways to cram protein and carbs into my body in the cleanest, most wholesome way possible. I'm supplementing my diet with DeMarco's Protein bars after heavy rides to aid recovery, and I've recently discovered the wonderful world of Greek Yogurts. I'm getting Chobani yogurt in the convenient 12 pack at Costco, and I just discovered this week that Bi-Lo has begun selling Stonyfield Farms' Oikos brand Greek Yogurt. These yogurts pack an amazing amount of protein into a small, low calorie, fat free container of thick, creamy goodness that's simply not to be missed. Oikos plain yogurt has TWENTY THREE GRAMS of protein for a 120 calorie, 1 cup serving that contains NO fat. Take one cup, add a cup of sliced strawberries, and half a cup of dry cheerios, and you've got a snack that packs more punch than any commercial protein bar on the market. 233 calories, 31 grams of carbs (5 of which are dietary fiber), 1.5 grams of fat, and 24.6 grams of protein...and it's delicious...and it fills you up completely. It makes a huge bowl of creamy, strawberry, crunchy awesomeness.

Home made pizza continues to be a great way to pack protein and carbs into a handy, triangle shaped package, and I love the open possibilities of adding exotic, wholesome ingredients. We've done the grilled chicken breast, pineapple, mushroom and green pepper one. That was rather tame, so I think next I wanna branch out a little with artichoke hearts, maybe some sun dried tomatoes, or some tomato slices on top. I love how fast and convenient it is, and so far, I haven't made a pizza yet that has more than 300 calories per serving, and that's using Kraft Mozzarella Cheese. Not any kind of "reduced fat" or "fat free" cheese. With pizza, it's all about portion sizes.

So see? I don't really have a lot of complaints. I don't have any gripes, and I don't really take issue with anything. If anything, I'm learning to live with a new, calmer sense of self that doesn't lend itself to anger, or frustration, or any level of negativity, which is actually kinda new to me, but in a really good way. I'm becoming very comfortable with the fact that I don't have to really be angry or upset about anything. Literally nothing upsets me now. Oh sure, work could be busier, with more projects to pile on my plate. I'll never stopped being defined by how much work I can produce, or how constructive I am at work. That's just me. But again, I can't complain. The economy is doing much worse to friends (and not-so friends) so there's nothing really to complain about there.

So that's really it. I think I'm just...well... genuinely happy. In a real, deep, meaningful way.

And it's nice.

It just doesn't give me a whole lot to write about.

Not that I'm complaining...heh heh...

Facebook Takes a Dive: Why Social Networks Are Bad Business

From Digg via Time.com
There has been turmoil at Facebook and MySpace.That may be because neither one of them will ever make a cent of profit.

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