Coffee - the new wonderdrug

So. Turns out all of our fears about coffee being bad for you (e.g. stunts your growth, causes irritability, messes with your adrenal glands etc etc) is completely backwards and false.

In a study published last year by Harvard university, the coffee-drinking habits of 126,000 people were analyzed, and it was determined that large "doses" (i.e. 6 or more cups a day) actually reduced the risk of diabetes in men by a staggering 54% and in women by 30%.

It also found that people who drink a lot of coffee are about 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's, that coffee can offset the negative effects of other harmful habits like smoking, that it can help treat asthma and headaches, and that it may even help prevent cavities! Screw brushing my teeth before bed, I'm gonna have me a cup of joe!

see the article here: http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/80/96454.htm

Truthiness is everywhere

so... prior to expounding my uber-spiritual thoughts on the verses I mentioned, I thought maybe I'd start a new series. It will be a series based on the idea that you can always find solid evidence to back up almost any theory or story. In the last year I've decided that arguing with people who disagree wholeheartedly with you is completely futile: all that happens is that you both walk away feeling great about how right you are and how stupid they are. The best example of this is the vicious ongoing debate online between Republicans and Democrats. Just have a look when you have a minute. In fact, try Googling, "Steven Colbert" +correspondents +truthiness and you'll get very strong reactions (on both sides) to a recent speech Colbert.

and so, in that spirit of futility, I'm going to try to semi-regularly post stories about things we didn't know were true. Like how megadoses of coffee actually ward of a variety of serious diseases (I really like this one)...

the pop-up Bible

Listen, I apologize for this, but I'm going to be ridiculously Bible-y for a minute.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life of late, particularly in light of a couple of opportunities that have come my way - almost - and the one quite noticeable thing that keeps happening is that I keep having verses or passages of Scripture pop into my head.

The first one was Jeremiah 6:16. I had a good long think about that one, and determined a number of interesting things:

1) it says "stand" which, in context, implies you've been moving up till then, and that you have to stop and wait.
2) it says "look"... if you're at a crossroads and you look, where else are you looking but down each fork to figure out what the best option is. It also doesn't say "run down one and if it doesn't work run down the other." HA... it's just occured to me that a crossroads is usually not more than one intersection, and it's not actually a fork in the road, it's in fact somewhere where you have to take a strong left or right. It's a perpendicular, and you have to switch from going N/S to going E/W (or vice versa). HMN.
3) it also says "ask," so I've been doing a lot of that. What am I supposed to do? Help me be patient. Help me figure out what You want from me. Help me see what the best option is.
4) it does NOT say, "you will find financial freedom," or indeed fame or even necessarily an easy road ahead. All that it says is "find rest for your souls." Some years ago - and I should find it - I actually wrote that "my life is a quest for peace." That was really the core of who I am. So this is even more pertinent, yes?

Soon I'll come back and tell you about three others: Isaiah 43:19, Judges 7 (the bit about Gideon), and Jeremiah 29:11, which has been today's mental popup.
Turns out the prophets are big for me.