On Gua Sha (Back Scraping)

Feeling Ill?  Maybe your back needs a scraping
by Justin Moyer
http://www.fyibehealthy.com/2012/09/26/feeling-ill-maybe-your-back-needs-a-scraping/

"Aporkalypse"

On the bacon shortage:

http://news.yahoo.com/aporkalypse-not-now-bacon-shortage-exaggerated-experts-160739385.html

On the Bloomberg's Speed Desk

http://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-reynolds-bloomberg-2012-9

Will Humans All Eventually Look Like Brazilians?

http://news.yahoo.com/humans-eventually-look-brazilians-140349518.html

Why Aren't Mortgage Rates Lower?

Why are mortage rates so high?

An Enigma in the Mortgage Market That Elevates Rates
by Peter Eavis
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/enigma-mortgage-market-elevates-rates-161206290.html

Eurasia Group: Top Global Risks for 2012

http://eurasiagroup.net/pages/top-risks-2012

Quote of the Day: Living

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.  I shall not waste my days tryingto prolong them.  I shall use my time.

-Jack London

How Our Lives Are Subsized

One Nation on Welfare.  Living Your Life on the Dole
by Michael Grunwald
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123809,00.html

Which Presidential Polls Were Most Accurate in 2008?

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2008/11/the-list-which-presidential-polls-were-most-accurate/

Apple's iPhone 5 to Grow GDP by .25% or More?

The Latest iPhone 5 Rumor is That it is Going to Save the US Economy
by Nicholas Carlson
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/The-Latest-iPhone-5-Rumor-Is-That-It-Is-Going-To-3855845.php

The US Financial Burden Barometer

http://keepingamericagreat.org/10-million-a-minute-tour/

The New Food Ambassadors

[Mike] Isabella is one of the first chefs to be tapped by the State Department to serve as a culinary ambassador abroad, part of an ambitious new undertaking to use food as a diplomatic tool. Initiated by the U.S. Chief of Protocol Capricia Penavic Marshall and blessed by her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership aims to “elevate the role of culinary engagement in America’s formal and public diplomacy efforts,” according to a mission statement.

The initiative, in partnership with the James Beard Foundation, named for the late dean of American cooking, will be officially announced at the State Department on Sept. 7 at a reception featuring some of the nation’s premiere chefs and pedigreed products.

 

One Mission, Many Courses
by Tom Tietsema
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/chefs-are-the-new-diplomats/2012/08/31/d67b5714-ead3-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_story.html

Are There Tricks to Being Luckier?

http://www.bakadesuyo.com/be-lucky-its-an-easy-skill-to-learn-8

On Surstromming

"The way surströmming is made explains why it smells so bad. Fish caught in the spring off the Gulf of Bothnia coast are packed into a barrel with salty brine that prevents them from rotting entirely. The fish ferment in the barrel for a month or so, aging in a stew of lactic acid bacteria and enzymes.
Surströmming is then sealed in big round cans, with pressure building up so aggressively inside that they bulge at both ends—and sometimes burst."

Sweden Has Champagne Aspirations for Its Smelly Fermented Herring
by Sven Grundberg
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444914904577617300957144354.html

On "Diminishing Sensitivity"

Q: In your answer last week about splitting checks at restaurants, you noted that there is a "diminishing sensitivity as the amount of money paid increases." I've noticed this in my own spending. I'll go out of my way to save a buck and then spend an ungodly sum on some purse. Why is that? And how can I control it?

A: Diminishing sensitivity is a very basic way that our minds work across many domains of life. For example, imagine that you light up one candle in the middle of the night. This small amount of light will dramatically change your ability to see your surroundings. But what if you already have 10 lit candles and you add one more? Now it would not have much of an effect. The basic idea of diminished sensitivity is that our minds tend to register relative increase; we take any additional amount of stuff as if it were a percentage gain, not an absolute one.

Now, when it comes to money, we should think about it in absolute terms ($10 is $10 regardless of whether we are saving it from a dinner bill or from the price of a new car), but we don't. We think about money in terms of percentages, too.

What can we do about it? It's not easy, but we should try to fight this natural tendency. One method that I use from time to time is to take the amount of money that I am thinking about spending and ask myself what else I could get with it. For example, since I like going to the movies (and let's say that the price of two tickets and popcorn is $25), I ask myself whether a given $25 of spending on a prospective purchase is worth more or less than the pleasure of going to the movies.

When framed this way, it doesn't matter if the savings come from a dinner bill or a new computer—and it helps me to ask the question "What would I enjoy more?" in a more concrete way. So, the next time you are shopping for a new purse, try to measure its price in terms of another use for that money that you might value more.

Is That Purse Really Worth It?
by Dan Ariely
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443864204577619733551273416.html