Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/06/cspi-and-public-citizen-sue-the-fda-over-absurd-delays-in-regulating-the-safety-of-oysters/

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has sued the FDA for ignoring its 2012 petition to prevent illnesses and deaths caused by eating raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico contaminated with toxic Vibrio vulnificus.

The lawsuit, filed jointly with Public Citizen, asks the FDA to set standards to make sure these bacteria are “nondetectable in oysters and other molluscan shellfish sold for raw consumption.”

The FDA is supposed to respond to the complaint by July 25.

This issue goes back a long way.  I wrote about it in 2011 in the context of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Food Safety: FDA Needs to Reassess Its Approach to Reducing an Illness Caused by Eating Raw Oysters.

Vibrio vulnificus bacteria are considered “flesh-eating;” they kill half the 30 or so people who eat contaminated raw oysters.   Treating the raw oysters before allowing them to be sold kills the bacteria.  California requires this and nobody eating California oysters gets sick from Vibrio.  As I wrote in 2011:

In 2001, the oyster industry trade association, the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), promised the FDA that this industry would substantially reduce Vibrio infections in oysters within seven years through a program of voluntary self-regulation and education aimed at high-risk groups. If this program failed to reduce the infection rate, the ISSC agreed that the FDA could require oysters to be tre…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/how-to-fall-asleep-faster?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

It’s tempting to take a pill or just sip sleep-inducing tea, but these quick fixes don’t address the root of what’s keeping you awake at night. As this video from The School of Life explains, your insomnia might be a result of something simple you’re forgetting to do during the day—that is, think. Just running through your to-do list won’t help, though. It’s those bigger, more philosophical questions (Am I happy? Am I in the right job? Am I with the right person?) that need attention during daylight hours—or else they’ll pop up late at night. So set aside some time to reflect on your career, relationships, regrets, or purpose and prepare to catch some more zzzs.

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Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/06/commencement-speech-cunys-macaulay-honors-college/

I gave the commencement address to graduates of Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York this week. Here’s what I said.  And here’s what someone in the audience tweeted:

I was especially pleased because it came with an honorary degree.

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Source: http://greatist.com/live/nadkins-the-luxuirous-way-to-clean-your-balls?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Sweaty balls (or Schweddy Balls, if you’re Alec Baldwin) are a fact of life for most guys, especially in the summer months. It was only a matter of time before someone finally tried to capitalize on the sticky situation. Introducing Nadkins, the original “male jewels refresher towelette.” How luxurious! If their tagline doesn’t convince to clean your testicles, this hilarious video will.

We hope keeping your genitals clean is already a top priority, but you don’t need to shell out $12.50 for a 10-pack of Nadkins. Baby wipes or soap and water are way cheaper—and just as effective.

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Source: http://www.theminimalists.com/forsake/

By Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus · Follow: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

We forsake innumerable issues every day. And that’s usually okay because most of what’s going on in the world doesn’t require our attention: local politics in Saskatoon, escalator maintenance at a nearby shopping mall, bronze statues of great basketball players.

It’s not that we can’t focus on these inane concerns—it’s just that they aren’t top of mind.

But of course we forsake many of our so-called priorities, too: health, relationships, creativity, contribution.

It’s not that we can’t focus on these important matters—it’s just that they aren’t top of mind.

Which brings some questions to mind:

What am I focused on today?

What should I be focused on? That is, what aligns with my values, beliefs, desires, interests, mission? Would life be better if I focused on those few things and forsook the rest?

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Source: http://greatist.com/live/brock-turner-the-letter-his-father-should-have-written?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Odds are you’ve heard about the Stanford swimmer rape case that’s all over the news. If not here’s the story: A judge sentenced 20-year-old Brock Turner to just six months in county jail, along with probation, for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. And people are rightfully outraged at the lenient sentence—it’s far less than the six years prosecutors recommended and the 14-year maximum sentence.

Adding fuel to the fire, a letter by Turner’s father talks about how much his son has suffered (yes, his son) and calls for probation only, saying jail “is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action.”

Twitter user Jez Kemp rewrote the letter to point out the crazy ways the media has talked about Turner’s case and sexual assault in general. Instead of focusing on the victim’s suffering, we talk about the rapist. His fall from grace. His athletic accomplishments. His lack of criminal history. As Kemp shows with the rewrite, Turner got a lot of attention (and sympathy) while standing trial, but we really should be thinking about and working to protect the victim and the countless others who have stories just like hers.

Here’s the original version:

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Source: http://clubindustry.com/profits/california-woman-injured-during-soulcycle-class-files-lawsuit

A woman who was taking a SoulCycle class in 2014 with her co-workers has filed a lawsuit against SoulCycle claiming she was injured during the class when she attempted to stop pedaling the flywheel-style bike, but it would not stop, causing her to fall off the bike and injure herself.

read more

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Source: http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/hamstring-training/

Being that you and I are serious lifters, I can all but guarantee one thing: your hamstring development is lacking. 

I get that it can seem tough to inject exercise variety into your workouts when it comes to your hamstrings; stimulating your hammies isn’t easy for anyone. I also get that training your hamstrings is near the bottom of the list of muscles that you enjoy training. 

I know this because 9.86 lifters out of 10 have hamstrings that are either: 

Non-existent.
Overwhelmed by their quads.
Draped into invisibility by lengthy shorts (aka non-existent).

Creating a balanced and impressive physique means that you can’t neglect any one muscle.

Unless you want to flaunt an impressive torso while displaying it upon a pair of bent chopsticks, you need to train your hamstrings. 

Hamstrings, along with calves and forearms in some cases, are muscles many lifters hate to train, and yet, they’re often what they need to train in order to bring balance to their stature as they continue to fill out their physique. 

Let’s give your ‘strings the respect they desire and build a set of hammies that really HANG.

The Hamstring Training Mistakes We …

Source: http://greatist.com/move/workout-playlist-for-an-interval-run?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

When it comes to running, we know listening to music can turn a slow slog into a song-fueled success—especially if you’re a newbie. Studies show that music can help you maintain a steady cadence (or steps per minute), increase your intensity, and even make you stick to a training plan. 1 Plus, it just feels good! There’s nothing worse than pounding the pavement with low energy and no music to pump you up. Bleh.

Next time that happens, switch things up with an interval run. We tapped Barry’s Bootcamp instructor Matty Maggiacomo to create the perfect playlist to power up your next workout.

“When it comes to running, long-distance or otherwise, the perfect playlist can make a huge difference, and tempo is key,” says Maggiacomo. A song’s beats per minute (or BPM) will help you set your cadence. Calculate BPMs by counting the beats for 30 seconds and then doubling that number. You can also search around sites like Spotify for running music that specifically lists BPMs.

Follow Maggiacomo’s general guide to build your own music mix or use his custom-curated playlist below.

Pick Your Music: 115 to 125 BPM = warm-up; a brisk walk or jog 120 to 140 BPM = the body of your run; covering distance 140 BPMs or above = sprints and all-out efforts Build Your Interval Running Workout: Tracks 1 and 2: Warm up. Tracks 3 and 4: Set your pace. Tracks 5 and 6: Sprint or high knees on the chorus. Tracks 7 and 8: Pick up the pace. Tracks 9…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/10/481397849/spring-is-swarm-season-when-beekeepers-are-on-the-hunt-for-new-hives?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Late spring is swarm season, the time of year when bees reproduce and find new places to build hives.

John Clift/Flickr

Late spring is swarm season — the time of year when bees reproduce and find new places to build hives. Swarms of bees leave the nest and zoom through the air, hovering on trees, fences and houses, searching for a new home.

While a new neighborhood beehive can be stressful for homeowners, it’s an exciting time for beekeepers, who see it as an opportunity.

Recently, these vital pollinators have been under threat. U.S. beekeepers report losing about a third of their honeybee colonies each year in recent years. And North America’s 4,000 other species of native bees are also declining.

So, when a swarm is announced on the Bee Town Bee Club Facebook page in Bloomington, Ind., beekeepers race to call dibs.

“I thought it was pollen flying off the trees. I looked closer and realized they were honeybees,” says Kara Krothe, who posted pictures …