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“Is sad really so bad?” and other Google Starred Items

 BBC: “Outward signs of mourning have declined, if not been abolished in more secular societies now: but our sense of sadness and loss endure, and instead of this being called mourning, it is called ‘trauma’. ” It’s the Blues, baby!

“Alternative sleeping surfaces, part 2: If you want a real Japanese futon, you’ll need this tool, too”

Core77: “The real deal is thinner and fluffier than the ridiculously dense slabs that most Americans think of as futons, and I could only find one workshop in all of New York City that makes them the traditional way. In Japan futons are traditionally meant to be folded up each morning and placed in a closet, freeing up useable square footage in a space-tight country; thick American futons are impossible to fold at all.” American furniture, our f’n prairie schooners and Spanish Galleons, suck!

“Comment: Vitamin D is essential to the modern indoor lifestyle”

Michael Holick: “…we know that immune cells called macrophages activate vitamin D, which causes cells to make defensin proteins that specifically kill infective agents like tuberculosis bacteria. A Japanese study recently found that children receiving 1,200 IU of vitamin D each day reduced their risk of getting the flu by almost 50 percent. Every tissue and every cell in the body has a vitamin D receptor protein. It’s estimated that upwards of 2,000 genes are directly or indirectly regulated by vitamin D.”

“Certificates of Deposit in Inflationary and Deflationary Times”

Visual Economics: “What happens when deflation hits is that all of that cash you have sitting in your certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and other liquid vehicles is that the after-tax benefits of holding this money in these places is zero. While these investments do provide you with some return on your money, it is a wash when you factor in tax considerations, so in essence cash is simply that—cash. It’s not bigger of an amount than when you deposited it last month or one year ago. In order to make money on your money in deflationary periods, you have to look beyond certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and savings accounts.”

“Eleven jailed over Van Gogh theft”

BBC: “The investigation found that none of the museum’s alarms and only seven of 43 security cameras were working.”

“Watch ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child’ Now!”

Tambay: “Well, not here exactly, but if you have a **Netflix **account, you CAN watch it now, just a few clicks away, because it’s just been added as an Instant Watch title. So, no need to wait for the DVD…” You can also read my (PDF) poem.

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