Interesting.  So many of these diseases were already on the decline.  But if there is nothing substantial to the idea of inoculation (vaccinations aside), then why have certain diseases like polio and small pox all but disappead?  I guess I would still suspect there to be a small number of people still contracting these various diseases if immunizations were completely ineffective.  I mean, people still do eat bad food all over the world, and sanitary conditions are not necessarily kept even in America. 

I'm really divided personally on the whole vaccination thing.  They apparently do prevent a host of diseases.  The basic premise behind them seems reasonable to me, even from a paleo perspective: you introduce very small amounts of live pathogens to your body, so it can have the proper antibodies in order to be easily prepared when a large amount of that same pathogen happens to get in your system.

Only problem is all the other crap in the vaccinations are causing all kinds of damage to us, our children, causing autism, and who knows what kind of compounded/propogated effects generations later.  And if I understand correctly, a lot of times it's not even live pathogen, it's something synthesized.  I would bet that all of us have somewhat reduce mental capacity for having had a host of vaccines, especially at such an age where the mind is developing.    

Not only that, and I might get reamed for saying this, I don't consider higher rates of disease induced mortality (naturally of course) a bad thing.  I tend to think we are (have) overpopulated our planet.  And we are definitely in the process of de-evolving b/c so many people who are weak and ill adapted for survival are busy propogating their genes.  Hell, who knows I may rightfully belong in that group (altho I'm not busy reproducing).  

Point is, I think it would be better for humanity as a whole, and ultimately MORE humane to let diseases run their course and kill off the weak.  Look at the growing numbers of autistic children.  Why should we trade vibrant life (for those who would survive disease), for dull life just to make sure everyone survives?        

You guys ever check out one of the earliest hominids - ardipithecus?  Pretty cool stuff.  She lived about 4.5 mya predating lucy by 1 million years, was bipedal, but also had grasping fingers on her feet.  Brain about the same size as a chimp. 

It was always assumed that bipedalism developed in African savannahs, but apparently this view has been overturned b/c the areas in which this hominid are found were all covered by forest.  So basically bipedalism first developed in the forest as opposed to the grasslands.  Paleontologists speculate a number of reasons.  Hands to carry: foraged food back to women/kids, tools, babies.  There are other advantages that probably refined our bipedal nature as climate and our location changed, but it looks like these were the original stimuli for bipedalism. 

And on a side note, I would guess that we began using tools at least as early.  2 reasons - first chimps have demonstrated ability to use tools, and two, it appears to be part of the reason why bipedalism developed.  Kind of cool to think we've been using tools for over 4.5 millions years.  Who knows if this particular line of hominids actually developed in to modern humans, but no doubt this still gives all kind of insight into our development.

The Decemberists.  Album, Hazards of Love.  Their best work to date.  The whole album is sort of an epic story, each character has their own 'song' if you will, that gets repeated in differing variations throughout.

Carbs will be first used for energy, second stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver, and only last are they converted to fats - this happens when either muscle glycogen is full, or you've eaten too many carbs in one sitting.

I get carbs from fruits and veggies, and occasionally I will eat some grains, but only AFTER a good workout.  I know grains are neither paleo nor all that healthy, but they are just so darn good for insulin response and storing glycogen in muscles.  I do eat raw meat about 95% of time. 

[personal opinion - carbs, even cooked, tend to remain just carbs.  Not really any extra toxins or whatever.  Meat however, the fats are so complex, varied, and heat sensitive, they change significantly and create toxins.  Thus I see eating cooked carbs as being moderately okay - if done in conjunction with intense workouts - and cooked meat/fats as being a culprit for the slow destruction of the body.  Insulin resistance also destroys the body, but intense workouts increase insulin sensitivity so it balances out if you do it right] 

If you have messed up digestion, I'm not really sure how all this factors in.  I would definitely recommend separating your carbs and protein.  If you're looking to put on weight, you might try eating a good amount of carbs (something that doesn't upset your stomach), wait 20-30 mins, and then eat some really fatty meat.  That way you can get protein/fat in the body while your insulin levels are still elevated, w/o the problems of protein vs carb digestion.

Also, I guess some people here do really well on ground beef, I do not.  It took me a few months of cycling between feeling fine, and diarhea/poor digestion to figure out it was the ground beef.  My theory is that since it's already ground into a mush, it passes from the stomach to the intestines without having the full acid/digestive treatment by the stomach.  Either way, I haven't had stomach issues since I cut out the ground beef. 

One last thing, if you eat fat with carbs, you WILL put on weight, most of it fat.  B/c now you have an insulin response which tells your body to store anything in the blood stream, and there is fat in the blood stream. 

It was one of the first things to clear up when I changed diet (within a week or two).  I never had acne, but at 24, I still had 3-5 medium to large pimples on my face.  Now I only have 1-2 very small ones.   

BMI is 24.8.  
Bodyfat about 10-12% (fluctuates)

Not sure how much stock I put in BMI, look at almost any athlete, they are almost all over BMI.  ^ I can already see the deluge of replies about how they might not be our best role models.  

Personally, I'm shooting to get into the 'overweight' category. And maintain about 8% body fat.  After that I want to learn gymnastics.

I cycle between low carb raw meat eating, and moderate carb for quick recovery.  

Raw meat / RPD for almost 2 years now.

Liver has a huge amount of copper.  It has fair amounts of zinc, phosphorous, and iron as well.  Not nearly as much zinc as oysters, but still decent.

Their form looks bad to you. You'll lose form when you're lifting near to max effort.

The form looks bad to me b/c it is bad.  You do lose form at max, but it should be in the fullness of contraction, not moving in ways that are very dangerous.

  There are a couple different styles to squatting. Every lifter has different hip/back mobility. They have to choose one that'll help them get low enough to get the green light in a competition meet.

There are different styles, but that in no way means those styles are are safe.  Most every person should (ideally) have almost the same hip/back mobility:: in reference to the squat, feet a little more than shoulder width apart, feet pointing straight or nearly straight ahead, head up, feet flat on ground weight equal on toes and balls of feet all the way down till thighs are nearly parallel to the floor.  Many people can't do this b/c they have overactive/underactive and not flexible enough muscles.   

It's called Boxed squat. Helps your body get used to being under heavy weight & strengthening the assisting muscles for squats.

And the sudden stop (like the guys in the video are doing) puts alot of strain on the spine.  Additionally, if the lower back comes out and the butt comes in, as opposed to maintaining the natural s curve of the spine, it misaligns the spine and further promotes injury (of course greater strain with more weight).

To an untrained person yes it looks very dangerous. Look at Olympic lifters, they lift heavy weights gracefully over their heads. It takes years of practice to get your form down correct. Even with basic lifts like bench,dead,squats.

I said nothing about the fact that they're lifting heavy weights.  I mean, of course lifting heavier weights is inherently more dangerous than light, but my point had nothing to do with the amount of weight and everything to do with the form of lifting that weight.

The reason I mention it is b/c the study and improvement of alignment/movement is a hobby of mine.  Additionally, my girlfriend is a certified personal trainer, and is currently working on her certification for injury rehabilitation and the study of how the muscles should move, and body should be aligned, to heal and prevent injury.   

So, you think civilization is good?

Not quite sure how to answer.  If you were to say 'so, you think eating raw meat is good?' I could answer easily with a yes, but that's a fairly straight foward and limited question.  The other is fairly open and can lead to other philisophical questions merely to answer it.

But I'd say overall that advanced civilization is the only chance humanity has for survival on a large time line.  We are only beginning to understand just what it means to be advanced.  Unfortunately there is the inherent risk that we may destroy ourselves and our planet before we become truly advanced. 

Civilization is an evolutionary adapatation.  It is hard to label any one particular adaptation as good or bad, it just is.  The consequences may or may not manifest themselves as survival enablers/disablers, and generally it can only be labelled as one or the other after the fact.

I hate to admit it, but the advent of grains, while detrimental to health, enabled the stabalization necessary to form civilization.  They are easy to store for years and years without spoiling, easy to transport, and fairly calorie dense (not like fat of course), but you can grow lots of calories with a relatively small plot of land.

All these aspects of grains enabled humans to more densly populate any given amount of land.   

The ability to hurl heavier rocks, to chuck a larger spear would confer a survival advantage.  The ability to move heavy logs and make a better stronger leanto / tent / home would confer advantages.  The ability to carry an injured person to safety would help the tribe survive. 

On a side note, I have a confession to make.  I've been eating timed carbs to see how it affects muscle recovery (potatoes, corn, carb mixer).  It's been working great, I'm getting stronger and bigger, but I do tend to put on fat more easily though.  I only really eat them after a good solid work out, and tend to keep it to just meat after the first meal of carbs.  I did get carried away with it for a couple months (mostly b/c I was on temporary duty and had to eat at a chow hall for 3 weeks), and I put an inch of fat around my stomach.  No problem though, I went on the carnivore diet with restricted calories for 1 week and lost 1/2 an inch easy, without losing hardly any strength.  Ketosis is such a great way to lose fat.   

I love sleep, it's one of my favorite things to do.  I do best on 8.5 to 10 hours every night.  I've read that before the lightbulb, we used to sleep 9 hours a night.