"Anybody caught selling macrame in public should be dyed a natural color and hung out to dry."
~ Calvin Trillin
Image of the day:
BODY~ Overcome gymphobia, one step at a time -- "Gymphobia: an irrational fear of the gym. Or maybe not so irrational. Many a prospective exerciser wants to start a gym-based exercise routine, but quite a few can't get past the anxiety of showing up."
~ Under Half US Children Advised About Healthy Eating By Doctors Or Other Health Providers -- "Although the percentage may seem low, it represents a slim improvement over 2001 when just 45 percent of children in this same age group were advised about healthy eating."
~ Quackwatch Report on Amaze Rx -- If you see it in an infomercial, it's crap. (Especially anything by Kevin Trudeau.)
~ Active Lifestyle Reduces Risk Of Invasive Breast Cancer -- "Six or more hours per week of strenuous recreational activity may reduce the risks of invasive breast cancer by 23 percent, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center (UWCCC)."
~ 8 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight -- "It turns out that sneaky hidden sources may be keeping your hunger on overdrive. Follow this checklist to get back on the happy-diet highway."
~ FDA tells ADHD drugmakers to warn of risks -- "Companies that make drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder must take extra steps to alert patients to possible cardiovascular and psychiatric risks, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday."
~ Caffeine may be good for some aging hearts -- "Drinking caffeinated beverages on a regular basis may provide significant protection against death from heart disease in the elderly who have normal levels of blood pressure, according to data from a large U.S. health and nutrition study."
~ Smoking changes brain like drugs -- "Smoking causes long-lasting changes in the brain similar to changes seen in animals when they are given cocaine, heroin and other addictive drugs, U.S. researchers said."
PSYCHE
~ Key To Treating Neurological Damage Is Harnessing The Brain's Plasticity -- "With an aging population susceptible to stroke, Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions, and military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious limb injuries, the need for strategies that treat complex neurological impairments has never been greater.One tack being pursued by neuroscientists and engineers is the development of "smart" neural prostheses."
~ While you slumber, your brain puts the world in order -- "As well as strengthening our memories, sleep may help us to extract themes and rules from the masses of information we soak up in the day."
~ Stanley Milgram: Obedience to Authority Or Just Conformity? -- "What psychological experiment could so be so powerful that simply taking part might change your view of yourself and human nature?"
~ How to motivate kids to be their best -- "A smart piece by Po Bronson in last week's New York magazine pulls together some great research about how to motivate kids to increase effort, take risks and get better at stuff."
~ Marijuana Abuse Contributes to Schizophrenia, Psychosis -- "Collected evidence adds weight to the idea that, in addition to its obviously detrimental physical side-effects, marijuana abuse/dependence may intensify the symptoms of psychosis in patients with mental illness and increase the chances that healthy subjects will eventually develop the same conditions." Sounds like Refer Madness.
~ Scheduling the Sex -- "Regular sex is good for you." Duh!?
~ Boys Will Be Boys, Even if They're Depressed -- "This week's Newsweek features a story on men and depression. It's a confusing story because women have long been known to suffer depression at twice the rates men do, and though the tone of the article is meant to suggest that scientists are finding increasing rates of depression in men, no such statistic is ever offered."
~ Polarity -- From Steve Pavlina.
CULTURE
~ Group sues feds over medical pot -- "Armed with a new study showing the drug can ease pain in some HIV patients, medical-marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical uses."
~ New DVD Game Battles Childhood Obesity -- "New DVD Game Battles Childhood 'Obeez City' With Superheroes That Teach Better Nutrition."
~ Health care costs will keep climbing -- "Health care is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States in another decade."
~ New Tombs Unveiled in Egypt -- "Archaeologists unveiled the tombs Tuesday of a pharaonic butler and a scribe that have been buried for more than 3,000 years — proof, they say, that Egypt's sands still have secrets to reveal."
~ The Obama-Clinton brawl over David Geffen -- "The response from the Obama campaign was good, old-fashioned hardball. You call me a hypocrite, and I'll respond by raising something out of your ugly past. But that wasn't the way Obama has said he'll play the game." Obama loses this one.
~ UPDATE: Britney Spears Leaves Rehab after checking in yesterday. Can you say junkie?
~ Gallup: Voters Skeptical of Romney, Rudy, McCain; OK w/ Hillary, Obama -- Comment: "Americans are much more tolerant of inherent characteristics (race, sex) than of things they view as a candidate's choice (religion, sexual orientation, marriage tendencies), which means we've moved past racism to simple prejudice. Take that for what it's worth."
~ I like Jim Wallis, but I think he's preaching to a wall.
HABITATS
~ Surfing the Web's Video Wave -- "With all of the videos on the World Wide Web, it can be tough to know where to begin. Here are some links to get you channel surfing."
~ Buried Lakes Send Antarctica's Ice Slipping Faster Into the Sea, Study Shows -- "Four large lakes found at the start of a rapidly moving ice stream offer the first direct link between the under-ice bodies of water and the rate at which ice flows into the ocean."
~ Antifreeze-Like Blood Lets Frogs Freeze and Thaw With Winter's Whims -- "Wood frogs can weather winter's ups and downs by literally freezing and thawing in step with fluctuating temperatures. Scientists hope to replicate the technique to aid human organ transplants."
~ Virtual Reality Becoming a Valuable Resource for Researchers -- "Virtual reality isn't just for gamers anymore. At the University of Arizona, the technology that used to be synonymous with the video game industry is now supporting the efforts of UA researchers in fields as diverse as medicine, educational psychology and landscape architecture."
~ Professor explores Greenland's impact on weather systems -- "Science doesn`t always happen at a lab bench. For University of Toronto Mississauga physicist Kent Moore, it happens while strapped into a four-point harness, flying head-on into hurricane-force winds off the southern tip of Greenland."
~ Exercise Machines to Work With IPods -- "Your workout at the gym isn't going to be any less painful. But the world's leading commercial provider of exercise equipment might at least help make the session on a stair-climber or treadmill more entertaining."
~ Over a century after disappearing, wild elk return to Ontario -- "After disappearing from Ontario due to over hunting in the 19th century, wild elk have returned to the province thanks to the efforts of the Ontario elk restoration program."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Sam Harris and Reza Aslan: Reason & Faith -- "Here are atheist Sam Harris and Mulsim scholar Reza Aslan being moderated by Jewish intellectual Jonathan Kirsch. A truly beautiful discussion. All three are opposed to religious fundamentalism, but their positions are differentiated by important nuances."
~ From CJ Smith: stumbling blocks -- "Still searching for an outlet for integral discourse and theology in the school. Haven't found it exactly yet. That's not to say there aren't other positive attributes--the people, my studies, teachers--there are just in this one arena not much action."
~ Suffering and Impermanence -- From Dashh.
~ The Spiritual Athlete: Enlightenment as Sport -- From Buddhist Geeks.
Tags:
Geffen is not part of the Obama campaign. He is a rich producer and can speak for Obama no more that I can. Score Game for Obama! His campaign remains on a high plain.
ReplyDeleteHere is what Obama said, quoting the NYTimes:
“It’s not clear to me why I would be apologizing for someone else’s remarks,” Mr. Obama said. “My sense is that Mr. Geffen may have differences with the Clintons, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with our campaign.”
When asked whether he was proud of Mr. Geffen’s support, the senator declared: “He hosted an event for me yesterday. Absolutely.”
Bill, re that Gallup poll ... a black, woman, 72-yr-old, thrice-married, & Morman are far-and-away leading the polls for president.
ReplyDeleteAnd from this, Mother Jones finds evidence of prejudice!?
Also, we are a year away from the first primary. Jesus. Give America a break.
Maybe America should consider that the last 72-yr-old elected president left office having Alzheimers. Or that Mormonism is pretty weird and Romney should address his religion [as I am sure he will] and maybe people need to examine Guiliani's personality in light of his marriages and bizzare flare-ups as mayor of NYC.