"The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'."
~ Larry Hardiman
Image of the day:
BODY
~ Too Much Weight Spells Double Trouble For Couples Trying To Conceive -- Yet another reason (for breeders) to stay thin.
~ Amino Acids 101: Do they positively affect performance? -- The answer is YES, but the article is noncommittal on the research. More than anything else, protein intake (amino acids are protein) inhibits muscle breakdown during endurance events. That's reason enough to make protein a part of sports drinks.
~ Food Combining Theories Should be Ignored -- Close, but not quite right. We should avoid as much as possible consuming carbs and fats at the same time. Carbs increase insulin, which then shuttles the dietary fat right into fat cells, or worse, into muscle (a newly discovered cause for type-II diabetes).
~ Link Between Sports, Unhealthy Weight Control And Steroid Use In Teens Shown By U Of M Research -- "Participation in sports with real or perceived weight requirements, such as ballet, gymnastics, and wrestling, is strongly associated with unhealthy weight control behaviors and steroid use in teens, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota."
~ A Food Supplement That Could Prevent The Development Of Diabetes And Atherosclerosis -- "Nutritional research is focusing on the effects of incorporating healthier fatty acids, such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), into animal and human diets. CLA is present in dairy products and meat from ruminants and in very low amounts in our bodies."
~ Healing Power Tai Chi -- "It is likely that you have heard about Tai Chi but know very little information about it. This article is going to discuss what Tai Chi is and the benefits you can receive by practicing it regularly."
~ ATOMIC DOG: Nutritional Crime of the Century -- "You've been had. The nutritional scientists and dietitians, in conjunction with big business, have made shambles of the American food supply and your health. Here are a few things you can do about it." Excellent article.
~ BMI Not Accurate Indicator Of Body Fat -- "Body mass index, or BMI, long considered the standard for measuring the amount of fat in a person's body, may not be as accurate as originally thought, according to new research." Damn straight. My BMI is 27, which means I am overweight -- but my bodyfat is 11% and dropping.
~ Strong Evidence Links Soft Drink Consumption To Obesity, Diabetes -- "The case against swigging soda just got stronger. A large systematic review reveals clear associations between consumption of nondiet soft drinks and increased calorie intake and body weight. Full-calorie soft drinks are also linked with reduced intake of milk and fruit and increased risk of type 2 diabetes."
PSYCHE
~ The Basic Need for Touch -- "Touching and being touched is a basic human need, some would suggest it is as significant a need as food and shelter."
~ Want a better memory? Stop and smell the roses -- "People who want to learn things might do better by simply stopping to smell the roses, researchers reported on Thursday."
~ Seasonal Depression Gets Unwanted Boost From Congress -- "Doc to Sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder: 'Buy a Lamp' Ahead of Early Change to Daylight-Saving Time."
~ Brain Study: Why Desire Drives Us Wild -- "Ever feel like you can't get enough of something? New research explains why."
~ Some Brains May Be Predisposed to Substance Abuse -- "Do the brain changes noted in drug addicts help cause their addiction, or are they the result of drug abuse? A new study might solve that chicken-and-egg puzzle -- pointing to new ways of preventing and treating addiction, researchers say."
~ Nobel Prize-Winning Research on Risky Decision Making -- "For this, the ninth nomination in the Top Ten Psychology Studies, it's Nobel Prize-winning research. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky were interested in the apparently strange way in which people make decisions in risky situations."
~ Subliminal Advertising Leaves Its Mark On The Brain -- "UCL (University College London) researchers have found the first physiological evidence that invisible subliminal images do attract the brain's attention on a subconscious level. The wider implication for the study, published in Current Biology, is that techniques such as subliminal advertising, now banned in the UK but still legal in the USA, certainly do leave their mark on the brain."
~ Neuroscience, know thyself -- "The New English Review has a thought-provoking article by Theodore Dalrymple (the pen name of psychiatrist Anthony Daniels) who argues that modern neuroscience will not be able to provide a perfect self-understanding, and even if it could, disaster would follow."
~ New Study Reports On The State Of Human Happiness -- "Psychologists have been fond of stating in recent years that human happiness, or what psychologists call subjective well-being, is largely independent of our life circumstances. The wealthy aren't much happier than the middle class, married people aren't much happier than single people, healthy people aren't much happier than sick people, and so on.One might reasonably conclude, therefore, that changes in life circumstances would not have long-term effects on our happiness."
~ The Brain on the Stand -- "How advances in neuroscience could transform our legal system."
CULTURE
~ Views on Abortion Grow Less Polarized -- "Voices in Debate Becoming More Moderate."
~ Does 'hooking up' hurt young women? -- "If you’re in your 40s, “hooking up” might mean catching a friend downtown for lunch. But to people in their teens or 20s, the phrase often means a casual sexual encounter — anything from kissing onwards — with no strings attached." An interesting discussion.
~ U.S. Struggles With Bioterror Defenses -- "More than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the government cannot show how the $5 billion given to public health departments has better prepared the country for a bioterrorism attack or flu pandemic...."
~ It's not narcissism - if we really are the best -- "The study defined narcissists merely as those who agree with the most obvious of statements like, "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place." First of all, who would disagree? And besides, the study failed to recognize the true achievements of college-aged adults - triumphs unparalleled by any preceding generation." I think this is tongue firmly in cheek, but others aren't so sure.
~ Rove Involved in Prosecutor Purges -- "Presidential advisor Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman to fire the state's U.S. attorney because of dissatisfaction in part with his failure to indict Democrats in a voter fraud investigation in the battleground election state."
~ Our right-wing arbiters of masculinity -- From Glen Greenwald -- "Even a casual examination of the individuals who impugn the masculinity of Democrats and liberals virtually always reveals what truly motivates that behavior."
~ Atheists, Conservatives, and Christianity -- "There is an interesting, and important, debate going on within conservative circles these days over the role of religion in American conservatism and the role of Christian conservatives in the Republican Party. In particular, the "atheist" wing of the conservative movement (largely made up of libertarians) is starting to challenge the supposedly predominant role of Christian conservatives within the movement."
~ Twice as Many Americans Conservative as Liberal -- "This, from a survey sample where 47% are Democrats or Democrat leaners vice 43% Republicans or Republican leaners, where 68% think the country is on the wrong track, and 65% disapprove of President Bush’s job performance."
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Climate change pushes "African" diseases north: expert -- "Global warming is pushing northwards diseases more commonly found in developing countries, posing a risk to the financial and physical health of rich nations, the head of a livestock herders' charity said."
~ Beyond Stones & Bones -- "Head lice live in the hair on the head. But body lice, a larger variety, are misnamed: they live in clothing. Head lice, as a species, go back millions of years, while body lice are a more recent arrival."
~ Drug Makers Admit to Falsifying Data for FDA Tests -- "Four chemists who worked at the former drug company Able Laboratories have admitted to falsifying and altering data generated in FDA-required tests."
~ Let's call the coal thing off -- "Coal supplies nearly half the electricity in the U.S. and is responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than any other electricity source. Is it too late to kick the habit?"
~ How to Think Differently About Climate -- "If 2006 was the year climate change broke big, with magazine cover stories and Oscar-winning films, 2007 will be the year the implications begin sink in."
~ Biofuels Boom Raises Tough Questions -- "America is drunk on ethanol. Farmers in the Midwest are sending billions of bushels of corn to refineries that turn it into billions of gallons of fuel. Automakers in Detroit have already built millions of cars, trucks and SUVs that can run on it, and are committed to making millions more. In Washington, politicians have approved generous subsidies for companies that make ethanol."
~ New Technique Stores Data in Bacteria -- "Artificial DNA with encoded information can be added to the genome of common bacteria, thus preserving the data." Freaky.
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ YOU AIN'T INTEGRAL (?) -- Over at the Zaadz I-I pod.
~ Integral Spirituality in the 21st Century -- Also in the I-I pod.
~ More on Relationship and Transformation from Gary at Integral in Seattle. See also: The Shamanic Priestess Process: Differentiation, Integration.
~ Are You Buddhish? from Will at ThinkBuddha.
~ Something from Nothing from Tom at Thoughts Chase Thoughts.
~ AQAL Journal is Now Up from ~C4Chaos -- I downloaded the issues but haven't had a chance to look through them, but I'm looking forward to it.
~ Aurobindo on the symbols of consciousness from Joe at Until.
~ Views and their shadows -- "As soon as their is a belief in an idea... a thought, image, identity, perspective, view, framework... there is automatically a shadow. I want this to be true, not that. I want to be identified with this, not that."
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