Thursday, April 12, 2007

Speedlinking 4/12/07

Quote of the day:

"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason."
~ John Cage

Image of the day:


BODY
~ The Hierarchy of Fat Loss -- "A Cosgrove article with references? Oh no, Alwyn must have eaten a bad batch of haggis! Oh well, just remember, when it comes to fat loss, if it's not Cosgrove, it's shite!"
~ Junior Needs a Nutrition Lesson -- "In our April issue, we ran a story on how to Build a Better Breakfast. Essentially, it said to lower the carbs, and increase the protein and fat, and then gave a few recipes on how to do that. This prompted a personal trainer to write in and give me a lecture on proper diet. I won't use his real name, since it's not really important. Instead, I'll just call him Junior, as in, 'Listen up, Junior, you have a lot to learn.'"
~ The “Fastest Thing on No Legs” Gets Even Faster -- "He has now smashed World Records that he established since competing in the Paralympic Games in Athens 26 times. His 10.91 second time in the 100m on Wednesday, April 4, 2007, makes Pistorius the first amputee to officially break the 11-second mark." Amazing -- freaking amazing!
~ Apple Consumption During Pregnancy Reduces Risk For Childhood Wheezing And Asthma -- "Eating apples while pregnant may give new meaning to an apple a day keeping the doctor away. Compelling new research has concluded that mothers who eat apples during pregnancy may protect their children from developing asthma later in life."
~ Scientists identify cancer genes, drugs to block them (AFP) -- "Researchers in the United States have isolated a set of four genes closely linked to the growth of breast cancer cells and their spread to the lungs, according to a study released Wednesday."
~ Can't Stop Eating When You've Had Enough? It's All in Your Genes -- "Overeating, and a Host of Other Detrimental Behaviors, Can All Be Traced to Our Evolutionary Past, Experts Say."


PSYCHE
~ Exercise linked to less anxiety, depression -- "A regular run through the park may improve not only heart health but also mental health, a study suggests."
~ Gay men seen prone to have eating disorders -- "Gay and bisexual men may be at far higher risk for eating disorders than heterosexual men, while women seem to be equally affected regardless of their sexual orientation, a new study suggests."
~ Self-Awareness: The PopEye Strength -- "Self-awareness, or self-knowledge, is our ability to know ourselves. To borrow from Jon Haidt, self-awareness is our ability to be in touch with both our “elephant” and our “rider,” or both our thoughts and our feelings (Haidt, 2006). Self-awareness measures our ability to know our presence in the world and how we use it to operate."
~ The impact of failing vision on artists - and other altered perceptions -- "Many famous artists and musicians have had the perception of their own art altered by abnormal physical or mental changes. Critics and historians have often credited these changes as major sources of creativity. Insanity and Drugs seem to usually be the most cited and obvious candidates but very often something a lot more vanilla, like hearing or vision loss, can have the greatest impact on an artists art."
~ This Wednesday: One big tip for changing the way you think -- "Every Wednesday is Tip Day. This Wednesday: One big tip for changing the way you think."
~ The Blues: Can't Get Out of Bed? -- "When you'd rather stay in bed."
~ Why We Dream -- "How dreams protect and distract the brain."
~ Links between insomnia and mood -- "Data indicate that insomnia is just as common among people with anxiety disorders as people with depressive disorders. It is an equally strong link."


CULTURE
~ Talent: Does it always shine through? [Cognitive Daily] -- "This story in the Washington Post has been getting a lot of attention. The reporter convinced world-famous violin virtuoso Joshua Bell to play for 45 minutes in a busy Washington subway station, as an experiment to see if passersby would recognize his amazing talents and reward him appropriately. His take was a lowly $32, not counting $20 from a disgusted fan who recognized Bell and couldn't believe others weren't being more generous."
~ McCain takes on the Democrats on the war -- "Today, John McCain did the full Cheney. In his speech at the Virginia Military Institute in which he laid out his extensive support for the war in Iraq, the Arizona senator matched the vice president's scorn for his political opponents."
~ Creationism: A Museum For Middle America -- "A former teacher is opening an anti-evolution Creation Museum in Kentucky. Will its appeal extend beyond the believers?"
~ Campaign Matters: Edwards' Post-Veto Plan -- "Former Veep nominee says that Congress should keep sending Bush the same Iraq bill, over and over again."
~ Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples Meets in Guatemala -- "Thousands of Indigenous peoples from 24 countries gathered in Guatemala on March 26 for the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala."
~ Academimic -- A New Criterion review of Craig Raine's new book: T. S. Eliot (Lives and Legacies Series).
~ The Changing (Inter)Face of Religion -- "Cluttered as it is with distractions, the internet seems an unlikely conduit for the spiritual. Yet many are turning to the web for religious direction."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Apple Adds MGM Movies to ITunes -- "MGM has become the latest major film studio to offer downloadable movies on Apple's iTunes Store."
~ Astronomers improve cosmic distance scale with Hubble -- "An international team of astronomers led by Fritz Benedict and Barbara McArthur of The University of Texas at Austin has used Hubble Space Telescope to solve one of the biggest problems in measuring the universe's expansion."
~ Trash to energy -- "The Boston Globe has a nice article on a source of renewable electricity that doesn't get nearly the attention it ought to: methane generated by landfills. This, like so many cogen opportunities, is a no-brainer."
~ Perception, Status and Bottled Water -- "In a new study, University of Arkansas researchers argue that consumers buy bottled water because they perceive it to be purer, safer and healthier than municipal water. Further findings suggest that young and high-income people, guided by the perception of higher quality, are more likely to purchase bottled water and home-filtration systems. Purchasing bottled water also carries a degree of status, or "snob appeal," the researchers found."
~ Invasive Bugs, Plants Prefer Summer Plane Flights, Study Finds -- "Like many humans, insects and plants are more likely to hitch flights to foreign destinations in June, July, and August, scientists say."
~ Photo Gallery: Quake Lifts Island Ten Feet Out of Ocean -- "The earthquake that blasted the Solomon Islands with a deadly tsunami has devastated local fishing and tourism by exposing vulnerable coral."
~ New Solar Panel Design Traps More Light -- "Sunlight has never really caught fire as a power source, mostly because generating electricity with solar cells is more expensive and less efficient than some conventional sources."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Buddhist Geeks Book Review: Sit Down & Shut Up by Brad Warner -- "I call myself a student of Zen (and, briefly, a student of Warner’s) but had not heard about the Shobogenzo until I read Warner’s upcoming release. Although this is ancient wisdom, Warner’s done a fantastic job of getting to the meat of Dogen’s work with generous use of his trademark humor (my most frequent margin note? Ha, ha. Oh Shit!), reminiscences on the punk scene he was brought up on and nuggets of wisdom rarely seen in an author this plugged in to youth-counter-modern-hipster-culture."
~ Right Speech, Again -- From the Buddha Diaries.
~ Miscommunication? -- From Ed Berge at Open Integral -- "Ken [Wilber] has made much of the complaint that his critics don’t understand what he’s saying, that they twist his meanings to often contrary purposes. He explains this as them not being of a high enough level of consciousness to understand because they don’t yet have the developmental signified to apprehend the referent. I think there is some validity to this but it doesn’t seem like the whole story."
~ New Paglia column -- MD pulls some cool quotes from the article.
~ UG KRISHNAMURTI, THE SOTO SECT, AND COOL HAIRCUTS - From Brad Warner at Hardcore Zen (as an aside, I listened to his band's music [Dimentia 13] long before I knew who the hell Warner was or gave a rip about Buddhism -- strange, that.)
~ The Shamanic Breathwork Process 8-day Intensive -- From Gary at Integral in Seattle.


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