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Friday, April 20, 2007

Speedlinking 4/20/07

Quote of the day:

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is."
~ Chuck Reid

Image of the day (David Lorenz Winston):



BODY
~ Building the Efficient Athlete -- "I asked Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey to summarize their new product - Building the Efficient Athlete. They did me one better - they gave me an exclusive article with 8 tips where you can troubleshoot your own 'issues'."
~ Probiotic Treatment Options Can Help Manage Constipation And IBS Symptoms -- "Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in the U.S., if not the most common, as evident by the millions of doctor visits each year. Many people are looking for safe and effective treatment options to help relieve their constipation symptoms. Digestive Advantage Constipation Therapy is a once-a-day, over-the-counter probiotic treatment that helps rebalance the digestive system and relieve the symptoms of constipation and IBS." Or you could eat more fiber, AND use probiotics.
~ Dairy food linked with Parkinson's disease in men -- "A new study has confirmed a relationship between consuming large amounts of dairy products and an increase in the rate of Parkinson's disease in men, but the reason for this relationship remains a puzzle."
~ Smoking Indicator Of Alcohol Misuse -- "Where there is cigarette smoking there is probably misuse of alcohol too, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers in the Archives of Internal Medicine."
~ Calories, not carbs, count most for dieters -- "When it comes to losing weight, the number of calories you eat, rather than the type of carbohydrates, may be what matters most, according to a new study."
~ You Want Healthy Food in a Restaurant? Put a Little Lipstick on That Pig -- "Why Restaurants Serve Fattening, Salty Food When They Know What's Better."
~ More men wearing makeup — for real -- "Don't be surprised if very soon men's toiletry kits contain not only shaving cream, deodorant and toothpaste, but concealer, oil-absorbing face powder and brow gel. That's because guys are relying on an increasing number of made-for-men products like these to put their best face forward." OK, that's a little too metro-sexual for me.
~ FDA Considers Changing Rules Involving Access To Experimental Treatments For Terminally Ill -- "FDA is considering changes to rules that would increase access to experimental drugs for terminally ill patients, the Baltimore Sun reports. Criticism of the current rules include claims that cancer and AIDS patients have more access to experimental treatments than others; that few patients are aware of the option; and that administrative and cost-recovery polices are unclear."
~ Salt may affect more than blood pressure: study -- "Consuming less salt can not only lower blood pressure, but may reduce the risk of heart disease overall, researchers reported on Thursday."


PSYCHE
~ The Math on Miss Motor Mouth -- "Do women really talk more than men?"
~ Valley Girl Talk -- "Women are always ahead of the linguistic curve."
~ NewSci on gender identity and the effects of media -- "This week's New Scientist has two articles of interest to mind and brain enthusiasts: one on gender identity disorder in adolescents, and the other on the psychological effects of modern media. Unfortunately, neither are open access articles, so you'll need to track down a copy at the newsagent or library if you want to have a look."
~ Research Finds Assocation Between 9/11 Television Viewing And Increases In Stress -- "Dream journals being kept by students in a college psychology class have provided researchers with a unique look at how people experienced the events of 9/11, including the influence that television coverage of the World Trade Center attacks had on people's levels of stress."
~ Explaining What it's Like -- "The real test for a theory of consciousness lies in its ability to explain the qualitative features of our experience. One promising strategy for explaining what it is like for us to experience the nice red and pink hues of the above sunset is what I have called 'the higher-order strategy'."
~ How Much Sensitivity do the Mentally Ill Deserve? -- "Leah at The Goat’s Lunch Pail posted about her “violent, insane sister” Dawn who has a mental illness, although the exact diagnosis is unclear. Throughout Leah’s posts it is evident that Dawn has left physical as well as emotional wounds leading Leah to the conclusion that Dawn is “nuts” and no longer deserves her sympathy."
~ Stupidity, Human Nature, and Ordinary Kindness. [The Questionable Authority] -- "PZ Myers has an article up calling attention to a recent article by "conservative scholar" and Hoover Institution fellow Dinesh D'Souza. D'Souza, in his opinion piece, wonders where the atheists go when bad things happen. As "evidence" for the missing atheists, D'Souza points out that Richard Dawkins has not been asked to speak at any of the memorial services."
~ Inside a Mass Murderer's Mind -- "Cho Seung-Hui's rampage was the worst, but hardly the first. What have we learned about why such people kill?" See also: Scientists: You Can't Profile School Shooters.
~ The Brain May Use Only 20 Percent of Its Memory-Forming Neurons -- Study shows that that pace at which a brain cell activates a key protein may influence its role in memory formation—a finding that could lead to new Alzheimer therapies."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ The neocons' humiliation -- "The neocons are suffering one humiliation after another."
~ Creationism versus Darwinism -- "The debate over creation and evolution, once most conspicuous in America, is fast going global."
~ Protect the Campus or the Students' Rights? -- "The revelations of the Virginia Tech shooter's clear history of mental health problems is renewing the debate over how universities can keep their campuses safe while respecting the rights of individual students, the University of North Carolina Daily Tar Heel reports." See also: How a college might detect and help a student who's ready to explode.
~ Ryan Gosling in Fracture -- "Anyone who can credibly threaten to steal a movie from Anthony Hopkins has seriously got it going on. Fracture (New Line Cinema) may be remembered as the movie that brought Ryan Gosling into the mainstream (just as Primal Fear, director Gregory Hoblit's 1996 feature debut, introduced audiences to a young Edward Norton)."
~ Gonzales Draws Fire From Both Sides -- "The Attorney General's encounter on Capitol Hill is predictably tense. Not so predictable was where the tough questioning was coming from."
~ Disseminate Information, Protect Democracy -- "Teresa Stack and publishers from a dozen independent journals protest steep US Postal Service rate increases that favor large corporate publishers and put small titles at risk."
~ Report: Darfur Kids Endure Horrors -- "Children in Darfur are enduring "unspeakable acts of violence and abuse" from killing and rape to abduction, torture and conscription in the escalating four-year conflict in Sudan."
~ Politics: Impeachment Fever Rises -- "An "impeachment from below" movement is gathering steam, and Congress needs to pay attention to it, writes John Nichols."
~ Globalism with Combat Boots -- "The United States launched a deadly air attack against Somalia last February, using the war on terror as a pretext. The bombings, which killed scores of civilians, were in support of an Ethiopian invasion to oust a Somalie regime composed of "Islamic militants" considered hostile to Ethiopia and reportedly sought by the United States. A convergence of Ethiopian and American interests provoked the air attack that helped rout this leadership, the so-called Islamic Courts movement, and endangered thousands of Somali lives. But it failed to turn-up the targeted Islamic militants."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Make This Earth Day Your Last! -- "Most of the time, we go far out of our way to blog from the sunny side of the street, but today we have something important to say that involves some strong words: Sunday should be the last Earth Day. This weekend, throughout much of North America and across the globe, hundreds of thousands of people who care about the environment will get together at protests, concerts, neighborhood clean-ups and tree-plantings... and accomplish almost nothing."
~ Free Internet for Amazon Conservation -- "The Amazon rainforest -- one of the oldest darlings of environmental activists -- has a new prescription for protection that couldn't have been possible in the early days of its plight. The Brazilian government recently announced that they will make free satellite internet available to native Indian tribes throughout the Amazon region as a way to enhance monitoring, management and conservation efforts."
~ Norway aims to be 'zero-emission' state by 2050 -- "Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday proposed to make Norway the first "zero-emission" state by 2050 and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2020."
~ Heat Triggers Sex Change in Lizards by "Turning Off" Key Gene -- "An Australian lizard has been found to change from male to female while still in the egg during extreme heat, challenging one of the core concepts of biology, scientists say."
~ Video: First Footage of Rare Hummingbird Courtship -- "Witness the bizarre display of the marvelous spatuletail, a tiny bird that uses a pair of extra long feathers to wow potential mates."
~ Chemists identify organic molecules that mimic metals -- "A limitation in using hydrogen as a fuel in hydrogen-powered vehicles is the difficulty involved in storing it in a cost-effective and convenient manner. While it is possible to store hydrogen using metals, the resulting products often can be prohibitively expensive and cause environmental problems."
~ Dark Energy Considered Harmful [Galactic Interactions] -- "Simon White has written a treatise published on astro-ph (arXiv:0704.2291v1) where he argues that Dark Energy, or, more specifically, the current bandwagon of interest in Dark Energy, is potentially harmful for astronomy."
~ 'Ghost' Spirals Born From Black Hole -- "Astronomers think they know what's behind a mysterious galaxy's invisible arms."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Get Your Soul In Shape With These 11 Most Deeply Held Wisdoms -- Not really integral, but good advice.
~ A Moral Obligation to Transform -- "I would like to suggest that the supreme and lofty goal of profound, life transforming spiritual liberation is not only possible in this lifetime, but is in fact well within reach of anyone of reasonably sound mind and stable character. And that the reason it is not happening for the vast majority of those who are seeking it is that, for most of us, our context is just too small."
~ Bracing for Buddhist evangelism -- "Sometimes when people write about topics like Buddhism with misinformation or presenting a limited view, it can be good as it provides an opportunity to challenge misconceptions or to at least present evidence that not all Buddhists adhere to a particular point of view. I was recently at The Buddhist Channel when I came across an article reproduced there from NC Register."
~ Ultraculture: Aryan People Only Please -- "The new movement is a lot like the old movement. Typical wannabe occultist wankers. I think this is really just Jason trying to make a name for himself in the “occult” world, not because he wants to make change, but because he wants to sell books. His latest book, Generation Hex, has been out for a while and if he is going to be a big name occult author and publisher, he needs to keep driving sales and generating attention towards himself."
~ Conversations -- A new twice-weekly feature at the Buddha Diaries.


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