"On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away."
~ Tom Lehrer
Image of the day (Tristan Campbell):
BODY
~ Heart Attack Prevention with Strength Training -- "A study from the University of Tsukuba in Japan shows that strength training for the legs of older men may help to prevent heart attacks."
~ Whole Grain Oats May Reduce Risk Factors For Coronary Heart Disease -- It's all about the fiber, folks.
~ Curcumin, Also Known As Curry Powder, Has Anticancer Effects -- "Curry powder is a mixture predominantly composed of turmeric root extract and other spices such as coriander and fenugreek. Curcumin, a turmeric root extract, has been shown to possess activity in the treatment and prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease. The molecular mechanism for its anticancer effect is largely unknown, although it is thought to inhibit the synthesis "
~ How to Increase the Good Bacteria in Your Intestines -- "Normal intestinal bacteria are so numerous that they make up approximately 95 percent of the total number of cells in the human body. They help prevent bad bacteria from infecting you, and may help prevent intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and cancer." Good bacteria, in the form of probiotics, also treats IBS.
~ 20-year Study Shows Significant Rise In Childhood Obesity, Especially Among Young Girls -- "Four-year-old girls are six times more likely to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 30 than they were 20 years ago and ten-year-olds are five times more likely, according to research published in the April issue of Acta Paediactrica."
~ Bisphenol A On Trial -- "Bisphenol A (BPA), a weak synthetic estrogen used in a variety of consumer products ranging from baby bottles to resins that line food and beverage containers, has been linked in some studies to adverse health effects in rodents, including obesity, cancer and insulin resistance. There is growing concern that the chemical may cause similar adverse effects in humans, particularly in babies and young children."
~ Insulin Resistance: Treat with Lifestyle Changes -- "Most people who develop diabetes in later life can be controlled so that they are not at increased risk for the many complications of diabetes such as heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, amputations, kidney failure, burning foot syndrome, venous insufficiency with ulceration and stasis dermatitis."
~ Dieting most always fails in the long run -- "Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, examining 31 weight-loss studies found long-term dieting doesn’t keep the pounds off. While people can lose weight initially, many relapse and regain the weight they shed." You should never adopt a diet you can't live with for the rest of your life.
~ FDA: Sugar substitute doesn't cause cancer -- "A federal review of a 2005 Italian study found no data to support the conclusion the sugar substitute aspartame causes cancer, a health official said Friday."
PSYCHE
~ Psychopath? Depressive? Schizophrenic? -- "Was Cho Seung-Hui really like the Columbine killers?"
~ Bugged by nagging? Problem may be yours -- "If you go out of your way to avoid doing what you're asked to do when you feel nagged, new research shows you may be sabotaging yourself without even realizing it."
~ Will Solving The 'Hard Problem' of Consciousness Unweave the Rainbow? -- "Some say in fifty years or so we'll have enough neuro-scientific evidence to completely describe the functioning of the brain. The question is, will this mountain of evidence be enough to explain the emergence of human consciousness? Consciousness. This familiar yet indescribable experience we all have, an awareness, something we can't physically point to nor experience from another's viewpoint."
~ Philosophical Themes of Dostoevsky -- "Recurring themes in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels; despair, suffering and redemption. This article explores the source of his struggle to understand humanity's pain." Dostoevsky is why I switched from psych to English in college -- three classes away from my psych degree. D'Oh!
~ Study Shows That Learning Requires A Period Of 'Off-Line' Processing -- "Memorizing a series of facts is one thing, understanding the big picture is quite another. Now a new study demonstrates that relational memory -- the ability to make logical "big picture" inferences from disparate pieces of information - is dependent on taking a break from studies and learning, and even more important, getting a good night's sleep."
~ Overcome Your Public Speaking Fear -- "Most people with public speaking fear amplify their nervousness by anticipating it. That's called anticipatory anxiety. Here's how to switch to anticipatory success."
~ One-Link Friday: Can everyone "do" relationships? [Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge] -- "'Is everyone fundamentally equipped to maintain steady relationships?' As much as many of us (especially but not only women) see falling permanently in love with someone who loves us back an ideal wholly worth pursuing, I think it's beyond the reach of a good many of us, and I'm not just talking about obvious outliers like undisguised sociopaths and the mentally challenged."
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Book Review: "The First Scientific Proof of God:" [Good Math, Bad Math] -- "As I mentioned a while back, I was loaned the Library of Congress discard of George Shollenberger's book. Since he's made such a big deal about how unfair I've been by not reading and considering his argument, I've actually forced myself to read it.
~ Cho's Relatives Express Shock And Sorrow Over 'horrible And Senseless Act -- "Cho Seung-hui's family says it has been 'living a nightmare' since he went on a shooting rampage, killing 32 people at Virginia Tech, USA, and then himself. Cho's sister, Ms. Cho Sun-Kyung, said in a statement: 'On behalf of our family, we are so deeply sorry for the devastation my brother has caused. No words can express our sadness that 32 innocent people lost their lives this week in such a terrible, senseless tragedy. We are heartbroken.'"
~ SCOTT HORTON—Hegel and the Eternal Struggle for Freedom -- "Two hundred years ago this week the first pages of G.W.F. Hegel's Phenomenology of the Spirit made their appearance. This seminal work of the German idealist tradition revolves around some simple, but revolutionary concepts. Drawing on what already seemed apparent in the work of Herder and Kant, Hegel saw the slow, steady rise of mankind as a struggle for freedom—a process that liberated the human spirit and drew the human race forward. This struggle was unavoidable, even as the object was always unattainable—an ideal to be approached, but never achieved. . . . "
~ Will Bush Stand by Gonzales? -- "The Attorney General's testimony left his image in even worse shape. The question is whether it'll damage the White House
~ SCOTT HORTON—The Plot Against the First Amendment -- "In June, a case is slated to go to trial in Northern Virginia that will mark a first step in a plan to silence press coverage of essential national security issues. The plan was hatched by Alberto Gonzales and his deputy, Paul J. McNulty—the two figures at the center of a growing scandal over the politicization of the prosecutorial process. This may in fact be the most audacious act of political prosecution yet."
~ Is McCain in Freefall? -- "Political insiders almost always seize on the same subject and very often they are wrong about it, but it is hard to go (or call) anywhere in political America this month without hearing the same thing: Can you believe how far John McCain has fallen and how fast he's done it?"
~ Right-wing blogs discover massive conspiracy to hide WMDs in Iraq -- "The embrace by leading neoconservatives and other war supporters of the most bizarre and deranged conspiracy theories speaks volumes about their credibility and judgment."
~ Wash. Signs Domestic Partner Bill -- "Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law Saturday a measure to create domestic partnerships, giving gay and lesbian couples some of the same rights that come with marriage. "
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Scientists Help Restore Aging Artworks -- "When white masquerades as yellow and green might actually be blue, a call goes out to Henry DePhillips."
~ New virus found in Australia deaths -- "Australian doctors revealed Sunday that three people who died shortly after receiving organ transplants from the same donor were all infected with a previously unknown virus."
~ The Island Rule and Homo floresiensis [Afarensis] - "I discussed this article earlier in the week based on what Yahoo News had to say. I have since been emailed the Biology Letters article and would like to go into a little more detail."
~ NYC Pledges 1 Million New Trees by 2017 -- "One million new trees will join the urban landscape of New York City by the year 2017 to reduce air pollution, cool temperatures and help improve the city's long term sustainability, officials said Saturday."
~ Japan, US eye emission-free coal plant -- "Japan and the United States will lead a five-nation project to develop a coal-fired power plant which discharges no carbon dioxide into the air, a press report said Sunday."
~ A Second Chance -- "Most people I know loathe snakes, but they fascinate me. Always have. Always will. I’ve waited all winter for this moment. The moment when they begin crawling from their hidden lairs to greet the oncoming warmth."
~ Human Brain Has Origin in Lowly Worm -- "The origin of the human brain has been traced back to primitive central nervous systems in worms and bugs, researchers now say."
~ Kill’em all -- "Comfortably seated in your chair, you turn on the computer, enter a hunting field, adjust your mouse on a deer which is grazing quietly and click. The deer falls on the ground." How the hell is this even sporting? At least hunting takes some skill.
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Correct view? -- “It is only after having understood the view correctly that correct Buddhist mediation can take place.”
~ Integral Practice or...something else? -- ebuddha looks at his own integral practice.
~ Shamanic Breathwork: An Integral Process -- Gary Stamper writes, "During my 8-day Shamanic Breathwork (TM) Process experience, I wrote that I thought this process was actually an integral process, even though the language and the culture is very different from what most of us "integrally-informed" people experience. These differences will undoubtedly have the effect of turning many integralites off. That would be a mistake, in my opinion. At the very least, no one should make a judgement on the process until they've experienced it, or at least studied it carefully."
~ BLOG: An Appreciation of the Works of Ken Wilber: Some Positive Reviews of His Major Books -- "When we were cleaning house in preparation for the move from the old loft to the new loft, we found numerous reviews of his first three major books (Spectrum, Atman, and Eden), along with a raft of positive critical quotes about them. We thought they were a hoot, so we thought we'd share them. "
~ Atheism gets some face time in Canada -- "The cover of the latest issue of Maclean's magazine, which is the Canadian equivalent of Time or Newsweek, asks "Is God poison?" The secondary headline to the feature, which is online, says 'a new movement blames God for every social problem from Darfur to child abuse.' Well, I don't know if it does all that, but at least the magazine is finally paying attention to the rise of what, for lack of a better term, is being called 'new atheism.'"
~ Who is the Integral Christian? -- Joe Perez writes, "For all Christians who take an integral approach to Christianity... please read the following short vision statement. How do you feel about it? Do you understand it? Do you believe in it?" See also: The Integral Christian and The Four Quadrants.
~ Pavlina and Violence -- Hokai writes, "[H]e's got a new post, something to do with violence and subjectivity, and in it I see a perfect example how a nondual perspective grounded in imbalanced development can get dangerously whacky."
~ Regarding silence -- "I have included a rather long list of of quotes from various sacred traditions, spiritual paths, and personal philosophies about silence, yet they only scratch the surface of the general theme to which they belong." For the record, a tinythinker he is not.
~ Buddhism: a recipe for social action -- "The suffering of the world today demands action. But often enough, far too often, our action increases suffering because we lack understanding."
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