"Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes."
~ Henry David Thoreau
Image of the day:
BODY
~ Refined Physique Transformation -- "Christian Thibaudeau's incredible transformation from chubby dud to super stud put him on the map. Looking back, he'd do things a whole lot differently and a whole lot better."
~ Can A Mediterranean Diet Help Prevent Colon Cancer? -- "Are all healthy eating plans the same when it comes to cancer prevention? Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are beginning a study to look at whether diet can impact a person's risk of developing colon cancer. Specifically, the researchers will compare a Mediterranean diet - high in olive oil, nuts and fish - with a standard healthy eating plan."
~ Best Foods for Your Diet -- "Whether you're in search of low-fat, low-carb, anti-aging or vegetarian, we've got a list of the best foods out there."
~ New Site Provides All-inclusive Resource For Diet Shoppers -- "Everyday it seems we learn about the newest quick-fix, must-work, end-all, be-all to dieting. With diets available on the market as plentiful as excuses for not following one, it's hard to weed out the right choice for you. With so many options available, it can be a difficult task to determine which diets are healthy, fads or guaranteed to help you find success. Diets In Review is a new site that offers consumers a one-stop-shop for diets."
~ Mediterranean Diet Benefits -- "Mediterranean diet is best recognized as a guide to good health. The diet does not introduce a new diet program that makes one to cut on various food products. Instead, it encourages “wise” choices of food that hold the key to a balanced diet."
~ Running for Enlightenment: The (spiritual) runner’s high of a “marathon monk’” -- "We are all familiar with the notion of a runner’s high. The calm, euphoric feeling that sets in after a long run has converted many athletes to loyal distance runners. While many runners acknowledge the rejuvenating effects of this high, in the Tendai sect of Buddhism high-mileage running assumes a religious significance."
~ Taking Alli? Better Bring a New Pair of Pants (UPDATED) -- "The latest - and the first to win over the counter approval from our nation’s Pill Czars - is Alli (pronounced “ally”), which promises to help you trim pounds by attaching to dietary fat. Instead of being absorbed by your body as calories, the fat slips right out of your system. (We’ll discuss where it “slips to” in just a second.)" The Zero Boss nailed this one -- DO NOT TAKE ALLI.
~ The Dark Side of Soy -- "Is America's favorite health food making us sick?" From UTNE no less.
PSYCHE
~ Scans of Monks' Brains Show Meditation Alters Structure, Functioning -- "In a striking difference between novices and monks, the latter showed a dramatic increase in high-frequency brain activity called gamma waves during compassion meditation. Thought to be the signature of neuronal activity that knits together far-flung brain circuits, gamma waves underlie higher mental activity such as consciousness. The novice meditators "showed a slight increase in gamma activity, but most monks showed extremely large increases of a sort that has never been reported before in the neuroscience literature," says Prof. Davidson, suggesting that mental training can bring the brain to a greater level of consciousness."
~ Psychological Profiles Examined In Scientific Research On Sense Of Humor -- "This study focused on the following types of humour: sexual humour, black humour, humour degrading to men, humour degrading to women, simple humour and complex humour. The study provided the first scientifically approved evaluation instrument in Spain to evaluate humour appreciation. Moreover, it helped to improve other instruments used in other countries."
~ Study may explain roots of empathy -- "When people say "I feel your pain," they do not mean it literally, but certain people really do feel something that appears to be an extreme form of empathy, British researchers said on Sunday."
~ Puzzles May Be a Real Brain-Booster -- "A daily crossword puzzle or similar highly focused task might help sharpen your all-round powers of concentration, new research suggests."
~ Schools Turn to Meditation for Increased Focus, Anxiety Reduction -- "Many would not expect the practices of mindfulness and meditation to serve a comfortable role outside a local gym class or specialty studio. But in increasing numbers, schools both public and private have begun to subscribe to an experimental policy encouraging their students to practice moments of guided meditation in class in a non-religious application of the mindfulness-based stress reduction method."
~ Learning The Language of Thought: 4 Candidate Neural Codes [Developing Intelligence] -- "How does your brain represent the feelings and thoughts that are a part of conscious experience? Even the simplest aspects of this question are still a matter of heated debate, reflecting science's continuing uncertainty about "the neural code." The fact is that we still don't have a clear picture of the ways in which neurons transmit information. Here's a quick guide to current theories, beginning with well-established theories and moving into ideas that are considered more theoretical."
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Evolution In Everyday Life -- "Evolution is not just about human origins, dinosaurs and fossils, says Binghamton University evolutionist David Sloan Wilson. It can also be applied to almost every aspect of human life, as he demonstrates in his first book for a general audience, Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives (Bantam Press 2007)."
~ Is Religion the Root of All Evil? -- "Who's more ridiculous: "Christian" Islamophobes obsessed with the "threat to civilization" posed by "Islamofacism" or atheist evangelists who think religion is the root of all evil?"
~ Religion, Politics and the End of the World -- "For readers who weren’t able to attend the Truthdig debate between Sam Harris and Chris Hedges, we now have full coverage. So sit back, relax and enjoy the fireworks."
~ The General’s Report -- "“Here . . . comes . . . that famous General Taguba—of the Taguba report!” Rumsfeld declared, in a mocking voice. The meeting was attended by Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld’s deputy; Stephen Cambone, the Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J.C.S.); and General Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, along with Craddock and other officials. Taguba, describing the moment nearly three years later, said, sadly, “I thought they wanted to know. I assumed they wanted to know. I was ignorant of the setting.”
...
In the meeting, the officials professed ignorance about Abu Ghraib. “Could you tell us what happened?” Wolfowitz asked. Someone else asked, “Is it abuse or torture?” At that point, Taguba recalled, “I described a naked detainee lying on the wet floor, handcuffed, with an interrogator shoving things up his rectum, and said, ‘That’s not abuse. That’s torture.’ There was quiet.”
~ That's What Little Boys Are Made Of -- "A British import called The Dangerous Book for Boys has soared on American bestseller lists. Is it a new beacon for real boyhood— or a throwback to 1950s-style ideas of sex roles, "dangerous" in a different way than its title suggests?"
~ Polls: Thompson Shakes Up GOP Race -- "Tennessee Republican Fred Thompson hasn't even officially entered the race for president yet, but in a new USA Today/Gallup poll out this morning, he takes over second place from Arizona Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary."
~ Sir Salman’s Knighthood Triggers Backlash -- "Author Salman Rushdie is once again the subject of controversy—a position the “Satanic Verses” scribe is familiar with, to say the least. The decision by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to knight Rushdie last weekend drew criticism from Muslims who disagreed with the message of his most notorious novel, including members of Pakistan’s parliament. "
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Appeals Court Rules for E-Mail Privacy -- "Federal investigators overstepped constitutional bounds by searching e-mails without a warrant during a fraud investigation related to an herbal supplement company known for its "Smiling Bob" ads, a federal appeals court ruled Monday."
~ Superconducting Turbojet -- "An all-electric aircraft could soon appear over the horizon thanks to high-flying scientific research published today in the Institute of Physics' journal, Superconductor Science and Technology. The new type of aircraft, currently on the drawing board, could be far more efficient than conventional aircraft, produce less greenhouse emissions, and be quieter."
~ Arctic Thaw Springs Forward -- "Winter ends in the Arctic earlier than a decade ago."
~ Research team says Amazon River is longer than the Nile -- "Every so often, a news story comes along that is so astonishing, so monumental, that it shakes the foundations of everything you hold dear, leading you to question fundamental truths. This ... is not one of those stories, but it's interesting nonetheless."
~ On passive solar -- "Advice maven Umbra Fisk continues to let the sun shine into her column this week, with more on solar power. Last week she addressed photovoltaic and hot-water systems; this time, it's passive solar and financial incentives. Curious about how to get yourself at least partly off the grid?"
~ First Giant Mantra Born in Captivity -- "The baby rolled up like a tube, slid out of its mother and spread its fins to swim."
~ Ancient Graves Suggest Human Sacrifice -- "Elaborate graves suggest ancient hunter-gatherers practiced human sacrifice."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Confusion -- "Buddhist teachings contain prerational views, rational and deductive reasonings, paradoxical mandalic visions, and also purely transrational disclosures. "Prerational" signifies, in structural sense, as Jean Gebser has defined, arhaic, magic, and mythic horizons. "Rational" covers the mental and relativistic stages, while paradox opens the way into post-rational, highly sofisticated integrative structures (holistic, integral, super-integral etc.). Each of these structures produces a semantic horizon. In each of them awakening is possible, in each of them it is expressed, explained and taught differently."
~ The Mind Outside the Brain (Part 5) -- Deepak Chopra -- "With the discovery of mirror neurons, another piece of the puzzle was added, the puzzle being how we learn and understand others. Learning occurs in the animal world largely by imitation, it is thought."
~ To Judge or Not -- "To Judge or not, that is the question that has been asked of me. I have partaken in a three day experiment /exercise of noticing my thoughts and reactions to life. I have found this very hard to write about, without writing a novel (a novel that would probably not be a very readable one at that)."
~ Buddhist Geeks 24: With the Light Comes the Dark -- "In our final podcast with insight meditation teacher John Travis, he describes the training that new teachers are going through in his tradition. He also touches on the subject of enlightenment, the shadow, and our tendency to try and bypass the human condition."
~ Is Derrida Construct Aware? -- "I've received negative marks in some quarters for saying there are positive elements (lasting truth elements) to Derrida. More than just "questioning assumptions". That he has a detailed injunction that exposes evidence otherwise un-noticed. But it is not post-green in nature. It is certainly not, in my view, construct aware."
Tags:
No comments:
Post a Comment