"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."
~ Thomas Mann
Image of the day:
BODY
~ Milk And Dairy Products Protect Against "Metabolic Syndrome" -- "A daily pint or a helping of dairy foods protect against the clustering of abnormal body chemistry known as the metabolic syndrome, suggests a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health .The syndrome has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, coronary artery disease, and premature death."
~ First-time Link Between Food Intolerance And Illness -- "Researchers from University College London have found compelling evidence for the first time to link food intolerances and serious illness.A six-month programme has shown potential links with foodstuffs and Crohn's Disease, and ulcerative colitis.The discovery could prompt an entire rethink in the medical profession across a range of conditions, from irritable bowel syndrome to migraine."
~ Muscle Wasting More Bad News For Smokers -- "Researchers at The University of Nottingham have got more bad news for smokers. Not only does it cause cancer, heart attacks and strokes but smokers will also lose more muscle mass in old age than a non-smoker. The effect of this predisposes smokers to an accelerated decline in physical function and loss of independence."
~ Triglycerides Explained -- "When your body has more triglycerides than it can use, the excess triglycerides end up being transported to fat cells (rather than being used by your body for energy). If your triglyceride levels remain elevated it can lead to atherosclerosis and heart damage." High triglycerides may be a better indicator of trouble ahead than high cholesterol.
~ Woman drops 110 pounds, 8 dress sizes -- "Three years ago Sharon Twitchell was miserable. Carrying 227 pounds on her tiny 5'2" frame, the 51-year-old mother and wife could barely squeeze into her plus-size clothing. Twitchell is the first of eight CNN.com I-Reporters who shared their weight loss stories with CNN."
~ No Evidence Tomatoes, Lycopene Cut Cancer: FDA -- "There's little hard evidence that a diet rich in tomatoes and the tomato antioxidant lycopene can ward off cancer, according to research from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
~ Diet Mistakes: 6 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight -- "Are you dieting and not losing weight? The truth is that even when you're "on a diet," you may be eating a lot more calories than you think." The first mistake is when you think of it as a diet instead of a lifestyle change.
PSYCHE
~ Weight Bias Threatens Obese Children's Health And Quality Of Life -- "Overweight children who are stigmatized by peers and their parents and teachers sustain profound and potentially lasting harm, according to a paper by scientists from Yale and the University of Hawaii at Manatoa. "Weight-based discrimination is as important a problem as racial discrimination or discrimination against children with physical disabilities," the authors write in the July issue of Psychological Bulletin."
~ You can forget the unhappy past: study -- "Researchers have confirmed what common wisdom has long held -- that people can suppress emotionally troubling memories -- and said on Thursday they have sketched out how the brain accomplishes this." I'm thinking there might be serious risks in doing this.
~ How rage can make you ill -- "New research confirms it: Men are mad as hell. Problem is, our rage isn't just hurting us, it's killing us."
~ Social Anxiety Damages Mental, Physical Health -- "Beyond breeding isolationist behavior and complicating comorbid cases of depression and related mental illness, chronic social anxiety disorder can contribute to such physical infirmities as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, ultimately decreasing one's overall lifespan."
~ How NOT to think about human behavior [A Blog Around The Clock] -- "Echidne, Amanda Marcotte, Laelaps and Larry Moran beautifully destroy the "Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature" article from the recent issue of 'Psychology Today', the latest garbage from the Evolutionary Psychology crowd. Much fun was had by all...." Follow the links to the various posts.
~ Magnetic brain stimulation not proven to fight depression -- "At a recent American Psychiatric Association meeting, commercial companies were showing off custom made magnetic brain stimulators as a treatment for depression. A review article in the latest Nature Reviews Neuroscience looks at the technology and finds there's still no convincing evidence that it's an effective treatment."
~ 5 Inspirations for Being in the Moment -- "How often have you eaten a meal and not really tasted it, or completed a chore or drove to work without really thinking about it? Our days often pass us by while our minds are elsewhere."
~ Short-term memory ability may predict IQ -- "U.S. psychologists have found people with high IQs might be able to remember more than the four objects an average person can store in short-term memory." If this is true, then I am exception to the rule.
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ ‘Fat tax’ could save thousands each year -- "A “fat tax” on salty, sugary and fatty foods could save thousands of lives each year, according to a study."
~ Surgeon General Nominee Faces Tough Probing on Capitol Hill -- "Holsinger's Views on Sex and Science Face 'Grave Reservations' from Senate Liberals."
~ Alberto Gonzales -- "Alberto Gonzales's Justice Department is falling apart."
~ Report on Iraq Shows Mixed Results -- "A Bush administration report on Iraq shows satisfactory progress on eight benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on another eight and mixed results on the other two."
~ How the Democrats Got Religion -- "The party ignored the faithful for decades, but now its front runners want to level the praying field."
~ Hirsh: World Prepares for Post-Bush Era -- "While Republicans abandon him at home, the rest of the world is preparing for the era beyond Bush. What the next president should do to repair the breach between Washington and the world."
~ Is Cheney Evil or Just a Weasel? -- "The Dark Lord. Voldemort. Darth Vader. The Shadow President. These threatening, macho soubriquets have been applied to Dick Cheney over the past six years, and are in rapid circulation in the wake of recent charges that Cheney's office, beginning in 2003, refused to submit annual reports about how it classifies secret documents to the National Archives' Security Oversight Office. Turns out Cheney claims to be above such laws."
~ FBI Employees Face Criminal Probe Over Patriot Act Abuse -- "An internal investigation is looking into the misuse of National Security Letters to gain access to Americans' phone records, top bureau officials tell privacy groups."
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Warming causing gray whales to lose weight, say scientists -- "Scientists on the US Pacific coast are increasingly observing emaciated gray whales in what they fear is a sign that global warming is wreaking havoc in the whales' Bering Sea summer feeding grounds."
~ Higher efficiency organic solar cell created -- "Using plastics to harvest the energy of the sun just got a significant boost in efficiency thanks to a discovery made at the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids at the University of California, Santa Barbara."
~ How plants learned to respond to changing environments -- "A team of John Innes centre scientists lead by Professor Nick Harberd have discovered how plants evolved the ability to adapt to changes in climate and environment. Plants adapt their growth, including key steps in their life cycle such as germination and flowering, to take advantage of environmental conditions."
~ Researchers witness natural selection at work in dramatic comeback of male butterflies -- "An international team of researchers has documented a remarkable example of natural selection in a tropical butterfly species that fought back - genetically speaking - against a highly invasive, male-killing bacteria." Nature is SO cool.
~ One man's junk may be a genomic treasure -- "Scientists have only recently begun to speculate that what`s referred to as “junk” DNA - the 96 percent of the human genome that doesn`t encode for proteins and previously seemed to have no useful purpose - is present in the genome for an important reason. But it wasn`t clear what the reason was. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered one important function of so-called junk DNA."
~ The emerging age of hydrogen energy -- "This is a guest essay by Geoffrey Holland, co-author (with James Provenzano) of The Hydrogen Age: Empowering a Clean Energy Future, which will be out in the fall. I know there are many hydrogen skeptics in the audience, so remember: keep it civil and substantive."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Oceanic She -- "Yesterday, I felt that same urge come on: to feel good, to feel comforted. And as visions of the country cooking buffet up the road (collards! okra! barbeque! butter beans!) danced in my head, I changed clothes, grabbed my bag and a book, and was getting ready to head out the door when another thought hit: why not go to the beach instead? And so instead of spending $9 at the buffet, I bought some waterproof 30+ sunscreen for my pasty body and hit the beach."
~ Learning Edge +7 -- "Yesterday William from Integral Options Cafe tagged me to take part in a What is Your Learning Edge? meme. What a coincidence! Minutes ago I finished selecting classes for my return to university in September, and I wanted a good excuse to share that."
~ Walking our path.. 'know how' or 'no how'? -- "We've talked quite a lot recently about 'being awake', 'following our bliss', 'finding flow' and 'being true to our Self' (all very much the same thing) and how it's not about walking around in a happy-clappy, pastel stupor.. but a hugely practical thing. It's actually about getting real.. being profoundly open to whatever life brings us in each moment and allowing it to serve our best interests."
~ The Faces of Buddhism in Tucson -- "Tucson is becoming a hotbed of Buddhist activity. Is the religion's popularity a significant trend or just a passing fad?" At least there's one good thing about living here. Well, OK, there's more than one.
~ Roundup on July 6, 2007 -- "No theme, no meme, just stream, today. Here are some quick words on some of the excellent posts just a click away, out in the Buddhoblogosphere [and maybe a little beyond, into the Integral savanna] that popped up during this young month." Lots of good links.
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