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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Speedlinking 7/25/07

Quote of the day:

"Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in."
~ Leonardo da Vinci

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Blood on the Barbell: A Newbie's Story -- "The biker put him through a workout that was decidedly unscientific, but it taught Darren a lesson about lifting. Hope you've got some equipment in the room because you're going to want to hit the weights right after you read this."
~ Pregnant women 'are confused about their diets' -- "The majority of pregnant women are unsure about what they should eat and drink during their term, a survey has found. Sixty per cent of women polled said they did not know which foods to avoid during their pregnancy."
~ Muscle Cramps: Don't Let Them Cramp Your Workout -- "Almost every athlete complains about them, from professionals to the weekend warrior. Exercise-associated muscular cramps or (EAMC) are those sudden, involuntary, spasmodic and often very painful contractions of the muscle. A complete review of athletes muscle cramps appears in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons."
~ Alkaline Diet Can Combat The Effects Of Acid Reflux -- "Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), more commonly known as acid reflux, affects 19.8 percent of adults in the United States (roughly 47.3 million people). Those who suffer from the disease can attest to the sometimes crippling discomfort it causes. Although medications and surgical options are available, increasingly, medical professionals are touting the benefits of consuming a more alkaline diet in order to control acid reflux."
~ Muscles Or Motor Qualities? -- "Why is it that no one seems to recognize that exercises should be selected primarily for their ability to allow the expression of motor qualities?"
~ Heavy Drinkers Lack Omega-3 Nutrient -- "Men who binge drink have lower levels of disease-fighting omega-3 fatty acids than their peers, a new study finds." I'd guess this is true for women, too.
~ Poor diet in pregnancy can cause child obesity: study (AFP) -- "The diets of pregnant women may have an important role in determining whether their children will be obese later in life, a new study suggests."


PSYCHE
~ 5 Ways to Develop Independent Thought -- "Logically, when we think like everyone else is thinking, the best we can expect is to achieve what they’re already achieving. If our aim is to over-achieve, we need to avoid the same banal influences and think impossibly. We need to become independent from conventional wisdom."
~ Is Monogamy Natural? -- "A lifetime of love versus a quick roll with a stranger. It's funny how we can have two seemingly opposite urges at the same time." Personally, I think this is a developmental stage issue.
~ Too much problem talk may affect girls' well-being -- "Girls who discuss their problems extensively with friends may be at increased risk of developing depression and anxiety symptoms, a new study suggests."
~ Multitasking and stress: What happens when we mix them together? [Cognitive Daily] -- "Other studies have explored more generic reactions to stress and found that in many cases test-takers use different problem-solving strategies when they are under more stress: typically the strategy used under stress is one which utilizes fewer cognitive resources. Apparently simply being in a stressful state consumes some cognitive resources, so the adaptation is to use a less demanding strategy -- even if that strategy is slower or less effective."
~ Albert Ellis has left the building -- "Albert Ellis, one of the co-founders of cognitive therapy, died yesterday at his home in New York. The Boston Herald has an obituary that captures some of his work and eccentric spirit."
~ 10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence -- "Self confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed."
~ Double Trouble: Hopelessness Key Component Of Mood Disorder -- "There's depression, and then there's double depression. Sound bad? It is, according to Thomas Joiner, Florida State University Distinguished Research Professor and the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology, who has identified hopelessness as a distinguishing feature of double depression in a new paper published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. The finding could help therapists diagnose and treat the mood disorder."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Mysteries of 3,000-year old kingdom of Jinsha -- "'Jinsha culture is unique, quite different from cultures in other parts of China, but is scarcely mentioned by Chinese historians,' said Zhu Zhangyi, a veteran archaeologist in Sichuan and deputy-curator of the Jinsha Museum. 'The harsh geography made it difficult for outsiders to enter the kingdom and so it was able to preserve its endemic culture.'"
~ Study: Obesity Is 'Socially Contagious' -- "If your friends and family get fat, chances are you will too, researchers report in a startling new study that suggests obesity is "socially contagious" and can spread easily from person to person...."
~ New Doping Charge at Tour De France -- "A top rider departs the race with his team after failing a drug test, and a sport struggles with its reputation." See also, hot off the wire: Tour de France leader booted from race -- Michael Rasmussen, who looked set to win Le Tour, was pulled from the race by his team for violating "internal team policy." DAMN!
~ Gonzales Digs a Deeper Hole -- "The Attorney General introduces new questions, and shows shrinking powers of recall, in discussing his visit to Ashcroft."
~ The Online Beat: Clinton, Kissinger and the Corruptions of Empire -- "When she attacks Obama for embracing personal and public diplomacy, Clinton rejects a transparent and democratic foreign policy."
~ Schools Cut Other Subjects to Teach Reading and Math -- "President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act pushed students into a regimen of high-stakes testing in two core areas: reading and math. The effects could hardly have been more predictable: Now, it seems, teachers and schools are dedicating more and more energy to math and reading instruction at the expense of other subjects."
~ House Democrats pass contempt citation (AP) -- "The House Judiciary Committee approved a contempt of Congress citation Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and one-time Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional confrontation over the firings of federal prosecutors."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Top 10 GMail tweaks -- For Firefox users, these are pretty cool.
~ New York cab drivers threaten strike over GPS systems -- "A trade body representing more than 8,000 New York taxi drivers is threatening to call a strike over the city's plans to introduce satellite positioning systems in every yellow cab."
~ Agency, Group to 'Offset' CO2 Emissions -- "The U.S. Forest Service is teaming with a nonprofit foundation to allow consumers to participate in a voluntary program to "offset" their carbon dioxide emissions."
~ Jumbo Squid Invade Calif. -- "The 7-foot Humboldt squid was once found only near the equator."
~ Bush/Cheney Threats To The Endangered Species Act -- "Two government entities are investigating the Bush administration over the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Christian Science Monitor reports the US Interior Department is reviewing the scientific integrity of decisions made by a political appointee, Julie MacDonald, who recently resigned under fire."
~ New advance is step toward quantum computing with neutral atoms -- "Physicists at the Commerce Department`s National Institute of Standards and Technology have induced thousands of atoms trapped by laser beams to swap “spins” with partners simultaneously."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Dalai Lama: My Main Purpose is the Promotion of Human Values -- "Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is in the Northern German city of Hamburg. On Monday, much to the ire of Beijing, he made critical remarks about China. DW took part in a group interview with him."
~ Riding the Kundalini Dragon: Integrating Altered States -- An AQAL look at kundalini from Julian Walker.
~ Intentional Meditation? -- "These are all easy, effortless tasks that let my mind wander, so perhaps I do get close to a meditative state while I'm doing them. What I like to do in this state is not meditation but rather intention."
~ Take a breath -- "Meditation in schools is not a religious practice that raises any church-state issues. Los Angeles, CA (USA) -- 'At quiet time we try to be as calm as we can," says Reko, a seventh-grader at Ideal Academy, a Washington, D.C., charter school that incorporates a 20-minute transcendental meditation program into each school day. 'We close our eyes and think of our mantra so we can be relaxed.'"
~ Seeking escape -- "When there is a belief in a story, there is automatically escape from experience as well. Whenever there is friction between our stories of what is and what should be, there is discomfort, and a seeking to avoid that discomfort… by changing our stories of what is, what should be, or changing our attention to something else. And when this is done to escape the tension, there is a sense of compulsiveness to it, avoidance, and discomfort."
~ A Balancing Meditation -- "The Kabbalistic concepts of lovingkindness, judgment, and harmony come into relationship in this embodied meditation. By Jay Michaelson."
~ Integral code of ethics? -- "The Mackey incident got me to wondering again why we have yet to see something like the above emerge, if not out of I-I that what about us, the general integral community?"


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