Thursday, August 02, 2007

Speedlinking 8/2/07

Quote of the day:

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."
~ Margaret Bonnano

Image of the day:


BODY
~ 15 Minutes Of Fame With Mike Rousell -- "I just interviewed Your Naked Nutrition Guide Author Mike Rousell and it was interesting to say the least. Click HERE to listen to Mike's perspective on the importance of increased calories around the "peri-workout" window (even when trying to lose weight), why consuming BCAAs and EAAs is very different from consuming whole protein sources, and why pre-workout nutrition is just as important (if not more) as post-workout nutrition."
~ The New Low-Carb Guru -- "Dr. Jeff Volek is one of the leading "new school" researchers in the areas of nutrition, resistance training, lipid metabolism, and endocrinology. He also knows more about low-carb dieting than just about anyone else on the planet."
~ Afternoon cravings conquered -- "Conquer your cravings with our daily diet tips."
~ Seafood A Safer Catch Than Most Think -- "When it comes to consumer perception of seafood safety, all is not going swimmingly. In recent survey conducted by the University of Maryland's Center for Food Nutrition and Agriculture Policy and presented here at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo, consumers listed tuna, salmon and shrimp as the fish with the highest levels of mercury."
~ Gluten-Free Too Often Taste-Free -- "An estimated 2 million Americans are afflicted with celiac disease, an intolerance for food containing wheat, and the market for gluten-free products is booming even while food companies and researchers have yet to fully solve their greatest challenge - making products that taste good."
~ Updated Physical Activity Guidelines Released -- "All healthy adults ages 18 to 65 years need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes on five days each week or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 20 minutes on three days each week, according to updated physical activity guidelines released today by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA)."
~ Goats' Milk Shown To Be More Beneficial To Health Than Cows' Milk -- "Research carried out at the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada (Universidad de Granada [http://www.ugr.es/]) has revealed that goats' milk has more beneficial properties to health than cows' milk. Just two of these properties are, 1. that it helps to prevent ferropenic anaemia (iron deficiency) and 2. that it helps to prevent bone demineralisation (softening of the bones)."
~ Glutamine unlikely to boost athletic performance -- "There is little evidence that supplements containing the amino acid glutamine can enhance athletes' performance, according to a research review." This is actually old news for readers of T-Nation, but it's good that the mainstream media is picking up on this. Still, glutamine can seriously increase immune system health.

PSYCHE
~ First Mouse Model Of Schizophrenia Developed By Hopkins Team -- "Johns Hopkins researchers have genetically engineered the first mouse that models both the anatomical and behavioral defects of schizophrenia, a complex and debilitating brain disorder that affects over 2 million Americans."
~ How baby babbles become talking tsunami (AP) -- "BABY TALK: New research suggests babies start really jabbering after they've mastered enough easy words to tackle more of the harder ones. It's essentially a snowball effect."
~ Hostility, anger linked to chronic inflammation -- "Men with high levels of hostility, anger and depression show increases in a key marker of inflammation over time, which may put them at greater risk of heart disease, a new study shows."
~ Electrode implant stimulates consciousness -- "Researchers report in today's issue of Nature that they have improved brain function in a minimally conscious patient by implanting electrodes into his brain."
~ a big bagful of tidbits -- "time for some bullet blogging again. here are some interesting tidbits" Some good links -- and a mention of IOC, which is always nice.
~ Language and self-awareness -- "A new study presents additional evidence for inner speech involvement in self-reflective activity. In my 2003 SCR paper “Inner speech and conscious experience” I put forward the notion that we most often need to talk to ourselves in order to understand who we are."
~ Tips to Establish a Morning & Evening Routine (with an August Challenge) -- "I’ve written before about how morning and evening routines can create some sense of sanity and calm in your life."
~ “What’s Your Story?!” Make it a Good One -- "Our life is not a series of facts only. It is mostly a set of interpretations we have made about events in our life. These interpretations add up to a story – a story of who we think we are, what we have experienced, and what we’re likely to do in the future." This is the foundation of narrative psychology.


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Young Bush Staffer Gets Grilled -- "J. Scott Jennings became the latest sacrificial lamb the White House has sent up to answer questions about the U.S. Attorneys firings."
~ Why Bush Won't Ax Gonzales -- "Many cite the Attorney General's friendship with the President. But there are more practical reasons why Bush needs the embattled cabinet member."
~ Campaign Matters: YearlyKos Draws Democratic Leaders -- "This year's YearlyKos convention draws politicians, candidates, reporters and activists to Chicago because the netroots have clout."
~ 9 Superpowers You Might Actually Want -- "When it comes down to it, most of the superpowers you see in comic books, TV, and movies aren’t the sorts of abilities you’d want to have yourself. While on the surface it might seem kick-ass to possess retractable metal claws or brain-shattering psionic abilities, powers like these tend to place a person on government watch lists or morally obligate them to fight crime. Plus, they can result in pesky accidents like stabbing your loved ones or having your body taken over by an alien lifeform. Here are some mutant abilities that might actually prove useful in your daily life without some of the more apocalyptic side effects."
~ Steroids, Schmeroids. Why Not Enhanced and Unenhanced Sports Leagues? -- "Baseball phenom Barry Bonds is trying to match or exceed Hank Aaron's all time home run mark any day now. By some people's lights, Bonds' accomplishment will be marred by the suspicion that he used enhancement drugs of some sort. The fact the commissioner of baseball has been following Bonds around the last few games suggests that any such lingering stigma is already dissipating. For the record, I am not in favor of anyone breaking the rules to which they voluntarily agreed. But should the line against various enhancements hold in professional sports?"
~ Politics and the Poet Laureate -- "But Charles Simic may be a special case. And he may be held, by some, to a different standard. This is because Simic has, among this country’s poets, a singular kind of moral authority on issues of war and peace." See also: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Simic named new U.S. poet laureate.
~ Moby Offers Royalty-Free Music For Films -- "One-upping Brian Eno, diminutive New York electronic musician Moby has created a web site that offers royalty-free music for films. The project, called "Moby Gratis," features 70 unreleased compositions that independent filmmakers can use to accompany their movies."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Worlds Weirdest Animals and Creatures -- "Our planet Earth is populated well enough with bizarre and astonishing creatures without the need for resorting to fiction. Some are rare — some are on the verge of extinction." Images of 24 freaky creatures.
~ Health & Wellness Foods Less Simple Than They Seem -- "The pursuit of health and wellness is no longer an option for four of the biggest global food companies. It's mandatory business. The challenge is developing healthful products that consumers choose that can help them to improve their lives. So say senior officials from major companies Kraft, Nestle S.A., General Mills and Campbell Soup Co."
~ In Praise of Tap Water -- "Americans are increasingly thirsty for what is billed as the healthiest, and often most expensive, water on the grocery shelf. But this country has some of the best public water supplies in the world. Instead of consuming four billion gallons of water a year in individual-sized bottles, we need to start thinking about what all those bottles are doing to the planet’s health."
~ Microsoft Works Goes Free, Ad-Supported -- "Microsoft Corp. will test a free, advertising-supported version of Works, an already inexpensive package of word processing, spreadsheet and other programs, but would not say whether it is exploring a similar Web-based suite."
~ Immunity in social amoeba suggests ancient beginnings -- "Finding an immune system in the social amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum) is not only surprising but it also may prove a clue as to what is necessary for an organism to become multicellular, said the Baylor College of Medicine researcher who led the research that appears today in the journal Science."
~ Beyond Mesopotamia: A radical new view of human civilization reported -- "A radically expanded view of the origin of civilization, extending far beyond Mesopotamia, is reported by journalist Andrew Lawler in the 3 August issue of Science."
~ Tiny 'GlowBots' Hint at Future of Robotics -- "Swedish researchers develop communities of interactive robots."
~ Arctic wealth: Why countries are jockeying over the roof of the world -- "Global warming and, ironically, its main cause -- fossil fuels -- explain the intensifying squabble to claim rights over the Arctic seabed."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~
A standard we ought insist upon -- "The solution is simple: decide to read liberal and conservative, regularly. And then wait, because the effect of doing so is like ocean on stone.
~ Ajahn Brahm on the Happiness Industry -- At Renegade Buddha -- A nice video dharma talk.
~ BBC: The Story of G-D 3 Part Series -- "I got up at 6 this morning and watched all three amazing parts of this series and I (of course) highly recommend them!"
~ Karma-formed States and Personal Freedom -- "Millions of people the world over believe in karma. The law of karma states that as we sow, so shall we reap: everything we do, say, or even think has consequences, good or bad, and sooner or later, these consequences will come back to us. The question is, is karma fatalistic and set in stone, or is there something we can actually do about it?"
~ Beyond Liberal, Left, and Progressive: An Inclusive and Revolutionary Politics for Tomorrow -- "Ken Wilber would probably agree with Churchill's famous dictum. He would catalog the failures of anarchism, monarchy, republicanism, aristocracy, socialism, communism, etc. Then he would add to them the failures of liberalism, conservativism, and democracy."
~ An integral analysis of my antidiscrimination advocacy op-ed -- "Regarding my recent op-ed, "No Moral Vacancy for Gays in UK Hotels, But Antigay Discrimination Still Legal in US": consider this perspective..."
~ Layers of healing -- "A friend of mine mentioned how there are always new layers of healing, with no end in sight. And there is a beauty in that. At our human level, there is always further to go with healing, maturing and developing."


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