"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way."
~ Bertrand Russell
Image of the day:
BODY
~ Improving testosterone naturally -- "Not only does a higher intake of saturated fat help to promote healthy testosterone in males but it will also improve other factors related to overall health and well being, provided it is being balanced by mono and polyunsaturated fats." If you want to try this approach, everything else in your diet has to be dialed in.
~ Question of Strength: September -- "The real Master Blaster describes the best ab exercise (it may surprise you), whether or not the barbell bench press is overrated, and how the number of years you've been training dictates how often you should change your program."
~ Beginner Strength Training Program II -- "Many of you use the Beginner Strength Training Program. Today I give you its successor. Same basics but small changes, including new exercises, to keep you progressing. Here’s the Beginner Strength Training Program II." This is an especially good program for skinny guys & gals wanting to add some muscle.
~ Testosterone replacement for older men? -- "Giving testosterone to normal men over 65 years of age causes them to lose fat, principally in the arms and legs, and increase muscle and bone size, principally in the trunk. Testosterone is an effective treatment for depression in older men."
~ Mediterranean Diet May Boost Alzheimer's Survival (HealthDay) -- "Consuming what's known as a Mediterranean diet -- one loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil -- may help Alzheimer's patients live longer, a new study suggests."
~ Spinach, eggs ward off cause of blindness: study -- "Two nutrients found in eggs, spinach and other leafy green vegetables offer some protection against the most common cause of blindness among the elderly, researchers said on Monday."
~ Study shows vitamin C's cancer-fighting properties -- "Vitamin C can impede the growth of some types of tumors although not in the way some scientists had suspected, researchers reported on Monday."
~ Taking Vitamin D Supplements Seems To Lower Risk Of Death -- "After following up on individuals who took vitamin D supplements for six years, researchers have concluded that it does lower one's risk of death from any cause. The researchers looked at 18 previously published articles and wrote a report which appears in Archives of Internal Medicine (JAMA/Archives), September 10 issue."
PSYCHE/SELF
~ Tuesdays with Audrey - Break away from the blame game… -- "Arguments between couples tend to easily turn into the ‘blame game.’ Don’t ask me who coined that term, but I’m sure it wasn’t me just now. And for more advanced ‘players’ there’s also the ‘list’, whereby each player keeps score of wrongs from the past and brings that into the argument as well."
~ Focus on emotion and disorders of emotion -- "Regulation of emotion is becoming better understood, but despite the societal costs of disorders like depression and anxiety, their causes remain unclear. Five review articles in this issue provide perspective on this literature. . ."
~ Faster-Acting Anti-Depressants Discovered -- "Studies with rats have revealed the potential in an entirely new class of antidepressants that take effect after only days of treatment versus the weeks required for current drugs. The researchers said that they hope their findings will spur development of such new antidepressant drugs so that clinical testing can begin quickly."
~ Practicing Gratitude Can Increase Happiness by 25% -- "A possible answer comes from recent research in the psychology of gratitude. Yes, you read that correctly - being thankful might be the key to raising your happiness 'set-point'. And there is some good experimental evidence to back up this theory."
~ 10 Ways to Conquer Boredom (and Feeling Too Busy) -- "Boredom and feeling too busy are the same problem. Some people might claim I’m being too ambitious trying to strike down chronic boredom and busyness at the same time. I’d argue that the only way to take them out is simultaneously."
~ How to Improve Your Social Skills -- "Over the last 11 months I have written a whole bunch of articles on how to improve one of the most valuable skill sets; your social skills."
~ The changing face of psychoanalysis -- "The New York Times has an article on the changing fortunes of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and why psychoanalysis is being increasingly marginalised in mental health." A good look at the article, and a link to the original article.
~ 10 Ways to Build Healthy Relationships -- 10 good tips to build better relationships, but the first tip -- "Speak a little less, listen a little more" -- might the key.
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ WorkPlace: The Supply-Side Fraud: Republican Economics Don't Work -- "Supply-side economics is a great marketing concept, but in reality is a poor national policy."
~ Petraeus and the numbers game -- "Today's the day we've all been waiting for. Starting today and continuing through the week, General David Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker will deliver their testimony to both houses of Congress about the progress of the war, and are scheduled to appear "exclusively" on Fox News as part of a larger White House-brokered PR push to buy more time for the "surge" to work."
~ The Spire of Dublin -- "A modern monument that points up what's wrong with the World Trade Center Memorial."
~ The relationship between drug companies and medical journals -- "Scientific fraud comes in several varieties. Data can be fabricated, ideas swiped, experiments gamed. One dramatic version is the too-late revelation that an investigator was drinking at the watering hole of a pharmaceutical company when he or she published an article about the wonders of a certain drug, produced by the watering hole's operators."
~ A Real Downside to Virtual Relationships -- "Online communities are harmless...until they become a replacement for actual life."
~ Thompson's One Man Show -- "Thompson has been more or less drafted into running for President, and he's campaigning for the job in the same way he landed his first movie role: by playing himself."
~ Teen hero pulls elderly woman out of speeding train's path -- "Thomas Foust, 17, risked his life Saturday to save an elderly woman who was moments away from being hit by a passenger train in Glenview, Ill."
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Physics Reveals The Secrets Of Saint Francis -- "The tunic believed to have been worn by Saint Francis of Assisi preserved in the Church of Saint Francis in Cortona (Province of Arezzo) dates back to the period in which the saint lived, whereas the tunic preserved in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence was made after his death."
~ Bodies Exhumed From Viking Burial Mound -- "Archaeologists opened a Viking burial mound on Monday, seeking to learn more about two women - possibly a queen and a princess - laid to rest there 1,173 years ago."
~ Gray whales a fraction of historic levels, genetic research says -- "Gray whales in the Pacific Ocean, long thought to have fully recovered from whaling, were once three to five times as plentiful as they are now, according to a report to be published September 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
~ Study reveals predation-evolution link -- "The fossil record seems to indicate that the diversity of marine creatures increased and decreased over hundreds of millions of years in step with predator-prey encounters, Virginia Tech geoscientists report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science."
~ The Greatest Mysteries in Science -- "We asked scientists from various fields to help pick the list."
~ Wolf Spider -- "They're called "wolf" spiders for good reason. They are ground dwelling spiders that do not rely on a web for capturing food, but instead use their hunting skills to find and run down their prey like, well.....a wolf." With a cool picture, unless spiders freak you out.
~ The week in ocean news -- A collection of oceanic links.
~ Hubble Spots Tiny Seed Galaxies -- "The nine galaxies are up to 1,000 times smaller than the Milky Way."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Checking back in -- A nice post from Matthew Dallman on the joys of being new parents.
~ Alex Grey - When Psychedelics Reveal the Spirit Within (Free Audio!) -- "An important part of Alex’s development as an artist came from visionary insights while on psychedelics, particularly during formative years in the '70s. As anyone who lived through the '60s and '70s will probably tell you, psychedelics can give you "some pretty wild experiences." But at what point does a "wild experience" give way to a life-changing spiritual or religious experience?"
~ A Brief Explanation of Altitude -- "The concept of Altitude is a radically new approach to development created by Ken Wilber and presented in his newest book, Integral Spirituality. In Holons, we use Altitude as a measure of development in both culture and consciousness. A simple way to explain it is to say that Altitude indicates the degree of developmental unfolding of items such as complexity, consciousness, and the number of perspectives one can take."
~ Not creating additional causes of suffering -- "I think that the key question is "How does fulfilling {the Bodhisattva vows} actually work?" Which is basically the question I was left with at the end of parts four and five of the Pondering the meaning of liberation from suffering series."
~ Allowing in two ways -- "When I explore allowing, I find two forms of it."
~ Easing Suffering, Increasing Happiness -- "When we enter into our Emotions, we grow and reinforce them. By this, we bind our happiness to fleeting moments, and in the case of negative emotions, we self-inflict pain." ~ Buddhist Geeks 36: What Did Jessica Alba Eat for Breakfast? -- "Ethan Nichtern, recently published author, meditation teacher and founder of the ID Project, met with Gwen Bell in Manhattan at the Om Yoga Studio. He talks in this podcast about how, in the 21st century, we’re coming to Buddhism because we’re already very “hooked in” to the world and want to work more on discovering our own minds."
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