"In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time."
~ Edward P. Tryon
Image of the day:
BODY
~ All Hail Peanut Butter! -- " Calling peanut butter a diet food, with 180 to 210 calories per serving, may seem counter-intuitive. But it has the enviable combination of fiber (2 g per serving) and protein (8 g per serving) that fills you up and keeps you feeling full longer, so you eat less overall. Plus, there's nothing more indulgent than licking peanut butter off a spoon--and indulgence (in moderation) helps dieters fight cravings and stay on track." And don't forget cashew butter and almond butter, both of which are very good.
~ Skin Deep: Nutrition and Good Skin -- "Whether you're a pock-marked adolescent or a 35-year-old who prematurely looks like an old catcher's mitt, the health of your skin is probably important to you. Dr. Alan Logan knows how to use nutrition to fix you up."
~ BONUS ARTICLE: The Step Construct -- "Building your body ain't just physical — you gotta' use some gray matter, and we're not talking about your underwear. Here's a simple mental technique to help you achieve your goals while simultaneously showing up those loser bastards who dared to piss on your ambitions."
~ ASK LARA: Three yoga poses for runners -- "I am a big fan of yoga myself, and that’s because I believe yoga is a great accompaniment to running training. Stretching helps to return your muscles to their normal resting length. And, in my experience, many yoga poses seem to hit just the right spots. The following are just some of my favorites."
~ Link Discovered Between Hormone Regulating Appetite And Stress -- "A hormone system linked to reducing food consumption appears to do so by increasing stress-related behaviors, according to a new study."
~ "Good" Cholesterol Earns Its Name -- "High HDL "good" cholesterol levels may help heart disease patients, even those with very low LDL "bad" cholesterol levels, doctors report.
~ Health Tip: Finding Fiber in Your Diet -- "Fiber should be an important part of every diet. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, dietary fiber can help prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and even some types of cancer."
~ Ground-breaking study links food additives to hyperactivity in children -- "In a landmark study published in The Lancet, commonly used artificial food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate have been strongly linked to hyperactivity in children, triggering renewed vigor in the decades-long campaign by activists to ban artificial food additives from food marketed to children."
PSYCHE/SELF
~ Social skills spell success in school -- "Good manners and basic social skills such as taking turns are just as important to kids' success in school as a focus on reading, writing and arithmetic, a new book suggests."
~ This Wednesday: Nine tips for giving yourself an energy boost in the next TEN MINUTES -- "It’s hard to feel happy when you’re dragging around. Simple tasks seem overwhelming, people seem annoying, and nothing seems fun."
~ a question of integrity -- "these “integrity questions” are focused mostly around what i would call our civic and professional duties, and i think they’re important questions. often we seem to look at integrity only in reference to others. what about integrity vis-à-vis ourselves, our bodies, minds and spirit?"
~ What Guilt is Good For -- "Guilt is quite a useless feeling, unless it is used for something worthwhile. In other words, having done something that makes you feel guilty, the actual feeling of guilt is worth nothing to anyone, particularly for the other person, unless you use the feeling to change something in you."
~ The Body Has a Mind of Its Own [Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)] -- "This quiet but well-written book explores the interconnection between the environment, the body and the brain; discusses that the body is more just than a container for the brain and a vehicle that moves it around; and reveals how the brain depends upon sensory feedback from the environment in order to develop properly."
~ False Memories vs Veridical Recall: Negative Correlations Among Adults [Developing Intelligence] -- "Cognitive scientists are increasingly aware of how individual differences can confound experimental results. That is, differences in group means cannot always be interpreted clearly if, for example, only some subset of individuals in each group demonstrates the effect. Consequently, even the oldest paradigms in cognitive psychology are undergoing a revival with new mixed experimental/correlational methods."
~ The High Price of a Broken Heart -- "Yes, you can die from heartbreak."
~ How to Cure your Road Rage -- "Do you find yourself getting angry while driving? Is that an understatement? Does your blood boil? Do you curse like a sailor and secretly wish to launch projectiles at fellow drivers? Would you like to break this cycle of road rage? Well you can and it's not that hard to do." I posted this for me, mostly.
~ How to Accept Criticism with Grace and Appreciation -- "How do you deal with criticism? I think the first reaction for most of us is to defend ourselves, or worse yet to lash back. And yet, while criticism can be taken as hurtful and demoralizing, it can also be viewed in a positive way: it is honesty, and it can spur us to do better. It’s an opportunity to improve."
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Towers Fell, and Attitudes Were Rebuilt -- " Ms. Faludi, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of two previous books, was perplexed by the cultural fallout from that day. What she found, she says, was a powerful resurgence in traditional sex roles and a glorification of he-man virility as embodied by Wayne, the ur-savior of virtuous but helpless damsels in distress." She has a point, but she's filtering a larger issue through her pet meme of gender politics.
~ Poetry Prize Sets Off Resignations at Society -- "The board of the Poetry Society of America has been rocked by a string of resignations after a dispute over the society’s choice for an annual award." This is a political correctness issue -- can and should a writer's body of work be separate from his personal views?
~ Sarah Kernochan: Across the Universe: Acid Redux -- "Even more shaming, when my kid asks me what it was like in, say, 1967, what instantly springs to mind is lying, more or less unclothed, in the summer grass and looking up at the sky and being both in the grass and in the sky, and filling up with so much love I could have burst into smithereens. Yup, that's my Proustian souvenir: acid (blotter variety)."
~ Kim Morgan: Bugs in the Belfry: The Crazy Genius of Bug -- "As I sat in the theater (I saw the movie alone, on my birthday, which was an oddly perfect personal present) I heard jeers, witnessed walk-outs and when the credits rolled, grumblings of "wanting my money back." I however, couldn't wait for the fascinating freak-out to come out on DVD. Happily, since yesterday, it has done just that, and after watching the picture for the second time, I'm re-running my review. If you missed it on the big screen, now's your chance to catch up on one of this year's best movies. Or rather, catch this Bug."
~ Should Schools Fingerprint Your Kids? -- "Some schools believe it is a way to make lunch lines more efficient. Parents see "Big Brother" lurking."
~ Hirsh: Bob Gates Scores Quiet Victories -- "To little notice, the Defense secretary has gotten his way on Iraq, and possibly on Iran. Now, Gates is about to appoint a former top Clinton official to prove he means business."
~ A Historic Loss for U.S. Women’s Soccer -- "The once dominant American team has its championship dream crushed by Brazil." Never bench a goalie with 300 shut-out minutes in the World Cup.
~ Blackwater Blamed for Guard Deaths -- "Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war in 2004 by sending an unprepared team of guards into an insurgent stronghold, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, says a congressional investigation."
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Flesh-eating strain of MRSA spreads to schools and gyms -- "The MRSA superbug is invading homes, schools and gyms, scientists have warned. And the strain found in the community is a particular threat to young, healthy people." Never touch your face while in the gym, and wash your hands regularly.
~ Why have municipal Wi-Fi networks been such a flop? -- "It's hard to dislike the idea of free municipal wireless Internet access. Imagine your town as an oversized Internet cafe, with invisible packets floating everywhere as free as the air we breathe. That fanciful vision inspired many cities to announce the creation of free wireless networks in recent years. This summer, reality hit—one city after another has either canceled deployments or offered a product that's hardly up to the hype. In Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and even San Francisco, once-promising projects are in trouble. What happened—was the idea all wrong?"
~ Spatial Patterns In Tropical Forests Can Help To Understand Their High Biodiversity -- "In a study published in the American Naturalist a German-Sri Lankan research team has now undertaken thousands of spatial pattern analyses to paint an overall picture of the association between tree species in one of these plots in Sri Lanka."
~ Nanowire Generates Power By Harvesting Energy From The Environment -- "As the sizes of sensor networks and mobile devices shrink toward the microscale, and even nanoscale, there is a growing need for suitable power sources. Because even the tiniest battery is too big to be used in nanoscale devices, scientists are exploring nanosize systems that can salvage energy from the environment. Researchers have now shown that a single nanowire can produce power by harvesting mechanical energy."
~ Cockroaches Are Morons In The Morning, Geniuses In The Evening -- "In its ability to learn, the cockroach is a moron in the morning and a genius in the evening. Dramatic daily variations in the cockroach's learning ability are reported in a new study. The few studies that have been done with mammals suggest their ability to learn also varies with the time of day."
~ Exotic Parrots Return to Cook Islands -- "Two centuries after a dazzlingly feathered parrot called the Rimitara lorikeet disappeared from the Cook Islands, a breeding colony of the birds has been re-established with the help of the islands' royalty."
~ In Hot Water: Ice Age Defrosted by Warming Ocean, Not Rise in CO2 -- "Warmer waters in the deep Pacific triggered the end of the last ice age, preceding the rise in greenhouse gas levels."
~ Mars Rover Reaches Crater Sweet Spot -- "The rover Opportunity rolls into a huge Martian carter."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Addressing Comments From the Meditation Thread -- "At the end of last year I wrote a post detailing the fact that meditation is far from a common or universal practice in Buddhism; indeed, meditating Buddhists are well in the minority. A terrific discussion ensued, both at this blog and in other venues."
~ Relating to Buddhist Monks and Nuns -- "As Buddhism permeates our western culture, more and more students are taking ordination. Ven. Robina Courtin provides insight into the role of the sangha (monastics) in our communities, guidance in how to relate and support them in their spiritual life. Ven. Monlam helps us understand the importance of monasticism to keep the Buddhist teachings present." Audio.
~ Numskulls, Dumskulls and the Evolution of the Mind -- "So I have betaken myself to a cafe where I have been preparing my next class in my Introduction to Consciousness series. Tomorrow we are looking at the idea of the Cartesian Theatre, and trying to gnaw away at that persistent hunch that we humans seem to have that somewhere lurking in the brain or the mind there is a little homunculus who is taking in all the data and then, little the rational little philosopher that he is, pulling the right levers to cause us to act."
~ the solution -- "Sometimes the uneasy heart demands a solution: There must be a resting place, a place where all of this is resolved and easy and doesn't nag or whisper or nudge or irritate the scene. There MUST be!"
~ The Soporific Warrior -- "It's too late for me; save yourself! Two hours, anyway. Don't watch 'Peaceful Warrior.'" Liz wasn't entertained.
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thanks for the mention!
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