Thursday, May 03, 2007

Speedlinking 5/3/07

Quote of the day:

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast
~ Lewis Carroll

Image of the day:


BODY
~ South Beach Diet review -- "The South Beach Diet is not a traditional low-carb plan. Instead, you'll be encouraged to choose the right carbs, such as whole grains and certain fruits and vegetables; the right fats, such as olive, and canola oil; and lean sources of protein." For those who want a well-known diet, this is the one I recommend.
~ Eat My Meat, The Sequel -- "Screw that Spiderman sequel! We've got the only sequel that matters: the next installment of Dave Tate's "Eat my Meat." Oh, and you'll want to get a bench shirt after looking at one of the pictures in this article, guaranteed."
~ Once-a-year shot can prevent osteoporosis: study -- "The Novartis osteoporosis drug Reclast, given once a year, reduces the risk of broken bones for three years but may spark an abnormal heart rhythm in some patients, researchers said on Wednesday." Or you could just train with weights.
~ Tamoxifen Protects Certain Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer (HealthDay) -- "Tamoxifen helps prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease who have also had their ovaries removed as part of a hysterectomy, researchers report."
~ Hydrotherapy, Tai Chi can ease osteoarthritis -- "Both water-based exercise and the Chinese exercise system Tai Chi can help older people with severe arthritis move and feel better, researchers from Australia report."
~ Caffeinated Sunflower Seeds Offer Jolt -- "The seeds are marketed as chewable caffeine for those who need a boost." If they could figure out a way to combine whey protein, walnuts, and caffeine, I 'd be in heaven.
~ Shape Up Like Spider Man -- "[W]ith the superhero workout below, you can shape up like Spider-Man, too. But these three activities aren’t for the weak. If you’re a beginner, start slowly and work your way up to this challenge."


PSYCHE
~ FDA urges new adult warnings on antidepressants -- "All antidepressants should carry new warnings about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment, U.S. health officials proposed on Wednesday."
~ Monthly therapy keeps depression at bay for some -- "Women who recover from depression with the help of psychotherapy alone can stay well for as long as two years with monthly "maintenance" therapy, a new study shows."
~ Older people are better losers -- "A bad night at the bingo may not be as painful for older people – over-65s are less upset by loss than twenty-somethings, brains scans reveal."
~ Protecting Your Memory: A Full-time job? [Neurontic] -- "The more well-adjusted among us might fault Jakobson Ramin for her hysteria over the prospect of slower recall, but in some ways it's a good thing. Trust me. If you want to know everything there is to know about memory, put a journalist convinced she's losing hers on the job."
~ This Wednesday: Six tips for feeling better about yourself -- "When you’re feeling lousy about yourself, what can you do to feel better? Here’s the secret."
~ A Slow Smile Attracts -- "As a correspondent about my emotion research (still time to take part) reminded me, psychology research is not good at capturing change. Measurements tend to be fairly static, either looking at one slice of time or asking participants to average over a period. Which is why this research on smiling is so unusual."
~ How To Fight--and How Not To -- "There's a right way and a wrong way to argue."
~ Let Your Unconscious Mind Go to Work for You -- "Science is saying, “Wait a minute.” Literally, the message is, “Wait a minute.” Your most creative ideas do not come to you after you squint and make a thinking sound, “mmmmm.” Research is pointing to a better way to get the best answers: It’s through your unconscious mind."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Are social networking sites doomed to failure? [Cognitive Daily] -- "Once users saw that they were being censored, rather than simply voted down by their peers, a full-scale rebellion occurred, and hundreds of Digg users began submitting the code in a variety of creative formats. At its worst, the entire front page of Digg was completely populated by these articles."
~ Brief history of unbelief on PBS [Evolving Thoughts] -- "OK, Americans, a couple of years after the British saw it, you are being treated to Jonathon Miller's A Brief History of Unbelief, a three-part series on how atheism came to be possible in western society, such that it is now one of the larger "religious" divisions in our culture."
~ Edwards Rejects the "War on Terror" -- "As the phrase is treated with increasing skepticism in both parties, Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards is gambling that voters will agree it is outmoded."
~ Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Gonzales to Provide Rove Emails -- "Senators subpoenaed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Wednesday, ordering him to provide all e-mails related to presidential adviser Karl Rove and the firings of eight federal prosecutors."
~ The Notion: The Media, Impeachment & Kucinich -- "Snarky beltway pundits are mocking Dennis Kucinich's call for impeachment. But what's wrong with holding the President accountable?"
~ A President Gone AWOL -- "John Nichols writes that as Bush claims moral high ground by vetoing legislation that seeks to end a bungled war, former Iraq commanders say he consistently ignored their advice."
~ Reaction to 'D.C. Madam' Story Moves to Anger and Frustration -- "Reaction inside the administration, on K Street, and in Congress to the evolving "D.C. Mmadam" scandal has turned from titillation to frustration and anger that the alleged clients lied to officials about their practices, didn't do enough to protect their anonymity, and have waited too long to step down even though they know they are on Deborah Jeane Palfrey's list."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ 1.5 Million Species Going Extinct? -- "If you just heard the wake-up call regarding the many environmental problems harming our planet -- largely the result of humans unnecessarily tinkering with Mother Nature -- you haven't begun to see all the changes, according to this disturbing excerpt from the upcoming book, The Fragile Edge by Julia Whitty."
~ And the Green Design Awards Go To... -- "We're rolling out the green carpet and gawking at the winners of a recent spate of contests celebrating the best in sustainable design."
~ Study confirms the risk of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke outdoors -- "Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from secondhand tobacco smoke, according to a 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General. While the health risks associated with indoor secondhand smoke are well documented, little research has been done on exposure to toxic tobacco fumes outdoors."
~ Honeybee Die-Off Threatens Food Supply -- "If honeybees disapper, so could America's food supply."
~ Beer Maker, Scientists to Create Energy -- "Scientists and Australian beer maker Foster's are teaming up to generate clean energy from brewery waste water - by using sugar-consuming bacteria."
~ Researchers shed light on diet of early human ancestors -- "Eight years ago, the field of anthropology was rocked by isotopic evidence that suggested one-third of the diet of early human ancestors consisted of grasses and sedges, or the tissue of animals that ate such plants. The news puzzled scientists, who were unable to reconcile the results with what they knew about the teeth of human ancestors who lived more than 2 million years ago."
~ BP CEO resigns -- "John Browne, who's been head of oil giant BP for 41 years, abruptly resigned yesterday. Browne grew the lackluster company into the second largest oil company in the world; he also was among the first oil executives to proactively acknowledge the danger of climate change and encourage action." He resigned after lying in court about a homosexual relationship he was trying to keep quiet -- that's sad.
~ Princeton physicists connect string theory with established physics -- "String theory, simultaneously one of the most promising and controversial ideas in modern physics, may be more capable of helping probe the inner workings of subatomic particles than was previously thought, according to a team of Princeton University scientists."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Exploring labeling-images -- "The job of the mind is to produce thoughts, and one category of thoughts are these labels that take the form of images."
~ Thank you for the ILP -- "This week on Integral Spiritual Center...."
~ David Byrne & Daniel Levitin -- "David Byrne, the well known lead singer and songwriter of the seminal band Talking Heads, has had an extensive solo career, won an Academy Award for his work on The Last Emperor soundtrack, exhibited his artwork internationally, and authored five books, including, most recently, Arboretum. For 10 years, Daniel Levitin worked as a session musician, sound and recording engineer, and record producer. He is now the James McGill professor of behavioral neuroscience and music at McGill University and the author of The New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music. Recently at STK, in New York's Meatpacking District, the two traded ideas about music, language, and memory."
~ The substance of spiritual practice -- "What is the substance of spiritual practice? In Buddhism people may refer to seated or walking meditation, chanting, bowing/prostrations, lighting candles or incense, and visualization techniques. Yes, things things can be helpful and have their place, and they can be an anchor/touchstone for spiritual awareness and depth, but do they constitute the sum or even the bulk of spiritual practice (and we can for other sacred traditions list similar activities)?"
~ Trust -- "I find myself clinging to beliefs when I don’t trust myself to do otherwise. I suppose I think that if I don’t come armed with a belief of some sort, I won’t know what to do. And the most widely held beliefs are the best because I feel shored up by the common assent of others and don’t have to go it alone."
~ Buddhism and Humanism -- "When we think about Buddhism, it might be common that we do not suppose any relations between Buddhism and Humanism. But recently I have begun to notice the existence of much relation between Buddhism and Humanism, and I think that the recent enthusiastic approach of Euro-American Civilization to Buddhism might be related with such a humanistic tendency of the world history in the 21st Century."
~ Sangha Start-Up -- "So, how can we create Sangha without forcing it unnaturally? Here are my thoughts and observations about what makes Sangha work."


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