Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Speedlinking 6/27/07

Quote of the day:

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."
~ George Santayana

Image of the day (Tristan Campbell):


BODY
~ Blood on the Barbell: Robertson -- "As we read this article, we realized that while Mike Robertson had come up with a solid strength/powerlifting program, he'd also simultaneously come up with a pretty good bodybuilding program! Talk about multi-tasking!"
~ Weight Management Program Improves Body Fat Levels, Diabetes Risk Factors For Overweight Children -- "Children who participated in a family-based weight management program designed for inner-city minority children had better outcomes regarding weight gain, body fat, body mass index (BMI) and insulin sensitivity compared to children who received traditional weight counseling in a clinic, according to a study in the June 27 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on chronic diseases of children." Further proof that our obesity problems need an integral approach.
~ Comprehensive Research Study Disproves Common Muscle Building Myth -- "A peer-reviewed research study published in 2007 reveals that there isn't a superior mode of strength training for inducing muscle growth. www.weight-lifting-workout-routines.com an innovative fitness website, is using the findings of this study and other recent studies to develop a new muscle building system for men and women." Nearly ANY good program will work for a while -- but we should switch up the program every four to six weeks.
~ Get real about getting in shape -- "Find out how to make your weight goals realistic."
~ Antidepressants pose low risk to fetuses -- "Newborns face little risk of birth defects from antidepressants taken by many women early in pregnancy, say the reassuring findings of the two biggest studies of this controversial link."
~ Calcium from diet best for building bone density -- "Women who want to keep their bones strong after menopause may be better off eating plenty of calcium-rich food than relying on supplements for their intake of the mineral, a new study shows."
~ Placebo effect seen in acupuncture studies -- "Acupuncture can bring some relief to people with knee arthritis, but the benefits may be at least partly from a placebo effect, a new research review suggests."
~ Gila Monster Spit Could Be a Weight-Loss Hit -- "Overweight people with diabetes may not find the Gila monster quite so monstrous anymore, thanks to a new weight-loss drug that mimics a compound in the creature's spit." Great, now we'll have people wandering around the deserts outside of Tucson trying to lock lips with some poor Gila Monster.


PSYCHE
~ Logging On and Letting it Out: Grieving Online -- "Internet Surfers Share Emotions With Strangers on Blogs and Forums."
~ Heart may react to tragic anniversaries -- "A woman whose defibrillator activated one week to the hour after her father died, and recorded the event, may provide the first documented evidence of “anniversary reaction,” doctors reported."
~ Are Babies More Conscious than Adults? -- "Baby brains, Gopnik says, exhibit a much broader plasticity than adults' and have a general neurochemistry similar to the neurochemistry involved in adult attention. Babies learn more quickly than we do, and about more things, and pick up more incidental knowledge outside a narrow band of attention. Gopnik suggests that we think of attention, in adults, as something like a mechanism that turns part of our mature and slow-changing brains, for a brief period, flexible, quick learning, and plastic -- baby-like -- while suppressing change in the rest of the brain." This sounds like the pre/trans fallacy in action.
~ God deigned to instruct his creation [Pharyngula] -- "The omnipotent and omniscient Lord of the Universe, Creator of All, charged with the detonation of supernovae, the majestic movement of whole galaxies, the grand march of all of history and all of time, spoke." I post this mostly for the humor aspect of it.
~ This Wednesday: Seven tips for making someone like you -- "Well, no. You can't actually MAKE someone like you. But you can behave in ways that will make it slightly more likely."
~ Brain scans show meditation changes minds, increases attention -- "For hundreds of years, Tibetan monks and other religious people have used meditation to calm the mind and improve concentration. This week, a new study shows exactly how one common type of meditation affects the brain."
~ A study confirms the importance of sexual fantasies in the experience of sexual desire -- "Scientists of the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment of the University of Granada (Universidad de Granada) have studied how some psychological variables such as erotophilia (positive attitude towards sexuality), sexual fantasies and anxiety are related to sexual desire in human beings."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Implicit attitudes: How children develop biases about race [Cognitive Daily] -- "In connection to Monday's posting, Other-race faces: Why do they seem different?, I thought readers would be interested in a post from early last year concerning implicit attitudes on race. The link to the original post is above if you would like to see previous comments."
~ Subpoenas Out for VP’s Office, White House -- "The Senate Judiciary Committee is going big-game hunting with a slew of subpoenas related to the Bush administration’s controversial eavesdropping program. Chairman Patrick Leahy has signed subpoenas for Dick Cheney’s office, the White House, the Justice Department and the National Security Council."
~ Beware the Magical IPhone -- "There's been a lot of media attention directed at the iPhone recently. Some of it has been positive, some negative, but none have come forth to acknowledge the obvious, sinister context of Apple's latest toy. This device is obviously designed to introduce our children to witchcraft and sorcery."
~ Slate's Summer Movies issue -- "We hear the sound of a Michael Bay movie in the distance. Bruce Willis is blowing up stuff with that guy from the Mac ads. We finally finished Proust. It must be time, then, for another edition of the Slate Summer Movies issue."
~ Healthcare's War Against Sicko -- "With his controversial film opening nationwide, the big money behind big medicine is ready to battle Michael Moore."
~ Taxpayer Loss, Halliburton Gain -- "A new report on Halliburton's role in the failed reconconstruction of Iraq documents how profits of the merchants of death are rising, Robert Scheer reports."
~ Campaign Matters: Ann Coulter, Out of Control -- "She suggests on 'Good Morning, America' that John Edwards should be killed. Why do the networks continue to give this woman airtime? " See also: Coulter's words help Edwards raise cash (AP).


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ U.S. Bald Eagle Numbers Making Recovery -- "The American bald eagle, a national symbol once almost wiped out by hunters and DDT poisoning, has not only survived but is thriving. The Interior Department will announce on Thursday it is removing the majestic bird from the protection of the Endangered Species Act, capping a four-decade struggle for recovery."
~ Bisphenol A - the epicenter of politicized science [A Blog Around The Clock] -- "Several of my grad school buddies worked on some aspect or other of neuroendocrinology, including environmental endocrine disruptors, including Bisphenol A itself (none of their work is cited in this article, though), so I am quite familiar with the topic through them and their manuscripts, talks, thesis defenses, seminar speakers they invited, and chat over beer. But this article reveals much, much more...."
~ Cheney's "Humpty-Dumpty World": Not Just After Human Foes, He's Undermining the Environment All the While [The World's Fair] -- "When your grandchildren ask the inevitable question -- "Was Dick Cheney real?" -- you would do well to pull out this week's four-part series in The Washington Post to verify that he truly existed. Today's feature, the fourth part, addresses the means by which Cheney has consistently and disturbingly sacrificed environmental and human health for the sake of near-term corporate profit."
~ East Antarctic Ice Sheet Stable -- "The world's largest ice sheet isn't melting yet, say researchers."
~ Earth's Inner Heat Keeps Cities Afloat -- "Hot rocks deep inside the Earth keep North America above sea level."
~ Egypt's Pharaoh Hatshepsut Said Found -- "Forensic technology leads to what's considered the biggest discovery since King Tut."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ New Categories -- Dating God has restructured the site to fit into Wilber's Integral Map -- looks interesting.
~ Living With an Open Heart -- "I’m procrastinating. I’m scared. One more bite of toast. One more reason why I’m not comfortable at this table… one more excuse to keep me from going into what is present in me in this moment."
~ On Being and Becoming -- "The person asking the question is obviously lost in a one-step approach to awakening, and Andrew does him a great service by suggesting a two-step framework, wherein an awakened return to time and manifestation may complement the first step of dropping into the Ground. I would suggest, however, that another step is necessary before even the first step is made, namely, developing a wise and constructive relationship to self, small "s", the conditional self that Andrew keeps calling ego, as many teachers wrongly do, apparently for no reason whatsoever." Includes video.
~ Integrating the Co-essential Darkness of the Cosmological Unfolding -- "We live in times of the witnessing of global transformation. Such a scale of planetary changes has happened before, but humans are integral to this one – participating in and witnessing it. These times have been expressed and foretold by different religious traditions...."
~ I-I + Zaadz = Free ILP Stuff -- "For all you integral junkies who are not subscribed to Zaadz: Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism newsletter, here's something that might interest you: Zaadz, Integral, and something for you.
~ Mutuality of being with and inquiry -- "I keep noticing a mutuality between the practices of being with whatever arises (especially emotions) and of inquiry into beliefs."
~ Roundup on June 27, 2007 -- "Well, well, well. Here-ya-go, buddhoblog-reading world. It's not stuff I planned [per Wed's post], quite -- but its good stuff, hot to the touch, from the heart of the Buddhist blogging world."


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