Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Speedlinking 11/27/07

Quote of the day:

"We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people."
~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Transform Your Physique Part II -- "In the second part of the introduction to Testosterone's new Physique Clinic, Coach Thibaudeau talks about genetic limitations, diet, motivation, supplementation, and "Size Kings." Find out if you've got a chance in hell of transforming that lump you call a body."
~ 4 Ways To Breathe Life Into Your Dying Workout -- "We've all been there before, the breaking point where working out begins to be a chore. Boredom in the gym can easily ruin your workout and potentially the whole day. Here are 4 tips to breathe life into your dying workout routine!"
~ Omega-3 Fatty Acids Protect Against Parkinson's, Study Finds -- "Omega-3 fatty acids protect the brain against Parkinson's disease, according to a study by Universite Laval researchers published in the online edition of the FASEB Journal, the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. This study, supervised by Frederic Calon and Francesca Cicchetti, is the first to demonstrate the protective effect of a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids against Parkinson's."
~ High-Carb Diet Raises Women's Diabetes Risk (HealthDay) -- "Black American women and Chinese women who ate foods high on the glycemic index -- which measures the effect of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels -- were at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, two new studies found." This is true for everyone, not just minority women.
~ Wine may calm inflammation in blood vessels -- "Adding to evidence that a little wine can do a heart good, a new study suggests that women who drink moderate amounts may have less inflammation in their blood vessels."
~ Forging friendships at the gym -- "Trainers, gym owners and exercisers themselves are realizing the benefits of fitness friendships."
~ The No Diet -- "Now here's an interesting thought; cutting calories does not have to mean going on a diet. Most people who want to lose weight think they have to go on a proven and well-thought out program prescribed by their doctor. Or they purchase the latest diet tome to hit the bookstore shelves. After several frustrating weeks of attempting to follow the latest in diet codes or shopping for complicated beach recipes, they give up and go back to their old habits." Good advice, except I'd say swap unhealthy fats for healthy fats, and eliminate simple carbs and replace them with high fiber carbs.


PSYCHE/SELF
~ Building Inner Strength: a Lesson from Tyler Durden -- "Some people just don’t get it. I’m sure you’ve encountered them throughout your life. They are the people who go through the motions of every-day life without much of an effort, never trying and never hoping for something better than mediocrity." One of my favorite movies, and the quote he cites is nearly Buddhist.
~ Night Horrors: The Perils of Parasomnias -- "Some suffer from unwanted sleep behavior, such as eating cat food sandwiches."
~ Materialism And Self-Esteem Linked In Children -- "Peer pressure, targeted marketing campaigns and bad parenting have all been blamed for increasing materialism in children. Until now, there has been little evidence showing when this drive for material goods emerges in kids and what really causes it."
~ "Just smile, you'll feel better!" Will you? Really? [Cognitive Daily] -- "Do people ever tell you to "just smile, you'll feel better"? If you're like our daughter Nora, you hear it a lot, and you get annoyed every time you hear it. Telling a teenager to smile is probably one of the best ways to ensure she won't smile for the next several hours. But the notion that "smiling will make you feel better" has actually been confirmed by research. There are several studies demonstrating that people are happier when they smile, at least in certain circumstances."
~ MDMA for PTSD -- "A lengthy article in last weekend's Washington Post Magazine discusses the work of Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) who has almost completed the first phase of a clinical study into the use of ecstasy as a therapeutic tool for post-traumatic stress disorder." It's about time this research began again. Before MDMA was scheduled as an illegal drug there was very promising research going on.
~ Relapse Prevention - Not Just for Alcoholics -- "I don't believe we should limit relapse prevention to addiction. I work with all kinds of patients, especially this time of year, on how to manage their symptoms so they don't relapse. For instance, with a hectic schedule, some depressed patients forget to take their medication. Couples who are trying out new, healthier behaviors often "throw out the rule book" while focusing on their holiday plans. People who have problematic eating issues are often tempted to forgo their treatment plans when presented with so many unhealthy food options."
~ 5 Tips for Dealing with Guilt -- "Guilt is an emotional warning sign that most people learn through their normal childhood social development. Its purpose is to let us know when we’ve done something wrong, to help us develop a better sense of our behavior and how it affects ourselves and others. It prompts us to re-examine our behavior so that we don’t end up making the same mistake twice."
~ Is Depression Contagious? -- "How to keep depression from spreading."
~ Being Happy: Enjoyable Activities Beat Improved Life Circumstances -- "Being happy and staying happy is all about our day-to-day activities according to this theory of sustainable happiness. Research suggests that the contributions to our happiness are 50% genetic, 10% from our life circumstances and fully 40% determined by our day-to-day activities. But what evidence is there for this theory?"


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ The Nexus between History and the Self -- "In viewing humanity in its historicity as the primary subject of philosophy, Vico had in mind something very similar to what after Heidegger we describe as “humanity’s being in the world.” Vico, like Heidegger, pointed out that the puzzling nature of humanity is characterized by its being not just the theme of philosophical knowledge but also its very subject and bearer of it. For Vico, history is always a form of experience of the self. It obeys the ancient command 'know thyself.'"
~ Our view on college football: How to choose a champion -- "College football lacks a playoff for the simple reason that entrenched interests — principally the major bowl organizations that host their games each January and get the title game every four years, the six major conferences that are allied with them, and the four communities that host the major games — don't want a playoff. The status quo is a money machine for them, and they see no reason to change it, regardless of public interest."
~ Look Back in Awe -- "Even baby boom liberals who spent their youth in rebellion against the tranquilized 1950s have become homesick for its virtues."
~ God in the dust: What Catholics attacking 'The Golden Compass' are really afraid of -- "[E]ven before it opens, "The Golden Compass" finds itself at the center of a controversy. The Catholic League, a conservative religious organization, launched a campaign on Oct. 9 calling on all Catholics to boycott the film. The group also published a lengthy pamphlet attacking the story and distributed the pamphlet to Catholic schools across the country. Other groups have joined the fray, including the evangelical nonprofit Focus on the Family, whose magazine Plugged In urged parents to keep kids out of theaters showing the film. And the Christian blogosphere is alive with warnings not only about the movie trilogy, but also about the series of books it is based on."
~ The Youth Vote, the Culture Wars, and Barack Obama -- "Young voters are particularly important in this election, not because they alone will pick the next president, but because of what their increasingly progressive attitudes suggest about the evolution of politics."
~ 4 Reasons Consumers Brush Off Bad News -- "These powerful trends help explain why shoppers keep spending."
~ Beverly Tan: Why I F**cking Hate Starbucks -- "After all these years, I've reached a very important conclusion: I'm a simple kind of girl. I like my produce plain and unadorned. Most days, I only wear sunblock and lipgloss. I have never owned a blow dryer. I truly believe that sunshine and a long walk does more for your spirits than any self-help book. This, I suspect, is why I hate Starbucks."
~ "Evangelicalese 101" -- "Evangelicals are the swing voters to watch in 2008. At least, that's the impression one gets from the large number of news articles this group has stirred up this campaign season. It is safe to say, however, that no single demographic-white or black, rich or poor-has drawn as much media attention as evangelicals have in the last year, and probably the last four."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Photons denied a glimpse of their observer -- "Can photons tell if they're about to be watched? John Wheeler first proposed a means of resolving this bizarre possibility by coming up with a new twist on the double slit experiment almost 30 years ago. Now, physicists in France have performed the experiment for the first time (Science 315 966)."
~ Scientists create mouse gene able to target and kill cancer -- "Scientists have created a mouse they say is resistant to all types of cancer. The researchers discovered a cancer killing gene which, when genetically engineered into mice, caused their bodies to attack and kill cancer cells and leave healthy tissue unharmed." Wow, if we can do this in humans it would be huge.
~ Climate Change May Lead To Environmental Exodus -- "Climate change is the largest environmental change expected this century. It is likely to intensify droughts, storms and floods, which will undoubtedly lead to environmental migrations and potential conflicts in the areas migrated to."
~ 10 Solutions for Climate Change -- "The enormity of global warming can be daunting and dispiriting. What can one person, or even one nation, do on their own to slow and reverse climate change? But just as ecologist Stephen Pacala and physicist Robert Socolow, both at Princeton University, came up with 15 so-called "wedges" for nations to utilize toward this goal—each of which is challenging but feasible and, in some combination, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safer levels—there are personal lifestyle changes that you can make too that, in some combination, can help reduce your carbon impact."
~ The Decline and Fall of the Animal Kingdom -- "Some of the greatest moments in the history of biology slip from the world's memory, their anniversaries hardly noticed among the wars, bankruptcies and celebrity detoxifications. But before this month passes, let us stop to remember one of those great moments that came 30 years ago, in November 1977: the death knell of the animal kingdom."
~ Primates on the brink -- "Almost a third of all apes, monkeys and other primates are in danger of going extinct because of rampant destruction of their tropical habitat, the commercial sale of bush meat and the trade in illegal wildlife, a report warns."
~ Google investing hundreds of millions in green energy -- "Google announced Tuesday it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in ways to make "green" energy less costly than that from pollution-spewing coal."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ The Art of Self-Destruction -- "Are the souls of certain creative people particularly raw, that they are given to fortify themselves with alcohol or drugs and destroy their lives? It's not a new phenomenon, of course. There's a certain obsessive quality about the devotion that it takes to pursue the life of an artist despite all the obstacles encountered along the way. Few of those who attempt it rise beyond the level of mediocrity--not in terms of their work, perhaps, but how it is received or remembered in the course of years, decades, centuries...."
~ Envisioning an Integral Urban Habitat -- "In her essay, "An Integral City Adds Value to the Earth" (adapted from her forthcoming book) Marilyn Hamilton PhD describes cities as a whole systems like the human equivalent of a beehive. Hamilton proposes an 'integral meta-framework' to reframe cities as resilient, vibrant human habitats."
~ The Golden Buddha Is In Your Heart -- "Your peace of mind, happiness and gaiety - you waste all these precious assets by giving importance to silly issues. Even when you are confronted with sarcastic remarks, keep your cool and take it easy. It is easier said than done."
~ Owen Flanagan podcast on eudaimonistic theories -- "In the following lecture, the philosopher Owen Flanagan explores whether Buddhism is eudaimonistic. In so doing, he presents some interpretive points about the general structure of Buddhist ethics, and the plausibility of empirical claims about Buddhism and happiness."
~ The Process of Mastery - From Gross to Subtle -- "I was speaking with my Mom this morning, who is a committed martial artist (urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.ashevillesunyistkd.com');">tae kwon do style) and vipassana practitioner. She was sharing a recent event in which she was sparing with a beginning student and she found herself laughing every time either of them made a mistake. She apologized for doing so because she noticed that the guy she was sparing with was getting more and more frustrated with each mistake. Wondering why she would laugh at something like that, we reflected together on the process of mastery and how with any skill or discipline there is a move toward greater and great lightness, acceptance, and humor."
~ Is there media bias? -- "One of my points I mention there is how important the definitions of “liberal” and “conservative” are. One way, an important way, to differentiate the two is to determine how each sees the role of government (i.e., the State) in fixing problems. Here, “liberal” relates to progressivism, or a desire to use the State towards the remedy of a social ill; and “conservative” relates to libertarian (or “classical liberal”) which would rather have individuals, civic associations, and other non-State-based solutions to the same social ill." Check this out -- it's a part a response to something I posted this morning.
~ zen brain, selfless insight -- Roshi Joan Halifax -- "As indicated, we are hoping to see many of you at this important zen brain science program. Your contribution to the development of research in this area will be invaluable. Here is a description of what will happen....... Please distribute to your networks and colleagues via your elists, on your websites, and announcements at your organizations. We have few places left in the program and hope that you and your people will be attending." Includes all conference info needed.


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