Monday, October 22, 2007

Speedlinking 10/22/07

Quote of the day:

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."
~ Bill Vaughan

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Anatomy of a pull-up -- "One of the best exercises you can perform for your upper body is a pull-up. Not only is it a convenient exercise that you can do almost any place that has a bar or something to hang from, but it is a great compound lift that will work a variety of your muscles."
~ The Secret to Motor Unit Recruitment -- "Chad thinks it's time to cut the crap about motor unit recruitment. He feels there's a fundamental misunderstanding about the subject and he doesn't know whether the truth was simply forgotten, or never learned in the first place."
~ Overtraining: Learn The Causes, How To Identify, & Prevention Tips -- "I have had a number of people report to me with similar complaints: fatigue, muscle tension, prolonged soreness... After a thorough review I discovered they had been overtraining. Get details on causes, identification tips, and more right here!"
~ Well Blog: Five Easy Ways to Go Organic -- "Choosing just a few organic foods can make a big difference."
~ The benefits of cinnamon -- "Many people enjoy the taste of cinnamon and begin adding it regularly to their foods. Little do they know however that there are actually a few health benefits they are receiving at the same time."
~ Whole grain cereals cut heart failure risk: study -- "Eating whole grain cereals has already shown promise for lowering blood pressure and warding off heart attacks, but it may also significantly reduce the risk of heart failure, U.S. researchers said on Monday." Fiber is the key, so be sure the whole cereals are also high in fiber.
~ 28 Ways to Lose Weight Effortlessly -- "An extra 40 calories per day may not seem like much, but consider this - If you were to cut a mere 40 calories a day from your diet, you would lose at least a pound in three months, or four pounds in a year!"
~ Tests reveal high chemical levels in kids' bodies -- "Michelle Hammond and Jeremiah Holland were intrigued when a friend at the Oakland Tribune asked them and their two young children to take part in a cutting-edge study to measure the industrial chemicals in their bodies."


PSYCHE/SELF
~
Sleep loss linked to psychiatric disorders -- "It has long been assumed that sleep deprivation can play havoc with our emotions. This is notably apparent in soldiers in combat zones, medical residents and even new parents. Now there's a neurological basis for this theory, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard Medical School."
~ Positive thinking doesn't stop cancer: US scientists (AFP) -- "Cancer patients' state of mind has no influence on their survival chances, according to a US study released Monday that contradicted a widespread belief in the power of positive thinking." Maybe, maybe not -- but giving up is a sure way to weaken the immune system.
~ understanding guilt: is it useful? -- "what is guilt? we usually think that guilt is a feeling. however, it is not a primary emotion like fear or happiness, sadness or even shame. it is more complex."
~ If You Want to Change Your Life, Change Your Thoughts -- "The purpose of this article is to motivate you to take action on creating the life you want and to provide some basic direction on how to do that. If you're dissatisfied with some part of your life, know that you have the power to change it and it all starts with your thoughts!"
~ What to Do When It’s All Too Much -- "We lifehackistes talk about and write about productivity as a way of dealing with the everyday distractions and time-sinks that prevent us from getting our important work done — whether that’s career-related tasks or following our personal goals. But what happens when everything falls apart? When disaster strikes and it takes everything you have to deal with it?"
~ Everyone Loves a Bully -- "Kids who harass others aren't outcasts with low self-esteem."
~ Destructive Eating Behaviours: Destructive Pressures -- "I think that it is of utmost importance that campaigns 'against obesity' should not make an underclass of overweight children who it is OK to treat however we like, because the health police and media are on our side. Both teasing, and pushing overweight teenagers to diet are likely to increase the likelihood of them discovering, and getting stuck in, destructive eating patterns."
~ Eight Keys to a Happier Marriage -- "Newly weds are often asked ‘how’s married life?’ As with everything in life, the answer depends on you. For some, marriage is another word for frustration and even misery. For others it is the bedrock of strength and support they build the rest of their lives around."
~ Should Alzheimer's Be Renamed Type III Diabetes? -- "In a breakthrough study, published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology by Dr. Wei-Qin Zhao, the exact mechanism through which plaques impair memory is illuminated. Surprisingly, it has to do with the inability to utilize insulin, just as with Type II diabetes."
~ DID/PTSD not FMS -- "Translation of post header: dissociative identity disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder are not false memory syndrome."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Deepak Chopra: The Discreet Charm of the Ruling Class -- "Elected officials are sent to Washington to govern but not to rule. This may sound like a question of semantics or at best a fine distinction. But rulership isn't a legitimate part of democracy."
~ Barbara Ehrenreich: Happy Fascism Awareness Week! -- "I've never been able to explain Halloween to the kids, with its odd thematic confluence of pumpkins, candy, and death. But Halloween is a piece of pumpkin cake compared to Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, which commences today. In this special week, organized by conservative pundit David Horowitz, we have a veritable witches' brew of Cheney-style anti-jihadism mixed in with old-fashioned rightwing anti-feminism and a sour dash of anti-Semitism."
~ WorkPlace: What If the Rich Never Stopped Getting Richer and Everyone Else Continued to Tread Water? -- "A new novel envisions a near and fearsome future that just might scare America straight to a more equitable here and now."
~ The Concession Speech -- "The Red Sox eliminate the Indians, leaving Scott Raab to teach his third-grade son how to deal with defeat -- by telling people to go to hell. UPDATED!"
~ Alabama Prescribes a Bible Textbook -- "The state's school board has approved a text for studying the Bible's influence on history and culture, which is not the same thing as Bible-study. Will other states follow suit?" If the book is not blatant propaganda, I could actually support this. It would be even better if the class looked at how religion -- in general -- shaped and influenced cultural evolution in many cultures.
~ The Notion: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- "The harbingers of modern-day doom are called Efficiency, Convenience, Profitability, and Security."
~ Perkins: Giuliani supports marriage amendment -- "Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, told The Hill Saturday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Perkins said Giuliani told him in a private meeting that if the Defense of Marriage Act appeared to be failing or if multiple states began to legalize same-sex marriages, then he would support the constitutional amendment." Rudy just lost 20-30% of popular election voters.


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Rise in atmospheric CO2 accelerates as economy grows, natural carbon sinks weaken -- "Human activities are releasing carbon dioxide faster than ever, while the natural processes that normally slow its build up in the atmosphere appear to be weakening. These conclusions are drawn in a new study in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 22-26. The report states that “together, these effects characterize a carbon cycle that is generating stronger-than-expected climate forcing sooner than expected.”"
~ Antarctic Ozone Hole Shrinking Because Of Mild Weather, Not Recovery -- "Although the ozone layer over the Antarctic this year is relatively small, this is due to mild temperatures in the region's stratosphere this winter and is not a sign of recovery, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization has said. As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, temperatures will fall in the stratosphere, increasing the threat of severe ozone holes in the future."
~ Florida's butterfly population struggles -- "The diversity of South Florida's tropical butterfly population is "compromised," experts from the North American Butterfly Association said."
~ Nanowire Manipulation Could Lead to Hand-Held Supercomputers -- "Researchers have been working on nanowires and microchips so tiny that they could be used to build supercomputers that could fit in the palm of your hand. Hopefully, the nanowires will eventually lead to small, powerful gadget such as hand-held PCs, mobile phones as powerful as laptops, and medical advances."
~ Energy poses major 21st century crisis: scientists -- "Energy poses one of the greatest threats facing humanity this century, the world's leading academies of science warned Monday, highlighting the peril of oil wars and climate change driven by addiction to fossil fuels."
~ Birth of Antarctic Iceberg Imaged from Space -- "Large iceberg calves off West Antarctic Ice Sheet."
~ Coral Reefs On Brink Of Disaster, Scientists Urge Action Now -- "Over 50 scientists of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies have declared the following statements unanimously. We call on all societies and governments to immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without targeted reductions, the ongoing damage to coral reefs from global warming will soon be irreversible."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Two kinds of theology -- "A neat little section within the chapter in Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book that deals with reading books of philosophy is called “A Note on Theology”, which begins this way...."
~ Greetings from the (Progressive) Buddhist Society of Lebanon -- "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paul Jahshan, Lebanese, currently teaching American/English Studies at Notre Dame University in Lebanon. A Christian by birth and upbringing, I have been interested in Buddhism for the last twenty years and, probably like many of you, went through the different Buddhist "flavours," beginning with Theravada, then Mahayana, then more specifically Zen, and now back to a personal form of Theravada...."
~ Expand Your Mind - Learn a Language (for Free!) -- "Languages are more than just tools of communication. At their root, they are tools of thought. Someone who speaks a different language than you do isn't just using different words to tokenize reality differently; they're approaching reality from a differing perspective."
~ Reflection on (my) Conscious Relationship -- "Anyaa left again late last night, on a red-eye home. After spending almost 10 days (and nights) together in Seattle this month, she arrived in North Carolina this morning and was picked up at the Asheville airport by a friend and Anyaa's amazing Shamanic Girl Dog, Miss Lily, a Westie Terrier."
~ The Radical Spirituality of Generation X, Part 14: Kabbalah and Aikido -- "I first heard about Aikido in a slender volume entitled, Zen in the Martial Arts, by Joe Hyams (Bantam Books, New York, 1982). One chapter explained its essential principles as a defensive, nonviolent expression of Japanese religious philosophy. Although it was to be years before I actually found an Aikido dojo (studio) and saw Aikido in action, I was hooked. I now knew that such a martial art, as I had only hoped and dreamed that I would find, did in fact exist in reality."
~ Buddhist Geeks 42: From the Point of View of Insight Meditation -- "In the 2nd part of our conversation with Sharon Salzberg, Gwen Bell speaks to her about a number of fascinating subjects. They begin with Sharon’s experience writing for secular publications, such as Oprah’s O Magazine and her experience writing her most recent book, Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience. They also discuss some periods of Sharon’s practice where she was confronting the “banality of her own mind” and a large amount of suffering and despair."


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