Thursday, May 17, 2007

Speedlinking 5/17/07

Quote of the day:

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
~ Unknown

Image of the day (David Winston):


BODY
~ Lower Risk For Diabetes Associated With Grain Fiber And Magnesium Intake -- "Higher dietary intake of fiber from grains and cereals and of magnesium may each be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a report and meta-analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.Projections indicate that the number of people diagnosed with diabetes worldwide may increase from 171 million in 2000 to 370 million by 2030, according to background information in the article." It's the fiber, not the grains -- you can get good fiber in vegetables as well.
~ Muscle Mythbusters: The 2007 ASEP National Conference -- "The American Society of Exercise Physiologists meets to bust up some myths and our Dr. Lowery was there. Find out why warm-ups may be worthless, how lactic acid may actually be good for us, and how weight lifting burns a lot more calories than we thought. All that and a whole lot more."
~ Insulin May Affect Response to Type of Diet -- "In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (abstract free, full study requires subscription), researchers have found a link between insulin concentration and response to diets. Individuals with high insulin secretion levels may lose more weight by following a low-glycemic diet." Most obese people secrete A LOT of insulin.
~ Exercise May Lead To Improvement In Patients With Parkinson's - USC Study On Dopamine Effects Shows Potential Benefits In Balance And Stability -- "A new study from researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) shows that treadmill exercises may benefit patients with Parkinson's Disease and those with similar movement disorders. The study is led by USC neuroscientist Michael Jakowec, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology and appears in the May 16 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience."
~ Testosterone May Help Men With Multiple Sclerosis -- "A small pilot study suggests that testosterone treatment is safe, well tolerated and may reduce symptoms, slow brain degeneration and increase muscle mass in men with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease, according to a report in Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals."
~ Lower Risk Of Age-Related Macular Disease And Higher Intake Of Fish And Vitamin D Levels Linked -- "Individuals who have higher dietary intake of foods with omega-3 fatty acids and higher fish consumption have a reduced risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, while those with higher serum levels of vitamin D may have a reduced risk of the early stages of the disease, according to two reports in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals."
~ The Benefits of a Gluten - and Casein - Free Diet -- "Research has proven the importance of a GFCF diet (gluten-free and casein-free) for many of the following conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Celiac, Depression, Weight-Loss, Psoriasis, Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Chron’s Disease, Schizophrenia, Ulcerative Colitis, Chronic Diarrhea Cystic Fibrosis."
~ Lipoic acid explored as anti-aging compound -- "Researchers said today they have identified the mechanism of action of lipoic acid, a remarkable compound that in animal experiments appears to slow down the process of aging, improve blood flow, enhance immune function and perform many other functions."


PSYCHE
~ The Benefits Of Social Contact -- "Have you ever wondered why people surrounded by friends or family appear happier and healthier? University of Virginia psychologist James Coan will set out to answer this question when he addresses the Association for Psychological Science's annual convention in Washington, DC, May 24th-27th."
~ Rare risks and irrational responses -- "Security guru Bruce Schneier has written an insightful article for Wired about rational precautions for rare risks, and why the typical response after a rare catastrophe is usually psychologically satisfying but practically irrelevant."
~ 'Might Have Been' Key In Evaluating Behavior -- "'What might have been' or fictive learning affects the brain and plays an important role in the choices individuals make - and may play a role in addiction, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers and others in a report that appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
~ New Research Probes The Context For Conflict In Conversation -- "A simple request, when placed in a certain context, has the potential to create conflict. This is epitomised in the phrase - 'does he take sugar"' - an approach society has learned to avoid when speaking about a disabled person. New research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) seeks to better understand the ways in which people strive to avoid disagreement in every-day conversation."
~ Positive self-esteem in youth can pay big salary dividends later in life -- "Believing in yourself may be good for the soul, but it can also be good for the bank account, according to a new University of Florida study that finds self-confidence can translate into earning hundreds of thousands of dollars more over a lifetime."
~ Emotions -- "Another simple minded look at a topic that comes up for me… emotions. Some of the ways I use to explore emotions." This is good stuff -- anything but simple.


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ India bans sex ed to preserve culture -- "Banning sex education on the grounds that it offends Indian sensibilities puts young lives at risk and jeopardizes the fight against AIDS, a senior health official said."
~ How to impeach Gonzales -- "The evidence uncovered in Gonzales' Senate and House testimony demonstrates that he fired Iglesias not because of a policy disagreement or a management failure, but because Iglesias would not misuse the power of the Department of Justice in the service of the Republican Party. To fire a U.S. attorney for refusing to abuse his power is the essence of an impeachable offense."
~ Hirsh: The Problem with Bush's New War Czar -- "Bush's new war 'czar' is nominally the president's man. But in reality, Doug Lute is fated to be powerless and can only preside over a worsening state of paralysis in Iraq."
~ Bush/Cheney/Addington/Yoo: "Fuck the 4th Amendment. Seriously! Fuck It! Bush Is Above the Law." -- "The growing speculation is that what Comey's testimoney revealed had to do with the Bush administration's complete and total disregard for the 4th Amendment in the institution of its spying policies."
~ Books & the Arts: Stop Making Sense -- "Colin Fleming uncovers a lost Russian literary movement that celebrated experimental narratives and absurdism."
~ Multiculturalism, citizenship and national identity | Tariq Modood -- "The idea of multiculturalism has faced a wave of criticism from voices who blame it for accentuating social division, reinforcing Muslim separateness and undermining national identity. But a developed view of multiculturalism can complement democratic citizenship and nation-building, says Tariq Modood."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Applebee's Nixes Trans Fat Frying Oil -- "Applebee's No Longer Using Trans Fat Frying Oil at Its Domestic Restaurants."
~ Improving on Wikipedia? -- "A new project called Digital Universe aims to make information on the Web better organized and more authoritative."
~ Study warns deepsea mining may pose serious threat to fragile marine ecosystems -- "Undersea habitats supporting rare and potentially valuable organisms are at risk from seafloor mining scheduled to begin within this decade, says a new study led by a University of Toronto Mississauga geologist."
~ Adaptive optics pinpoints 2 supermassive black holes in colliding galaxies -- "Astronomers have discovered the exact location and makeup of a pair of supermassive black holes at the center of a collision of two galaxies more than 300 million light years away."
~ Vital Ocean 'Carbon Sink' Nearly Full -- "Antarctica's Southern Ocean may soon reach its CO2 limit."
~ Environmental Groups Sue U.S. Navy Over Sonar Exercises off Hawaii -- "Five environmental groups is suing the Navy over sonar exercises off the coast of Hawaii that they say harm whales. Earthjustice filed the lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu on Wednesday, citing studies saying Navy sonar can 'kill, injure, or significantly alter the behavior of whales and dolphins.'"


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ The next Buddha will be a collective, part two -- "Yesterday’s contribution by Mushin was based on an earlier contribution by Helen in her Zaadz blog (a platform I normally dislike because of its explicit endorsement of capitalism) and I would like to reproduce some significant excerpts of her thoughts on the matter above."
~ Changing content or not? -- "This is a topic that has come up in conversation a few times recently… usually when I describe a pattern I notice in own experience, and the other saying something along the lines of “don’t try to change the content of experience”. It is good advice, but also a little too general and simplistic."
~ Is "The Cup" Half Empty or Half Full? -- "The Cup is a story inspired by true events. An unconventional film by a Buddhist director about Buddhists, it offers a glimpse into the clash of the "ancient" with the modern. Seen through the lives of young exiled Tibetan monks in India, it is a story of East meets West, of how the boys, who were supposed to have renounced the worldly, encounter and embrace the world through the microcosm of 1998's World Cup."
~ The Teacup and the Skullcup -- "I had a new book arrive today, The Teacup and the Skullcup: Chogyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for a while. This book is a drawn from two seminars that Trungpa did on Zen and Tantra in 1974, early in his teaching career."


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