Monday, July 02, 2007

Speedlinking 7/2/07

Quote of the day:

"All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why."
~ James Thurber

Image of the day (Tristan Campbell):


BODY
~ 3 Ways to Get Big! -- "No matter how you look at it, despite all the varied bodybuilding techniques, they're each based on one of the 3 different methodologies: Lifting heavy, constant tension, or volume. Christian tells ya' how to incorporate all 3 to build lots o' muscle!"
~ Scientists Discover How Stress Causes Obesity And How Fat Can Be Removed Using A Simple Injection -- "US Scientists have discovered how stress activates weight gain in mice and have also found a way to add and remove fat in targeted areas of the bodies of laboratory animals using simple, non-toxic chemical injections. The research is published in the online edition of Nature Medicine.The findings have been described as "stunning" and could revolutionize treatments for weight loss, obesity, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery in humans."
~ Stone Age Diet Good For People With Diabetes Type II -- "If you suffer from Diabetes Type II you might consider following the diet of Stone Age humans, according to scientists from Lund University, Sweden. In a human trial, researchers found the people with type II diabetes who followed an Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) diet for three months managed their carbohydrate consumption much better. Early humans did not consume cereals, dairy products, refined fat or sugar - agricultural products."
~ Study: Over 30 Pct. Report Alcohol Abuse -- "More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, and few have received treatment, according to a new government study. Alcoholics who got treatment first received it, on average, at about age 30 - eight years after they developed dependence on drinking, researchers reported...."
~ Hunger protein links stress, obesity -- "A neurotransmitter that acts as a central controller for appetite also regulates stress-induced obesity in the body's periphery, according to a paper in this month's Nature Medicine."
~ How to Avoid Summer's Health Woes -- "Experts explain strategies for preventing 6 common maladies from ruining your summer fun."
~ Fact or Fiction: Check Your Knowledge of Summer Foods -- "Tips Tell You How Long Mayo Will Last, How To Cook Meat."


PSYCHE
~ The Fight Against Depression Could Be Assisted By Adding Folic Acid To Bread -- "A unique study by researchers at the University of York and Hull York Medical School has confirmed a link between depression and low levels of folate, a vitamin which comes from vegetables.In research published in the July edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the York team led by Dr Simon Gilbody, concluded that there was a link between depression and low folate levels, following a review of 11 previous studies involving 15,315 participants." Or you could just eat your veggies.
~ A Little Love for the Guys: Why Do Girls Get All Crazy Sometimes? -- "You’re sitting there together watching Colbert and you’re poking your girl’s squish like any other day, just ‘cuz. Normally she just pushes your hand away and tells you to stop touching her fat (all two ounces of it) but today, for some reason, touching her indicates that you clearly think she is obese and do not love her or find her attractive. Why else would you be touching her? Obviously you are breaking up with her. Fine, she can do better anyway. What, you’re Mr. Perfect with your gut and receding hairline?"
~ Suicide Attempts Fall After Depression Treatment Begins -- "Suicide attempts dropped among people with depression soon after they started treatment, either with antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy, a study of more than 109,000 patients shows."
~ Rescue Remedy Is An Effective All-Natural Stress, Anxiety Reliever, New Study Shows -- "A just published scientific study conducted by researchers at the University of Miami School of Nursing in conjunction with The Sirkin Creative Living Center (SCLC) has found that Rescue Remedy™, an all-natural remedy created from flower essences, is an effective over-the-counter stress reliever with a comparable effect to traditional pharmaceutical drugs yet without any of the known adverse side effects, including addiction."
~ 16 Practical Tips for Solving Your Problems More Easily -- "I have found a few tips that have helped me solve problems more easily. I seldom use all of the tips for solving one problem and they aren’t arranged in any special order. However, I find doing some of these things early on can really help you solve the problem faster and with less struggle and pain."
~ To Teach Toddlers New Words Turn Off TV -- "Toddlers learn their first words better from people than from Teletubbies, according to new research at Wake Forest University. The study was published in Media Psychology.Children younger than 22 months may be entertained, but they do not learn words from the television program, said Marina Krcmar, associate professor of communication at Wake Forest and author of the study."
~ Am I Normal? -- "A more organic take on human nature is emerging. It sees behavior as a product of distinct personality traits that we all have to a greater or lesser degree. In this new view, we're all just a little bit crazy."
~ Passion Now -- "The minute we realize that we have feelings, and that they don’t ‘have’ us, we are in control of our lives again and can choose how to react to life around us."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Christian Reconstructionists Are Trying to Take Dominion in America -- and They Have Powerful Friends -- "A recent conference held by American Vision, a radical ministry that toils away to "help Christians build a truly Biblical worldview," displayed the growing organization of the dangerous Reconstructionist movement."
~ On Literature and Politics -- "It’s always been my feeling that the most important literature is that which challenges those “home truths,” and in so doing forces us to step outside the ideology of a particular cultural moment to see what lies beyond those self-imposed boundaries of belief and literary form that the theorist Hans Robert Jauss has termed our 'horizon of expectation.'"
~ Rebutting the claim that same-sex marriage demeans the institution -- "Conservatives have long made the argument that gay marriages will negatively affect straight marriages. In a 1996 congressional debate, Rep. Henry Hyde said the very idea of same-sex marriage "demeaned" his marriage. As if anticipating the more personal question of which of his three marriages would be most demeaned, Hyde jumped up a level of abstraction: "It demeans the institution." He is far from alone in this belief."
~ 10 Things Your Grocery Store Doesn’t Want You to Know -- "How we shop has become a science that’s studied endlessly. “Market researchers have worked for years to come up with ways to make sure shoppers see as many products as possible, because the more they see, the more they buy,” says Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating."
~ The problem with Michael Moore's policy ideas -- "Michael Moore's shtick cracks me up. As entertainment, most of his movies are great fun. In Sicko, though, he goes beyond his usual ranting. After spending the first half of the movie railing against the American health care system, he actually puts forward a policy prescription. Moore thinks the United States should adopt a free, single-payer, national health system like Canada, the United Kingdom, France or Cuba—socialized medicine, in the words of his critics."
~ McCain shakes up campaign after low cash (AP) -- "Republican John McCain reorganized his campaign Monday, cutting staff in every department as he raised just $11.2 million in the last three months and reported an abysmal $2 million cash on hand for his presidential bid."
~ Obama Touts Record Fundraising -- "Presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Monday resisted the temptation to talk about his whopping $31 million fundraising quarter -- for six minutes."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Marine worm opens new window on early cell development -- "University of Oregon biologists studying a common ocean-dwelling worm have uncovered potentially fundamental insights into the evolutionary origin of genetic mechanisms, which when compromised in humans play a role in many forms of cancer."
~ Death rates will rise because of global warming -- "Global warming will cause more deaths in summer because of higher temperatures but these will not be offset by fewer deaths in milder winters finds an analysis published online ahead of print in Occupational and Environment Medicine."
~ Building buried in Chinese emperor's tomb -- "Chinese archaeologists say a 98-foot high building was buried in the tomb of the country's first Emperor Qinshihuang some 2,000 years ago."
~ McDonald's to power U.K. delivery fleet with its own grease -- "Proving once again that everything's cooler in Europe, McDonald's has announced that it will run all its U.K. delivery vehicles on biodiesel -- from its own greasy grills! The chain will convert the 155-lorry fleet to a mix of 85 percent fry grease and 15 percent rapeseed oil...."
~ Texas Turns Sea Water Fresh -- "The Lonestar state kicks off a massive desalination project."
~ How Can Carbon Trading Save Peatlands and Rainforests? -- "The U.N. is due to report on proposed carbon-trading schemes that would make it more rewarding for countries to preserve their forests rather than cut them down. The report on "Reduced Emissions from Deforestation" (RED) will be presented at a climate change meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in Dec. 2007."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Roundup on July 1, 2007 -- "A picture by Michael, Gratitude, new blogs and the stream from recent days are on the card today of what's fresh and interesting in the buddhoblogosphere."
~ Are the Six Realms of Buddhism Real? -- "I personally do not believe that the six realms are actual "places" that exist outside of ourselves. That being said, I do not know for sure that they do not exist outside ourselves but I'd rather focus on the here and now then what "might" happen. I see these "realms" as states of consciousness being in our present awareness created by the power of our deluded minds."
~ History and Dharma, History and Dharma (2), and History and Dharma (3) -- Check it out -- this is good stuff.
~ Buddhist Geeks 26: Buddhist Geeks Highlights -- "In this episode, the three geeks gather at the urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.fallingfruit.tv');">Falling Fruit studio and reminisce about the first six months of Buddhist Geeks. Each discuss their favorite podcasts and posts. They also plug the new hot and sexy urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.cafepress.com');">Buddhist Geeks t-shirts. :) In the next episode the geeks will discuss feedback from the sangha and the future of Buddhist Geeks."
~ Words, Inner Worlds and Longings -- "It is said that every gift or strength that we have is accompanied with a shadow side. Light casts shadows; attributes that serve us can also inhibit us in other ways."
~ Module 3, Big Love Integral -- "Did you know you don't have to be in a relationship to be a Conscious Lover? It's true! By opening your heart to the world and the universe, you invite in conscious love, and with intention, perhaps even a future beloved (I've done this!)"
~ BLOG: What's Happening at Integral Institute? -- "But now it is appropriate that we turn this Integral wild West show over to professional management, and dramatically narrow the number of those types of projects, while deepening the bench on those projects that we are doing, and starting some entirely new projects, but as professionally-run ones from the start."


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