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Saturday 29 December 2007
DTR MRRG PLANS-20 YRS AHEAD
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Easy Ways to Prevent Overeating
////////////////////// Easy Ways to Prevent Overeating
From Jennifer R. Scott,Your Guide to Weight Loss.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
Make every Monday the day you recommit to living your healthiest life. Sign up for our free Healthy Monday newsletter full of tips on reducing stress, eating right, getting into an exercise routine, and more.About.com is a proud participant of Healthy Monday, a project of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Don't skimp during the day to "save" calories for later on in the evening. No matter how "in control" you feel during the day, you're likely to become overly hungry by evening, which is a sure-fire way to give in to overeating.
zSB(3,3)
Sponsored Links
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Beat eating disordersExperienced teams can help at the Priory Hospital near you.www.prioryhealthcare.com
Emotional Eater?Understanding is half the way there One day Workshop Hampshireappetiteforliving.co.ukAnd above all, don't skip any meals to reserve calories for another; it almost always backfires.
Eat breakfast every morning. Doing so keeps your blood sugar stable -- which helps keep cravings at bay -- and energy levels high (we tend to eat more when feeling sluggish). In fact, studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight than those of us who skip it.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as eating water-rich fruits such as melon or oranges will help you feel sated throughout the day. Additionally, thirst is easily confused with hunger so staying well-hydrated may prevent you from eating when you're not actually feeling true hunger.
Get enough sleep. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we're tired; it's a way to "perk" ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that "afternoon slump" at bay (and you away from the vending machine).
Eat on a regular schedule. Eating regularly will keep you from getting too hungry to stay in control of what -- and how much -- you eat. You should never go longer than five hours without eating; ideally, you should have something every three hours or so. This can be accomplished by incorporating healthful snacks into your day or by eating several mini-meals instead of three large ones.
From Jennifer R. Scott,Your Guide to Weight Loss.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
Make every Monday the day you recommit to living your healthiest life. Sign up for our free Healthy Monday newsletter full of tips on reducing stress, eating right, getting into an exercise routine, and more.About.com is a proud participant of Healthy Monday, a project of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Don't skimp during the day to "save" calories for later on in the evening. No matter how "in control" you feel during the day, you're likely to become overly hungry by evening, which is a sure-fire way to give in to overeating.
zSB(3,3)
Sponsored Links
5 Steps to Lose Belly FatStop making these 5 major mistakes & you'll finally get those sexy abswww.BellyFlabIsUgly.com
Beat eating disordersExperienced teams can help at the Priory Hospital near you.www.prioryhealthcare.com
Emotional Eater?Understanding is half the way there One day Workshop Hampshireappetiteforliving.co.ukAnd above all, don't skip any meals to reserve calories for another; it almost always backfires.
Eat breakfast every morning. Doing so keeps your blood sugar stable -- which helps keep cravings at bay -- and energy levels high (we tend to eat more when feeling sluggish). In fact, studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight than those of us who skip it.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as eating water-rich fruits such as melon or oranges will help you feel sated throughout the day. Additionally, thirst is easily confused with hunger so staying well-hydrated may prevent you from eating when you're not actually feeling true hunger.
Get enough sleep. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we're tired; it's a way to "perk" ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that "afternoon slump" at bay (and you away from the vending machine).
Eat on a regular schedule. Eating regularly will keep you from getting too hungry to stay in control of what -- and how much -- you eat. You should never go longer than five hours without eating; ideally, you should have something every three hours or so. This can be accomplished by incorporating healthful snacks into your day or by eating several mini-meals instead of three large ones.
//////////////////ONCE IN,NEVER OUT
////////////////////////////////ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY and ZNow I've said my ABCs,tell me what you think of me.
Given the way this is usually recited, I'd wager that half of all children think "LMNO" is a single letter. For my own part, I like to envision it as the name of a Mexican superhero from the 1800's: "Why look! It's El Emeno! We're saved!"
OK, so apply the same cadence to the backward alphabet and you get:ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK (roll that onmlk together)JIHGFEDCB and ANow I've said my ZYXs,tell me what you think of Texas.
Given the way this is usually recited, I'd wager that half of all children think "LMNO" is a single letter. For my own part, I like to envision it as the name of a Mexican superhero from the 1800's: "Why look! It's El Emeno! We're saved!"
OK, so apply the same cadence to the backward alphabet and you get:ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK (roll that onmlk together)JIHGFEDCB and ANow I've said my ZYXs,tell me what you think of Texas.
///////////////////////If you’re always battling against getting older, you’re always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow.
Morrie Schwartz
Morrie Schwartz
//////////////////
BACK FROM CVNTRY-SLPT EXCUSE-291207
/////////////////SIRE=SERVICING INTEREST =RENT EQUIVALENT
//////////////////RAS-WAIT FOR LOTTO
/////////////////
The Simple Dollar
Zen and the Art of Item Replacement
Posted: 28 Dec 2007 02:00 PM CST
My family has only one television in the house, and it is primarily used for playing Wii games. It’s an enormous, extremely heavy old 32″ television, bought when I was in college and now approaching ten years old. In all four corners, the screen has begun to turn faintly blue, and it shows up particularly well on a white screen, as the cloudiness covers a good portion of the screen.
Not too long ago, I would have insisted on replacing this immediately, but in all honesty, it doesn’t interfere with any of our usage of the television. Thus, we’ll keep it until the issue becomes serious enough that it disallows our use of the television for any purpose.
Quite frankly, some of our friends and family think this is weird. “Why don’t you just replace it?” they ask. “You can afford it, you know,” they’ll say, as though they need to remind us that we can, in fact, spend money.
The real truth of the matter is that my wife and I have started to follow a set of unwritten rules about when and how to upgrade or replace the items that we have now. I thought it might be fun to actually write some of these down and share them.
Rule #1: If it isn’t broke, don’t replace it.This means that if we have an item that is functional, we don’t replace it with something newer (there are a few little caveats to this that I’ll explain later). This rule is why we haven’t replaced our television yet and we probably won’t until the tube blows - it’s functional, so why replace it?
Rule #2: When we do replace something, we replace it with long term quality and reliability.For example, our house came with a washer and dryer set that we plan on using until they’re on death’s door. At that point, we will pony up and buy quality replacements for them - ones that are energy efficient and designed to last for the long haul. This might cost us a lot out of pocket right then, but the efficiency and reliability of the items will pay dividends for many years afterwards.
Rule #3: Upgrading before the end of the lifespan is fine if there is a clear and compelling functional reason for the change.Our kitchen knives are a great example of this. We have a functional set of kitchen knives that work well for most of our uses, but they’re not excellent and they are frustrating for some tasks (vegetable chopping, etc.). The knives simply aren’t designed well enough to execute repetitive chopping and so on. Thus, the knives are on our list of items to replace in the future. When we do replace them, we will replace them with stellar knives, ones intended to last a lifetime.
Rule #4: No item is upgraded unless we both agree on the need for the upgrade.If this rule weren’t in place, I might have already replaced the knives. However, my wife is still riding the fence on them - we’ve slated a replacement for them in the long term, but not immediately. Why? Her argument is that they still do most tasks well, so we should buy single knife upgrades for specific tasks. My argument is that some single knives will just encourage us to upgrade all of them, so we might as well save the money and get the whole set. We will do a knife upgrade when we are in full agreement on what to do, but until then, we’ll wait until we agree on what to do.
Rule #5: Try to avoid things that have a steady “upgrade” cycle.Video game consoles come to mind. We own a Wii, and we know from the past that video game consoles are “upgraded” every five years or so, with the console manufacturer reducing and then eliminating support for the old console as the new one begins to sell well. Does this mean we upgrade when the new console comes out? I don’t really plan to as long as I’m still enjoying games for my Wii - I actually have far more games right now than I have time to play, so why upgrade until I’ve gotten the enjoyment out of everything that I have?
The same logic goes for HD-DVD and BluRay. I see no reason to ever upgrade to them until it literally becomes impossible to get movies on regular DVD - and even then, I won’t upgrade for a while. Why? I have all of the movies I enjoy watching repeatedly on DVD already, so why upgrade to a new format? I’m very glad to see that some family members of mine feel the same way - one of them actually has a VCR in a box (just in case they completely go off the market) so that they can continue to watch their video tape collection and aren’t forced into an upgrade that doesn’t really add value.
In short, we don’t upgrade that often, but when we do, we do it with items of quality, not just a cheap replacement item.
//////////////////RAS-WAIT FOR LOTTO
/////////////////
The Simple Dollar
Zen and the Art of Item Replacement
Posted: 28 Dec 2007 02:00 PM CST
My family has only one television in the house, and it is primarily used for playing Wii games. It’s an enormous, extremely heavy old 32″ television, bought when I was in college and now approaching ten years old. In all four corners, the screen has begun to turn faintly blue, and it shows up particularly well on a white screen, as the cloudiness covers a good portion of the screen.
Not too long ago, I would have insisted on replacing this immediately, but in all honesty, it doesn’t interfere with any of our usage of the television. Thus, we’ll keep it until the issue becomes serious enough that it disallows our use of the television for any purpose.
Quite frankly, some of our friends and family think this is weird. “Why don’t you just replace it?” they ask. “You can afford it, you know,” they’ll say, as though they need to remind us that we can, in fact, spend money.
The real truth of the matter is that my wife and I have started to follow a set of unwritten rules about when and how to upgrade or replace the items that we have now. I thought it might be fun to actually write some of these down and share them.
Rule #1: If it isn’t broke, don’t replace it.This means that if we have an item that is functional, we don’t replace it with something newer (there are a few little caveats to this that I’ll explain later). This rule is why we haven’t replaced our television yet and we probably won’t until the tube blows - it’s functional, so why replace it?
Rule #2: When we do replace something, we replace it with long term quality and reliability.For example, our house came with a washer and dryer set that we plan on using until they’re on death’s door. At that point, we will pony up and buy quality replacements for them - ones that are energy efficient and designed to last for the long haul. This might cost us a lot out of pocket right then, but the efficiency and reliability of the items will pay dividends for many years afterwards.
Rule #3: Upgrading before the end of the lifespan is fine if there is a clear and compelling functional reason for the change.Our kitchen knives are a great example of this. We have a functional set of kitchen knives that work well for most of our uses, but they’re not excellent and they are frustrating for some tasks (vegetable chopping, etc.). The knives simply aren’t designed well enough to execute repetitive chopping and so on. Thus, the knives are on our list of items to replace in the future. When we do replace them, we will replace them with stellar knives, ones intended to last a lifetime.
Rule #4: No item is upgraded unless we both agree on the need for the upgrade.If this rule weren’t in place, I might have already replaced the knives. However, my wife is still riding the fence on them - we’ve slated a replacement for them in the long term, but not immediately. Why? Her argument is that they still do most tasks well, so we should buy single knife upgrades for specific tasks. My argument is that some single knives will just encourage us to upgrade all of them, so we might as well save the money and get the whole set. We will do a knife upgrade when we are in full agreement on what to do, but until then, we’ll wait until we agree on what to do.
Rule #5: Try to avoid things that have a steady “upgrade” cycle.Video game consoles come to mind. We own a Wii, and we know from the past that video game consoles are “upgraded” every five years or so, with the console manufacturer reducing and then eliminating support for the old console as the new one begins to sell well. Does this mean we upgrade when the new console comes out? I don’t really plan to as long as I’m still enjoying games for my Wii - I actually have far more games right now than I have time to play, so why upgrade until I’ve gotten the enjoyment out of everything that I have?
The same logic goes for HD-DVD and BluRay. I see no reason to ever upgrade to them until it literally becomes impossible to get movies on regular DVD - and even then, I won’t upgrade for a while. Why? I have all of the movies I enjoy watching repeatedly on DVD already, so why upgrade to a new format? I’m very glad to see that some family members of mine feel the same way - one of them actually has a VCR in a box (just in case they completely go off the market) so that they can continue to watch their video tape collection and aren’t forced into an upgrade that doesn’t really add value.
In short, we don’t upgrade that often, but when we do, we do it with items of quality, not just a cheap replacement item.
/////////////////////DINT=3 USES RULE-SALE-CURBING THE IMPULSE
/////////////////Six Golden Rules for Ruling Your GoldFor the most part, these six golden rules boil down to one thing: don’t buy something unless you need to buy it. The six golden rules are largely corollaries to this general statement: borrow things if you can (via neighbors or the library), don’t buy items to replace the ones you’re already using and are still working, and so on. Perhaps the best tip in the whole chapter is to focus on pinching dollars rather than pinching pennies: instead of burning a bunch of time trying to “optimize” the interest on your savings account, instead spend that time making sure you’re putting money automatically into a savings account to begin with.
////////////////////// Buy a Home, Not a CastleHere, the topic is housing, and Yeager is firmly in the “buy within your means and pay it off ASAP” club. He also doesn’t believe in banking on your home’s value for retirement, which is definitely the correct lesson to take from the last year or so in the housing market. Instead, he advocates buying cheap, getting a “real” mortgage for it, then paying it off quickly through accelerated payments.
Yeager makes a good argument for doing this, one that made me go run the numbers. Let’s say, hypothetically, you had the choice between a $200,000 and a $400,000 house right now, and you can get a 30 year mortgage for either one at 6%. For the $200K house, your monthly payment is $1,199.10 and for the $400K house, your monthly payment is $2,398.20. You have enough to just make that larger payment, so if you buy the cheaper house, you can make double payments.
With the cheaper house, you will have the house paid off in nine years and will have dropped $59,428.74 in interest. If you keep putting that $2,398.20 into the bank each month, in eight more years, you’ll have $200,000 in equity in the house and $200,000 in cash in the savings account - in only nineteen years and with only $59,428.74 paid in interest. With the more expensive house, you’ll own the house in thirty years, but will have paid $463,352.70 in interest. That’s a pretty good argument for buying as cheap as you can and paying it off rapidly.
////////////////////VACUUM>>MATTER>>LIFE>>CONSC>>INTELLIGENCE>>TECHNOLOGY
VML-CIT
////////////////////Now That’s EntertainmentRight off the bat, Yeager pulls out one of the most valuable points from a book I discussed a while back, Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness. In it, Gilbert makes the assertion that most stuff tends to lose value over time, while most experiences retain their value through memories and such. Thus, if you have $2,000 in the bank and want to spend it to entertain yourself, you’re far better off spending it on a great vacation than on a flat panel television that you don’t really need.
Yeager then goes on to point out that many, many great experiences are cheap. I tend to agree, actually. While the best vacation I ever spent was with my wife on a honeymoon to England, I can’t honestly say that the massive extra expense compared to some of our other vacations (say, our camping trip on Mount Rainier above the snow line in summer) was worth it. In terms of bang for the buck, actually, my favorite vacation of all was probably a camping trip in the summer of 2006 - we made a road trip out of it and camped on the north shore of Lake Superior with our son when he was eight months old or so. We spent almost an entire week there and spent barely $100, but I remember it fondly (and the video of my eight month old staring wide-eyed out over the lake is one of my favorite captured moments of his life so far).
/////////////////////Go Forth and Be CheapIn the end, Yeager hits it right on the head. Frugality is about valuing time more than stuff. For some people, this seems surprising - how, then, can I talk about making homemade bread as a frugal experience? To me, cooking is a spiritually fulfilling activity, well worth my time invested in it even if it didn’t save us money (and, trust me, sometimes it doesn’t). In the end, it really is all about time - and making sure that you have the time to do the things that are valuable to you.
////////////////////I AM A RESTLESS WoNDERER
///////////////////LON-ALON-ASSTD LON
////////////////////DR ACULA -VENESECTOR
///////////////////////BERMUDA TRIANGLE=MICRO BLACK HOLE?
//////////////////////LIFE IS SHORT-ONLY TIME FOR FACTS,NO TIME FOR FICTION
/////////////////////Climatic Chain Reaction Caused Runaway Greenhouse Effect 55 Million Years Ago (December 27, 2007) -- Analogous to the Earth's current situation, greenhouse warming 55 million years ago was caused by a relatively rapid increase of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The study shows that a large proportion of the greenhouse gases was released as a result of a chain-reaction of events. ... > full story
/////////////////////
Four Reasons to be Social
Ongoing research illustrates the powerful influence that bonds with family and friends have on both emotional well-being and physical health, especially as we get older.Interact with these tips
///////////////////////Empathy Causes Facial Similarity Between Couples to Increase Over Time
Would you believe that people who live with each other for 25 years actually develop similar facial features? I don't just mean that people tend to choose partners who resemble them, rather that over time together couple's features actually converge. It's weird, but there's evidence for it from a singular study carried out by the noted psychologist Robert Zajonc and colleagues.» Read on about facial similarity between couples -»
//////////////////////The 'Myth' of Fossil Fuels -The Deep, Hot Biosphere
"No scientific subject holds more surprises for us than biology."
Freeman Dyson -Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton
Cornell University Professor Emeritus Thomas Gold, who for 20 years directed the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, proposes the striking and controversial theory that "a full functioning... biosphere, feeding on hydrocarbons, exists deep within the earth, and that a primordial source of hydrocarbons lies even deeper." ...
Read the whole entry »
//////////////////////No tales are finer than those created by life itself.”—Hans Anderson.
SO MORE FACT LESS FICTION
///////////////////////TAKE CARE OF THE BABY TILL SHE IS READY TO VOTE
//////////////////////////FC=Math Notes
2025 = (20 + 25)^2
23025 = (30 + 25)^2
29801 = (98 + 01)^2
///////////////////////STATUES ARE NOT THE RUINS,WE ARE THE RUINS
//////////////////////Chapter VIII: The Yoga of the Indestructible BrahmanVIII.11. YADAKSHARAM VEDAVIDO VADANTI VISHANTI YADYATAYO VEETARAAGAAH; YADICCHANTO BRAHMACHARYAM CHARANTI TATTE PADAM SAMGRAHENA PRAVAKSHYE. (Krishna speaking to Arjuna)That which is declared imperishable by those who know the Vedas, that which the self-controlled (ascetics) and passion-free enter, that desiring which celibacy is practised-that goal I will declare to thee in brief. VIII.12. SARVADWAARAANI SAMYAMYA MANO HRIDI NIRUDHYA CHA; MOORDHNYAADHAAYAATMANAH PRAANAMAASTHITO YOGADHAARANAAM. Having closed all the gates, confined the mind in the heart and fixed the life-breath in the head, engaged in the practice of concentration, VIII.13. OMITYEKAAKSHARAM BRAHMA VYAAHARAN MAAMANUSMARAN; YAH PRAYAATI TYAJAN DEHAM SA YAATI PARAMAAM GATIM. Uttering the monosyllable Om-the Brahman-remembering Me always, he who departs thus, leaving the body, attains to the supreme goal.
MIN DESIRE CALM
////////////////////////NY 2008 RESOLN -DIETWALKAND SAVE=DWAS
////////////////////////FUTURE TENSE
////////////////////////
Doctors fear rickets resurgencePregnant women must boost their vitamin D intake during winter to ward off rickets in children, says the government.
/////////////////////////Karma of the Brain: Why Good Things Happen to Good People New research suggests that doing good deeds can actually help people live longer, healthier lives... "The remarkable bottom line of the science of love is that giving protects overall health twice as much as Aspirin protects against heart disease." Read more here...
///////////////////////////Scientist Claims Proof of Afterlife Scientists at The University of Arizona have done extensive research, and say that they have the proof that when we die we continue to live beyond our physical bodies. "Almost anyone who sees the data says there's something real here," said one of the researchers. Read more here...
/////////////////////////Scientist Claims Proof of Afterlife
Research Finds Accuracy Of Mediums Channeling Dead PeopleSource: NewsNet5.com
What happens after we die -- do we continue on or is this life the end?
Many of us hope there is an afterlife, and now some Arizona scientists say they have proof through their afterlife experiments.
There are many people who say they have died and come back to life. They claim to have experienced an afterlife, even if for only a short time.
Scientists at The University of Arizona have done extensive research, and say that they have the proof that when we die we continue to live beyond our physical bodies.
"Almost anyone who sees the data says there's something real here," said one of the researchers.
Allison Dubois is a spiritual medium, or someone thought to be able to communicate with the dead.
Christine Vettore was brought in for a reading with Dubois, who attempted to contact Vettore's dead relatives.
"I'm hopeful that there's an afterlife so I can see everybody I've lost already," said Vettore.
It doesn't take long -- within seconds, Dubois says Vettore's daughter is coming through.
It is a gift Dubois says she's had her whole life, but it comes with a lot of criticism.
"I think there are some people that are Charlatans, and with any profession there's going to be some bad apples, so I mean that just goes with the territory, so the ones that are accurate and are legitimate just have to prove themselves," said Dubois.
This reading is part of a science experiment -- Dr. Gary Schwartz, of the University of Arizona, is observing.
The Harvard-trained doctor looked for what he calls hits and misses, or the accuracy of the reading.
He's building on his hypothesis that there is life after death, and that mediums can talk to those who have died. After Vettore's daughter is contacted, Dubois contacted Vettore's brother and mother. She is able nail facts, giving details about the relations that she could not have known beforehand.
For instance, Dubois tells Vettore that her mother knows there's a carrot cake and a bowl of peanuts in her house.
"None of those things do I ever have in my house. I have those things in my house this month, carrot cake and peanuts, so that was weird," said Vettore.
The accuracy is amazing to Vettore, because she had never met or talked to Dubois before. She said Dubois was accurate in 80 to 90 percent of everything she said.
Skeptics say that Dubois is just guessing, but Schwartz says it is impossible for someone to guess and be that accurate.
For the past seven years, he has been testing mediums and other things tied to death, using science to explain what happens when we leave our physical bodies.
"Saying that this is against the grain with academia sort of puts it mildly," said Schwartz.
Schwartz has done multiple experiments under very controlled conditions. One of the most intriguing studies included five of the most respected mediums in the world, hooked up to monitors and computers.
In the experiment, 10 people were read by the five mediums. In lab conditions, a medium sat down with an individual and there would be a divider between them.
When that medium finished, the next would come in, until all five mediums had given a reading for the individual.
Schwartz and his staff would then compare the readings. They were astonished to find that in most cases, the mediums would bring through the same people and the same messages, with an 80-90 percent accuracy rate.
"There are so many people that are going to try to find holes in what we've done … there is not a hole to find when we agree, or get a final protocol done," said Schwartz.
The scientists call their findings survival of consciousness -- meaning our physical bodies die, but we continue on.
The research continues with studies that include near-death survivors.
Schwartz says near-death experience research completely dovetails and supports what's coming from the mediums.
He says he will continue his research, and that the data doesn't lie.
"When you look at the totality of the data from our laboratory, the simplest explanation is actually that survival of consciousness is real," said Schwartz.
RELATED ARTICLE: What Happens After Death?
/////////////////////A house on our road is on the market for sale at £825k or for rent at £500pm. By my reckoning £500pm would buy a 400k mortgage, so you can effectively rent for half the price of buying. So what iis the point of buying? Does this mean prices need to halve? I don't think we'll be buying for years.
Davie P, London ,
//////////////////////////Does the Brain Tap Into the Future?Bierman recently repeated these experiments using an fMRI brain scanner and documented emotional responses in brain activity up to 4 seconds before the stimuli. Other laboratories have made similar findings. Read more here...
///////////////////////What Happens After "Death"?
By Adrian CooperExcerpt from Our Ultimate Reality
I would like to commence this section by emphatically stating an extremely important truth which everyone should know and understand beyond any possible doubt: There really is no such state as “death”.
What many people believe to be the finality of “death” is in fact no more and no less than the transition from one state of life and reality, that of the physical matter, to a state of life of a vastly finer density of the Universe, often known as the “Astral planes”, sometimes referred to as “the beyond”, the “fourth dimension” or the “afterlife”.
What they are called is of no consequence however, the fact is they do exist and for a time becomes the new home for people departing physical life, before either returning for another life on earth or progressing to the inner spheres of reality, the Mental planes, the Spirit worlds.
We will discuss the nature of the Astral planes later in this book, but first we will look at the process erroneously known as “death”.
We are all multi-dimensional beings, each of us having numerous “bodies” corresponding to our many states of “being” within the multi-dimensional Universe. These very broadly consist of the physical body, the Etheric or Energy Body, the Astral Body and the Mental bodies. We have numerous Mental or Spirit bodies, all relating to the infinite degrees and states of vibration, density and being, ranging from the very lowest to the very highest. The Astral Body is often referred to as the “Soul” and the Mental Body the immortal “Spirit”. It is the Mental Body, the immortal Spirit that is “made in the true image of God”, not the physical body as many suppose.
God is pure Spirit, and ultimately every single person exists as pure Spirit beyond all concept of form. The seat of our very “being” or Consciousness is within the Mental Body, the immortal Spirit. The Astral Body, the Soul, actually consists of both the conjoined Astral and Mental bodies, and is therefore can be more accurately referred to as the Astra-Mental Body. These subtle bodies are composed of Energy, vibrations, the nature of which is completely unique for everyone, each individual possessing a unique Energy signature by means of which they can be uniquely identified.
Within the inner spheres of reality, the Astral and Mental planes, people exist at the level of vibration of the Ether that is exactly equivalent to the level of vibration of their Astral and Mental bodies respectively. The level of vibration of the Astral and Mental Body depends in turn upon many factors, including but not limited to individual degree of ennoblement or perfection, degree to which the ego has been transcended, realisation of Spirit or “God” within, degree of unresolved karma, and most importantly the realisation of the most powerful force in the Universe; Unconditional Love.
So what actually happens when people experience physical “death”? The circumstances upon which people arrive at the end of their current physical existence obviously varies very widely, and can range from very sudden death, for example resulting from an accident or sudden illness, through death as a result of a long illness, to natural death as a result of old age; and of course there are numerous possibilities in between.
Regardless of the precise circumstances prevailing at the end of physical life, what follows is substantially the same in all cases. At the instant where the physical body ceases to function, a large amount of Vital Energy is transferred to the Etheric Body, also known as the Energy Body. The Etheric, or Energy Body also includes the Astral and Mental bodies. The Etheric Body will then, in many cases become the new “temporary” body of the recently “deceased” person. Sometimes however the recently deceased person will transition directly to the Astral worlds.
What happens next again varies from person to person and circumstance to circumstance, but is usually in the range of the following possibilities. Those who do not transition directly to the Astral worlds will, immediately after physical death, find themselves very much “alive” in their Etheric Body. A person after “death” can often fully observe everything happening around them, including all people present.
In fact what the person is “seeing” is not their actual physical surroundings, no longer having any physical senses and existing a a much higher rate of vibration and lower density as compared to the actual physical world, but is rather a very close Etheric “reflection” of those surroundings; but to all intents and purposes they seem identical.
If other people are present, for example doctors, the person might well see and hear himself or herself being pronounced “dead”. The “deceased” person can then, if desired, stay and watch what happens to their “old body”, observe the actions of the people present for example doctors, nurses and relatives, or may decide to immediately go elsewhere.
It should be noted that in this much finer state of existence as pure Energy, it is quite possible to travel anywhere in the world or indeed the entire Universe in an instant, literally at the speed of thought. The Etheric plane is a Mind world, an extension of the Astral planes and the Universe as a whole, and therefore existing beyond the boundaries and restrictions of physical space and time.
The “deceased” person often remains very close to the physical world while the level of Etheric Energy in their Etheric Body remains sufficiently high. They will very often make the most of this opportunity to visit and say goodbye to family and friends, and perhaps to visit their old home and favourite places they particularly enjoyed in physical life. Of course, living people cannot, with the exception of psychics and clairvoyants, usually “see” the “deceased” person, and usually any attempt by the deceased person to communicate with living people will fail. Very often the “deceased” person will also attend their own funeral, not only to see all family, friends and other people they knew in physical life gatherer to pay their respects, but also to realise the finality of the end of that particular physical life on Earth.
The deceased person can make the decision to transition to the Astral worlds at any time simply by desiring and willing it to happen, and by thinking of being there, but only if they realise the possibility exists. Otherwise the transition will usually take place naturally once the supply of Etheric Energy is depleted, and the dense Etheric Body will dissipate, giving way to the finer vibrations of the Astral Body, naturally enabling a transition to the appropriate level of the Astral planes in accordance with the level of perfection of the Soul, and the level of vibrations of the person generally. This will determine which part of the Astral planes they will naturally migrate to, most decent people transitioning to the mid-Astral worlds which, as well will see later in this book, are remarkably similar to the physical world that has been left behind.
The other extreme occurs when a newly deceased person transitions directly to the Astral world almost immediately after physical “death”. Sometimes they will be aware of their physical death, but very often the first thing a deceased person will be aware of is a “tunnel of light” into which they are pulled at great speed. In other cases the scenery will simply fade away from the physical world and “melt” into the Astral world almost seamlessly.
Irrespective of how the deceased person arrives in the Astral world, they will never be alone. Other Astral residents, frequently previously deceased relatives and friends, will often be there to greet them and to help them to settle into their new home. Very often the newly deceased person will arrive at, or be taken to a place in the Astral world which is effectively a “reception area” for newly arrived Souls. There they will be met by a host of helpers with the task of assisting new arrivals to settle in to their new Astral home. Such helpers specialise in all manner of cases, and are able to assist with the transition process regardless of the circumstances surrounding physical death. There are billions of people living within the Astral world, having previously experienced life from the past, present and future of Earth.
Every eventuality is fully accounted for, and no person is ever left alone in the Astral worlds after physical death. For most decent people arriving at the mid-levels of the Astral worlds, those who have led a “normal” life and had no strongly held beliefs, in particular religious beliefs, the environment is always extremely peaceful and harmonious but otherwise quite similar in many respects to the Earth environment from whence they just arrived. If the physical death was sudden, violent or due to some self-inflicted disorder such as alcoholism, or the person was ill for some time before physical death occurred, there will be the Astral equivalent of hospitals with doctors and nurses, people who might well have been doctors and nurses in a previous life on hand to assist.
Very often, because the Astral worlds can appear to be almost identical to the physical world in appearance, some people simply do not believe they have actually “died”, and therefore cannot understand what has happened. Such people can become most bewildered and confused and might require attention by specialist helpers until they can come to terms with their new state of existence in the “afterlife” of the Astral worlds.
Another situation requiring a great deal of care from Astral specialists are the cases of children, infants and babies who leave the physical world before their time. In these situations there are the equivalent of specialist nurses and carers on hand who will look after the child until he or she is old enough to join a family in the Astral worlds. There are many such families who will gladly take on the responsibility of looking after children who arrived before their own parents. Older children will usually join a family as soon as they have come to terms with their new reality and home in the Astral worlds.
Children can usually adapt to their new life in the Astral worlds much more quickly than adults, largely because they had not yet been fully indoctrinated into the ways of the physical world. Younger children might well feel at home in the Astral worlds almost immediately as it has not been very long since they originally left the Astral or Spirit worlds to be born into the physical life which they have recently departed. Such children will therefore still be of an age where they can still vividly remember their previous life in the Astral or Spirit worlds. To such infants their stay on Earth was nothing more than a very short adventure, often with a specific purpose in their own individual evolution and progress on the path.
Upon arriving in the Astral worlds most people settle in to their new home very quickly indeed, and soon create a new “life” for themselves. They will, sooner or later, completely lose interest in the physical world and their previous life associated with it. However, people living in the Astral worlds can, and very often do “visit” the physical world whenever they feel the need to, often to visit loved ones left behind. There are numerous cases of bereaved family and friends suddenly feeling the “presence” of their loved one, and in these cases it very often really is their loved one visiting for a time from the Astral worlds.
It should be mentioned that “deceased” people living in the Astral worlds will often watch over their loved ones still living in the physical world, guiding them by means of inspiration, and protecting them from inner dangers whenever possible. Because the Universe is infinite living Mind, thought is a very powerful primary Energy, and it is therefore relatively easy for people in the Astral worlds to influence the Minds of people still living in the physical world. Such influence can suddenly arrive in the Minds of people on Earth as intuition, inspiration or ideas, the recipient of such thoughts believing them to be their own thoughts and ideas. Pets, such as cats and dogs, can very often sense the presence of their deceased owners in a very powerful way.
It is also possible for people living in the Astral worlds to visit family and others in their dreams. This happens much more often than most people realise. Dreams of meeting deceased people are often very real indeed, and such contacts should always be noted, taken very seriously and any messages remembered. Everyone in the physical world leaves their body at night while in deep sleep, and Astral residents sometimes take this opportunity to meet with their loved ones “face to face” in the Astral worlds, such meetings often being remembered in the morning as a vivid lifelike dream. Again, these meetings are often very real indeed and should always be remembered and all messages received well and truly noted. Sometimes important information is passed on this way, as well as reassurances that the “deceased” person is very well, happy and content in their new Astral home.
Although it is perfectly natural, and to a reasonable extent healthy to grieve for a deceased loved one, it is most important to realise these people are not really “dead”, and have not therefore in any way ceased to exist. The loved one is now living in what is actually a truer reality than the physical world. Assuming they are living in the mid to high Astral worlds, or within the Spirit worlds, they will be experiencing an existence of pure love, light, bliss, peace and happiness on a level beyond the comprehension of most people still living on Earth.
One of the benefits of Astral Projection, which will be discussed in detail later in this book, is the ability to visit and explore the Astral worlds and to meet deceased loved ones and friends. To Astral projectors death holds no absolutely fears whatsoever, with the absolute knowing, beyond any doubts whatsoever the glorious life waiting after the final release from the confines of physical life on the physical plane in the restrictions of a physical body.
As we will also see later in this book, everyone in the Astral worlds lives at the same level, the same realm, sphere or plane as people who were of a similar nature in the physical world; similar characters, beliefs and in particular level of Spiritual development. In the mid-Astral worlds where most decent people, probably around fifty percent or more transition after physical death, there is no work, no money, no unhappiness, but rather complete peace and happiness, everyone living together in perfect harmony. People, who in the physical world were disruptive in any way, will be living in the lower Astral worlds with like Minded, similarly disruptive people, thus always preserving the complete peace and harmony of the inner Astral worlds. Of course everyone always has the opportunity to evolve from the lower Astral worlds to the inner Astral worlds once they have learned their lessons, and have attained a vibration that will enable them to co-exist with others at the same higher level of vibration.
People who have left the physical world of matter have been liberated once again, and will live and rest for a time in the Astral and Mental worlds before returning to Earth once again if necessary to begin a new physical life. Friends, relatives and loved ones should celebrate this joyfully! Death, however sad, tragic or unexpected means the liberation of a Soul from their physical body to the inner worlds of existence where they will be with like-Minded people.
Although people still living in the physical world regard those living in the Astral and Spirit worlds as “dead”, to those people who passed on to and our now living in the Astral and Spirit worlds it is the people still living in the density of the physical world, with all of the trials it brings who actually appear to be “dead” by comparison, dead to the splendours, glories, peace, harmony and liberation of the inner worlds, to which every single person will transition sooner or later.
“Death” should never be feared. It is something to anticipate when the time comes as a completely natural aspect of individual evolution, and a transition to glorious worlds of pure harmony, bliss and beauty, inhabited by like-Minded people, where none of the hardships, trials and misery that is so prevalent on Earth exists. The transition of passing to the inner, Astral worlds is a joyous time, a time for celebration.
Adrian Cooper is the author of “Our Ultimate Reality, Life, the Universe and the Destiny of Mankind”
//////////////////////HEDONISM=FOPISHTWENTYGIRI-FTHR
/////////////////////// Easy Ways to Prevent Overeating
From Jennifer R. Scott,Your Guide to Weight Loss.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
Make every Monday the day you recommit to living your healthiest life. Sign up for our free Healthy Monday newsletter full of tips on reducing stress, eating right, getting into an exercise routine, and more.About.com is a proud participant of Healthy Monday, a project of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Don't skimp during the day to "save" calories for later on in the evening. No matter how "in control" you feel during the day, you're likely to become overly hungry by evening, which is a sure-fire way to give in to overeating.
zSB(3,3)
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Emotional Eater?Understanding is half the way there One day Workshop Hampshireappetiteforliving.co.ukAnd above all, don't skip any meals to reserve calories for another; it almost always backfires.
Eat breakfast every morning. Doing so keeps your blood sugar stable -- which helps keep cravings at bay -- and energy levels high (we tend to eat more when feeling sluggish). In fact, studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight than those of us who skip it.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well as eating water-rich fruits such as melon or oranges will help you feel sated throughout the day. Additionally, thirst is easily confused with hunger so staying well-hydrated may prevent you from eating when you're not actually feeling true hunger.
Get enough sleep. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we're tired; it's a way to "perk" ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that "afternoon slump" at bay (and you away from the vending machine).
Eat on a regular schedule. Eating regularly will keep you from getting too hungry to stay in control of what -- and how much -- you eat. You should never go longer than five hours without eating; ideally, you should have something every three hours or so. This can be accomplished by incorporating healthful snacks into your day or by eating several mini-meals instead of three large ones.
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Friday 28 December 2007
SDDN DTH
////////////////being and becoming
birth represents dramatic change of environment
dendrites improve in length,thickness and degree of myelination
brain is primed to extract significance from sensory input
having a brain,being a mind
humans have minds,intentionality,agency,personality
BRAIN AND BODY INTERACTS WITH MATERIAL,BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIALWORLDS
//////////////////courage does not stop bullets
/////////////// Religion is a word that comes from the Latin religare, which means "to bind"
/////////////////
birth represents dramatic change of environment
dendrites improve in length,thickness and degree of myelination
brain is primed to extract significance from sensory input
having a brain,being a mind
humans have minds,intentionality,agency,personality
BRAIN AND BODY INTERACTS WITH MATERIAL,BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIALWORLDS
//////////////////courage does not stop bullets
/////////////// Religion is a word that comes from the Latin religare, which means "to bind"
/////////////////
An Animal Model of Emotional Blunting in Schizophrenia:
Schizophrenia is often associated with emotional blunting--the diminished ability to respond to emotionally salient stimuli--particularly those stimuli representative of negative emotional states, such as fear. This disturbance may stem from dysfunction of the amygdala, a brain region involved in fear processing. The present article describes a novel animal model of emotional blunting in schizophrenia. This model involves interfering with normal fear processing (classical conditioning) in rats by means of acute ketamine administration. We confirm, in a series of experiments comprised of cFos staining, behavioral analysis and neurochemical determinations, that ketamine interferes with the behavioral expression of fear and with normal fear processing in the amygdala and related brain regions. We further show that the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine, but not the typical antipsychotic haloperidol nor an experimental glutamate receptor 2/3 agonist, inhibits ketamine's effects and retains normal fear processing in the amygdala at a neurochemical level, despite the observation that fear-related behavior is still inhibited due to ketamine administration. Our results suggest that the relative resistance of emotional blunting to drug treatment may be partially due to an inability of conventional therapies to target the multiple anatomical and functional brain systems involved in emotional processing. A conceptual model reconciling our findings in terms of neurochemistry and behavior is postulated and discussed.
//////////////////e present study, demonstrating significant correlations between age and inflammatory mediators of the eicosanoid and MMP pathways in whole buccal saliva from healthy volunteers, points to a marked modification of the inflammatory state of the oral cavity associated with age. Furthermore, the data suggest that this age-related inflammatory response was independent of the innate oral antimicrobial activity as monitored by lysozyme activity.
/////////////////Obesity is heritable, not genetic [Gene Expression]
Posted: 27 Dec 2007 12:27 PM CST
Genome Wide Association (GWA) Study for Early Onset Extreme Obesity Supports the Role of Fat Mass and Obesity Associated Gene (FTO) Variants. Even if this is true, these correlations between particular alleles and obesity hold for the modern German lifestyle. I guarantee you that population level diversity in weight correcting for height was sharply attenuated when all Germans were basically farmers and laborers. It seems possible to me that in pre-modern times "obesity alleles" might have been selected for something different in an environment where gaining a lot of weight and becoming subject to higher risk of various chronic diseases was not a plausible outcome. With the change in environment the whole phenotypic landscape shifted as the environment in which the genes expressed was radically altered.
Note: I'm skeptical that obesity alleles mark a much more efficient metabolism. After all, if LCT can nearly fix in northern Europe why not genes which allow you to more efficiently convert food into energy would not have been swept to fixation long ago? I suppose this could be balancing selection, but there's only so much of that a genetic architecture can support.
Read the comments on this post...
//////////////////////A real skeptic always sides with scientific consensus.
//////////////////
Posted: 27 Dec 2007 08:59 AM CST
Terry McDermott, who penned that great series on neuroscientist Gary Lynch earlier this year, has written another illuminating article on Alzheimer's. The news is bleak: scientists have yet to understand the disease. In fact, we still don't even know what causes the cellular degeneration in the first place:
It's been 101 years since Alzheimer's disease was first theorized, and 30 years since the federal government began funding research on it, spending, to date, more than $8 billion. Private industry has spent billions more. What has been learned?The answer is perplexing. There have been more than 35,000 scientific papers published on Alzheimer's just in the last decade. They include hundreds of impressively detailed descriptions of purported disease mechanisms. But in all that wealth of information, there are some rather obvious gaps.
For example, the leading hypothesis of the cause of Alzheimer's, called the amyloid hypothesis, is centered on the overproduction, or inadequate clearance, in the brain of a protein called beta amyloid. Fragments of the protein aggregate into clumps called plaques. These plaques were first observed more than a century ago by the man after whom the disease is named, Alois Alzheimer.
For most of the century since, scientists have believed the plaques were associated with the disease. But to date, they don't know whether amyloid plaques are the cause of the disease or a result. They don't know whether they are vital to the progress of the disease or incidental. They don't even know whether their presence is indicative of the disease.
A rival idea, called the tau hypothesis, is no more definitive. Where beta amyloid generally aggregates outside brain cells, the protein tau aggregates into fibrous structures, called tangles, inside the cells.
The processes by which either amyloid or tau cause brain cells to malfunction, and in some cases die, are neither well understood nor completely coincident with observations of the disease itself.
It's now been almost a decade since the decade of the brain, and while we know more than ever about the three pounds of gelatinous flesh inside our head, the lack of scientific progress on major brain diseases has been humbling. Prozac, a drug invented fifty years ago by accident, remains our most effective treatment against depression. Nobody really knows what causes schizophrenia, or if schizophrenia is even a single disease. We have no idea what triggers Parkinson's. Alzheimer's remains poorly understood. Autism is a mystery. The list goes on and on. Perhaps one day we'll be able to fix the brain and prevent its breakdown. But I'm not holding my breath.
Read the comments on this post...
//////////////////////UK03-BONK-JGTG-TIMKO-RAS
///////////////////Out of control mayhem
///////////////// Fruitcake Day [Dec 27]
Call-A-Friend Day [Dec 28]
Bad Hangover Day [Jan 1]
////////////////////////////bpm=
Posted: 26 Dec 2007 03:50 PM CST
The documentary below is the first episode of a three-part series on the question of animal minds: do they even have them? Are non-human animals intelligent? Can they reason or use logic? Can they grasp abstract concepts? Do they have problem-solving skills? Can they be innovative? Can they understand and use syntactical grammar? Do they have a sense of self?
Join this team of scientists and animals (including Alex the parrot, who sadly died earlier this year) on a quest to understand the intelligence of the animal mind. Among those interviewed are Jane Goodall, famous for her work with chimpanzees (click here to see more videos of her), and Euan Macphail, whose skepticism about animal intelligence provides a nice balance for those of us who find the notion of animal intelligence just too exciting to deny.
To see a truly fascinating and inspiring video about the intelligence of bonobo chimps, check out this awesome TEDTalk presentation by Susan Savage-Rumbaugh.
.
//////////////////If short-term happiness isn't always best, what about long-term?
Posted: 27 Dec 2007 08:30 AM CST
Earlier this week we discussed the relationship between life satisfaction and other measures of well-being, finding that for measures such as relative income, the happiest people weren't always the best-off. For relationships, however, the happiest individuals also seem to do better.
But these measures were only taken at an instant in time. What about over longer periods? The College and Beyond study questioned incoming college freshmen in 1976, and included a self-rating of "cheerfulness," among many other measures. Then those same individuals were surveyed in 1995. How did cheerfulness affect income nearly two decades later? Here are the results:
As you can see, it depends on the individual. People who came from higher-income families earned significantly more than those who were from low-income families. But the pattern for high-income families looks more like the pattern previously observed only for relationships: the more cheerful respondents were in 1976, the more they made in 1995. For low-income families, being extremely cheerful didn't pay off as well: respondents from the second most cheerful group in 1976 earned more in 1995 than the most cheerful group.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
//////////////////The bouncer in the brain pp5 - 6
Efficiency variations in the filtering of relevant from irrelevant information could contribute to individual differences in working memory. A new functional imaging study suggests that the basal ganglia act as this filter because activity in this region before stimulus presentation was inversely correlated with unnecessary storage.
Edward Awh and Edward K Vogel
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Fish Oil Is A Deterrent Against
Alzheimer's Disease
Medical News Today Dec. 26, 2007
*************************
Researchers at UCLA's Alzheimer
Disease Research Center have found
evidence that fish oils do indeed
reduce your chances of developing
late-onset Alzheimer's, and why this
is so. Using tests on both rat and
human neuronal tissue (and dietary
fish oil in young rats with insulin
resistance), they found that even
///////////////sd=Life and Discipline: Using the Five Personal Finance Business Cards for Other Aspects of Life
Posted: 27 Dec 2007 02:00 PM CST
A while back, I wrote a post outlining everything you needed to know about personal finance on the back of five business cards. In a succinct way, that post laid out the most important pieces of personal finance: spend less than you earn, and do that by living frugally and focusing on increasing your earnings - from there, you’ll achieve financial independence.
The truth is that most of that philosophy applies to any self-motivated goal, from teaching yourself something new to losing weight. To show how useful that general philosophy is, I decided to apply the “five business card” philosophy to two goals I have for myself in the coming year: learning how to play the piano and losing weight.
1. The Most Important Thing
Losing weight The transition of that principle to weight loss is pretty straightforward: consume less than you burn. In other words, the caloric intake in a given day should be less than the calories spent when you’re in weight loss mode.
Learning the piano But how does that rule apply to learning a new skill? Basically, it’s a motivator to practice - each day you practice, you get better, while each day you don’t bother, you get worse. It’s also a cry to work on the fundamentals, which is also true for any kind of training. Practice more, put it off less is a good way to describe it.
2. Earn More!
Losing weight This basically means burn more - in other words, exercise. My plan is to start walking/jogging each morning as a tool to wake myself up, and I received a pedometer for Christmas to help me set specific numeric goals for this part of the plan.
Learning the piano For learning the piano, this basically means stop avoiding practice. If I want to actually learn an instrument, I should practice on a consistent schedule instead of every once in a while on a whim. Setting up a clear practice schedule with clear goals (a certain number of sessions a week, for instance) enables me to consistently practice over time.
3. Live Frugal!
Losing weight Here, the idea is to do what you already do in a more efficient fashion. In other words, I should cut some unhealthy elements out of my diet. Part of my plan for the new year is to try a part-time vegetarian diet, mostly in an effort to discover truly appealing healthy dishes - this should help quite a bit with cutting down on the unhealthy food intake.
Learning the piano This means that when I do practice, the practice should be worthwhile, including working on fundamentals and chords and scales and simple songs that really reinforce these things. Sure, I can try to stretch what I know as well, but completely mastering the fundamentals is what will make me a solid pianist.
4. Manage money!
Losing weight This basically refers to defining larger goals for what I’m doing, because if I both exercise and eat better, I will have the fuel I need to meet my goals. I plan on lowering my BMI by 5 by the end of 2008, and I’ll track that data in Excel throughout the year. Mostly, I want to feel more in shape.
Learning the piano I want to be able to functionally play a number of Christmas carols by the end of 2008, and be able to piece through many more from the sheet music. In other words, I want to build the consistent practicing and the quality practice into the functionality of being able to play God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
5. Control your own destiny!
Losing weight The larger goal for losing weight is to get myself into a healthy shape so I can participate in every imaginable activity with my children as they grow up and keep up with them as well (at least until they’re in high school). I want to be able to teach my son how to play basketball in the driveway and play one-on-one with him regularly without worrying about passing out.
Learning the piano I’d like to be able to tackle most songs of reasonable complexity on the piano without much hesitation. I can piece things out in a very rough fashion now, but I know my skills are not strong and I badly want to change that.
low doses of omega-3 fatty acid...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7705&m=33138
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RAFOD-AOD-ABOD-FRAGY OF LF
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mbarrassment happens to everyone. It's a normal, healthy response to making a public mistake. If we can learn how to handle those awkward moments better, we can improve relationships with friends and family... boost our standing in the workplace... and even enhance our self-image.
earching for Similar Diagnosis Through DNA
The girls had never met, but they looked like sisters.
There was no missing the similarities: the flat bridge of their noses, the thin lips, the fold near the corner of their eyes. And to the families of 14-year-old Samantha Napier and 4-year-old Taygen Lane there was something else, too. In the likeness was lurking an explanation for the learning difficulties, the digestion problems, the head-banging that had troubled each of them, for so long.
Several of the adults wiped tears from their eyes. “It’s like meeting family,” said Jessica Houk, Samantha’s older sister, who accompanied her and their mother to a Kentucky amusement park last July to greet Taygen.
But the two families are not related, and would never have met save for an unusual bond: a few months earlier, a newly available DNA test revealed that Samantha and Taygen share an identical nick in the short arm of their 16th chromosomes.
With technology that can now scan each of an individual’s 46 chromosomes for minute aberrations, doctors are providing thousands of children lumped together as “autistic” or “developmentally delayed” with distinct genetic diagnoses. The symptoms, they are finding, can be traced to one of dozens of deletions or duplications of DNA that were previously hard or impossible to detect.
Some mutations are so rare that they are known only by their chromosomal address: Samantha and Taygen are two of only six children with the diagnosis “16p11.2.”
Few of these mutations were inherited in the traditional sense, and the affected children are typically the only family member with the disorder. So, many parents are searching out strangers struck by the same genetic lightning bolt. They want solace, advice and answers to what the future might hold. From other families of children with the same chromosomal anomaly, they are seeking insight into their own. Sometimes what they find is unsettling. But in the emerging communities of the genetically rare, more often it is sustaining.
For three families, the impulse to find others in the same situation was immediate.
A few months before the Lanes crossed the state to meet Taygen’s chromosomal cousin, Jennie Dopp, a mother in Utah, was scouring the Internet for families with “7q11.23,” the diagnosis that explained her son’s odd behavior and halting speech.
“I want someone to say ‘I know what you mean,’” Ms. Dopp told her husband, “and really mean it.”
Noa Ospenson’s parents flew from Boston to South Carolina for a meeting of 100 families with children who, like Noa, are also “22q13.” Hoping for more information about their daughter’s diagnosis, they emerged as lifetime members of what they call “Noa’s tribe.”
For each of them, a genetic mutation became the foundation for a new form of kinship.
Jackson: The Search
If one of his siblings is sitting at his place at the breakfast table, Jackson screams. If a schoolmate gets too close to him, Jackson screams. If someone interrupts him while he is speaking, Jackson screams.
“You ruined my talk!” shrieks the sweet-faced boy who must concentrate intently to string his words together.
Jackson has been to so many sleep doctors because of a bone structure that obstructs his airway that he wants to be one when he grows up. He talks to himself in church. No matter how many times, or how gently, his father asks him to play catch in the yard of their home in Layton, Utah, he refuses. He prefers to play in his tree house, by himself.
“Don’t worry about it,” family members often told Ryan and Jennie Dopp when they recounted a difficult day with Jackson. “My kid is just like that.”
“Your kids,” Ms. Dopp finally snapped at her sister one afternoon, “are nothing like this!”
But for the first seven years of his life, the Dopps could not figure out what made Jackson different. They took him to neurologists and psychologists. He had three brain M.R.I.’s. And then there were the annual trips to the geneticist.
About one in 500 children are born with a chromosomal disorder, the geneticist, Dr. Alan Rope, told them. Such disorders are responsible for an unknown fraction of cases of mental retardation and autism as well as birth defects like a cleft palate or heart and kidney defects. Down syndrome, which occurs in individuals with an entire extra 21st chromosome in addition to the usual pair, is the most common, and the easiest to identify. But there were some 100 known disorders involving subtler duplications or deletions of pieces of chromosomes that were considerably harder to detect, Dr. Rope said. And he could test for only one at a time.
Fragile X syndrome. Smith-Magenis syndrome. Velocardiofacial syndrome. Negative, negative, negative.
Desperate for a diagnosis, this February, the Dopps took Jackson to a psychiatrist. He told them Jackson was autistic.
“Autism covers so much,” Mr. Dopp, a manager at American Express, complained to his wife. “It doesn’t mean anything.” And Jackson did not quite seem like the other autistic children they knew.
Finally, at an appointment in March, the geneticist told them that a technology known as DNA microarray analysis had become available and that it could test all known chromosomal disorders at once. At about $3,000, it was expensive, but one of the major insurers in the state had just agreed to cover it.
When Dr. Rope called to say that there was an extra stretch of DNA in the middle of Jackson’s seventh chromosome, the Dopps rejoiced. His oddness was not the result of bad parenting. Nor was he just a little “off,” as so many people had suggested. Perhaps, Ms. Dopp dared to fantasize, there would one day be a cure for her son. At least now they knew where to look.
But as the Dopps began to tell friends and family members about the source of Jackson’s disabilities, they grew frustrated.
“You say autism, or Down syndrome, and people know somebody,” said Ms. Dopp, who stays home with Jackson and his three siblings. “When you try to explain 7q to people and they barely know what a chromosome is, it’s hard.”
And Dr. Rope had little to offer by way of practical information.
“He said Jackson was the only one he had ever seen,” Ms. Dopp told her husband.
Although they had shied from autism support groups, now they yearned for somewhere to fit in. Finally, Ms. Dopp called an acquaintance whose child had Down syndrome. She had heard of an organization in Britain called Unique that seeks to link families with rare chromosomal disorders.
Ms. Dopp immediately sent away for the registration material. In the packet she received were the e-mail addresses of six other 7q11.23 families.
Jackson, she learned, was one of 11 known children in the world with the DNA duplication. The Dopps were the only one of those families in Utah. She wanted to meet them all. But for now, there was e-mail.
“We have seen occupational therapists, physical therapists, geneticists, speech therapists, neurology, cardiology and eye doctors,” Ms. Dopp wrote. “Have you found certain therapies that work better than others? What doctors have you seen? Do you have any issues with intestinal problems, behavior, autism?”
She could not type fast enough.
Taygen: The Meeting
The genetic counselor at the University of Louisville Hospital put Gaylene Napier and Heather Lane in touch. The deletion of DNA on their daughters’ 16th chromosome had never before been detected.
In the fall, pictures of the girls would appear in a scientific journal: “Discovery of a previously unrecognized microdeletion syndrome of 16p11.2—p12.2.”
The first time the mothers spoke, they stayed on the phone for hours.
Taygen was learning to hop, Ms. Lane, an office administrator, told Ms. Napier. Her occupational therapy was going well. Then Ms. Lane blurted out what she never said to other mothers.
“I just hate that she has to struggle to do things that we all take for granted,” she said.
The Lanes live in Benton, in western Kentucky. The Napiers live in Berea, on the other side of the state. Immediately, they made plans to meet at Beech Bend, an amusement park in the middle.
Ms. Lane stayed in a hotel room nearby the night before with her husband, Dustin, and her mother, Debbie Duckett.
As Sami and Taygen rode the carousel together, Ms. Duckett peppered Ms. Napier with questions.
Was Sami sensitive to small noises? Even a cough or a sneeze can make Taygen shudder.
Sami, Ms. Napier said, makes her unplug the clock every night because she cannot stand the ticking.
Taygen is often sweet and then nasty in bewildering succession.
Sami slaps you and then hugs you, Ms. Napier said. You never know what is coming next.
Taygen does not cry when she is hurt.
Neither does Sami.
They had started trying to potty train Taygen. Sami, Ms. Napier said, had learned when she was 7.
The head-banging and rocking had tapered off for Sami when she was a few years older than Taygen, Ms. Napier said. But she still had painful constipation.
“Oh,” Ms. Duckett sighed. “I hoped she was going to grow out of that.”
Ms. Lane could not take her eyes off Sami. She did not want to miss any detail.
The 14-year-old Sami wore slip-on shoes, because she could not tie laces. When she was concentrating, she hooked the tip of her index finger onto her bottom front teeth and kept it there.
After splashing in the kiddie pool, Sami curled up in her mother’s lap as Ms. Napier wrapped her in a towel. Later, Ms. Napier wiped her face as ice cream dribbled down her chin.
But she was different from Taygen. Sami had been given a diagnosis of mild retardation. Not Taygen, who had had speech therapy and physical therapy starting at nine months.
Sami could count only to 14, and was just learning her colors. Taygen knew all of her colors, though there were certain numbers, like “3,” that she refused to say.
It got easier, Ms. Napier, a factory inspector, told them. Sami has fewer tantrums. She had just recently learned her letters, matching each one to a person she loved. “J” for “Jessica,” her sister. “C” for “Carey,” her cousin.
Ms. Duckett asked Ms. Napier if Sami had started her period. They had wondered if Taygen would be able to have children.
She had, Ms. Napier said, right on schedule.
But did she think, Ms. Duckett persisted, that Sami would ever grow up and lead a normal life — have a home, a job, a car? “Or do you think these kids will always be at home?”
Ms. Napier looked at her. “I don’t know,” she said.
On the way home, Mr. Lane told his wife that he was sorry for Sami. Later, he cried. He hated to think, he said, that Taygen would be like her one day.
But they knew so much more than Ms. Napier had, Ms. Lane told him. Who was to say that Taygen would be just like Sami? “Besides,” she said. “Sami is happy. She doesn’t know there’s anything wrong.”
The following week, Mr. Lane moved out. It had nothing to do with the visit, he said. He said he had been unhappy for years.
“Do you think we scared him?” Ms. Napier asked Ms. Lane when they next spoke. She herself had been divorced when Sami was about Taygen’s age.
Maybe, Ms. Lane said. But then, weren’t they all scared?
Ms. Napier sent pictures of the girls from that visit. Ms. Lane keeps her favorite one on her desk.
Noa: The Tribe
The hotel atrium was teeming with 22q13 children. Some were flapping or crawling on the floor. Some were in wheelchairs or oversize strollers. Others were in their parents’ arms. They were making sounds like Noa made, a guttural growl hovering on the edge of language, the kind of sound that made Noa’s father, Jim Ospenson, yearn all the more to hear her voice.
Noa, now age 4, does not speak.
In the month since Noa had been designated “22q13,” her parents, Mr. Ospenson and Meryl Perlson, had already found two other children with the same chromosomal deletion.
They had read the Web site, recently assembled by the 22q13 Deletion Foundation, whose numbers were growing rapidly along with the accuracy of DNA diagnoses.
And then they went to the biennial meeting of 22q13 families in July 2006. But that first day, in Greenville, S.C., they wondered if they had made a mistake.
Few of the children, even the handful of teenagers, were toilet trained. Some had never gained the use of their hands, which had stiffened into a claw-like shape. Many were chewing on rubber tubes or “chew rags,” to keep them from shredding their clothes.
Ms. Perlson, a communications consultant, and Mr. Ospenson, a computer analyst, attended sessions on one of the genes that Noa is missing, which codes for a protein crucial to neurological development. They learned about the health problems, like seizures and kidney failure, that Noa might face in her 20s. The window onto her future was hard to digest.
But outside the lecture rooms, they found, unexpectedly, that they were enjoying themselves. Ms. Perlson’s mother, Claire Briller, made friends with Morton, a chunky 10-year-old who grabbed at passers-by from his wheelchair and tried to hold their hand. His parents had come from Denmark, and the family spoke little English. But on a number of occasions, Ms. Briller walked with Morton through the halls as he held tight to her arm. “I felt attached to him, like he was the same as Noa ,” she told her daughter.
In the area behind the hotel, Mr. Ospenson watched another father play catch with his older son as his 22q13 son roamed around the grass. At the bar on the second evening, Ms. Perlson sat with a group of mothers. One told a story about being pulled over by a state police officer while speeding. In her car were several large packages of adult diapers, the size her 22q13 child now wore. The police officer did not seem to want to contemplate the explanation. He waved her on.
Everyone laughed. And for the first time that weekend, Ms. Perlson did, too. “Oh, my God,” she thought, “maybe this is going to be O.K.”
The next day, Mr. Ospenson and Ms. Perlson watched Noa play on the floor with several other children. Some of them, because of the low muscle tone associated with the syndrome, flopped over. They all had the hallmark appearance of the syndrome, the flaky toenails, puffy eyes and cheeks, long eyelashes.
Looking at them, Mr. Ospenson said, made him think less about 22q13 for a moment than about how such a tiny bit of missing DNA could make such a big difference in how humans work.
He found himself looking forward, he said, “to seeing those kids grow up alongside my own.”
E-mails to Amy Harmon about this series may be sent to: dna@nytimes.com
//////////////////////MORNING AFTR -C CHUTTO-ASSSN
///////////////////////Use the "Rule of Three" when deciding whether to buy something nonessential. If I can think of three practical uses for an item I am considering buying, it's worthwhile. For example, I bought a new convertible sofa to use as seating for company, a spare bed for overnight guests and a comfortable place to read.
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I Can't Believe I Just Did That!
David Allyn, PhD
Columbia University
mbarrassment happens to everyone. It's a normal, healthy response to making a public mistake. If we can learn how to handle those awkward moments better, we can improve relationships with friends and family... boost our standing in the workplace... and even enhance our self-image. HOW WE REACT
Blushing or casting eyes downward communicates to others that we're embarrassed. This can be a good thing. People are more likely to forgive us when we display these signs of embarrassment.
The trouble is, rather than just blush and get on with life, most people reflexively attempt to recover lost pride through strategies that, in truth, only make bad situations worse. The three most common...
Pulling in. Some people retreat into hiding when they're embarrassed. At a meeting, for example, they might stop participating. That can draw attention to the embarrassment. While others might not have noticed the embarrassing moment, they probably will notice the distant behavior. This often is misinterpreted -- when you avoid someone, the inference he/she tends to draw is that you think you're superior to him.
Deception. Otherwise honest people might tell small lies in an effort to escape potentially embarrassing situations.
Example: You tell your boss that you have completed a task because you're too embarrassed to admit that you forgot about it -- then you rush to get the task done before your lie is discovered.
Because few things are more embarrassing than being caught in a lie, this opens the door to far greater embarrassment later.
Lashing out. Rather than admit a mistake, some people berate others in an attempt to redirect blame and avoid embarrassment.
Example: While driving on the highway, you miss your exit and criticize your spouse for not warning you.
Withdrawing, lying or lashing out can poison relationships with family, friends and coworkers -- and risk transforming embarrassment into shame. Embarrassment stems from a perceived decline in social image. Shame comes from a decline in self-image. Of the two, shame is the stronger emotion and much harder to let go of. What began as a faux pas can lead to a downward spiral of declining faith in one's own worth.
COPING STRATEGIES
The next time you embarrass yourself, focus on the physical symptoms of your embarrassment. Feel your heartbeat quicken and cheeks redden. Notice how your breathing becomes more rapid and your muscles tense. These also are the symptoms of panic. Ironically, by focusing on these symptoms, we can prevent ourselves from panicking.
The part of the brain that we use to track our symptoms isn't the part that panics. If you keep your focus on the symptoms, you should feel more tranquil, which gives you a chance to come up with a productive response to the situation. Some smart reactions to embarrassment...
Get others to open up. Say, "Well, I feel dumb. Have you ever done anything this stupid?" You'll be surprised by how willing other people are to volunteer their own embarrassing moments. Once other people's embarrassments are part of the conversation, you'll no longer feel singled out for your misstep.
Make a self-deprecating joke. Show that you can laugh at yourself, and others will gain respect for you.
Example: You have just knocked over a display in a crowded store. Lean over to your companions and joke, "It's okay -- you can pretend that you don't know me."
Reveal your mistake. If others don't yet know of your embarrassing error, you can control how they find out. You can keep quiet and let them learn about it on their own or pray that it's never revealed -- or you can be up-front about it. Revealing your own embarrassing moments sends the signal that you're a mature person who is willing to own up to mistakes. It also eliminates the anxiety of wondering when the story will leak out.
Example: A broker trainee who failed his licensing exam decided to share the news with his coworkers. When he did, they opened up about their own testing and education failures. He felt better --and the office became a closer, friendlier place to work.
Make yourself more vulnerable. Gain the sympathy of those around you by playing up how badly you feel.
Example: You say to a colleague, "I feel awful that I called John 'Jim' in the meeting." Odds are that the colleague will rally to support you. He also may offer suggestions on how to repair the situation, such as apologizing to John.
Remind yourself that it's not as bad as it seems. This isn't just a feel-good technique -- it's probably true. In many cases, people don't notice mistakes. The only person with the time or inclination to obsess over your embarrassment is you. Other people are too caught up in their own lives.
Example: In one study, participants were asked to walk through a crowded room while wearing an embarrassing garment. Later, when they estimated how many people noticed, they greatly overshot the true figure.
Watch reality TV. Embarrassment can be very isolating. Flip on any reality TV program, and you'll see that the world is full of people making bigger fools of themselves than you -- and doing so in front of a national television audience.
Celebrate your courage. Most embarrassments happen to people who take chances. They try something and fail. Rather than lament the error, be proud that you had the guts to make the attempt.
Example: If you flubbed a presentation in front of a room full of people, it was only because you had the courage to stand up in front of the group in the first place.
Take control of your environment. That might mean cleaning your home and office. People inevitably feel better about themselves when their surroundings are neat. They feel confident that they are on top of things. They also are less likely to forget commitments, which could cause them embarrassment.
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Happy Birthday Johannes Kepler
December 27 is a day to celebrate the life of astronomer Johannes Kepler, who was born on this date in 1571, and is best known for his three laws of planetary motion. But also, coming up in 2009, The International Year of Astronomy (IYA) will celebrate the work of Kepler as well. Not only did Galileo begin his observations with a telescope almost 400 years ago in 1609, but also in that year Kepler published his book New Astronomy or Astronomia Nova. This was the first published work that documented the scientific method.
(more…)
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Flat Lands
Countries with the lowest high points:
- Maldives: 2 meters
- Tuvalu: 5 meters
- Tokelau: 5 meters
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 5 meters
- Marshall Islands: 10 meters
- Cayman Islands: 43 meters
- Turks and Caicos Islands: 49 meters
- The Gambia: 53 meters
- The Bahamas: 63 meters
- Anguilla: 65 meters
The Maldives may eventually disappear altogether — sea levels have risen about 20 centimeters in the last century.
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Unquote
"To be agreeable in society, you must consent to be taught many things which you already know." — Talleyrand
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Earth's Movement Triggered Human Evolution
“Tectonics was ultimately responsible for the evolution of humankind.â€
Royhan and Nahid Gani of the University of Utah, Energy and Geoscience Institute.
The scientists argue that the "Wall of Africa" - an accelerated uplift of mountains and highlands stretching from Ethiopia to South Africa- blocked much ocean moisture, converting lush tropical forests into an arid patchwork of woodlands and savannah grasslands that gradually favored human ancestors who came down from...
• Email to a friend • Article Search • Related • 
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///////////////////////////// Humans 'drive out large mammals'
The number of large mammals has fallen sharply across most of the planet as a result of human activity, a study says.
////////////////////The technology with impact 2007
The BBC News technology team looks back at personal technology favourites of 2007.
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At 7 feet 8 inches, De-Fen Yao, is considered the world's tallest woman. Her abnormal growth was due to Acromegaly, a disease resulting from a tumour on the pituitary gland causing it to pump out excess growth hormone, that inflicted her when she was 15 years old. Link
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The Cosmos in a Test Tube
"In effect, we have made a universe in a test tube."
Richard Haley -Lancaster University
A "universe in a test tube" that could be used to prove theories of everything has been created by physicists using liquid helium and a magnetic field to build a finger-sized representation of the early cosmos.
The low-temperature team at Great Britain's Lancaster University may have found a laboratory test of the ‘untestable’ string theory, made popular by Brian...
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Today is Dec 28, 2007.
I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know
why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing.
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Chapter VIII: The Yoga of the Indestructible Brahman
VIII.9. KAVIM PURAANAMANUSHAASITAARAM
ANORANEEYAAMSAM ANUSMAREDYAH;
SARVASYA DHAATAARAM ACHINTYAROOPAM
AADITYAVARNAM TAMASAH PARASTAAT.
(Krishna speaking to Arjuna)
Whosoever meditates on the Omniscient, the Ancient, the ruler (of
the whole world), minuter than an atom, the supporter of all, of
inconceivable form, effulgent like the sun and beyond the darkness
of ignorance,
VIII.10. PRAYAANAKAALE MANASAACHALENA
BHAKTYAA YUKTO YOGABALENA CHAIVA;
BHRUVORMADHYE PRAANAMAAVESHYA SAMYAK
SA TAM PARAM PURUSHAM UPAITI DIVYAM.
At the time of death, with unshaken mind, endowed with devotion
and by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole life-breath in the
middle of the two eyebrows, he reaches that resplendent Supreme
PANGON
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http://www.businessweek.com/ap/tech/D8TPA7A00.htm
Did Alexander Graham Bell steal the idea of the telephone?
///////////////////Person. ~Buddy Hackett~
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| |
  | Rich life emerges from nature's freezer Tiny channels in the Arctic ice support creatures that play a crucial role in climate-affected ecosystems. |
///////////////////////////// Humans 'drive out large mammals'
The number of large mammals has fallen sharply across most of the planet as a result of human activity, a study says.
////////////////////The technology with impact 2007
The BBC News technology team looks back at personal technology favourites of 2007.
//////////////////////////////XOD=
De-Fen Yao, World's Tallest Woman at 7 Feet 8 Inches
Posted: 27 Dec 2007 08:42 AM CST
At 7 feet 8 inches, De-Fen Yao, is considered the world's tallest woman. Her abnormal growth was due to Acromegaly, a disease resulting from a tumour on the pituitary gland causing it to pump out excess growth hormone, that inflicted her when she was 15 years old. Link/////////////////////////////
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