Reading the contents of working memory [Neurophilosophy]
by Mo none@example.com
Working memory refers to the process by which small amounts of information relevant to the task at hand are retained for short periods of time. For example, before cellular phones became so ubiquitous, calling someone usually involved first finding the number and then remembering it for a just few seconds by repeating it to oneself several times. Once the digits had been dialled, they are immediately forgotten.
Very little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying working memory, but very recently some advances have been made. Last month, a group from the University of Texas Medical Center described a novel mechanism by which the response of single cells in the prefrontal cortex to a stimulus can persist for many seconds after the stimulus has been removed. They suggested that this could be how cells encode information for short periods of time.
And now, researchers from Vanderbilt University have made another important finding. In an advance publication in the journal Nature, they report that the parts of the visual cortex which carry out the earliest stages of visual processing play an important part role in retaining simple images in working memory, and demonstrate that the contents of visual working memory can be accurately predicted by decoding neural activity from those parts of the brain.
/////////////////More on propranolol - the drug that doesn't erase memories [Not Exactly Rocket Science]
by Ed Yong none@example.com
The mainstream media are just queuing up to fail in their reporting of the propranolol story from a couple of days ago. To reiterate:
Propranolol is commonly used to treat high blood pressure and prevent migraines in children. But Merel Kindt and colleagues from the University of Amsterdam have found that it can do much more. By giving it to people before they recalled a scary memory about a spider, they could erase the fearful response it triggered.
The critical thing about the study is that the entire memory hadn't been erased in a typical sci-fi way. Kindt had trained the volunteers to be fearful of spidery images by pairing them with electric shocks. Even after they'd been given propranolol, they still expected to receive a shock when they saw a picture of a spider - they just weren't afraid of the prospect. The drug hadn't so much erased their memories, as dulled their emotional sting. It's more like removing all the formatting from a Word document than deleting the entire file.
/////////////////////Related research has demonstrated that increased "cognitive load" -- like the mental demands of being in a city -- makes people more likely to choose chocolate cake instead of fruit salad, or indulge in a unhealthy snack. This is the one-two punch of city life: It subverts our ability to resist temptation even as it surrounds us with it, from fast-food outlets to fancy clothing stores. The end result is too many calories and too much credit card debt.
City life can also lead to loss of emotional control. Kuo and her colleagues found less domestic violence in the apartments with views of greenery. These data build on earlier work that demonstrated how aspects of the urban environment, such as crowding and unpredictable noise, can also lead to increased levels of aggression. A tired brain, run down by the stimuli of city life, is more likely to lose its temper.
Long before scientists warned about depleted prefrontal cortices, philosophers and landscape architects were warning about the effects of the undiluted city, and looking for ways to integrate nature into modern life. Ralph Waldo Emerson advised people to "adopt the pace of nature," while the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted sought to create vibrant urban parks, such as Central Park in New York and the Emerald Necklace in Boston, that allowed the masses to escape the maelstrom of urban life.
////////////////BPLIDON-BLIND PITILESS INDIFF OF NATR
///////////////////THE GRT MIGRN-WILDEBEEDT ACROSS SERENGATI-WTCHNG BBC IPLYR
//////////////////////........Darwin's big advantage [The Island of Doubt]
by James Hrynyshyn none@example.com
Not to diminish Charles Darwin's brillance in the slightest, but there's a nice little essay in the New York Times by Nicholas Wade that helps explain why the guy managed to get so much so right so long ago. The money quote:
One of Darwin's advantages was that he did not have to write grant proposals or publish 15 articles a year. He thought deeply about every detail of his theory for more than 20 years before publishing "The Origin of Species" in 1859, and for 12 years more before its sequel, "The Descent of Man," which explored how his theory applied to people.
////////////////////NATR-EVOLN-PREDATPR/PREY ARMS RACE-JUST FR REPROD SUCCESS
///////////////////////////////AGONY OF LOW FOOD CHAIN ANMLS
////////////////////WF QRRL-NCP-TO
///////////////////The philosopher Karl Popper is famous for using falsifiability as the basis for separating science from non-science. If a hypothesis can be openly tested and allows for the possibility of being falsified, he said, then it is scientific
///////////////
Saturday, 28 February 2009
DLHI 6 WTCHNG
Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be."
– Grandma Moses
//////////////......Yahoo (noun)
Pronunciation: ['yah-hu]
Definition: The original word was a proper noun which was "commonized", i.e. converted into a common noun. The common noun refers to any boorish, crass person.
Usage: Used in the first instance among students of 18th-century British literature. More recently it has been usurped by a successful Internet company. Despite the company's success, it's a rather unfortunate choice for a name, don't you think?
Suggested Usage: Usage: We should work to prevent this word's becoming a trademark. "She came in late and didn't hear the lecture, but still attacked him during the question period. What a yahoo." It is particularly important to impress the original meaning on young people: "Wash your hands before you eat; we aren't raising a yahoo."
Etymology: A nonsense word first appearing in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" in 1726. Yahoos were degraded humanoid inhabitants of the island of the Houyhnhnms, a race of rational horses that used them as beasts of burden.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
////////////////Babies Born During High Pollen And Mold Seasons Have Greater Odds Of Wheezing By Age 2
Newborns whose first few months of life coincide with high pollen and mold seasons are at increased risk of developing early symptoms of asthma, suggests a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
/////////////////psd=
Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "John (Eljay) Love-Jensen" eljay@adobe.com eljay451
Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:50 am (PST)
A bit of a disjointed, rambling answer to a poetic question...
I am not suffering now.
I am not dead now.
I am not experiencing injustice now.
I am enjoying the show.
My past sufferings and injustice are past. It is not productive to dwell upon them or harbor regrets or resentments, since there is nothing I can do about them now, and I am not experiencing them now. The stress about those "what happened" memories is all in my head, my own reflections of events past.
My future sufferings and injustices are not here now. It is not productive to have anxiety, worry, and stress about them now, since they are not now. The stress about those "what if's" is all in my head -- my own imaginings of future events.
Before I existed, my non-existence did not bother me at all. After I die, I suspect my non-existence will not bother me at all. In the meantime, I am not going to expend even one minute of my time to worry about that, since I am not dead now.
I try to acquire the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I can only change things in the now.
I live in the now, since the now is the only moment I have. The past is past. What is, is. Que sera, sera.
/////////////////.........Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "Analemma" analemma54@live.com analemma54
Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:19 am (PST)
Hi, Grace,
I took a different slant from the poem. Since I'm fighting terminal breast cancer, I find it easier to accept that I am a very insignificant part of the bigger picture. When I walk in the woods and see trees dying because the ants have chewed away the heartwood, I remember that death is a part of Nature, and I am no more important than these trees. I grieve for the trees as I grieve for my own health. I spend time on cancer support forums where there is a lot of prayer, belief in "miracles" and anger at having cancer. I find more comfort in my belief that the Universe is so big that it will be just fine without me.
But I really am enjoying the show! And I do believe it was worth the "price."
B
//////////////////Though a country can offer its citizens
the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness,
Nature does not.
If Nature has allowed you in,
be assured -
You will suffer --
mildly, or perhaps horribly.
You will die –
later, or perhaps sooner;
You will know,
while alive,
injustice
and resentment.
Perhaps abundantly.
And if you love,
each one you love
similarly
will die,
suffer,
know injustice,
and resentment.
This is the fine print you could not read
when
you were being pushed into this world.
This is what you pay for the show.
/////////////////Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "luz0delalba" artrr@luciferian.org luz0delalba
Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:30 pm (PST)
Brenda, it is true that the Universe is BIG. Is All. And that It will
be fine. But you will not leave. We can't leave. This is home. We
were, are and will be here. From Alpha to Omega and to Alpha again for
ever. Those little pieces that today are organized in the marvelous
arrangement you call YOU, will move in all directions to be part of
many new marvelous arrangements tomorrow. And new ones and new ones
for ever and ever. Some of our little pieces will be snow, and birds,
and rocks, and maybe in many moons from now some will be part of
another marvelous She or He who will think about this and about You.
/////////////////A planetary recycling program.We do live in a closed system after all.It's my take on Eastern re-incarnation.
////////////////From One Genome, Many Types of Cells. But How?
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
PRINT
SINGLE PAGE
REPRINTS
SHARE
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: February 23, 2009
One of the enduring mysteries of biology is that a variety of specialized cells collaborate in building a body, yet all have an identical genome. Somehow each of the 200 different kinds of cells in the human body — in the brain, liver, bone, heart and many other structures — must be reading off a different set of the hereditary instructions written into the DNA.
Secrets of the Cell
A Cell's Many Faces
This is the first in a series of occasional articles on a frontier of biology - the workings of the cell.
Multimedia
Graphic
The Epigenome: Guiding Cells to Their Specialized Roles
RSS Feed
Get Science News From The New York Times »
The system is something like a play in which all the actors have the same script but are assigned different parts and blocked from even seeing anyone else’s lines. The fertilized egg possesses the first copy of the script; as it divides repeatedly into the 10 trillion cells of the human body, the cells assign themselves to the different roles they will play throughout an individual’s lifetime.
How does this assignment process work? The answer, researchers are finding, is that a second layer of information is embedded in the special proteins that package the DNA of the genome. This second layer, known as the epigenome, controls access to the genes, allowing each cell type to activate its own special genes but blocking off most of the rest. A person has one genome but many epigenomes. And the epigenome is involved not just in defining what genes are accessible in each type of cell, but also in controlling when the accessible genes may be activated.
In the wake of the decoding of the human genome in 2003, understanding the epigenome has become a major frontier of research.
NYT SC=
///////////////////Physical fitness improves spatial memory, increases size of brain structure
When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters. Numerous studies have shown that bigger is usually better. Now researchers have found that elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.
http://www.brainmysteries.com/research/Physical_fitness_improves_spatial_memory_increases_size_of_brain_structure.asp
///////////////////The reason is that evolutionary success can now be measured in terms of the number of genes an individual contributes to the next generation. Anyone who dies without reproducing does not directly contribute any. But because individuals have some genes in common with their family members, they can make an indirect genetic contribution if they help their relations to reproduce instead of reproducing themselves. Such “kin selection” is thought to have contributed to the evolution of the social insects — especially, ants, bees, wasps and termites — where only a few individuals reproduce and everyone else looks after the offspring.
We’d want to discuss evolution beyond natural selection — the other forces that can sometimes cause (or prevent) evolutionary change. For although natural selection is the only creative force in evolution — the only one that can produce complex structures such as wings and eyes — it is not the only force that affects which genes will spread, and which will vanish.
////////////////98 UMBRLLA KEY
///////////////Darwin is occasionally criticized as an imprecise, nonnumeric naturalist, a man of ideas, perhaps brilliant and original in that mode, but not a scientist like those of today. ... Mendel's rational, experimental analysis of the inheritance of unit characters is without question a work of great genius. .... However, if Darwin failed to discover Mendel's laws, it was not so much because of what he lacked in genius or numeracy or the experimental cast of mind, but rather because of the forceful tendency of what he already possessed. His focus on continuous variation as the source of evolutionary change was not wrong, and coupled with the power he could see in the integration of infinitesimals over time he built his case on the solid foundation of Lyell's uniformitarian thinking. Much of variation and inheritance was simply opaque in those terms, but continuous variation, not unit characters, was, for Darwin, the way forward. Thus Darwin boxed himself in, unable to see the laws of inheritance in continuous variation, unable to see the real importance of discontinuous variation where the laws of inheritance could be discerned.
/////////////////HTTNTT VNUS
///////////////////.....Feb 26, 2009 (2 days ago)
Voters use child-like judgments when judging political candidates [Not Exactly Rocket Science]
by Ed Yong none@example.com
During elections, what affects our decision to vote for one politician over another? We'd like to think that it's an objective assessment of many different factors including their various policies, their values, their record and so on. But in reality, voters are just not that rational.
In the past, studies have shown that people can predict which of two politicians will win an election with reasonable accuracy based on a second-long looks at their faces. With a fleeting glance and little purposeful consideration, people make strong judgments about a candidate's competence, that can sway their final choices. And they do this in a remarkably child-like way.
John Antonakis and Olaf Dalgas from the University of Lausanne found that when judging the faces of potential leaders, the decision-making technique of adults is no more sophisticated than that used by children.
/////////////////////
– Grandma Moses
//////////////......Yahoo (noun)
Pronunciation: ['yah-hu]
Definition: The original word was a proper noun which was "commonized", i.e. converted into a common noun. The common noun refers to any boorish, crass person.
Usage: Used in the first instance among students of 18th-century British literature. More recently it has been usurped by a successful Internet company. Despite the company's success, it's a rather unfortunate choice for a name, don't you think?
Suggested Usage: Usage: We should work to prevent this word's becoming a trademark. "She came in late and didn't hear the lecture, but still attacked him during the question period. What a yahoo." It is particularly important to impress the original meaning on young people: "Wash your hands before you eat; we aren't raising a yahoo."
Etymology: A nonsense word first appearing in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" in 1726. Yahoos were degraded humanoid inhabitants of the island of the Houyhnhnms, a race of rational horses that used them as beasts of burden.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
////////////////Babies Born During High Pollen And Mold Seasons Have Greater Odds Of Wheezing By Age 2
Newborns whose first few months of life coincide with high pollen and mold seasons are at increased risk of developing early symptoms of asthma, suggests a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
/////////////////psd=
Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "John (Eljay) Love-Jensen" eljay@adobe.com eljay451
Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:50 am (PST)
A bit of a disjointed, rambling answer to a poetic question...
I am not suffering now.
I am not dead now.
I am not experiencing injustice now.
I am enjoying the show.
My past sufferings and injustice are past. It is not productive to dwell upon them or harbor regrets or resentments, since there is nothing I can do about them now, and I am not experiencing them now. The stress about those "what happened" memories is all in my head, my own reflections of events past.
My future sufferings and injustices are not here now. It is not productive to have anxiety, worry, and stress about them now, since they are not now. The stress about those "what if's" is all in my head -- my own imaginings of future events.
Before I existed, my non-existence did not bother me at all. After I die, I suspect my non-existence will not bother me at all. In the meantime, I am not going to expend even one minute of my time to worry about that, since I am not dead now.
I try to acquire the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I can only change things in the now.
I live in the now, since the now is the only moment I have. The past is past. What is, is. Que sera, sera.
/////////////////.........Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "Analemma" analemma54@live.com analemma54
Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:19 am (PST)
Hi, Grace,
I took a different slant from the poem. Since I'm fighting terminal breast cancer, I find it easier to accept that I am a very insignificant part of the bigger picture. When I walk in the woods and see trees dying because the ants have chewed away the heartwood, I remember that death is a part of Nature, and I am no more important than these trees. I grieve for the trees as I grieve for my own health. I spend time on cancer support forums where there is a lot of prayer, belief in "miracles" and anger at having cancer. I find more comfort in my belief that the Universe is so big that it will be just fine without me.
But I really am enjoying the show! And I do believe it was worth the "price."
B
//////////////////Though a country can offer its citizens
the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness,
Nature does not.
If Nature has allowed you in,
be assured -
You will suffer --
mildly, or perhaps horribly.
You will die –
later, or perhaps sooner;
You will know,
while alive,
injustice
and resentment.
Perhaps abundantly.
And if you love,
each one you love
similarly
will die,
suffer,
know injustice,
and resentment.
This is the fine print you could not read
when
you were being pushed into this world.
This is what you pay for the show.
/////////////////Re: Dukkha
Posted by: "luz0delalba" artrr@luciferian.org luz0delalba
Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:30 pm (PST)
Brenda, it is true that the Universe is BIG. Is All. And that It will
be fine. But you will not leave. We can't leave. This is home. We
were, are and will be here. From Alpha to Omega and to Alpha again for
ever. Those little pieces that today are organized in the marvelous
arrangement you call YOU, will move in all directions to be part of
many new marvelous arrangements tomorrow. And new ones and new ones
for ever and ever. Some of our little pieces will be snow, and birds,
and rocks, and maybe in many moons from now some will be part of
another marvelous She or He who will think about this and about You.
/////////////////A planetary recycling program.We do live in a closed system after all.It's my take on Eastern re-incarnation.
////////////////From One Genome, Many Types of Cells. But How?
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL
SINGLE PAGE
REPRINTS
SHARE
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: February 23, 2009
One of the enduring mysteries of biology is that a variety of specialized cells collaborate in building a body, yet all have an identical genome. Somehow each of the 200 different kinds of cells in the human body — in the brain, liver, bone, heart and many other structures — must be reading off a different set of the hereditary instructions written into the DNA.
Secrets of the Cell
A Cell's Many Faces
This is the first in a series of occasional articles on a frontier of biology - the workings of the cell.
Multimedia
Graphic
The Epigenome: Guiding Cells to Their Specialized Roles
RSS Feed
Get Science News From The New York Times »
The system is something like a play in which all the actors have the same script but are assigned different parts and blocked from even seeing anyone else’s lines. The fertilized egg possesses the first copy of the script; as it divides repeatedly into the 10 trillion cells of the human body, the cells assign themselves to the different roles they will play throughout an individual’s lifetime.
How does this assignment process work? The answer, researchers are finding, is that a second layer of information is embedded in the special proteins that package the DNA of the genome. This second layer, known as the epigenome, controls access to the genes, allowing each cell type to activate its own special genes but blocking off most of the rest. A person has one genome but many epigenomes. And the epigenome is involved not just in defining what genes are accessible in each type of cell, but also in controlling when the accessible genes may be activated.
In the wake of the decoding of the human genome in 2003, understanding the epigenome has become a major frontier of research.
NYT SC=
///////////////////Physical fitness improves spatial memory, increases size of brain structure
When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters. Numerous studies have shown that bigger is usually better. Now researchers have found that elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.
http://www.brainmysteries.com/research/Physical_fitness_improves_spatial_memory_increases_size_of_brain_structure.asp
///////////////////The reason is that evolutionary success can now be measured in terms of the number of genes an individual contributes to the next generation. Anyone who dies without reproducing does not directly contribute any. But because individuals have some genes in common with their family members, they can make an indirect genetic contribution if they help their relations to reproduce instead of reproducing themselves. Such “kin selection” is thought to have contributed to the evolution of the social insects — especially, ants, bees, wasps and termites — where only a few individuals reproduce and everyone else looks after the offspring.
We’d want to discuss evolution beyond natural selection — the other forces that can sometimes cause (or prevent) evolutionary change. For although natural selection is the only creative force in evolution — the only one that can produce complex structures such as wings and eyes — it is not the only force that affects which genes will spread, and which will vanish.
////////////////98 UMBRLLA KEY
///////////////Darwin is occasionally criticized as an imprecise, nonnumeric naturalist, a man of ideas, perhaps brilliant and original in that mode, but not a scientist like those of today. ... Mendel's rational, experimental analysis of the inheritance of unit characters is without question a work of great genius. .... However, if Darwin failed to discover Mendel's laws, it was not so much because of what he lacked in genius or numeracy or the experimental cast of mind, but rather because of the forceful tendency of what he already possessed. His focus on continuous variation as the source of evolutionary change was not wrong, and coupled with the power he could see in the integration of infinitesimals over time he built his case on the solid foundation of Lyell's uniformitarian thinking. Much of variation and inheritance was simply opaque in those terms, but continuous variation, not unit characters, was, for Darwin, the way forward. Thus Darwin boxed himself in, unable to see the laws of inheritance in continuous variation, unable to see the real importance of discontinuous variation where the laws of inheritance could be discerned.
/////////////////HTTNTT VNUS
///////////////////.....Feb 26, 2009 (2 days ago)
Voters use child-like judgments when judging political candidates [Not Exactly Rocket Science]
by Ed Yong none@example.com
During elections, what affects our decision to vote for one politician over another? We'd like to think that it's an objective assessment of many different factors including their various policies, their values, their record and so on. But in reality, voters are just not that rational.
In the past, studies have shown that people can predict which of two politicians will win an election with reasonable accuracy based on a second-long looks at their faces. With a fleeting glance and little purposeful consideration, people make strong judgments about a candidate's competence, that can sway their final choices. And they do this in a remarkably child-like way.
John Antonakis and Olaf Dalgas from the University of Lausanne found that when judging the faces of potential leaders, the decision-making technique of adults is no more sophisticated than that used by children.
/////////////////////
CDS 280209
A restive morsel needs a spur of wine.
~Proverb, (French)~
//////////////
"I always have time to be. I always have time to be in this moment. I always have time to be in this moment, fully present, and fully aware."
/////////////
~Proverb, (French)~
//////////////
"I always have time to be. I always have time to be in this moment. I always have time to be in this moment, fully present, and fully aware."
/////////////
Friday, 27 February 2009
SISYPHEAN NIGHTS
Sisyphean (adjective)
Pronunciation: [si-sê-'fee-ên]
Definition: Endlessly laborious and futile; also, related to Sisyphus, as "the Sisyphean story" (see Etymology).
Usage: A friend of today's correspondent once was the official ombudsman (See our archives at ombudsman) for New York City—a sisyphean task if ever there was one. There is no other form of today's word, but we don't need one. "Sisyphean" tells of bearing up under a lost cause better than any other word in English. The adjective is usually capitalized despite the fact that it has long been commonized.
////////////////Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.
— Søren Kierkegaard
///////////////////ART INTENDED TO PROVOKE A REACTION
/////////////////
"Healthy Foods = Low Calorie Foods?"
////////////////////To truly hear you must quiet the mind.
~Unknown~
///////////////////////////
Pronunciation: [si-sê-'fee-ên]
Definition: Endlessly laborious and futile; also, related to Sisyphus, as "the Sisyphean story" (see Etymology).
Usage: A friend of today's correspondent once was the official ombudsman (See our archives at ombudsman) for New York City—a sisyphean task if ever there was one. There is no other form of today's word, but we don't need one. "Sisyphean" tells of bearing up under a lost cause better than any other word in English. The adjective is usually capitalized despite the fact that it has long been commonized.
////////////////Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.
— Søren Kierkegaard
///////////////////ART INTENDED TO PROVOKE A REACTION
/////////////////
"Healthy Foods = Low Calorie Foods?"
////////////////////To truly hear you must quiet the mind.
~Unknown~
///////////////////////////
JHN HNDYMN RMNN HRD LF-GBU
////////////////CLTTE LACOMBE-NN 1996-LRI
///////////////TRUTH OVER HAPPINESS
/////////////Dukkha
Posted by: "Thomas Schenk" schen016@umn.edu thomasschenk55116
Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:27 am (PST)
Though a country can offer its citizens
the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness,
Nature does not.
If Nature has allowed you in,
be assured -
You will suffer --
mildly, or perhaps horribly.
You will die –
later, or perhaps sooner;
You will know,
while alive,
injustice
and resentment.
Perhaps abundantly.
And if you love,
each one you love
similarly
will die,
suffer,
know injustice,
and resentment.
This is the fine print you could not read
when
you were being pushed into this world.
This is what you pay for the show.
How are you enjoying the show?
//////////////////////did you write this piece, about '..If Nature has allowed you in.."?
You put Nature in a very negative, depressive light. Yes, I agree that in life, we all suffer, some horribly, like me, but there are also the positive aspects.
There is great beauty in Nature - look at the sky, the mountains, the trees, the birds, etc., although we are very winter weary here...! They are very beautiful. There are also some very good people in life and in the world, besides the crooks and the criminals. It's what you want to focus on.
Yes, I'm enjoying the show, cos this is the only show we have and we know. Make the best of what we are given and dwell on the positives. Don't watch the news or read the stories about the murders and the fraud cases- they depress you and make you think that the world is a bad place. When a plane crushes it's front page news, etc.
Whatever.
I told myself to count 3 blessings every morning, to cheer myself up. It works.
G
/////////////////There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow."
– Orison Swett Marden
///////////////////ITS CRAZY BUT IT WORKS
///////////////////PSD=
I accept the rules and live by them.
//////////////////METOCLOPRAMIDE
FDA Calls for Boxed Warning on Gastrointestinal Drug
All metoclopramide-containing products must carry a boxed warning on the risk for tardive dyskinesia, the FDA announced on Thursday. (The products' labels currently include a less severe warning on the condition.)
Metoclopramide, used to speed gastric emptying and as an anti-emetic, may put patients at risk when used chronically or in high doses, and treatment beyond 3 months is not recommended. According to the FDA, chronic use "should be avoided in all but rare cases where the benefit is believed to outweigh the risk."
Older individuals, especially women, appear to be at highest risk.
Affected products include metoclopramide oral solution and Reglan sold in tablet, oral disintegrating tablet, and injectable form.
///////////////////Jean de La
Fontaine:
"A pessimist and an optimist, so much the
worse; so much the better."
/////////////////
///////////////TRUTH OVER HAPPINESS
/////////////Dukkha
Posted by: "Thomas Schenk" schen016@umn.edu thomasschenk55116
Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:27 am (PST)
Though a country can offer its citizens
the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness,
Nature does not.
If Nature has allowed you in,
be assured -
You will suffer --
mildly, or perhaps horribly.
You will die –
later, or perhaps sooner;
You will know,
while alive,
injustice
and resentment.
Perhaps abundantly.
And if you love,
each one you love
similarly
will die,
suffer,
know injustice,
and resentment.
This is the fine print you could not read
when
you were being pushed into this world.
This is what you pay for the show.
How are you enjoying the show?
//////////////////////did you write this piece, about '..If Nature has allowed you in.."?
You put Nature in a very negative, depressive light. Yes, I agree that in life, we all suffer, some horribly, like me, but there are also the positive aspects.
There is great beauty in Nature - look at the sky, the mountains, the trees, the birds, etc., although we are very winter weary here...! They are very beautiful. There are also some very good people in life and in the world, besides the crooks and the criminals. It's what you want to focus on.
Yes, I'm enjoying the show, cos this is the only show we have and we know. Make the best of what we are given and dwell on the positives. Don't watch the news or read the stories about the murders and the fraud cases- they depress you and make you think that the world is a bad place. When a plane crushes it's front page news, etc.
Whatever.
I told myself to count 3 blessings every morning, to cheer myself up. It works.
G
/////////////////There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow."
– Orison Swett Marden
///////////////////ITS CRAZY BUT IT WORKS
///////////////////PSD=
I accept the rules and live by them.
//////////////////METOCLOPRAMIDE
FDA Calls for Boxed Warning on Gastrointestinal Drug
All metoclopramide-containing products must carry a boxed warning on the risk for tardive dyskinesia, the FDA announced on Thursday. (The products' labels currently include a less severe warning on the condition.)
Metoclopramide, used to speed gastric emptying and as an anti-emetic, may put patients at risk when used chronically or in high doses, and treatment beyond 3 months is not recommended. According to the FDA, chronic use "should be avoided in all but rare cases where the benefit is believed to outweigh the risk."
Older individuals, especially women, appear to be at highest risk.
Affected products include metoclopramide oral solution and Reglan sold in tablet, oral disintegrating tablet, and injectable form.
///////////////////Jean de La
Fontaine:
"A pessimist and an optimist, so much the
worse; so much the better."
/////////////////
WTNG FR JN RMNN HNDYMN
/////////////EASILY IMPRESSED TO NEVER IMPRESSED
////////////DIFFRNT PTS OF VIEW
/////////////RATATOUILLE
////////////////
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Mary Todd Lincoln
Today's feature was submitted for Lincoln's birthday, February 12. Unfortunately, Site of the Day had already 'gone to press;' however, this site is too good not to feature, even if it is a little late. The web developer Steve Feld, previously featured with the ThinkQuest Projects, has collaborated with Lynda Arnold, Mary Todd Lincoln's 21st Century advocate, and Rose Reissman, a PhD education and research consultant, to bring Mrs. Lincoln to life. The group seeks to 'elevate Mary Todd Lincoln to her rightful position, as our respected and admired First Lady.' As Abe is celebrated, let's shine light on his "Molly." You'll find valuable link resources, a charming but challenging interactive quiz, classroom activities, an extensive bibliography and an original theatrical play to download. The play centers around a conversation between "Molly" and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 'whose own story has much in common with Mary's.' Have fun discovering the 'real' Mrs. Lincoln and helping to get her facts out to the public. As Ms. Arnold states, "Mr. Lincoln will also be grateful for your help."
Beliefnet offers you easy-to-follow and unique advice for improving many aspects of your life.
Inner Peace On Earth
Chat with our Lady of Weight Loss Janice Taylor
10 Ways to Find Happiness
9 Ways to Affair-Proof Your Marriage
View your weekly Video Horoscope – it’s FREE!
To submit a site to Site of the Day, click here.
To review Site of the Day Archives, click here.
A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.
-- Chinese Proverb
The only nice thing about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.
-- Doug Larson
//////////////////DISTRESS TO DE-STRESS
/////////////////////Now the alternative to despair is courage. And human life can be viewed as a continuous struggle between these two options. Courage is the capacity to affirm one's life in spite of the elements which threaten it. The fact that courage usually predominates over despair in itself tells us something important about life. It tells you that the forces that affirm life are stronger than those that negate it.
Paul E. Pfuetze
American Philosopher and Professor
////////////////////AMIDOS
//////////////////////Give me a face that makes simplicity a grace. ―Ben Jonson
//////////////////'All that is gold does not glitter'
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
J.R.R. Tolkien
/////////////////Patna, Feb 1 (IANS) Love has a new adversary. It’s Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, the rustic charmer, who has come out against love marriages, saying youngsters ought marry according to their parents’ wishes. “It is my request to all youngsters, men or women, not to go for love marriages. Simply follow the age-old pattern of marriage settled by parents only,” Lalu Prasad told mediapersons here Sunday.
Lalu Prasad is father of nine children - seven daughters and two sons. Three daughters of Lalu Prasad are married. The marriages were “arranged” by Lalu.
////////////////////////First things first. Chocolate is not traditional to the white developed
nations. It was consumed by the Aztecs and Columbus took the idea as well as
the beans back with him to Spain where it was drunk mixed with salt pepper
etc. and even wine; proved to be a hit, taxes were slapped etc. etc. Then
onwards spread to other European nations including UK where it was still
drunk in pubs etc. until 1728 when a chap called Fry established the first
chocolate factory. First bar was made in 1847. it tasted horrible. Then in
around 1876 Mr. Nestle experimented with milk and the first avatar of
present day chocolate emerged. Chocolate bars began in US in 1894 courtesy
one Hershey.
////////////////////
“Dutton believes the preference fo particular landscape paintings taps into inclinations formed in the Pleistocene era”
//////////////THE ART INSTINCT-EVO EXPLNN-EQUIVALENT TO PEACOCK TAIL
//////////////Just as it is for pigeons, so it is for mankind, Dutton believes. The universal preference for a particular type of landscape painting taps into universal innate inclinations formed during the Pleistocene period, ‘the 1.6million years during which modern human beings evolved’. Featuring, amongst other things, water, open spaces of low grasses interspersed with thickets of trees, evidence of animal or bird life, and an opening up to an unimpeded view of the horizon, this predilection for a particular landscape testifies to a primordial memory of the African Savannas, the scene for a large portion of human evolution 80,000 generations in length. Each element of the enigmatically appealing landscape painting is tailored to suit the needs of these ancient nomads, from the canopy of trees for shelter, to the food and water necessary for human sustenance.
E O WILSONS BIOPHILIA
//////////////////Dutton’s deep sensitivity to all things aesthetic prevents any neat subordination of art to evolutionary schemata”
Despite the ingenuity of Dutton’s approach, drawing upon impressive reserves of cross-disciplinary erudition, there still always seems to be something about art, indeed about humanity, that exceeds the Darwinian framework. This is evident within The Art Instinct itself, especially at the points where Dutton waxes lyrical over creativity, imagination and the sheer self-created wonders of human achievement, be it a Beethoven symphony or the ironising wisdom of Chekhov. At one point he even seems to admit the limits of the evolutionary thesis: ‘Darwinian theory, particularly when it involves sexual selection, does not propose that we can adduce from evolutionary theory itself exactly how or why the arts have come down to us in the ways we now experience them. Evolution remains a kind of natural history – in truth, an unrecoverable prehistory – with twists, turns, and genetic bottlenecks we shall never know about.’ He is not simply saying that we do not know how and why different art forms have developed in the way that they have; he is saying something more definitive: we cannot know. Dutton’s own knowledge, his deep sensitivity to matters aesthetic, prevents any neat subordination of art to evolutionary schemata.
////////////////‘Evolution is the transcendence of animality’, writes Dutton”
A dynamic conception of human history, indeed of human nature, in which man is less the product, than the conscious overcoming, of necessity, would better be able to resist the pitfalls of a purely Darwinian art theory. Dutton recognises this. ‘Evolution is the transcendence of animality’, he writes. Would it really alter the phrase’s meaning, or Dutton’s approach more broadly, to change ‘evolution’ to ‘human history’? This is not to abandon man’s nature, but to recognise what makes him distinct as ‘the self-mediating being of nature’.
//////////////
////////////DIFFRNT PTS OF VIEW
/////////////RATATOUILLE
////////////////
Beliefnet would like to confirm that you are receiving and are satisfied with your newsletter subscription. Please add dailyinbox@partner.beliefnet.com into your address book, and click here to ensure that you don't miss an issue.
Mary Todd Lincoln
Today's feature was submitted for Lincoln's birthday, February 12. Unfortunately, Site of the Day had already 'gone to press;' however, this site is too good not to feature, even if it is a little late. The web developer Steve Feld, previously featured with the ThinkQuest Projects, has collaborated with Lynda Arnold, Mary Todd Lincoln's 21st Century advocate, and Rose Reissman, a PhD education and research consultant, to bring Mrs. Lincoln to life. The group seeks to 'elevate Mary Todd Lincoln to her rightful position, as our respected and admired First Lady.' As Abe is celebrated, let's shine light on his "Molly." You'll find valuable link resources, a charming but challenging interactive quiz, classroom activities, an extensive bibliography and an original theatrical play to download. The play centers around a conversation between "Molly" and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 'whose own story has much in common with Mary's.' Have fun discovering the 'real' Mrs. Lincoln and helping to get her facts out to the public. As Ms. Arnold states, "Mr. Lincoln will also be grateful for your help."
Beliefnet offers you easy-to-follow and unique advice for improving many aspects of your life.
Inner Peace On Earth
Chat with our Lady of Weight Loss Janice Taylor
10 Ways to Find Happiness
9 Ways to Affair-Proof Your Marriage
View your weekly Video Horoscope – it’s FREE!
To submit a site to Site of the Day, click here.
To review Site of the Day Archives, click here.
A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.
-- Chinese Proverb
The only nice thing about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.
-- Doug Larson
//////////////////DISTRESS TO DE-STRESS
/////////////////////Now the alternative to despair is courage. And human life can be viewed as a continuous struggle between these two options. Courage is the capacity to affirm one's life in spite of the elements which threaten it. The fact that courage usually predominates over despair in itself tells us something important about life. It tells you that the forces that affirm life are stronger than those that negate it.
Paul E. Pfuetze
American Philosopher and Professor
////////////////////AMIDOS
//////////////////////Give me a face that makes simplicity a grace. ―Ben Jonson
//////////////////'All that is gold does not glitter'
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
J.R.R. Tolkien
/////////////////Patna, Feb 1 (IANS) Love has a new adversary. It’s Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, the rustic charmer, who has come out against love marriages, saying youngsters ought marry according to their parents’ wishes. “It is my request to all youngsters, men or women, not to go for love marriages. Simply follow the age-old pattern of marriage settled by parents only,” Lalu Prasad told mediapersons here Sunday.
Lalu Prasad is father of nine children - seven daughters and two sons. Three daughters of Lalu Prasad are married. The marriages were “arranged” by Lalu.
////////////////////////First things first. Chocolate is not traditional to the white developed
nations. It was consumed by the Aztecs and Columbus took the idea as well as
the beans back with him to Spain where it was drunk mixed with salt pepper
etc. and even wine; proved to be a hit, taxes were slapped etc. etc. Then
onwards spread to other European nations including UK where it was still
drunk in pubs etc. until 1728 when a chap called Fry established the first
chocolate factory. First bar was made in 1847. it tasted horrible. Then in
around 1876 Mr. Nestle experimented with milk and the first avatar of
present day chocolate emerged. Chocolate bars began in US in 1894 courtesy
one Hershey.
////////////////////
“Dutton believes the preference fo particular landscape paintings taps into inclinations formed in the Pleistocene era”
//////////////THE ART INSTINCT-EVO EXPLNN-EQUIVALENT TO PEACOCK TAIL
//////////////Just as it is for pigeons, so it is for mankind, Dutton believes. The universal preference for a particular type of landscape painting taps into universal innate inclinations formed during the Pleistocene period, ‘the 1.6million years during which modern human beings evolved’. Featuring, amongst other things, water, open spaces of low grasses interspersed with thickets of trees, evidence of animal or bird life, and an opening up to an unimpeded view of the horizon, this predilection for a particular landscape testifies to a primordial memory of the African Savannas, the scene for a large portion of human evolution 80,000 generations in length. Each element of the enigmatically appealing landscape painting is tailored to suit the needs of these ancient nomads, from the canopy of trees for shelter, to the food and water necessary for human sustenance.
E O WILSONS BIOPHILIA
//////////////////Dutton’s deep sensitivity to all things aesthetic prevents any neat subordination of art to evolutionary schemata”
Despite the ingenuity of Dutton’s approach, drawing upon impressive reserves of cross-disciplinary erudition, there still always seems to be something about art, indeed about humanity, that exceeds the Darwinian framework. This is evident within The Art Instinct itself, especially at the points where Dutton waxes lyrical over creativity, imagination and the sheer self-created wonders of human achievement, be it a Beethoven symphony or the ironising wisdom of Chekhov. At one point he even seems to admit the limits of the evolutionary thesis: ‘Darwinian theory, particularly when it involves sexual selection, does not propose that we can adduce from evolutionary theory itself exactly how or why the arts have come down to us in the ways we now experience them. Evolution remains a kind of natural history – in truth, an unrecoverable prehistory – with twists, turns, and genetic bottlenecks we shall never know about.’ He is not simply saying that we do not know how and why different art forms have developed in the way that they have; he is saying something more definitive: we cannot know. Dutton’s own knowledge, his deep sensitivity to matters aesthetic, prevents any neat subordination of art to evolutionary schemata.
////////////////‘Evolution is the transcendence of animality’, writes Dutton”
A dynamic conception of human history, indeed of human nature, in which man is less the product, than the conscious overcoming, of necessity, would better be able to resist the pitfalls of a purely Darwinian art theory. Dutton recognises this. ‘Evolution is the transcendence of animality’, he writes. Would it really alter the phrase’s meaning, or Dutton’s approach more broadly, to change ‘evolution’ to ‘human history’? This is not to abandon man’s nature, but to recognise what makes him distinct as ‘the self-mediating being of nature’.
//////////////
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