Ideal Advice: The Self-Help Search for Truth and Balance

The habits of highly successful bosses.

2007-10-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Some things you may not think about when you think of a great manager:

Great bosses get the small picture.

Great bosses never forget that employees experience things locally, from the trenches of IT or accounting or sales. In words and action, great bosses take account of those perspectives.

Great bosses make people feel smart.

Great bosses, when presented in a meeting or in private conversation with some enthusiastic but misguided bit of twaddle, listen carefully for the tiniest germ of potential. Seizing that germ, they talk it through--teasing it, tweezing it, rearranging it--until they produce something workable and smart.

Great bosses know who does what.

There is no i in team, but there is an i in underappreciated, which is how people feel when their individual contributions disappear into the common collaborative slurry

Great bosses know when they're not wanted.

Good bosses delegate. Great ones don't hang around in the background monitoring how that delegation is going.

Great bosses remember.

Employees' hobbies. Their families' names. Who plays what position on the company softball team. Who is terrified of flying. Who has expressed interest in a leadership role. And employees, in return, remember them.

Income-Inequality Gap Widens

2007-10-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

The gap between rich and poor is growing.

• Widening Gap: The wealthiest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record, surpassing the highs reached in the 1990s bull market, and highlighting the divergence of economic fortunes blamed for fueling anxiety among American workers.

• Behind the Numbers: Scholars attribute rising inequality to several factors, including technological change that favors those with more skills, and globalization and advances in communications that enlarge the rewards available to "superstar" performers whether in business, sports or entertainment.

Changing the tax structure to improve this situation is not enough. Pay attention to this as the Democrats discuss it in the coming election.

To know that one person breathed easier...

2007-10-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

"...to know that one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded."

I think we all tend to think of things in large often overwhelming terms. This quote makes the idea of helping others a little simpler for me...

WHAT IS GOING ON??? Getting sued for music piracy.

2007-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS GOING ON? A woman just got sued by the The Recording Industry Association of America, representing six record labels, for music sharing and guess what? She lost. How much was the verdict for her illegally shared 24 songs over file-sharing site Kazaa? $220,000.

I don't know how to respond to this. A service comes out that allows you to share music but actually doing it is illegal. I know this is like the pipe and grass (marijuana) argument but come on! Millions of people did/do this. Are all going to be procesecuted? This just defies common sense. Unfortunately much of what goes on in the legal and political world around us doesn't either.

NOTE: Many of the 30,000 people sued by the RIAA have settled, for an average of $4,000.

Mall Rats?

2007-10-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Question of the day: If moving into the mall is considered "art," what does that say about our culture?

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- The leader of an artists' cooperative has been sentenced to probation for setting up a secret apartment inside a shopping mall's parking garage as part of a project on mall life.

Michael Townsend, 36, said he and seven other artists built the 750-square-foot apartment beginning in 2003 and lived there for up to three weeks at a time.
The artists built a cinderblock wall and nondescript utility door to keep the loft hidden from the outside world.

But inside, the apartment was fully furnished, down to a hutch filled with china and a Sony Playstation 2 -- although a burglar broke in and stole the Playstation last spring, Townsend said.
There was no running water -- instead they used the mall bathrooms. Tour the hidden apartment »

On his Web site, Townsend said he was inspired by a Christmastime ad for the mall which featured a "an enthusiastic female voice talking about how great it would be if you (we) could live at the mall."

He built the dwelling "out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper."
Townsend said plans to make the apartment "super-sweet" with laminated wood flooring and other perks fell apart last week after he and a visiting artist from Hong Kong walked into the room and were greeted by three security guards. He pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge.
Providence Place Mall spokesman Dante Bellini Jr. described the living space as little more than "an area with stuff in it."

But Providence Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said he and other detectives were so intrigued they visited the apartment to see for themselves.
"I was surprised at what he was able to accomplish," Campbell said. "But what he did was clearly criminal. The mall is private."

Metabolism Management

2007-10-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

People are always counting their calories and fighting themselves tooth and nail to avoid that one indulgence only to see little benefit as a result. Why? Much of reason is that their metabolisms adjust making their slightly-adjusted diets have little effect. Little do people know that they can actually get in better shape by eating more. By doing all of the following advice in this article (listed below) and sustaining these changes you can actually change your metabolism forever. It takes time and hard work but I never thought that working out hard and eating a lot was that unpleasant. Not to mention that there are countless other benefits to you physical and mental health that will come as a result of these changes.

Engage in aerobic exercise 4 to 5 days a week: Several studies show that aerobic activities cause your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising.
Work your muscles:Lifting weights and/or other strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis (at least 2 to 3 times each week) will boost your resting metabolism 24/7.
Eat enough food - at least 1,000 calories: Your body and metabolism thrive on food, so when you fast, crash-diet, or restrict calories below 1,000, your metabolism will slow down in a response to conserve energy.
Eat every 4 to 5 hours: Because our bodies work hard to digest and absorb the foods we eat, your metabolism revs in response. This is called the thermic effect of food. Take full advantage and schedule meals and snacks every 4 to 5 hours.
Incorporate lean protein with every meal: Eating any food creates a thermic effect and boosts metabolism after consumption. However, the consumption of protein has the absolute greatest metabolic boost when compared to carbohydrate and fat. Plus, eating the appropriate amount of protein will ensure you're able to maintain and build muscle mass (the more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolism).

Use your time wisely; by slacking off

2007-10-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

A recent survey found that the typical American worker wastes slightly more than two hours a day, not including lunch and scheduled breaks. The No. 1 time-wasting activity is surfing the Internet and sending personal e-mails, followed by socializing with co-workers, conducting personal business and just plain "spacing out." All of this loafing is supposedly costing employers $759 billion a year in lost productivity. But guess what, American workers, it turns out, are wasting less time than they did just a couple of years ago - 19% less. And the U.N.'s International Labor Organization recently issued a report that found that the U.S. leads the world in worker productivity - and by a wide margin.

So here is the paradox. "We are a nation of doers, hard workers, yet we are also a nation of ideas, big ideas." It has long been known that idea generation requires idleness, but idleness makes us uncomfortable. These two aspects of the American personality constantly rub against each other. This leads our minds to constantly shift from guilt (for using work time on personal matters) to resentment (for having to work so-damn-much) to boredom. This cycle causes us to misuse a lot of energy when in fact we can accept that there is a healthy balance between work, idleness (and whatever else you do on the job) that each of us can find for ourselves if we look for it.

Maybe the Vegetarians Have It Right?

2007-07-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

"Eating beef ' is less green than driving' "

Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday.

Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef. Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.

This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy. That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.

Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals' digestive systems, New Scientist magazine reported. But more than two thirds of the energy used goes towards producing and transporting cattle feed, said the study, which was led by Akifumi Ogino from the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan.

Sue Taylor, the press officer for the Vegetarian Society, told New Scientist: "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints, but one of the easiest things you can do is to stop eating meat."

Yet another way we can make small changes to improve our quality of life in the long run...

Shopping Is NOT a Solution

2007-07-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

This website is in response to campaigns such as Gap's RED campaign, which attempted to raise money for Africa, but ended up being a HUGE failure... (After spending $100 million, the campaign only raised about $20 million)...

The truth is, if you want to help, the best thing to do is to be proactive. Get out there and effect change. However, if you are going to donate, do your research and donate to a legitimate organization that will properly handle your donation.

Buying a T-Shirt from the GAP may be the more glitzy thing to do, but a direct donation goes a lot further.

To make a difference, give. Give of yourself, your time, your efforts, your funds. Giving goes further than shopping.

The Power of Mindfulness

2007-07-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

"Mindfulness" is the practice of focusing one's self in the present. Things like paying attention to your mood, heart rate, temperature, stress level, etc. By focusing like this you recognize things that may have escaped you previously or feelings you may be ignoring. Many people practice mindfulness as part of meditation.

Recently researchers at UCLA compared those who were more "mindful" to those who were not by monitoring their brain activity. Their finding was that those were more mindful experienced less negative emotions and showed greater calmness in their brain activity.

So based on this research we know that mindfulness works, but what it doesn't tell you is that it is not easy. It takes discipline and focus. When we are busy with deadlines, errands, and are bombarded by the information that surrounds us every day, it becomes quite difficult to focus on the present and on one's self. As a result some of us neglect ourselves to a point of extreme emotional discomfort that goes beyond the point that a little mindfulness each day can clear up. That is why we need to remember to be mindful everyday, even if just for a few minutes. You may already do this and not even know it. Possibly when you walking, cooking, or taking a shower part of your mind wanders into thinking about your current state. Remember the importance of these times especially when the more stressful moments arise.

Fat Tax

2007-07-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

"LONDON (Reuters) - A "fat tax" on salty, sugary and fatty foods could save thousands of lives each year, according to a study published on Thursday. Researchers at Oxford University say that charging Value Added Tax (VAT) at 17.5 percent on foods deemed to be unhealthy would cut consumer demand and reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes."

A fat tax? Funny idea, maybe a good one though. I am usually against the government interfering with people's freedoms. I'm the first to say that people need to take personal responsibility for what they eat. However, as this article points out, this tax would hit the poorest groups the hardest. They try to use this as a point against the fat tax when in actuality it is the most important reason we need it. Lower socioeconomic groups also suffer the most from poor diets. The truth is that most inexpensive foods (i.e. fast foods) are also the most unhealthy, while healthy, fresh foods are significantly more expensive (been to Whole Foods lately?) making them inaccessible to the poor.

The point is that everyones got to eat but the poor have far less healthy options (ever seen a Whole Foods in Watts, or Compton?). Couldn't a tax like this be used to tilt the scales the other way? Possibly, tax unhealthy food and subsidize wholesome options???

Oh, and if you were wondering about why this matters to people like you and I, I can tell you that the increased health care costs of the poor come out of our tax dollars, which are directly related to diet and other lifestyle differences.

Models Banned for Being Too Skinny

2007-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

"I absolutely don't want models who are too skinny... They are a bad example for young generations." Explained designer Raffaella Curiel who fired 15 models from her show in Rome because they were too skinny, complying with a fashion code signed by the Italian industry last year to combat anorexia.

I had never heard about this ban that came in the wake of a 21-year-old Brazilian model's death from anorexia a month earlier. At the time of her death the 5-foot-8 inch model weighed 88 pounds.

We all obviously understand the reasoning behind these new regulations but I am curious to know about the weight and height of the 15 models banned form the show. I mean where do you draw the line? I think anorexia and other eating disorders have a lot more to do with self-confidence and satisfaction than creating a certain appearance. Maybe this is the first step to make improvements or possibly a inane stab at addressing a problem that is more complex than we perceive it to be from the outside in.

Real Estate Reset

2007-07-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

I know that most readers are aware that we are in a housing downturn after years of record setting home sales. Soon we will see how far this downturn will go.

Many, many people who purchased homes over the past 6 years did so through the use of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). As I'm sure you know, the interest rates on ARMs are based on the established interest rates at the times meaning they fluctuate. Well, now many of these loans are set to reset to much higher interest rates in the coming months; more than 2 million of them to be more precise. This means that the interest rates on these loans could jump by 35% or more, undoubtedly putting far more financial strain on those who have them. It will be interesting to see what happens...

Why discuss this on this blog? Because people in the US, especially those on the coasts and large cities appear to be short sited. They take ARMs on homes that are beyond their means and give little thought to the consequences 5 or 10 years down the line. This issue does not just concern matters of money. Americans consistently look for quick fixes to lifetime problems. Whether it's liposuction, or get rich quick schemes, we look for ways to avoid hard work and perseverance. The result is a rocky, up and down cycle that leaves us with less than we began with.

I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.
Steve Jobs(1955 - ), Interview, 1995

The Tattoo Issue

2007-07-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

"Nearly 50% of Americans between 21 and 32 have at least one tattoo or a piercing other than in an ear, according to a 2006 study by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Men and women alike say their tattoos make them feel sexy and rebellious, a 2003 Harris Poll found, while the unadorned of both genders see body art as unsightly and think those with tattoos and piercings are less intelligent and less attractive."

As I mentioned in my previous entry about emergence of Generation X & Y groups into working society, things are changing whether employers and institutions like it or not. Tattoos are becoming more and more popular especially with those who are thought to be creative or expressive types. Yet at the same time employers with "old school" values still find them unprofessional and even offensive.

It's interesting what people choose to judge as bad or no big deal. Simply think about what a tattoo is: A piece of art on someones body. Yet the stereotype that it carries is one that would be wholly unacceptable if it were geared toward something like race, gender or sexual preference. As the article explains, some of the world's largest organizations still have rules prohibit ting the employment of individuals who cannot cover all their tattoos. That is harsh, but I understand why they do it. They are scared that they will loose the business of their conservative customers, who have little else to do with there time then to be upset by someone elses appearance.

Now I know that tat's historically have certain affiliations with those from undesirous groups but when the statistics show that 50% of 21 to 32 year olds have at least one tattoo or a piercing other than in an ear, then perceptions have to change. It's now like all these people of gangsta's, or ex-cons.

Email: "Like bleeding to death from a thousand pinpricks"

2007-07-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.slate.com/id/2165452/nav/tap1/

A great article about the role email plays in modern work and life. Is it true that email "eats away at people's time, a minute at a time... [like] bleeding to death from a thousand pinpricks?"

Or is the following description a little more accurate?

"Many people who are addicted to e-mail are more correctly described as addicted to work. Lots of e-mail makes you feel important. E-mail addicts (like me) fear the empty inbox and, strangely, the potential freedom that e-mail provides. A BlackBerry can make you feel accountable at night, but it also lets you say, play golf, while still monitoring any situation that might come up. When business is conducted through e-mail, it shifts the responsibility of actually working off of the physical setting of the office and back onto you. That lack of structure, or the need to provide your own structure, can be uncomfortable. Still, you often find confident people who are immune to e-mail addiction. They just don't understand what the fuss is about. They check e-mail when they need to; they turn it off when they've got stuff to do. It's a tool that serves them. "

Set yourself some boundaries and follow them. Soon email will serve you as it serves many others.

Generation X & Y - What the Future Holds...

2007-06-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a conference focused on the unique generational shift that is currently going on. The Baby Boomers (born 1944-1962) are getting old while Generation X'rs (born 1963-1981) are taking their roles as adults, and Generation Y's (born after 1981) are entering the workforce. What does this all mean??? Society is going to change quite a bit.

Interestingly generation X is one of the smallest generations since The Depression, but is sandwiched between two of histories largest generations, the Baby Boomers and Generation Y. This is why you've heard that organizations are very concerned about the aftermath of the Baby Boomer retirement. The fear is that there will be a shortage of quality employees to not only take the roles left empty by exiting Baby Boomers but also the question of who will manage the large group of younger generation Y employees.

This put's Generation X'rs in a very unique position as the intermediaries between two very different groups that have and will shape the world as we know it. How are these groups different? To help you with this imagine each of the following people as representatives to their respective generations (I didn't come up with these):

Baby Boomers - Bill Gates

Generation X - (None, that's why we are signified by the X)

Generation Y - Paris Hilton

Now, you may look at these representations and come to the simplified conclusion that I think those from the Y generation are idiots and that our society is going downhill, but you'd be wrong. Many people actually believe this point of view to be true and justify their concerns with evidence about how Y's are unwilling to work hard, can't focus, and are clueless when it comes to social interaction (e.g. showing respect for their elders). But this is only a shallow view of what this group brings to the table.

The Bad Background: Y's were raised by wealthy, protective, and overworked Baby Boomer parents taking excellent care of them (or at least hiring someone to do so). As a result they have a great feeling of entitlement and little discipline. They don't believe in sacrificing today for happiness tomorrow. They want to be happy today and tomorrow. To go along with this is a deeply ingrained feeling of equality. In there eye's people are people; things like age are not significant or justifications for special treatment (remember these are the kids having temper tantrums in the market, yelling at their parents because they tried to stop them from getting Power Ranger cereal). Again this all sounds negative, but look a bit deeper and you may see things a bit differently.

When studying spiritual literature one is constantly reminded of the idea of focusing on the moment instead of dwelling on the past or anticipating the unknown of the future. Y's do this naturally.

Feelings of entitlement combined with equality create a high standard for all to live up to. What I mean is, that someone who feels entitled has high expectations for themselves irrespective of the work they do or sacrifices they make. When this is combined with broadly supported feelings of equality with no thought of age, race, and gender then these high standards are expected for all.

Now, these characteristics don't appear to be as bad as they did before, do they?. When you add to this that Y's are resourceful, creative and fully integrated into the systems that Boomers still can't fully comprehend, and X's barely have a handle on, you find a group that is truly unique and definitely not inferior. That is except in one area: Focus.

It still waits to be seen whether Y's will have problems focusing on anything for long enough to really make any sizable impact. This is where the information overload, lack of discipline and constant connectivity may have hurt our newest generation. Will they be able to focus there energy, attention, etc. for long enough to meaningfully improve the world? I don't have the answer but I'll leave you with these quotes about managing Y's:

"Generation Y doesn't care about how much you know, until they know how much you care."

"Generation Y needs leaders not managers...Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing."

America Today

2007-06-26T16:09:00.001-07:00

The last few posts have brought to light some of the interesting dichotomies that plague America today... On one hand, we are taught to believe that we are the most advanced in terms of human rights, given our long-standing commitment to and foundation in the concept of freedom (i.e. see Constitution and Bill of Rights). Yet, at the same time, while we sometimes over-value life, for example, the debate on stem cells, at other times, we just as easily undervalue it, for example see the value of a mexican post.

What kind of culture do we live in where an unborn fetus that is only a few cells large has more rights than an actual human being?

The Truth About Stem Cells

2007-06-25T10:25:00.001-07:00

(skip to the bottom if you are already knowledgeable about stem cell research)

A few weeks ago a few friends and I had a contentious debate about progress of stem cell research and the actual use of stem cells. Without solid knowledge of the subject our debate was reduced to conjecture, and assumption. This weekend I did some research to find the bottom line on stem cell research.

Stem cells are specific cells found in the VERY early stages of development of all organisms. These cells have not yet specialized so they can become anything in the organism. For example, a stem cell can become a skin cell or a nerve cell later on in development. In fact, a stem cell is what eventually multiplies and multiplies until you have a whole organism (e.g. a human). So stem cells are what is used for cloning.

When a sperm and egg fuse you have your first stem cell. This cell then divides, and then those two cells divide, etc. taking us through the stages of embryonic development. As this process continues the stem cells change into specialized cells that make all the organs and tissues of an organism. These specialized cells cannot be used for anything else other than their specialized usage (not exactly true but good enough for our purposes). That is what makes stem cells so valuable. They can be anything. They can even be used to create a whole new organism (i.e. cloning). This means that someone who has a damaged organ that must be removed can use stem cells to create a new organ to replace it. Or someone who is paralyzed because his/her spinal cord was cut can use stem cells to re-attach their spinal cord and walk again. The applications are endless and there has actually been a case where a blind man's vision was restored using stem cells.

So up until this point I think we have covered what is more or less basic knowledge that most people have about the subject, but here is what most people don't know is: What is the source of stem cells?

Answer: A fetus. This is what creates all the debate about stem cell research and what has made it illegal in the U.S. It's the idea that using fetuses is morally questionable. But what people don't know is that the only stem cells that can be used for research are those of an embryo that has only reached UP TO 16 CELLS in size. At this point the fetus is still microscopic! This also means that stem cells can be created in a lab using the eggs and sperm of those who donate or sell them. They do not need to be gathered through abortions.

Also, in case you didn't know, people sell there sperm and eggs all the time. Stem cell research would not cause people to do this for the first time.

The Value of a Mexican

2007-06-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

The title sounds like a bad joke but Slate.com took it seriously and did the math. There's this idea out there that "Americans should care more about their countrymen than about a bunch of foreigners." Well, let's just assume this is true. Then the question becomes how much more$?$

"Surely there's some limit; virtually nobody thinks, for example, that Americans should be allowed to hunt Mexicans for sport. So, exactly how much are you willing to hurt a foreigner to help an American? Is a foreigner's well-being worth three-quarters as much as an American's, or half as much, or one-quarter as much?"

"Virtually all economists agree that immigration makes us richer, not poorer. Every immigrant is a potential trading partner, a potential employee, and a potential customer. He bids down wages, but that's a two-edged sword: It's bad for his fellow workers, but it's good for employers and good for consumers."

After doing some pretty daunting economic analysis looking at the hourly wage benefit to a immigrant worker and loss to an American worker the bottom line is:

The immigrant gains $7 an hour, which as "actually worth about five times the American's $3 loss. In other words, to justify keeping the immigrant out, you'd have to say he's worth less than one-fifth of an American citizen."

Tattoo Regret: Is Nothing Sacred?

2007-06-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Tattoos are getting easier to remove. Estimates: Up to 45 million Americans are tattooed; 17 percent of them regret it; the annual number of tattoo removal treatments might be 100,000. Summary by a removal company's CEO: "As your life changes from young to middle-aged to older, from single to married to divorced, you get tattoo regret." Sample reasons: 1) Get my ex-fiance's name off my body. 2) I don't want my tattoos to show around my strapless wedding gown. 3) I need to start looking employable and marriageable. 4) I want to replace my old tattoos with new ones. Current removal technology: multiple expensive laser treatments to break down each color. Impending technology: special ink that can be removed with a single laser treatment. CEO's pitch: The new ink will embolden "fence-sitters who always wanted a tattoo but have been afraid of the permanence." Half-cynical view: It'll make them feel as though they're getting a real tattoo when, in fact, they aren't. Fully cynical view: Removable tattoos for the era of removable relationships."

In today's world, obsolescence dominates. Hot one moment, gone the next, it seems that nothing these days has any permanence: not our goals, not our toys (as the only thing we can seemingly count on is that our new "technologies" our outdated the moment we receive them), not our relationships (see divorce statistics). Even the tattoo, what was once the ultimate symbol of permanent commitment, can now be edited right out of existence.

The question is, is anything sacred? Do we every commit to anything anymore for the long haul? And if the answer is no, what consequences are we suffering?

The Newly Rich Cash-Out of Love

2007-06-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

"There is no question that a huge infusion of wealth to relatively young people has a disastrous effect on the marriage's stability," says Bern Clare, a Manhattan divorce lawyer.

In the world of hedge fund managers one can become an overnight multi-multi-millionaire. And with this new wealth come drama. High dollar value divorces are becoming more and more common among fund managers and with them, excessive demands. Just take a look at a few:

- "A case in which the dependant spouse insisted that she needed $800,000 a month in child support payments, even though she already had an income of $7 million a year. "The judge listened calmly and found she had plenty to maintain herself. Then he ordered $100,000" a month."

- "In one recent divorce, the entire settlement was hung up on the issue of whether the former wife would be given $500,000 or $750,000 a year to cover first-class air travel."

The reason why I decided to discuss this article is because I believe wealth interferes with many parts of our lives. Wouldn't you think that wealth would improve a marriage? Eliminating so many of the worries most of us have. But this is obviously not the case, and there are countless other areas where wealth damages our lives whether it be parenting, to our own internal happiness. As Dr. Richard Easterlin, one of the world's foremost economists explained: As a person’s income goes up, he or she doesn’t grow any happier in a lasting sense.

The point is wealth can be a vice without the proper foundation... A foundation where one understands that money is not a replacement for love, or a pre-requisite for happiness.

Not So Insecure After All?

2007-06-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Self-effacing people are secretly confident
Despite appearances, most people think highly of themselves.

"No matter how meek they might appear, most people are endowed with the same self-confidence, new research reveals. For some, however, that confidence is buried deep inside.

Within the United States as well as across cultures—and stereotypes —all individuals hold a positive inner confidence.

“A given person with high implicit [or inner] self-esteem may be outwardly self-promoting or may be outwardly very modest,” said study team member Anthony Greenwald, a psychologist at the University of Washington.

The results are detailed in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science."

Father's Day Quote

2007-06-15T10:00:00.001-07:00

“Every father should remember that one day his child will follow his example instead of his advice.”
- Author Unknown

Public Schools - Adam Smith would be pissed!

2007-06-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Adam Smith, the author of the Wealth of Nations (the outline for capitalist economies) would be quite perturbed if he saw the state of public schools in our country. Why? Because they go against everything he stood for.

A capitalist economy is based on supply and demand, accountability, and above all humanity's innate greed. Being the antithesis of socialism, where people are supposed to be motivated by promoting the common good, capitalism correctly assumes that an individual's desire for self promotion is usually stronger. So why is our education system based on socialist philosophies, free of competition, or accountability? The public answer we are given is: Because no child can be left behind. But the "simple fact [is] that one of the surest ways to leave a kid "behind" is to hand him over to the government."

"Americans want universal education, just as they want universally safe food. But nobody believes that the government should run 90% of the restaurants, farms and supermarkets. Why should it run 90% of the schools — particularly when it gets terrible results?" Take for example Washington D.C. which spends $12,979 per student per year, but is "last in spending on instruction. Fifty-six cents out of every dollar goes to administrators." Washington D.C. is near the top when it comes to spending on education, but near the bottom when it comes to student performance on standardized tests.

The point made by this article, is that education is a business whether we like it or not. By shutting down public schools and allowing private schools to handle education we will allow the capitalist economy we are a part of to manage the quality and integrity of education. We will provide an atmosphere that rewards results because parents won't send their kids to a low performing school when they have the choice to send them to another.

The government can use the funds it currently spends on students to subsidize education without managing the whole schools system. In addition, the government can use these funds to help level the playing field between the wealthy and socio-economically challenged but first the overall structure must be changed to one that makes business sense.

Are Kids Staying Kids for Too Long?

2007-06-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

This article, by Camille Paglia of Salon.com, raises a number of interesting points, from politics to pop culture. One however, stuck out in my mind. Are young adults (ages 18-25) revelling in their youth too long? Paglia refers to the recent pop culture debacles of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan as examples of when parents hinder the development of their children but refraining from teaching responsibility.

"What links the Lohan and Hilton cases is the weird behavior of the parents -- either flaky and dysfunctional or overbearing and coddling. The Lohan and Hilton mothers seem to reject aging by trying to keep their daughters in developmental limbo. Paris in particular seems to have become a psychic prisoner, turned into a flash-frozen marzipan doll by her belligerently benevolent mom. Neither family is typical, of course, but are the Hiltons exposing an unhealthy symbiosis in recent American family life? Adulthood keeps getting postponed for white middle-class girls, who even after they arrive at college are obsessively linked by umbilical cellphones to their hovering parents, who want to shield their progeny from all of life's nicks and scrapes."

Although Paris and Lindsay's experiences are hardly American culture's common denominator, there is something to be said for teaching your kids to take responsibility for themselves at an early age, rather than allowing them to rely on you as a parent long as possible. Rather than "postponing" their adulthood, we should teach our children to embrace it, even if it means having our children endure a few of "life's nicks and scrapes" along the way.

If Paris and Lindsay are any indication, "developmental limbo" leads to nowhere - at least in their cases - other than rehab or jail.

Green Guilt Trip

2007-06-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Copied form the article:

The government and the greenies are afraid of making you feel guilty. Not me. And a whole lot of sources back me up.

Plastic: You're not throwing away plastic bags, genius — you're throwing away oil. In energy alone, recycling a ton of plastic bags saves 11 barrels of oil. Which means that Californians, by tossing away 19 billion plastic bags last year — all of them blowing across my lane of the freeway — wasted about 4.5 million barrels of oil. And those darling little plastic water bottles you tossed — 18 million barrels of oil to make them. What, did you think the Sparkletts fairy whisked them all away?

Paper: The lungs you ruin may be your own. A mature tree eats 13 pounds of carbon dioxide every year, so every time you don't recycle a huge stack of envelopes and junk mail and wrapping paper and newspapers, you're murdering a tree that could have saved you. You could heat your house for six months on the energy saved from recycling a ton of paper.

Aluminum cans: Too lazy to shuffle to the recycling bin? The energy you waste by throwing away a single soda can would run your TV for three hours. Throwing away an empty six-pack is like throwing away nearly a $3.50 gallon of gasoline. We Americans toss away enough aluminum cans in a year to rebuild every commercial airliner in America. Good work, cola-for-brains.

Et ceteras:

• You throw away three pounds of trash every day; two pounds of that could be recycled, unless you like the idea of living next to Landfill World

• You're adding 10% or 20% to your electric bill and sucking coal and oil by keeping energy vampires plugged in: phone chargers, TVs and printers.

• Pour away a gallon of motor oil instead of recycling it, and you're dumping enough energy to dry your hair for 216 days or to watch 60 Super Bowls.We've come to the end of this guilt trip; thanks for ride-sharing.

Price is Right

2007-06-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kurson6jun06,0,6477820.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

According to Ken Kurson of the Los Angeles Times nobody "give(s) much thought to Pierre de Fermat or Blaise Pascal," but thanks to Bob Barker, the probability theory developed by those "brilliant mathematicians from centuries past" has been seamlessly transmitted "into millions of homes for 35 years." Barker, who recently taped his last episode of The Price is Right, educated the public using "daily lesson(s) in the principles of behavioral finance." Besides being a staple of American "comfort entertainment," the game show was essential viewing if "you wanted to know how to exploit -- or get trapped by -- market inefficiencies and the often irrational behavior of competitors." And by combining "real prices" for real products with hot women, continuously fresh contestants, and the ever-youthful Prof. Barker, lessons were"made... as painless as possible."

Research: Stem Cells Can Make Blind See

2007-06-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070606/scientists_stem_cells_can_make_blind_see-id-104433.html

http://www.physorg.com/news100319385.html

Macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in older people and is believed to affect about 14 million people in old age and 30 percent of 75-year-olds. Lyndon da Cruz of the University College London Institute of Opthamology has had some success transplanting retinal pigment epithelium cells within patients' eyes. Now Cruz and his colleagues hope to use cells grown in a petri dish. The project received an $8 million gift from an anonymous U.S. donor whose father became blind and who obviously couldn't invest his money in a U.S. firm doing the same research. "This is totally geared toward getting in the clinic," said Pete Coffey, a colleague of Cruz' at the institute. "Our goal within the five-year period is to have a cohort of 10 or 12 patients we can treat. If it hasn't become routine in about 10 years it would mean we haven't succeeded. It has to be something that's available to large numbers of people."

Another interesting article from 2003 - Stem cells used to make a blind man (from eye injury) see again:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=4180

Tips on Aspiring Creativity

2007-06-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000932.html

I don't normally link to blogs, but this is good, real good. There is a detailed explanation of each of these tips if you go to the link.

So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years:
1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.
14. Dying young is overrated.
15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
16. The world is changing.
17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.
18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
19. Sing in your own voice.
20. The choice of media is irrelevant.
21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.
24. Don�t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
25. You have to find your own schtick.
26. Write from the heart.
27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
28. Power is never given. Power is taken.
29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.
30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
31. Remain frugal.

Not so Helpful Self-Help

2007-05-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

I was forwarded the quote below by a friend who knew I was interested in these kinds of inspirational, self-help statements. To the average reader this may seem insightful or even profound but I don't see it that way. After reading enough of these statements you come to realize that some of them are empty. They just incite you by stating a variety of issues but leave you hanging with no direction or even suggestion of how to move forward. I believe that most of us are aware that our society, and generally speaking, the world are flawed, so the question becomes "What do we do?" or "How can I better deal with these issues?" At the end of this forwarded message you'll see the following statement: "You can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit 'Skip Ahead'... " I don't see this as providing any substance. Without guidance, or insight it appears that passages like these leave us in a worse place than we started.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit "Skip Ahead"...

Eating Oil for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

2007-05-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone has heard about the problems Americans face (case in point: war) due to our dependence on foreign oil. However, most of us confine our worries to our cars or heating our homes. As prices for oil go up, worst case scenario, we'll have to start carpooling, right? Wrong.

Our dependence on oil goes to the very heart of our ability to exist: food. Without fossil fuels, we literally would not be able to eat given the current system we have in place for getting food to the marketplace.

"Assuming a figure of 2,500 kcal per capita for the daily diet in the United States, the 10/1 ratio translates into a cost of 35,000 kcal of exosomatic energy per capita each day. However, considering that the average return on one hour of endosomatic labor in the U.S. is about 100,000 kcal of exosomatic energy, the flow of exosomatic energy required to supply the daily diet is achieved in only 20 minutes of labor in our current system. Unfortunately, if you remove fossil fuels from the equation, the daily diet will require 111 hours of endosomatic labor per capita; that is, the current U.S. daily diet would require nearly three weeks of labor per capita to produce."

As we approach the upcoming Presidential election, this issue should remain in the forefront of our minds. We may not need to drive, but we certainly need to eat.

Who's Rich? Not the Smartest...

2007-05-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

"Intelligence really isn't one of the key driving forces. In fact, people at the middle of the smarts spectrum have the fewest money problems."Ohio State economics professor Jay Zagorsky suggests different factors: "Staying married, not getting divorced, thinking about savings."

In Zagorsky's study of 7,500 middle-aged Americans, the smarter you are, the more you tend to earn. For each IQ point you have above someone else's IQ, you'll earn between $200 and $600 more. You would reasonably assume, then, that smarter people would end up wealthier. But that was not suggested by the study. Instead, people with higher IQs and incomes tended to spend more, maxing out credit cards and paying bills late. At the end of the day, those with lower IQs often had a greater net worth.

Rich don't save either

2007-05-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

HSBC reports that people with more than $250,000 in household income, who constitute the top 1.5% of U.S. households, report facing many obstacles when it comes to saving. The #1 answer for what prevents them from saving more: the need to pay everyday bills. Some interesting facts:

The savings rate in the United States dipped to zero in 2005 and has even fallen into negative territory, the first time since the Great Depression.
49% of respondents with at least $250,000 in income aren't saving more because they simply "want some spending money."

"Savings can be a challenge at any stage of your life." "Regardless of your income, financial status, or age, saving does require a level of control and awareness."

"It seems that awareness dims, however, with the more money you earn. More people who earn between $50,000 and $100,000 save consistently than people who earn between $200,000 and $250,000 per year, according to HSBC."

Springwise.com: Your Daily Fix of Entrepreneurial Ideas

2007-05-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

This blog it awesome. It posts new and interesting business ideas. Everything from high-end camping to a service that allows you to send them an email that it then prints and sends via snail mail for you. Not to mention virtual travel guides, gorilla bakeries, and pizza vending machines. You can even be a "SpringSpotter" to help report new ideas and win prizes. Enjoy!

Darfur, The NBA, Lebron James, China, and One Man's Attempt to Make a Difference.

2007-05-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

tp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/aditi_kinkhabwala/05/17/newble.darfar/index.html

"It all started on a road trip, with a copy of USA Today and an article on the crisis in Darfur, the western region of Sudan where ethnic cleansing might not adequately describe the horror. Since early in 2003, the Sudanese military and its proxy militia, the Janjaweed, have been raping and dismembering and just plain slaughtering the land-tilling, non-Arab villagers. Newble (a Player on the Cleavland Cavaliers) read that some 500,000 Sudanese are dead and another 2.5 million are homeless, and he rubbed his eyes."

"Then he logged a few hours on the Internet and found out that China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil, and that the proceeds from that fund weapons for the Janjaweed. He read that China has invested a billion dollars a year, for the last 10 years, in Sudan, and that just under 50 percent of Sudan's exports land on China's shores. Newble learned that every attempt the U.N. has made to send civilian-protecting peacekeepers into the region has been vetoed ... by the 2008 Summer Olympic-hosting Chinese."

Newble felt that had to do something so he got in touch with Eric Reeves, an English professor at Smith College who's the preeminent expert in the U.S. on the situation in Sudan. They decided the best thing to do was to send a letter to the Chinese government which states: "We, as basketball players in the NBA and as potential athletes in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, cannot look on with indifference to the massive human suffering and destruction that continue in the Darfur region of Sudan." He plans to get this letter signed by as many athletes as he can to help pressure China into taking action. That's why his agent, Steve Kauffman, met with representatives of the NFL's and MLB's players' associations and why he hopes Muhammad Ali signs on too.

Newble first approached his teammates and they all signed it. Except for two. Damon Jones, who has a deal with a Chinese shoe company, asked for a little more time to see if he'd be violating that contract. And LeBron James. He says he needs more 'information.'"

The Teachings of "Fight Club"

2007-05-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you.
----
Tyler Durden: [whispering] Tell him the liberator who destroyed my property has realigned my perception.
----
Narrator: I flipped through catalogs and wondered: What kind of dining set defines me as a person?
----
Tyler Durden: We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.
Narrator: Martha Stewart.
Tyler Durden: Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So fuck off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.
----
Narrator: This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.
----
Tyler Durden: People do it everyday, they talk to themselves... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it.
----
Tyler Durden: First you have to give up, first you have to *know*... not fear... *know*... that someday you're gonna die.
----
Tyler Durden: Hitting bottom isn't a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!
----
Tyler Durden: All right, if the applicant is young, tell him he's too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. If the applicant then waits for three days without food, shelter, or encouragement he may then enter and begin his training.
----
Tyler Durden: Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
----
Tyler Durden: All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.
----
Tyler Durden: You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
----
Tyler Durden: Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
----
Narrator: On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
----
Narrator: When people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just... Marla Singer: - instead of just waiting for their turn to speak?
----
[after deliberately crashing the car on the side of the road] Tyler Durden: Goddamn! [Histerical laughs]
Tyler Durden: We just had a near-life experience, fellas.
----
Narrator: After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down.
----
Narrator: And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
----
Tyler Durden: Fuck what you know. You need to forget about what you know, that's your problem. Forget about what you think you know about life, about friendship, and especially about you and me.
----
Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler
---
[Gets up from airplane seat] Tyler Durden: Now a question of etiquette; as I pass, do I give you the ass or the crotch...?

216 Common Chemicals are Linked to Breast Cancer

2007-05-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-cancer14may14,1,1252250.story?page=1&ctrack=3&cset=true&coll=la-headlines-health

Experts have long suspected that diet plays a role in causing breast cancer. But new research found "no association that is consistent, strong and statistically significant" for any particular foods raising or reducing breast cancer risk.

There is substantial evidence, however, that regularly consuming alcohol, being obese and being inactive increase risk. Now new evidence of 216 common chemicals found to cause cancer in test animals has been reported. Of those, people are highly exposed to 97, including industrial solvents, pesticides, dyes, gasoline and diesel exhaust compounds, cosmetics ingredients, hormones, pharmaceuticals, radiation, and a chemical in chlorinated drinking water.

As Ana Soto, a Tufts University professor of cell biology who specializes in cellular origins of cancer and effects of hormone-disrupting contaminants"More and more, cancer looks like an environmental disease." This is not to say that there are not genetic and hereditary factors in the development of breast cancer, but simply to point out the apparently great influence of environment and lifestyle.

Don't Believe (Or Forward) Everything You Read

2007-05-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Contrary to what forwarded e-mails would have you believe, progesterex is not a date rape drug that is being used to sterilize women, people are not spraying ether perfume, estee lauder lipstick does not contain lead, and Ashley Flores is NOT missing.

Basically, 90% of the forwards you are receiving are COMPLETELY FALSE. Stop forwarding them. Instead, use a fact checker such as http://www.snopes.com/ to see whether or not the forward you are reading is based in fact

The Internet is an unprecedented tool for the proliferation of information. Let's keep it as pristine as possible.

Unwanted Baby Drop Box - This is for Real!

2007-05-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/10/japan.babybox.ap/index.html

This is truly one of the strangest - and to be quite honest, innovative - practices I have read about in a long time. Around the world there are hospitals that allows people to drop off unwanted babies in an anonymous "drop box." These baby drop offs exist in Japan, Germany and South Africa.

"In Japan the baby drop-off, is called 'Crane's Cradle,' was opened by the Catholic-run Jikei Hospital in the southern city of Kumamoto as a way to discourage abortions and the abandonment of infants in unsafe public places. The hospital described it as a parent's last resort.'"

"A small hatch on the side of the hospital allows people to drop off babies in an incubator 24 hours a day, while an alarm will notify hospital staff of the new arrival. The infants will initially be cared for by the hospital and then put up for adoption."

"'We started the service but hope it won't be used,' head nurse Yukiko Tajiri said. "I hope it is seen as a symbol that we are always here for parents to share their difficulty.'"

Quotes on Selfishness

2007-05-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

What is being selfish? Some people say everyone is selfish with even the nice things they do for others having some self-benefit. But the predominant belief is that people can be truly righteous, which means that others truly aren't.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities.
Ann Richards

The principle of liberty and equality, if coupled with mere selfishness, will make men only devils, each trying to be independent that he may fight only for his own interest. And here is the need of religion and its power, to bring in the principle of benevolence and love to men.
John Randolph (1773 - 1833)

Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires.
Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC), The Way of Lao-tzu

Sorry Soldiers, No More My Space or You Tube. No Big Deal...Right?

2007-05-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051400112.html

Imagine that you're a soldier somewhere in the middle of nowhere: Afghanistan, Korea, Iraq. You see some pretty horrible things, are far from those you love, and are often excruciatingly bored. You look forward to your time on the web to communicate with loved ones, see what's going on back home, and just take in a little light entertainment. Sites like YouTube and MySpace surely go a long way in making your stay in a life-threatening environment a bit more comfortable.

But now the Defense Department decided has begun blocking access to YouTube, MySpace, and 11 other Web sites on its computers due to the "enormous amounts of traffic on those sites that could swamp the military's dedicated Internet network and disclose sensitive materials." No big deal, right? Wrong.

Some Facts About Bottled Water

2007-05-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthnews/4505/water-facts-bottled-or-tap

"Bottled water has become the fastest growing commercial beverage sold in the United States. In 2005, Americans spent nearly $10 billion on bottled water."

"To date, no independent investigation has shown that bottled water passes more safety and health checks than tap water. In fact, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tested 103 brands of bottled water and concluded there was no assurance that water out of a bottle is cleaner or safer than water from the tap. Another of their conclusions didn't surprise me either: They estimated that 25 percent or more of bottled water is nothing more than tap water."

"...a five-year supply of bottled water cost over $1,000 compared with $1.65 for the same amount of tap water. Not to mention the environmental impact of the many discarded plastic water bottles that are not recycled. "

Kidney for Sale?

2007-05-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

If times get hard, you can sell your car, your house, your belongings... However, in most countries, including the United States, you can't sell your organs. The emerging question is, should you be able to?

The justifications behind prohibiting the sale of organs are primarily ethical. It is clearly the poor, primarily in third-world countries, that would be the first to get in line.

Yet, with a burgeoning international black market, one wonders whether or not legalizing and regulating the sale of organs would better address the ethical concerns at stake.

William Saletan's solution?

"The surest way to stop him from selling his kidney is to make it worthless, by flooding the market with free organs. If you haven't filled out a donor card, do it now. Because if the dying can't get organs from the dead, they'll buy them from the living."

ROWE: Results-Only Work Environment

2007-05-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

"Work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do."

"The endeavor, called ROWE, for 'results-only work environment,' seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours. Hence workers pulling into the company's amenity-packed headquarters at 2 p.m. aren't considered late. Nor are those pulling out at 2 p.m. seen as leaving early. There are no schedules. No mandatory meetings. No impression-management hustles. Work is no longer a place where you go, but something you do. It's O.K. to take conference calls while you hunt, collaborate from your lakeside cabin, or log on after dinner so you can spend the afternoon with your kid. The official policy for this post-face-time, location-agnostic way of working is that people are free to work wherever they want, whenever they want, as long as they get their work done."

Created for corporate employees at Best Buy, those who worked in ROWEs were found to be more productive, and happier. To me this just makes sense and is long overdue. I really hope more corporations see the light!!!

That's Spirituality??? Cool.

2007-05-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

I got into a conversation with a guy getting his masters is Spiritual Therapy. At first I was very skeptical but then he explained that they studied things like unlearning our constant need to judge everything, and changing our perspective to see things as they are, rather than seeing everything as right and wrong, good and bad. I had never really thought of spirituality in these terms before. So I looked up some quotes on spirituality. Here are two I liked:

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.
Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)

Religion is for those who don't want to go to Hell. Spirituality is for those of us who have already been through it.
Anonymous

The FDA Gets More Power; But We Don't Save Money

2007-05-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902383.html

"In a study last year, the Institute of Medicine concluded that the federal system for approving and regulating drugs is in serious disrepair. That report, requested by the FDA, followed two years of controversy over drug safety after the 2004 withdrawal of the arthritis drug Vioxx because of the risk of heart attack."

As a result the FDA was now provided with new powers and a more intense role in monitoring drug safety. At the same time, the legalization of importing cheaper drugs from other countries was not included. As the one dissenting senator put it:

"Safe drugs are obviously important, and there are a lot of good provisions in this bill," Sanders said. "But a safe drug doesn't mean anything to somebody who can't afford it."

18,000 Naked Mexicans

2007-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-06-mexico-tunick-photo_N.htm

It is amazing how in Mexico City they closed down one of the busiest centers in the world to take part in this modern art event that required 18,000 naked adults laying in the streets, while in the U.S. we get all bent out of shape over Janet Jackson's breast being revealed... And trust me they are more religious then we are. Their is something wrong with the extreme conservatism we find in the U.S. especially with regard to sex and nudity. It has no basis; Try not to get caught up in it!

The Black Swan, The Economy, Predictions, and Random Events

2007-05-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/2007-recession-blindside-happy-talk-economists/story.aspx?guid=%7B711FF308%2D1A2E%2D41D3%2D87BE%2D4DFD5218A833%7D&dist=TNMostRead

A fantastic article that you must read... But in short: Breaking news is useless. This makes Journalists and Economists who propagate this news of little value for they cannot predict much based on the information they have today. What does affect the world in meaningful ways are random, practically unexpected events (e.g. 9/11, the creation of Google, etc.). Currently most news makers and economists say the economy is strong and a recession is out of the question, but could a coming recession be one of these seemingly unexpected events???

Prescription Painkillers Becoming More Popular than Marijuana

2007-05-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Marijuana has long been the most popular illicit drug in the U.S., but federal researchers say that there are now more new recreational users of prescription painkillers than new pot smokers.

"While marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug, the misuse of prescription drugs is clearly a growing national concern that requires action from multiple segments of our society," said Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick, SAMHSA's acting deputy administrator.

"We know that 70 to 80 percent of those 12 years or older said they got their drugs from a friend or relative and, very likely, those came from the family medicine cabinet. Only 4.3 percent got the pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and only 0.8 percent reported buying the drug on the Internet. Parents and other caregivers should store their prescription drugs carefully and dispose of any unused drugs before they can fall into the wrong hands."

Spudware: Say Goodbye to Plastic, Hello to Bioplastics

2007-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/03/01/8401025/index.htm

Start saying goodbye to Styrofoam containers and plastic cutlery. Since these products are nonrecyclable and nonbiodegradable (unlike other plastics), West Coast cities are voting like Santa Monica and San Fransisco are voting to ban them.
What will take their place? Tableware derived from corn, potatoes and sugar already being backed by giants like DuPont and Dow Chemical.

Some Flayva for Your Laptop & Ipod

2007-05-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Monet Anyone???

http://www.gelaskins.com/

I don't normally write about products here but I really like this. Gelaskins takes interesting artwork and turns it into stylish skins for your laptop and Ipod. Take a look:

Health care errors affect 1 in 10 patients

2007-05-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/news/174715;_ylt=AusAbB.Y4TemHmIBXOl2pKIqLcsF

"Errors in medical care affect 10 percent of patients worldwide, according to the United Nations health agency"

One thing I have always noticed is that those who are highly involved in managing their health, especially when they are ill, end up getting better treatment and are more comfortable with the things going on with their health. There is a certain level of stress that comes along with not knowing/understanding what is going on with your body and mind. We often think that we are incapable of understanding what is actually going on with our bodies and minds but this is usually NOT the case. So when this study states that 10% of patients are affected by health care errors, it becomes clear that we must each take some personal responsibility to understand our health and any treatments, tests, etc. we receive. When things do not appear to be correct it is in our hands to speak up.

FDA urges new warnings on antidepressants

2007-05-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/news/174727;_ylt=AioqeA3zXokxvp38epcrar0qLcsF

"All antidepressants should carry new warnings about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in young adults ages 18 to 24 during initial treatment, U.S. health officials proposed on Wednesday." Currently "cautions about the chances of suicidal behavior in children and teens who take the drugs" are listed in a Black Box on the packaging.

"Studies showed a 'slight increase;' in suicidal thinking and behavior among young adults during early treatment, which was generally the first one to two months, the FDA said. The data did not find a higher risk for adults older than 24."

"Adults 65 and older who are treated with the drugs have a decreased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions..."

Coffee, Healthy or Not???

2007-05-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/news/174676

"There's evidence...that the beverage may protect against certain types of colon cancer, as well as rectal and liver cancer... However... coffee may increase the risk of leukemia and stomach cancer, with the case for leukemia being strongest.
The findings suggest that people who may be vulnerable to these risks -- for example pregnant women and children -- should limit coffee consumption..."

Female Finances

2007-05-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2007/04/women.html

"What sets women apart from men is the different situations they will face during their lives, each with financial implications. They have longer life spans and more checkered work careers, moving in and out of the paid labor force more frequently. When they marry, they often face a special kind of financial dependency that's not always unwelcome but can work to their disadvantage and may be unsettling. They often bear the main responsibility for rearing children with sound financial values, and they take on the added financial burden of caring for aging family members. Then, after years of having their finances intertwined with others', they face the prospect of years on their own."

Study: Online Dating is Virtually Irresistable to Married People

2007-05-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/news2003/onlinedatingmarried.html

"The Internet will soon become the most common form of infidelity, if it isn't already."
"The vast majority said they loved their spouses but sought an erotic encounter online because of boredom, a partner's lack of sexual interest or the need for variety and fun."
"Because there is no touching involved in online chat conversations, married people often rationalize their behavior as harmless fun"

Quote: Nelson Mandela

2007-05-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

Nelson Mandela (1918 - ), 'A Long Walk to Freedom'

Strategic Incompetence

2007-05-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/102876/the-art-of-showing-pure-incompetence-at-an-unwanted-task

"Strategic incompetence isn't about having a strategy that fails, but a failure that succeeds. It almost always works to deflect work one doesn't want to do -- without ever having to admit it. For junior staffers, it's a way of attaining power through powerlessness. For managers, it can juice their status by pretending to be incapable of lowly tasks."

This just illustrates that people's jobs have become solely about avoiding change or self-promotion rather than some broader goal or purpose. Sad.

Big Rocks

2007-04-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?"He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!""No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." What are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Your children
Your loved ones
Your education
Your dreams
A worthy cause
Teaching or mentoring others
Doing things that you love
Time for yourself
Your health
Your significant other
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

http://www.glantzberg.us/Rocks/big_rocks.htm

I always loved this story...

The Secret

2007-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/slide/20070216/ss_20070216_284_101.jhtml

I declare shenanagans! There is some truth to this "law of attraction, which states that like attracts like. The concept says that the energy you put into the world—both good and bad—is exactly what comes back to you. This means you create the circumstances of your life with the choices you make every day." However, there is also truth behind the notion that opposites attract. Come now, I think we all know people who aren't that positive but are very successful in one way or another. And this talk of everything being energy is hogwash (I've always wanted to use that word). Whether it is true or not is irrelevant. It doesn't provide any evidence for "the Secret" being true - that's for sure. What can be taken from this "Secret" idea is that you need to believe in yourself if you are going to be successful in any way. You need to be confident in the notion that an honest loving relationship is possible if you are going to ever be in one, and you need to believe that you are capable of doing any number of things before you can accomplish those tasks.

Quote on RISK: Robert Anthony

2007-04-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.
-Robert Anthony

I think people forget or may never realize that uncertainty is not an inherently bad thing. If the current position of our lives is certain to suck, then opening it up for some uncertainty is not "risk free" but certainly in our favor.

Siddartha Passage - The Self

2007-04-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Whenever I feel a little lost, I read this short novel to get me back on track. The last time this passage stood out:

It is good to experience everthing oneself, he thought. As a child I learned that pleasures of the world and richers were not good. I have known it for a long time, but I have only just experienced it. Now I know it not only with my intellect, but with my eyes, with my heart, with my stomach. It is a good thing that I know this.

He thought long of the change in him, listened to the bird singing happily. If this bird within him had died, would he have perished? No, something else in him had died, something he had long desired should perish. Was it not what he had once wished to destroy during his ardent years of asceticism (rigorous self-denial; extreme abstinence)? Was it not his Self, his small, fearfull and proud Self, with which he had wrestled for so many years, but which had always conquered him again, which appeared each time again and again, which robbed him of happiness and filled him with fear? Was it no this which had finally died today in the woods by this delightful river? Was it not because of its death that he was like a child, so full of trust and happiness, without fear?

Siddartha now also realized why he had struggled in vain with his Self when he was a Brahmin (a member of the highest, or priestly, class among the Hindus) and ascetic. Too much knowledge had hindered him; too many holly verses, too many sacrificial rites, too much mortification of the flesh, too much doing and striving. He had been full of arrogance; he had always been the cleverest, the most eager-always a step ahead of the others, always the learned and intellectual one, always the priest or the sage. His self had climbed into his priesthood, into his arrogance, into his intellectuality. It sat there tightly and grew, while he thought he was destroying it by fasting and pentinence. Now he understood it and realized that the inward voice had been right, that no teacher could have brought him salvation. That was why he had to go into the world...

"Praise Junkies"

2007-04-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=evo-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB117702894815776259.html

Today's young workers called "praise junkies" were raised by parents and coaches who showered them with compliments to build their self-esteem. Now, bosses are finding that they have to keep up with the standard that was set for these now twenty something employees. Giving praise "for little more than showing up," is common. Without it these younger workers "wither under an unfamiliar compliment deficit."

The Many Health Benfeits of Sex

2007-04-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

http://love.ivillage.com/lnssex/0,,askmen_bgswkm45-p,00.html

Here's the list. For more of an explanation on each read the article (it's short).

-reduce stress
-improve sleep well
-increase blood flow
-burns calories
-improves self image
-can cure headaches
-boosts your immune system
-repairs tissue
-improves cognition
-keeps skin healthy
-works as an antidepressant
-increases production of sex hormones testosterone and estrogen
-testosterone: helps fortify bones and muscles, and it keeps your heart in good working condition
-estrogen: protects against heart disease
-increases brain power
-increases heart rate
-can help fend off diseases and ailments
-improves self esteem

Survey Reveals Most Satisfying Jobs

2007-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

According to the 2006 General Social Survey, based on interviews with randomly selected people who collectively represent a cross section of Americans “The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits.”

Britain has worst drug problem in Europe: study

2007-04-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070418/hl_afp/britaineudrugs;_ylt=Aiw_moadYtJtuEoFL1xDmkzq188F

"Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe, and the second highest level of drug-related deaths, a report said Wednesday... Drugs are cited in the deaths of 34 people per million of Britain's adult population."

U.S. Smoking Rates

2007-04-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Something I came across: "U.S. cigarette consumption has fallen almost every year since hitting a peak billion cigarettes in 1981, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is one reason the international business is seen as having more growth potential going forward."

Raising Kids in a Consumerist World

2007-04-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/financeliteracy/29568

Copied form the article: "In an affluent society that seems more determined than ever to get more -- more wealth, more possessions, and more of the status that seems to come with those commodities -- values and virtues are more important than ever. Teaching your kids the ABCs of money management is crucial, but sharing your good money values can help make your hard work stick.

I probably don't need to convince you that values are important. Instead, my goal is to help you see how financial values can be taught, and that -- whether you're conscious of it or not -- you're passing your own values to your children through your words, behavior, and actions. "

Communication Has Changed

2007-04-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.forbes.com/home/technology/2007/04/17/virginia-shooting-internet-tech-cx_ll_0417virginiatech.html

The recent shootings at Virginia Tech have served as a clear example of modern communication. This article takes us through the communications that informed students and the public of what was going on. What is interesting is that "Virginia Tech administrators took two hours to warn students there was a killer on campus, but 'Information flew through text messages, blog posts, Web sites, online videos, and social networking sites.' The tragedy served as a 'grim, real-time stress test' for these technologies, and they demonstrated how effective they can be at getting word out fast."

Ethanol. Not a Great Alternative

2007-04-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_he_me/ethanol_health_risks_2

"WASHINGTON - Switching from gasoline to ethanol — touted as a green alternative at the pump — may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, a new study says."

Car companies like Chevy have been really pushing the use of ethanol, which comes from corn, as an alternative to regular fuel. While it may help decrease our dependence on foreign oil, it doesn't appear to be good for the environment. In addition, the newly heightened demand for corn as a result of using ethanol has dramatically increased the price of corn which is used to feed livestock like chickens and cows. As a result food prices are increasing as well.

"The Awakening"

2007-04-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...
when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity,
you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out...ENOUGH!
Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.
Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum,
you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change,
or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.
You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings,
and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you...
and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and
that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK.
They are entitled to their own views and opinions.
You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself...
and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.
You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you -
or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.
You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say
and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you.
So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself...
and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.
You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are
and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties...
and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.
You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.
You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.
You learn the difference between wanting and needing
and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown,
or should never have bought into to begin with.
You learn that there is power and glory in creating
and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.
You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era,
but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.
You learn that you don't know everything,
it's not your job to save the world
and that you can't teach a pig to sing.
You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry
and that martyrs get burned at the stake.
Then you learn about love.
You learn to look at relationships as they really are
and not as you would have them be.
You learn that alone does not mean lonely.
You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.
You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility
and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.
You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside,
smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.
You learn that your body really is your temple.
You begin to care for it and treat it with respect.
You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.
You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty
and so you take more time to rest.
And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.
So you take more time to laugh and to play.
You learn that, for the most part,
you get in life what you believe you deserve,
and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for
and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.
More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success
you need direction, discipline and perseverance.
You also learn that no one can do it all alone,
and that it's OK to risk asking for help.
You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself.
You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know
that whatever happens you can handle it
and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.
You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.
You learn that life isn't always fair,
you don't always get what you think you deserve
and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people...
and you learn not to always take it personally.
You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault.
It's just life happening.
You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.
You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment
must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.
You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted,
things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about:
a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.
Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself
and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never,
ever settle for less than your heart's desire.
You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.
You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.
Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand,
you take a deep breath,
and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.
- Author Unknown

Review: Stephen R. Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

2007-04-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

http://engtech.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/book-review-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-r-covey/

"It is incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy — very busy — without being very effective." -Stephen R. Covey

This is one of the only business guidance books that I have read that has a soul (unlike the works of Dale Carnegie). All of its advice has meaning and purpose. The review linked above gives a good introduction to each step.

Let It Go.

2007-04-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Hunt

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-endorsement/letitgo0407

I am rarely touched by an emotional story on the radio but a few months ago I heard the story of a many who had been wrongly incarcerated for 17 years for crimes he did not commit. Using new DNA tests he was found innocent of the crimes and released. Now I think that any of us would be bitter over this situation. I think I'd be OUTRAGED, but this man wasn't. He was happy and at peace. Simply enjoying his new-found freedom and working to build a better life for himself. Amazing if you ask me... and soon to be the feature of an HBO documentary.

http://www.darrylhuntproject.org/about.html

You: On a Diet - Better Living Through Biology

2007-04-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I read an interesting article in the May issue of Esquire on what the authors called "The Definitive Guide to Better Living Through Biology." As they put it, the article and their new book You: On a Diet is "about doing things - easy things - that will naturally bring you to your ideal, healthy weight."

Here is the list:

-Eat a handful of walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds about 30 minutes before a meal.

-Do not overdue dieting - simply try to cut out 100 calories a day. Generally speaking this will make you loose 10 pounds a year. Any greater cuts in calorie consumption will slow your metabolism and be less effective.

-Since the same part of the brain is responsible for thirst, hunger, sleep and sex try drinking water, sleeping or having sex the next time you get hungry.

-Eat Fiber before 10AM. This keeps you full for longer.

-Walk for 30 min a day (no breaks no stopping)

-Stretch

-Work out an hour after eating

Breakfast:

-Don't eat breakfast until you actually feel like you need it (this goes against other nutritional advice I've read elsewhere)
-Eat high fiber/high protein breakfasts (if you add spicy red peppers you'll get full faster)
-Coffee with no sugar or cream (skim milk is OK)

Lunch:

-Don't wait until you are starving to eat lunch

-Eat Salad, non-creamy soups, a little chicken/fish/turkey, wheat breads

-Stick with oil and vinegar based dressings

Dinner:

-Eat at least 3 hours before you sleep

-Skip bread with butter and desert

-Avoid white foods (potatoes, pasta)

-Load up on colored vegetables (carrots, greens, tomatoes)

-Small amounts of meat or fish

-Drink during or after your meal, not before

-Drink only high quality alcoholic beverages

Ingredients to avoid ("If any of the following ingredients is one of the first five listed, the food is crap."

-Enriched Grains

-Bleached Flour

-Corn Syrup, Malt Syrup, Maple Syrup

-Anything ending in OSE (e.g. Fructose)

-Animal Fats (e.g. lard)

-Coconut Oil, Palm Oil

-Hydrogenated Oils (AKA trans fats)

Music to Learn From...

2007-04-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-shZs2I4E4

I'm sure that many of you know about how great the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" is. But have you seen the video???? If you have you may not have realized that it uses the visual theme of the Rorschach Tests that were really big from the 40's until the 80's (and are still used today). If you don't remember these were the ink blot images that could be interpreted as anything. Psychologists would ask patients to tell them what these ambiguous images made them think of. If patients responded with aggressive or negative images the psychologist may have labeled them as "CRAZY."

If you haven't listed to the lyrics closely here they are. They are very insightful if you ask me...

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that phase.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space
And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Probably
And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice
Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control
Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking,
I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence
I've come And I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably

Society, Answers, & Goals

2007-04-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

It says: "I thought being thin was THE answer.

It wasn't and now I'm trapped."

The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them rewards that are under one's own powers. This is not to say that we should abandon every goal endorsed by society; rather, it means that, in addition to or instead of the goals others use to bribe us with, we develop a set of our own.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990

If you aren't already familiar with postsecret.blogspot.com you should check it out. It is a hugely successful site where people mail in post cards with their secrets. These post cards are then posted on this website for all to see. You will see that many people share your fears, regrets, etc.

Stress May Cause Cancer Development

2007-04-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070411-14050700-bc-us-cancerstress.xml

It has long been thought that being "hopeful" and feeling other positive emotions helps people recover from illnesses like Cancer or at least live longer with the condition, but now researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to report that emotional stress might contribute to the development of cancer and might also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments. It appears that the production of the stress hormone epinephrine is the cause.

"The Secret" isn't Evil... or is it?

2007-04-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

For Background info on "The Secret" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_(2006_film)

I received alot of mixed feedback regarding my comments on "The Secret" which I don't see as evil but more of an over-extention of a principle that has merit. The problem is that "The Secret" promotes the Law of Attraction as the single most important guiding principle in life. The tool to reach all your goals and meet all your desires. By doing this it ignores other very inportant aspects of successful living like personal accountability, planning and preparation, etc.

I've copied some very interesting Amazon reader reviews that I came across recently. They cover both sides of the argument.

Amazon Reader Review of "The Secret"
Reaches Too Far, Oversells, Underdelivers, January 1, 2007
Reviewer: OldSchool
I think a book like this, which makes some really big claims, should, roughly, do the following: 1) Present it's premise clearly 2) Since it's a self-help book explain clearly what you need to do 3) Provide compelling evidence that it's ideas work 4) Be credible. The book does a decent job of explaining its premise, which is that everything in your life is the result of the law of attraction. I quote, "the law of attraction says like attracts like, so when you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you." In other words, think good thoughts and good things will come to you and if you think bad thoughts then bad things come to you. I've simplified this a bit but not a whole lot as the concept isn't rocket science. Now, does this book explain clearly what you need to do? Actually, for a self-help book it does a very poor job of this. How do you control your thoughts? What kinds of practices and thinking produce the best results? The author and contributors basically tell you a bunch of stories about how "so and so did something and you can too by changing your thinking". And that's it for the "how to" part of the book. There isn't any. Now, if I wanted to prove something worked from a scientific perspective it would seem to be easy to test this stuff out. You take two groups of people, teach one the secret, let the other go on with their lives and see what happens. In theory those that know the Secret would be happier and more successful than the control group. It might not be perfect but it'd be a whole lot better than what we get in this book. But, of course, you'd have to have an actual methodology to test. Instead the authors cite numerous anecdotes of how the Secret worked. One person's cancer went away. Another individual walks after a brutal accident. Still another finds romance. That's all fine and perhaps it's evidence but it's not proof. Cancer can be misdiagnosed. How many people who were injured like the "Miracle Man" never walked again despite the best attitude and trying the approach perfectly? The problem with anecdotes is that it's easy to start with a result, work backward and assume the conclusion. It's also very easy with anecdotes to only present the ones that make your case and ignore those that don't (when someone dies of cancer while practicing the secret for instance). It's just not good enough to use anecdotes for large claims like those made in this book. The following quote struck a nerve. "People hold that for awhile, and they're really a champion at it. They say, `I'm fired up, I saw this program and I'm going to change my life.' And yet the results aren't showing. Beneath the surface it's just about ready to break through but the person will look just at the surface results and say, `This stuff doesn't work.' And you know what? The universe says, "your wish is my command," I thought it was interesting that the universe instantly manifest failure but isn't quite so fast with success. In fact, a cynical individual might conclude that what they are really saying is, "when this program works it's because the secret always works, but, on the off chance it doesn't work, well, that's your fault." An even more cynical person might think, "gosh, I wonder what would help a person who failed? Maybe, a seminar with Bob Proctor would be just the thing to get them over the top?" Lastly, is the Secret credible? On the one hand, I think a lot can be said for the idea that if you change your thinking you'd change your life. In many ways that seems obvious to me. On the other hand, if the secret actually was true, especially at the scope claimed by the book it would mean that everything that's happened is the result of your thinking. So, when a child dies of pneumonia, well, it's because they brought pneumonia into their lives. Michael J. Fox, not only did you bring Parkinson's into your life but change your thinking and it will go away. Obviously these things aren't true and they obliterate, in my opinion, any credibility in the book. Not only does the book go too far but most (I'd argue nearly all) of the contributors aren't credible. On a topic of this scope: the ability to 100% change your life and the world in an incredible fashion, does anyone really think you couldn't find psychologists, top flight scientists, therapists and thousands of mainstream individuals to support it, if it worked? Wouldn't there be tons of research instead of anecdotes? Instead we get a Feng Shui Master, a chiropractor, motivational speakers (err trainers), a metaphysicist, etc. combined with a half dozen anecdotal stories. So the most powerful like changing idea ever and you get it from the crew in this book presented in this fashion? I don't think so! If this idea really worked, at anything other than giving material to self-help speakers and generating repeat students, it just wouldn't be found here. The book wouldn't even have to be written because we'd all already know it and be practicing it. Remember, this is not a new idea, it's been around for a very long time, and it's been the topic of literally thousands of seminars and hundreds of books. In conclusion, I'm not opposed to the idea on a small scale but this book just goes way too far and I'm left with the feeling that all that's really going on is a bunch of people trying to get their name out and get you to pay for their seminars.

A Few Responses:

Comment by freereign
Did you miss the first comment by 'avid reader'? Firstly, a doctor who genuinely wanted to find a way to heal lots of people would jeopardize his own career. Good for him if he sees the greater value beyond his own life--much as Jesus apparently did. As for getting mainstream professionals to comment, welll, doctors of cancer patients HAVE acknowledged the effect of positive thinking on disease management. Nowhere in this DVD does it tell you to ignore doctors, but the woman who 'cured' her cancer without chemo can mislead you if you don't listen to the rest of that section. That guy who crashed a plane--where was he while he was envisioning his healing--strapped to a bed in a hospital room. He was getting treatment AND using positive thinking to help his body heal. He's alive today, 25 years after being told he'd never do anything but blink his eyes. What more details do you need? How about faith, there's plenty of UN-USED faith just sitting around for you to help yourself to. Have some, this world will benefit as people learn how to use faith starting in themselves, instead of knee-jerk doubting and judging books by their cover without reading them! This book offers plenty of ways to use faith, such as using gratitude to change your mental habits. These changes won't happen overnight to most people, so give it another shot, say, honestly, for a couple of weeks, you will see a difference if you let it happen.

Comment by Mostserene1
wonderfully stated. This type of "secret" tends to attract weak or damaged people looking for an answer to their problems. Positive thinking has been repackaged and resold so many times over the centuries. But there are always buyers. If these people truly cared about their marks, oops, I mean, followers, their message would be free of charge. But to those who find meaning in The Secret, good for you. I hope it does change your lives for the better. But experience tells us you will soon be chasing after another life-changing revelation. And paying for it. And raving about it. I hope you find what you are seeking.

Why Teenagers Take Risks

2007-04-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

This article tries to explain why teenagers are crazy. Basically, it has to do with an "imbalance" in the brain between the areas that control social and emotional information (socioemotional system) and the parts that regulate behavior and makes the ultimate decisions (cognitive-control system).

The socioemotional system becomes more assertive during puberty, while the cognitive-control system gains strength only gradually, well into our twenties.

According to Steinberg, the socioemotional system, becomes very active during puberty allowing adolescents to become more easily aroused, experience more intense emotion, and to become more sensitive to social influence.

He explains that as a result “There is a window of vulnerability in teens between puberty and mid-to-late adolescence in which kids have already started to experience the increased arousal of the socioemotional system, but they don’t yet have a fully mature cognitive control system,” he says. “Because their cognitive-control system is still not fully mature, it is more easily disrupted, especially when the socioemotional system is quite excited. And it gets excited by the presence of other people.”

“The presence of peers increases risk taking substantially among teenagers,” writes Steinberg in his article. “In one of our lab’s studies, for instance, the presence of peers more than doubled the number of risks teenagers took in a video driving game. In adolescence, then, not only is more merrier -- it is also riskier.”

Do You Know Where Your Tax Dollars are Going???

2007-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/102817/How-Your-Tax-Dollars-Are-Spent

20% for Social Security benefits to existing retirees
15% for Medical health benefits
7% for Medicaid
3% for veterans benefits and
1.3% for supplemental security income used to assist the aged, disabled and blind
(All types of aid to the needy add up to 16% of the budget)
7% for interest on national debt
9% for the military

8.5% for everything else:

Transportation -- federal highways and bridges, support for Amtrak, funds to help states with other roads, bridges, railroads, airports and so on.

Science and medical research. Food and drug safety. Guarding the environment. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Export promotion. Import protections. Space exploration. Air traffic controllers. The FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the rest of the Justice Department. Federal education funding.

And an alphabet soup of federal agencies tasked with helping to keep Americans safe, healthy and, sad to say, honest -- from the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) to the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).

I know this doesn't add up to 100% but this is the information presented in the article. When you read the article play close attention to what is part of "discretionary" and "non-discretionary" spending.

Quotes on Talent

2007-04-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've been studying the idea of talent recently and what I've learned is that we spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on our weaknesses. We take our innate strengths for granted, but it is time that we stop. Here are some quotes to get you thinking about the nature of talent.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930), (Sherlock Holmes) Valley of Fear, 1915

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.
Brendan Francis

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Flawed Systems: Professors, Politicians & Voting

2007-04-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

When I came across this quote I was reminded of one of my undergraduate psychology classes. Our professor was venting about how university professors were not selected because they were excellent teachers, but because they were good researchers. He explained that researchers are the one's who make the school money and bring it prestige. That explained why some professors I had, simply sat at thier tables passionlessly reading their notes for what seemed like an eternity. In fact, I later discovered that University professors are not even required to complete any training on "how to teach."

It is situations like these that I find truly bothersome: Systems where the process and the goals the process are supposed to reach are not aligned properly. Usually the result is some kind of detriment to those who are part of the system and are just trying to make progress (e.g. the students).

As this quote points out, the same is true for those in government positions. Surely, as their are good professors in every university, their are also effective politicians that make it to office, but the point here is to look at the selection system in place. How do politicians get elected? Is it based on their talent for "business of government" or more so their "talent for getting and holding office?" Are they elected because they will do a good job or they simply carry an image of someone we'd like to see represent us?

You see, in other organizations people are selected for jobs based on a variety of factors. They are interviewed repeatedly, their references are checked, and they are given a variety of assessments that evaluate a wide range of things (e.g. intelligence, personality style, etc.). And who decides whether to bring the person being evaluated on? Usually an expert of some kind, who is very knowledgeable about the person's role. Unfortunately, we as voters don't have the opportunity to test and evaluate politicians. We are presented with a shortage of trustworthy, meaningful information, and we are not experts in politics or the "business of government." How can we be expected to make effective decisions on who to vote for? We end up selecting the individuals who get the best feeling from, or whom supports a key piece of policy we support.

What I'm pointing out here is a flawed system; one where the plan is not aligned with the desired outcome. Recognizing these kinds of inconsistencies teaches us valuable lessons, improving our understanding of the world we live in so we can better manage our modern lives. At any given point we will be in a position where we can help plan a process that we hope will lead to a specific goal. With this kind of knowledge we can attempt to do this effectively, creating an effective system - doing what it is supposed to do.

Do Organic Foods Make a Difference??? Yes.

2007-04-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.whfoods.com/index.html

Copied from: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=faq&dbid=17#Health1

Can organic foods really improve my health?Yes. Organically grown food is your best way of reducing exposure to toxins used in conventional agricultural practices. These toxins include not only pesticides, many of which have been federally classified as potential cancer-causing agents, but also heavy metals such as lead and mercury, and solvents like benzene and toluene. Minimizing exposure to these toxins is of major benefit to your health. Heavy metals damage nerve function, contributing to diseases such as multiple sclerosis and lowering IQ, and also block hemoglobin production, causing anemia. Solvents damage white cells, lowering the immune system's ability to resist infections. In addition to significantly lessening your exposure to these health-robbing substances, organically grown foods have been shown to contain substantially higher levels of nutrients such as protein, vitamin C and many minerals.

Research Suggests Organic Food is Better for Your Health:
Rats fed organic food were significantly healthier than their peers given conventionally-grown produce, shows research reported by the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, February 2005. During the experiment, 36 rats were divided into three groups. All were given potatoes, carrots, peas, green kale, apples, rapeseed oil, and the same vitamin supplements. One group was fed organic food, another conventionally grown food with high levels of fertilizer and some pesticide, and the third group received minimally fertilized conventionally grown food. Although pesticide residue was measured and found to be below detection levels in all groups, the scientists found that the rats fed organically-grown produce were measurably healthier, slept better, had stronger immune systems and were less obese.

Lead researcher, Dr Kirsten Brandt, of Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, was careful not to overstate the findings, but noted: "The difference was so big it is very unlikely to be random. We gave the food to the rats and then we measured what they were doing. We can say the reason why the rats have different health was clearly due to the fact that there was a different growing method, and this was enough for this result. If we want to understand how and why, we need another study."

Obesity: New Study Shows 24.6% Increase from 2000 to 2005

2007-04-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

http://news.aol.com/partners/usa-today/_a/morbid-obesity-affects-more-americans/20070410094109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

I hope that most readers are aware that obesity in the U.S. is at frighteningly high levels. That is 24.6% of people in the U.S. were at least 30 lbs. overweight and 3% were morbidly obese (at least 100 lbs. overweight) in 2005. Not to mention that these numbers are actually deflated because people normally under-report their weight!!! Some of you may think: "I'm not fat, so I don't need to worry about it." But nothing could be farther from the truth. George Blackburn, associate director of nutrition at Harvard Medical School, calls the increase in the percent of severely obese people a catastrophe. "It is an emergency because the disability, the discrimination and the health care costs for this population are enormous."

Another interesting finding of this study was that it contradicted a long held theory of many professionals in the field that morbid obesity is overwhelmingly defined by one's genetic composition. According to this theory, the percentage of morbid obesity in the population would stay constant. This was not the case in this study of the general population finding that morbid obesity grew on practically the exact same pace as did groups who were overweight and/or obese.

Googling Your Date - Too Much Info???

2007-04-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/04/09/googlingyourdate.ap.ap/index.html
When I read this article this morning 2 very contradicting thoughts came to mind. First was "It's amazing how the world has changed. We have so much information at our fingertips - Fantastic!" But then, as I read through some of the examples in the article I saw how people today use little bits of information they find about someone to make much larger judgments about who they are. It isn't realistic or logical... everyone's got there quirks, you can't create a total picture of who they are based on them. Obviously there are some things we just can't put up with (like nude pictures of someone in the bath on myspace :o) but others are no big deal, yet we use that information to make decisions that aren't really justified. Decisions like whether or not you want to keep a date with someone you met and who appeared to be pretty cool. Sometimes you need to take a chance. Getting to know someone isn't that painful.

Dimissing "The Secret"

2007-04-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601819.html?hpid=opinionsbox2

These sources are trying to show you the many false claims made in Rhonda Byrns self-help book and documentary "The Secret." Since Oprah's promotion of this, dare I say, almost worthless and completely unjustified philosophy, people have been jumping on "The Secret" bandwagon. Luckily there are some people out their like Tim Watkins of The Washington Post with a little more sense and who use their voice to shed light on what could confuse and end up demoralizing a of people.

The Psychology of Tax Procrastination

2007-04-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/070314/21306.html?.v=1&.pf=taxes

Have you ever wondered why so many people push off doing their taxes until the last possible second? Well some researchers think that it has a lot to do with the same reasons why people push off seeing doctors and dentists until they are in a lot of discomfort: A fear of what is possibly awaiting them.

When people push off medical appointments they also push of the potential knowledge of some major problems they may already have and just not know about. This explains how some people allow certain symptoms and illnesses to grow incredibly large and threatening before ever seeking medical help. It is far more common than you think.

To a lesser degree, people are doing the same thing by avoiding filing their taxes. They are avoiding the potential knowledge that they owe more money than they thought they do, or even worse, they are avoiding the possibility that they could make a mistake on their taxes, in essence opening a Pandora's box of liability with the IRS.

The bottom line here is that people are greatly influenced by fear. Whether it's our taxes or health, this fear can be very damaging. It is important that we take a moment to recognize this feeling and raise ourselves above it to act intelligently and responsibly. Whether it is filing our taxes early or seeing a physician for a regular check up when nothing appears to be wrong with us, it is actions like these that can have very powerful effects on our lives.

Zen vs. Modern Life

2007-04-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

"From craving, grief and fear are born; for the person who is free of craving, their is no grief or fear." -Author Unknown

This quote got me thinking. It appears to be true but I kept asking myself: If one lives without cravings what are they living for? Don't we live to satisfy our cravings??? I think I found the answer in the following Zen Story:

"A man who, fleeing a tiger, jumped over a cliff to escape, grabbed a vine and hung suspended from the side saw another tiger gazing hungrily up.
While the tiger pawed down at him, glancing below he saw another tiger gazing hungrily up.
In a moment of surrender, the man looked to a solitary flower growing from the cliff.
'Splendid!'" -Author Unknown

I know this sounds a bit strange for those who haven't read Zen before. But the point is that when the man had abandoned his fear, his craving to survive (because he accepted that he was doomed), then he saw the true beauty of the flower... We don't need cravings to appreciate life. In fact they appear to distort our perception from the truth to a constructed reality filled with cravings, fear, grief, "successes," false goals, and endless disappointment.

Now the question is: How do we attain the truth? How do we shed our cravings? I often think it is impossible given the influence our modern environment's exert on us. Instead I try to maintain a balance between being craving driven and grounded in truth. Not a glutton nor a Yogi. Still fear does play an unwanted role in my life.

Pregnant Mother's Stress Transferred to the Unborn

2007-04-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6298909.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4286512.stm

In the two studies listed high stress in pregnant mothers was linked to lower IQ, evidence of higher levels of anxiety and depression, as well as higher incidences of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in their children after birth. Stress that pregnant mothers experienced was often a result of a problematic/unassertive relationship with their partner.

Quotes on "Failure"

2007-04-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know what made me look into this, this morning but I'm happy I did:

I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.
Herbert Bayard Swope (1882 - 1958)

What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.
Mary Pickford (1893 - 1979)

Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal.
Mike Ditka (1939 - )

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.
William Saroyan (1908 - 1981)

I'm not sure about how I feel about that last one... but it got me thinking.

Your Strengths...Better than "The Secret"

2007-04-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

After you've gotten sick of trying to tune your positive energy, why not identify your core strengths and work to build them. The book Now, Discover Your Strengths (by the same author as Go Put Your Strengths to Work and currently #5 on the NY Times Best Sellers list) takes a very practical outlook on how we can be more successful. Based on research consisting of interviews conducted by Gallup of over 1.7 million employees from 101 companies, representing 63 countries, the authors have presented information to completely shift our current state of mind around self-improvement. Around the world (more so in east Asia) when people look to improve themselves, they identify their weaknesses and attempt to correct them. This book explains how that is the an ineffective use of our time and talents. Instead we should work to identify, utilize, and enhance our natural strengths for by doing this we will make the most progress in our lives.

Music Lessons Fine Tune the Brain

2007-04-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

http://psycport.apa.org/showArticle.cfm?xmlFile=knightridder%5F2007%5F04%5F03%5Fkrtbn%5F0000%2D1721%2DTB%2D0403%2DMusic%2DLessons%2DFine%2DTune%2DThe%2DBrain%2Exml&provider=Chicago%20Tribune

Researchers found that people who study playing an instrument have better developed hearing. So you may think "big deal." But think about it for a moment. With better hearing the subjects in the study were able to understand speech better. Imagine how many conversations you listen to in a life time. What if you could hear the nuanced changes in someone's voice when they are lying, or stressed out?

Flow... Better than "The Secret"

2007-04-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.unrealities.com/essays/flow.htm

This is a bit sophisticated, but based on years of research. A much better way to use your time then focusing on your positive energy and hoping that life changes for you. Basically, it discusses how people are most satisfied when they are engrossed in something, for example painting a picture. It is not necessarily about the outcome but the feeling one gets when they are in the process.

More Caffeine in Diet Coke!

2007-04-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/topic/nutrition/foods/article/mayoclinic/CE619C35-D037-4016-A9CBEA9A3ECBCEB6

Diet Coke has considerably more caffeine than regular Coke, or diet Pepsi. Maybe that's why everyone is addicted to it? To bad it raises women's risk of Osteoporosis (bone deterioration).

http://health.yahoo.com/news/167458;_ylt=AsbjiB5w1GOIUOC15AZplVxLvs8F

Caffeine Does Not Aid in Weight Loss

2007-04-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

http://health.yahoo.com/topic/weightloss/feeding/qanda/mayoclinic/62D85FB2-CA9F-4CA0-BDCA3B72560E8494

Research at the Mayo Clinic shows that caffeine only suppresses hunger for a very short time. By the way, when talking to a Dr. the other day they stated that drinking large amounts of Coffee (3+ cups per day) causes a condition that tightens up our veins thus impeding blood flow... not good. In other research they found that drinking one cup of coffee per day can have beneficial effects on health.

Exercise Makes You Smarter!

2007-04-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/2007/03/30/fitness-health-brain-forbeslife-cx_avd_0402fitbrain.html

Exercise improves memory, fights of dementia (aka craziness) and Alzheimer's. And guess what? If you feel like you are getting exercise then you are more likely to loose weight and have lower blood pressure. Stop thinking of your mind and body as separate entities...

Contrarian Investing

2007-04-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.forbes.com/home/investingideas/2007/04/03/cubs-tech-oberweis-pf-ii-in_kf_0403soapbox_inl.html

Just remember Warren Buffet's mantra: "We attempt to be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." This situation may not match this sentiment exactly but the point is to invest before everyone else has decided to throw their money in. I'm not saying that you should invest in tech like the article does, but this is the way to think about investing.

How to Make Babies Smarter

2007-04-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070403/tc_usatoday/reportputsapacifieronsmarterbabydebate
So this article's message is that we don't know if strategies to improve brain development in infants (like playing them Mozart) actually work. What I can tell you is that decades of research have shown that infants benefit from being stimulated. It helps with their brain and sensory development. For example, if an infant is not exposed to varying visual depth it will be detrimental to his/her ability to perceive depth. So sensory exposure to things like colors, feeling textures, noises, scents, languages, music, etc. are all beneficial and often the benefits cannot be reproduced later in life (for more info look up "Critical Period"). We may not know how exactly how providing these stimuli help they help, but they don't seem to hurt. Just make sure you lave your baby some quiet time as that is important to.

Story: Emptying Your Cup

2007-04-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself.
"It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup." (Author Unknown)

I think a lot of us are needlessly "overfull" these days.

Research: Red Wine to Men's Jaws

2007-04-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070312-000004.html

Drink red wines from Sardinia or Southwest France. Levels of artery-strengthening procyanidins are five times higher in bottles from those regions... Men with strong jaws are more sexually attractive but also seen as poorer parents: "Facial masculinity is related to testosterone levels, which have demonstrated connection with rates of infidelity, violence, and divorce."