mousemusings...multimedia, music, progressive politics, video, web design and general rants
Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.
~Kurt Vonnegut
~Kurt Vonnegut
Monday, January 28, 2002
Dalai Lama hospitalized in Bombay After illness forced the Dalai Lama to miss
several special prayer sessions during the
week, the Tibetan Buddhist leader was
admitted Sunday to a hospital for treatment
of a lump in his stomach.
posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Friday, January 25, 2002
Scientists Herald a Versatile Adult Cell Most adult stem cells are confined to producing new cells for one specific tissue, but those described by Dr.
Verfaillie can turn into many different types of cell. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Monday, January 21, 2002
Surreal love affair / Art collector shares his passion at the Legion Surrealism,
which is a revolutionary movement,
acknowledges that you have to know
yourself in order to transform the world,"
Schwarz said. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Sunday, January 20, 2002
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Meet your new therapist - your understanding
computer "In the past, people found it difficult to use
computers, but you could argue now that they feel
more comfortable with a computer than with a
therapist," said Rob Wilson, the Priory's CBT
co-ordinator. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
The Men Who Would Be Orwell It may not be enough to attribute Sept. 11 to
easily dismissible “religious fanaticism.” It may be necessary
instead to question whether religion itself—the kind of religion
that bases itself on supposedly inerrant holy texts—is
responsible for recurrently convincing not just terrorists, but
established churches and states, that they have God’s sanction to
slaughter innocent unbelievers. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Tuesday, January 15, 2002
'Creating Mental Illness' by Allan V. Horwitz reviewed by Lynn E. O'Connor Horwitz begins by stating boldly that many so-called mental disorders
according to our current symptom-based system of classification, are not really mental disorders at all,
but normal responses to social stress, relationship problems, work or other problems in living, or social
deviance that may be in some cases, culturally supported. He carefully defines "mental disorder" using
Wakefield’s (1992; 1993) definition: "a mental disorder exists when some internal psychological system is
unable to function as it is designed to function, and when this dysfunction is defined as inappropriate in a
particular social context". posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Smoking May Improve Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenic Patients, Yale Researchers Find
The researchers found that cigarette smoking improves a type of cognitive function called visuospatial working memory
(VSWM) in patients with schizophrenia, but that smoking had no beneficial effects, or even negative effects, on this form of
cognitive function in healthy subjects without schizophrenia. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Discovery that common mood disorders are inherited together may reveal genetic underpinnings posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Sunday, January 13, 2002
Pentagon Warns of War Lasting Six Years And this projection isn't political, I suppose? posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Multiverses and Blackberries; Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
Deutsch is fully aware that the MWI forces him to accept the reality of endless
copies of himself out there in the infinity of other worlds. "I may feel
subjectively," he writes (p. 53), "that I am distinguished among the copies as
the 'tangible' one, because I can directly perceive myself and not the others,
but I must come to terms with the fact that all the others feel the same about
themselves. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Saturday, January 12, 2002
New study: Girls barely trail boys in mathematics In their new study, Leahey and Dr. Guang Guo, associate professor of sociology and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center, examined for
the first-time gender differences in test scores from elementary school through high school among U.S. students. They also analyzed
sub-samples of high-scoring students and different areas of math, such as reasoning and geometry.
Among the findings were that girls had higher average math scores than boys until about age 11 and higher reasoning scores at ages 11 to
13.
“Despite relatively equal starting points in elementary school, we found that boys showed a somewhat faster rate of acceleration in math,” she
said. “By the 12th grade, this resulted in a slight gender difference, which is more pronounced in geometry.” posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Bipolar affective disorderleft out in the cold There are four reasons why the national service framework should have given special consideration to the needs of people with bipolar affective
disorder. Firstly, most patients with bipolar affective disorder have the potential, with optimal treatment, to return to normal function and contribute
to the economy. With suboptimal treatment, however, many will have a poor long term outcome and needlessly become a burden to families and
society. Yet there is evidence that treatment is generally suboptimal. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Depression and Difficulty Expressing Feelings Are Associated With Eating Disorders Research has shown that more than half of college women have
experienced eating disorder symptoms (although most do not have full-blown anorexia
or bulimia). While the cause of eating disorders is still unknown, new research
suggests that depression and difficulty expressing one's feelings may be a risk factor
for disordered eating in young women with a history of family problems or abuse. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Neanderthals were not dumb, lumbering idiots after all. New
evidence suggests that they had considerable technical and
intellectual skills, as well as ingenuity, to put them on a par
with modern humans. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Scientific American: Ancient Engravings Push Back Origin of Abstract Thought For all the attributes that humans share with other animals, there is a trait that
clearly sets us apart: our reliance on symbolism. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Friday, January 11, 2002
President: "I Did Not Have Improper Relations With That Woman: Miss Enron" - WHITEHOUSE.ORG Read the 'Department of Faith', 'The Homeland Security Page', and take an official tour..An excellent parody site! posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Sunday, January 06, 2002
The secret history of Mr. Happy You are looking at the latest
chapter in a really old story, maybe
the greatest story never told: the
story of man's relationship with his
penis." posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Saturday, January 05, 2002
dslreports.com - Comcast Transition A nightmare! Spyware, slower speeds than a 28.8 modem, pages won't load, Explorer under a comcast shell, email addys that simply suck, help techs haven't a clue! Pgaes of complaints from the Michigan transition. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Friday, January 04, 2002
Smokey the Bear Sutra by Gary Snyder Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has food enough for everyone who loves her and trusts her;
Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs; smashing the worms of capitalism and totalitarianism; posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Concerns Over Criticism Stall Decision on Pollution Rules Some GOP lawmakers worry that their party will be labeled as callous about pollution unless the administration
effectively presents a pollution-cutting proposal along with its changes to the new source review program. They
also worry that if the administration gives business regulatory relief now, it will lose an important negotiating tool
to encourage business to agree to a new law that will lower pollution by capping emissions. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Wednesday, January 02, 2002
A Junkie's Confession
Sometimes, even with a national story, I can know with certainty that
public figures or media reports are full of it because my personal
experience flatly contradicts what the public is being told. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
AlterNet -- The Silence on Terrorism Everyone professes to love free speech -- the president of the
University of Texas calls it the "bedrock of American liberty," the
American Council for Trustees and Alumni supports it, the mayor of
Modesto defends it, the president of the University of Florida -- they
are all committed to free speech.
Just not on their dime, not on their campus, not in their backyard. Not
when it disrupts or upsets. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Tuesday, January 01, 2002
U.S. Lacks Stockpile of Special Drug
The nuclear power industry, which stocks potassium iodide to protect workers in its
plants, has long opposed a large public stockpile, carrying as it would the implication that
nuclear power might be unsafe.
posted by Cyndy | link | | |
Guardian Unlimited Observer | Comment | Children must choose their own beliefs We vary in our opinions and our tastes, and it is one of
our glories. Some of us are left-wing, others right.
Some are pro-euro, others anti-. Some listen to
Beethoven, others Armstrong. Some watch birds,
others collect stamps. It is only to be expected that our
elders should influence us in all such matters. All this
is normal and praiseworthy. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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