Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I will be posting my yearly list of restaurants that will be open for dinner. It is always one of the most read posts of the year, so if you want to be on the list, fill out the form now!
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You?ll find it here.
"I have a wide-range of food experience - working in the restaurant industry on both sides of the house, later in the wine industry, and finally traveling/tasting my way around the world. Whether you agree or disagree, you can always count on my unbiased opinion. I don't take free meals, and the restaurants don't know when, or if, I am coming."
Hugh Hefner is known to mankind as someone who is celebrated for multiple women in his bed. He is known for sex, and for people of this generation he is a ?god-like? being untouchable for his sexual exploits that appear to promote sexual freedoms specifically in adult women.
?I will be Kinsey?s pamphleteer. I will train other people, tell them the truth about our parents and their sexuality,? Reisman says of Hefner.
In my new book, we?ll take a look at the historical context of homosexual pedophiles who pushed particular agendas within homosexuality, same-sex marriages, and promiscuity in order to arrive at their current pursuit, legalized child molesting.
Kinsey is said to be the one who took advantage of men coming home from World War II, changed by their environment, all of America seeking normalcy and being introduced to a book with false reports of Americans who were sexually free engaging not only in homosexuality, but pedophilia.
?Hefner trains billions of men worldwide in Kinsey?s pedophile-based anti-god third-world sex.?Few men saw the anti-manhood, the emasculation, the impotence that lurked in the Playboy sex. All pornography creates impotence in the male viewer,? Reisman says in one of her Seminars.
In 1994, Play Boy Magazine sued Judith Reisman for Libel because she said on a dutch television station that Play Boy produced Child Pornography and pushed Incest.
Hugh Hefner admitted to having sex with me in 1971, and the Dutch courts (much more liberal than America) stated that Hefner was producing and sharing child pornography. Judith Reisman, who won the case, invites Hefner to sue her in the United States. Upon my research, I have learned that the empire is crumbling and the company is for sale.
?The research was an investigative analysis of PLAYBOY, PENTHOUSE and HUSTLER over the period of December 1953 to December 1984 to examine for nonviolent, violent, and criminal image portrayal and scenario involvement of children. The research reported the findings of 14,854 images of crime and violence and 6,004 images of children (with the predominate group being girls between ages 3 to 11 years) as part of the overall sexual and violent scenario. There were 989 sexual scenarios which included children actively involved with adults; and each magazine portrayed children as unharmed and/or benignly affected by the child/adult sex. For related volumes, see NCJ 107147-107149.? ? Judith Reisman, PHD
The next time that you celebrate Hugh Hefner, and assume that you want to be ?like? him. understand that he is a homosexual pedophile whose degree is in Psychology with two minor degree is creative writing and art. He is the disciple of Dr. Alfred Kinsey who was a homosexual pedophile, whose ?research? funded in part by the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Department of Justice molested 317 children.
MAKE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE GROOMING A FELONY
Ressurrection Graves?is from the Washington DC area and created a term entitled, ?Child Sexual Abuse Grooming? which is different legally than ?Child Grooming? which is associated with ?Child Trafficking?. She is working diligently to ?Make Child Sexual Abuse Grooming A Felony?.
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Ressurrection is a relationship mentor who advocates on behalf of child sexual abuse awareness, prevention and healing. She maintains a blog at: www.ressurrection.wordpress.com Ressurrection has created an online petition to end child sexual abuse by making child grooming a felony. Please sign the petition by clicking on this link: http://www.change.org/petitions/make-child-sexual-abuse-grooming-a-felony Ressurrection is an author and has created the only online healing program for incest survivors at: www.ajourneytoloveyou.com (December 31 Launch)
[prMac.com] Ashland, Oregon - The creators of the award-winning Art Authority app line announced that they have added a special K-12 iPad app to the line, timed to coincide with availability of Apple's new iPad mini. Art Authority K-12 for iPad, a full-featured "age appropriate" version of their award-wining iPad app, is available immediately through the App Store. The app includes access to works by the same 1000+ western artists as the rest of the line, but with nudity and other sexual content removed. Essential historical works, such as "Venus de Milo" and "Creation of Adam," are still included through special detailed views that avoid nudity.
"Teachers have been telling us they love Art Authority and want to use it in the classroom, but don't want to worry about inadvertently exposing students to inappropriate content," said Alan Oppenheimer, president of Art Authority co-developer Open Door Networks. "We wanted to be sure we still provided them with a complete historic view in the process. Art Authority K-12 happily accomplishes both goals. Plus it's a perfect fit for the new iPad mini, Apple's least expensive tablet."
Art Authority K-12 is available immediately through the App Store for a special introductory price of $3.99, and will be available through Apple's Education Volume Purchase Program. Details of all Art Authority products and services, including the recently announced Prints on Demand program, are available through the Art Authority Web site.
Art Authority for iPad is the only iPad Reference app to be named to Apple's Rewind 2011 and Rewind 2010 "best of" lists. It brings over 55,000 high-resolution classic works of art to users' fingertips. Hailed as "an experience unlike any other" and "visually dazzling," the app professionally displays paintings and sculptures by over 1000 major western artists from ancient times through current-day. The app is in use by Seton Hill University and a number of other educational institutions worldwide. Art Authority for Macintosh, iPhone, and Kindle Fire bring similar functionality to these devices.
Art Authority is the product of an innovative collaboration between two separate software companies, Open Door Networks and Project A. The mission of Art Authority is the design, development and deployment of the best ways for users to experience art on their modern-day devices.
Device Requirements: * Requires iPad with iOS 4.3 or later * 101 MB
Pricing and Availability: Art Authority K-12 for iPad 1.0 is $3.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Education category.
Open Door Networks, Inc. was founded in 1995 by Alan Oppenheimer, co-creator of AppleTalk, the original network system for the Macintosh. Open Door is a leading provider of Internet and mobile solutions for Apple products. Copyright (C) 2012 Open Door Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Buried in Friday?s Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the country?s unemployment situation was this disheartening fact: 9,000 employees of the mining and resource extraction sector lost their jobs in October.
That brings total job losses in that sector to 17,000 since May, according to BLS.
The Bureau, which is a division of the Labor Department, defines the ?mining? industry thusly:
The Mining sector comprises establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity.
?Mining lost 9,000 jobs in October, with most of the decline occurring in support?activities for mining,? BLS reported Friday morning. ?Since May of this year, employment in mining has decreased?by 17,000.?
Energy has become a hot-button issue of late as the country debates major regulations on industries that fall under BLS?s ?mining? rubric and taxpayer incentives for other energy sectors.
While the president often touts his policies as friendly to the conventional fuel industry, BLS?s numbers suggest the sector is hitting a financial rough patch.
?The American people have endured more than four years of economic hardship, yet Washington regulators have continued their assault on affordable energy and the jobs that developing our domestic resources could provide, particularly on federal lands,? said the American Energy Institute in a Friday news release on the BLS numbers. ?We cannot experience lasting economic recovery or create the jobs that will drive our energy future with the status quo.?
The Heritage Foundation profiled some of the workers in this sector of the economy July video on uranium mining:
>>> Read the Heriage Foundation report: the American Conservation Ethic
When Apple forced its mobile software leader Scott Forstall out of the company, it pushed out the most prolific inventor at the company, as measured by recent patent filings.
Forstall's name is on 166 pending patent applications. That's more than anyone at the company, according to data from investment bank MDB Capital.
"He's one of, if not the most prolific inventors at Apple," says Erin-Michael Gill, Managing Director and Chief Intellectual Property Office at MDB. "If this guy is who the data seems to imply he is, letting him leave is a huge deal."
MDB specializes in analyzing patent filings. It has its own database of patent information. Gill sent us a table of Apple patents filings by employees. Gill warns that it's difficult to be completely accurate about pending patents, but MDB's data is the "best data available publicly."
The two people that are filling his role combined have less than half as many patents pending. Craig Federighi, who will lead OSX and iOS, has 16 patents pending. Jony Ive, who will lead interface design, has 51 pending.
It's important to note there's a key difference between patents from Ive, and Forstall. Ive's patents are design patents, which cover the look and feel of Apple's products. Forstall's are product patents that are at the core of how iOS works, according to Gill.
For instance, Forstall's name is second on the patent that lays out exactly how the iPhone and iPad work. The first name on that patent is Steve Jobs, Apple's late cofounder, who died last year. Now, Apple will have to carry on without either of them.
Forstall was a divisive character inside Apple. When he left, there was a spin that it was good for Apple because it was getting rid of a jerky manager. However, Forstall also had a lot of people who were loyal to him at Apple. And if some of the people he collaborated with decide to leave with him, Gill warns Apple could easily lose 5-6 of its most important inventors.
MDB
The table of Apple's inventors
Now, one could argue that just because Forstall's name is on a patent, doesn't necessarily mean he invented something. He had a reputation of managing up, and stealing credit for other people's work. Even if that's true, and somehow he managed to unfairly attach his name to half of these patents, he's still one of the most important people in Apple.
Reading over the patents with Forstall's name attached to them makes it clear he has his fingers in everything Apple is doing in mobile, says Gill.
MDB
Forstall's top collaborators
There was also a report that Forstall was out of ideas, and that's part of the reason he's out. Gill thinks that's laughable. He says Forstall was a "font of innovation at Apple."
Don't Miss: Apple Still Has A Big Problem: It Doesn't Have A Final Decider >
PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 31, 2012) - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) (NASDAQ: LORL), the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that it was selected by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) to develop affordable design concepts for next generation Protected Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM).
SS/L has a long history of successfully delivering timely and affordable high-performance commercial satellite systems. As a prime contractor leading several protected communications system and technology domain expert companies, SS/L is well-positioned to provide proven solutions with shorter schedules and lower, better controlled cost, to defend against growing and changing intentional jamming and cyber threats and to deliver advanced communications capability to the warfighter.
In today's cost-conscious environment, the objective of the SMC program is to develop practical new architectures and technologies that will protect increasingly contested and threatened high security communications. Space Systems/Loral will combine its expertise and existing technologies from commercial developments together with existing military technologies provided by a team of domain experts to assess options for both space and ground segment design.
"The protected MILSATCOM contract is an opportunity for SS/L to continue its efforts to serve the U.S. Government with cost-effective solutions based on commercial market innovation," said John Celli, president of SS/L. "Working with our industry partners, we will use domain expertise, proven military technology, and our supply chain efficiencies to quickly bring increased capability to the warfighter."
The SS/L business is based on addressing changing requirements in mobile communications, broadband, and high definition video broadcasting within the budget and schedule constraints of the commercial marketplace. For the SMC's Protected MILSATCOM program, SS/L will help remedy existing gaps in the space communications layer and demonstrate specific design concepts focused on improved life-cycle affordability that will meet the warfighter needs far into the future.
About Space Systems/Loral Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ: LORL), has a long history of delivering reliable satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers around the world. As the world's leading provider of commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators to provide spacecraft for a broad range of services including television and radio distribution, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and mobile communications. Billions of people around the world depend on SS/L satellites every day. For more information, visit www.ssloral.com.
About Loral Space & Communications Loral Space & Communications is a satellite communications company. Through its Space Systems/Loral subsidiary, the company is a world-class leader in the design and manufacture of satellites and satellite systems for commercial and government applications including direct-to-home television, broadband communications, wireless telephony, weather monitoring, and air traffic management. Loral also owns 64 percent of Telesat, one of the world's largest providers of satellite services. Telesat operates a fleet of telecommunications satellites used to broadcast video entertainment programming, distribute direct-to-home video and broadband data services, and other value-added communications services. On June 26, 2012, Loral announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell Space Systems/Loral to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA). The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
For more information, visit Loral's Web site at www.loral.com. LORL-G
This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "believes," "expects," "plans," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "anticipates," "estimates," "project," "intend" or "outlook" or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. In addition, Loral Space & Communications Inc., Space Systems/Loral, Inc. or their representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, orally or in writing, which may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and press releases or oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer of the company. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results as a result of certain risks and uncertainties which are described as "Risk Factors" and in the "Commitments and Contingencies" note to the financial statements in Loral's 2011 annual report on Form 10-K filed February 29, 2012. The reader is specifically referred to this document, as well as the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to (1) risks associated with financial factors, including swings in the global financial markets, financial covenants in SS/L's credit agreement, increases in interest rates and access to capital; (2) risks associated with satellite manufacturing, including competition, cyclicality of SS/L's end-user markets, contractual risks, creditworthiness of customers, performance of suppliers and management of our factory and personnel; (3) regulatory risks, such as the effect of U.S. export control and economic sanction laws; (4) risks related to the proposed sale of SS/L, including the effect on the business of SS/L prior to the consummation of the sale and the ability to satisfy the contractual conditions to closing the sale; and (5) other risks, including litigation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive. Furthermore, Loral and SS/L operate in an industry sector where securities values may be volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the control of Loral and SS/L.
Amazon is slamming the iPad mini on its front page, doing a side by side comparison of Apple's tablet to the Kindle Fire HD.
There's one problem with the comparison, though. Amazon says the iPad mini has mono speakers, while the Kindle Fire HD has stereo speakers.
Turns out that's wrong. The Verge's Josh Topolsky said in his review the iPad mini has stereo speakers. And then on Twitter he confirmed it, saying, "People of Earth: Apple confirms iPad mini has STEREO SPEAKERS. As I note in my review."
He also said in his review, "And that's a good-sounding set of stereo speakers, by the way."
For what it's worth, in his review of the Kindle Fire HD he said the speakers aren't anywhere as great as what Amazon would have you believe, but "they do sound quite nice."
Anyway, looks like Amazon has to update this comparison:
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The silence of America's top law enforcement officials ? President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder ? on three state votes to legalize marijuana is puzzling. If any of the measures pass, it will cause a constitutional crisis as well as a dangerous jump in pot use.
By the Monitor's Editorial Board / October 17, 2012
Chicago police enter an area where authorities are busy chopping down 6-to-8-foot tall marijuana plants that they found growing on a chunk of land the size of two football fields on the city's South Side Oct. 3. Officers on routine patrol in a police helicopter spotted the crop.
AP Photo
Enlarge
Voters in three states face ballot measures Nov. 6 on whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. If any one of them passes, it will be a historic first for the United States. But it will also lead to clear violations of federal law that has long banned pot ? for any use.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
To avoid a constitutional crisis for whoever occupies the White House next year, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder must speak out now ? as law enforcement officers ? to influence voters in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.
An ounce of political prevention would be worth a pound of legal cures later.
Their silence as federal officials is difficult to understand. In the last two years, the Justice Department has been tough in many of the 17 states that now allow marijuana for alleged medical use ? especially in California, where the rules on pot dispensaries are weak and the will of state leaders to fix them even weaker.
The White House?s reticence is also puzzling because Mr. Obama was not shy about taking on Arizona over its immigration law. His inconsistency on these two fronts with states suggests to some a political desire to push pro-pot young people to the polls, especially in the pivotal state of Colorado. If true, that also suggests a political expediency at the expense of moral integrity.
Leading experts say legalizing marijuana in the US would double or triple the number of people with a dangerous dependency on pot to 12 million. And the amount of time that pot users would be intoxicated would also double or triple, with an estimated $100 billion loss of worker productivity to the economy. That figure far surpasses the money spent on anti-marijuana enforcement.
Despite federal actions against medical-marijuana abuses, sometimes words can speak louder. Obama, himself a reformed pot user, should simply state his disapproval at passage of these ballot initiatives. (Mitt Romney has said he will rigorously enforce the federal ban.)
Marijuana use need never become as pervasive as that of alcohol if government leaders head off the legalization movement.
Obama has plenty of moral backup. Nine former chiefs of the Drug Enforcement Administration asked Mr. Holder in a letter last month to publicly oppose the ballot initiatives. ?To continue to remain silent conveys to the American public and the global community a tacit acceptance of these dangerous initiatives,? they wrote.
Passage of the three measures ? Amendment 64 in Colorado, Measure 80 in Oregon, and Initiative 502 in Washington ? could lead to massive violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act ? and not just by ordinary citizens who would start to use pot openly, but state workers who assist in growing and selling it.
Such widespread lawlessness would be on the scale of the current population of illegal immigrants, a problem that corrodes the rule of law and creates deep political divisions among Americans.
As difficult as it might be, the president need only spend a minute at a microphone in coming days stating his opposition to legalizing pot.
Hard evidence grows for including meditation in government-sponsored health programsPublic release date: 17-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ken Chawkin kchawkin@mum.edu 641-470-1314 Maharishi University of Management
More people still die from cardiovascular disease than any other illness. Dubbed the number one killer and the silent killer, modern medicine has been researching and incorporating complementary and alternative approaches to help treat and in some cases reverse and hopefully prevent this health problem at an earlier stage of the disease. One of those modalities is meditation.
A new research review paper on the effects of the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique on the prevention and treatment of heart disease among youth and adults provides the hard evidence needed to include such evidence-based alternative approaches into private- and government-sponsored wellness programs aimed at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease.
The paper, "Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents and Adults through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Research Review Update" is published in Current Hypertension Reviews, 2012, Vol. 8, No. 3.
In teens, the TM technique has been found to reduce blood pressure, improve heart structure and improve school behavior. According to the paper, the technique has been shown to be a safe alternative. The NIH-sponsored clinical trials conducted with TM mentioned in this review did not observe any adverse effects from TM practice.
In adults the technique reduced stress hormones and other physiological measures of stress and produced more rapid recovery from stress, decreased blood pressure and use of blood pressure medication, decreased heart pain in angina patients, cleared the arteries, reducing the risk of stroke, improved distance walked in patients with congestive heart failure, and decreased alcohol and tobacco use, anxiety, depression, and medical care usage and expenditures. The technique also decreased risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and all causes.
"These findings have important implications for inclusion of the Transcendental Meditation program in medical efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Vernon Barnes, lead author and research scientist at Georgia Health Sciences University, in Augusta, Georgia.
"This review is potentially more important than individual research papers because it shows that TM has an integrated, holistic effect on all levels of cardiovascular disease," says co-author, Dr. David Orme-Johnson.
Orme-Johnson says that no other meditation technique has been shown to produce this constellation of changes, especially when it comes to hard measures of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Barnes said it was important to start preventing heart disease with adolescents before the disease sets. "Adding Transcendental Meditation at a young age could prevent future cardiovascular disease and save many lives, not to mention reduce the national medical bill by billions of dollars."
Uniqueness of the Transcendental Meditation technique
The uniqueness of the outcomes of the TM technique may have something to do with the mechanics of the practice of the technique itself says Dr. Barnes. "Meditation practices are different from each other and therefore produce different results. And this is a very important consideration when evaluating the application of meditation as an alternative and complementary medical approach."
A paper in Consciousness and Cognition discusses three categories to organize and better understand meditation. See Are all meditation techniques the same?
The two common categories are focused attention, concentrating on an object or an emotion, like compassion; and open monitoring, being mindful of one's breath or thoughts, either contemplating the meaning of them, or just observing them.
Transcendental Meditation uses a different approach and comes under the third category of automatic self-transcending, meditations that transcend their own activity.
The TM technique does not employ any active form of concentration or contemplation, but allows the mind to effortlessly experience the thought process at more refined levels until thinking comes to a quiet settled state without any mental activity. The mind is awake inside and the body is resting deeply, a level of rest much deeper than deep sleep. It is this state of restful alertness that allows the body to make the necessary repairs to rebalance its normal functioning. This cumulative process resets the physiology and shows up as reduced symptoms of cardiovascular disease and improved health.
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[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Hard evidence grows for including meditation in government-sponsored health programsPublic release date: 17-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ken Chawkin kchawkin@mum.edu 641-470-1314 Maharishi University of Management
More people still die from cardiovascular disease than any other illness. Dubbed the number one killer and the silent killer, modern medicine has been researching and incorporating complementary and alternative approaches to help treat and in some cases reverse and hopefully prevent this health problem at an earlier stage of the disease. One of those modalities is meditation.
A new research review paper on the effects of the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique on the prevention and treatment of heart disease among youth and adults provides the hard evidence needed to include such evidence-based alternative approaches into private- and government-sponsored wellness programs aimed at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease.
The paper, "Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents and Adults through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Research Review Update" is published in Current Hypertension Reviews, 2012, Vol. 8, No. 3.
In teens, the TM technique has been found to reduce blood pressure, improve heart structure and improve school behavior. According to the paper, the technique has been shown to be a safe alternative. The NIH-sponsored clinical trials conducted with TM mentioned in this review did not observe any adverse effects from TM practice.
In adults the technique reduced stress hormones and other physiological measures of stress and produced more rapid recovery from stress, decreased blood pressure and use of blood pressure medication, decreased heart pain in angina patients, cleared the arteries, reducing the risk of stroke, improved distance walked in patients with congestive heart failure, and decreased alcohol and tobacco use, anxiety, depression, and medical care usage and expenditures. The technique also decreased risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and all causes.
"These findings have important implications for inclusion of the Transcendental Meditation program in medical efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Vernon Barnes, lead author and research scientist at Georgia Health Sciences University, in Augusta, Georgia.
"This review is potentially more important than individual research papers because it shows that TM has an integrated, holistic effect on all levels of cardiovascular disease," says co-author, Dr. David Orme-Johnson.
Orme-Johnson says that no other meditation technique has been shown to produce this constellation of changes, especially when it comes to hard measures of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Barnes said it was important to start preventing heart disease with adolescents before the disease sets. "Adding Transcendental Meditation at a young age could prevent future cardiovascular disease and save many lives, not to mention reduce the national medical bill by billions of dollars."
Uniqueness of the Transcendental Meditation technique
The uniqueness of the outcomes of the TM technique may have something to do with the mechanics of the practice of the technique itself says Dr. Barnes. "Meditation practices are different from each other and therefore produce different results. And this is a very important consideration when evaluating the application of meditation as an alternative and complementary medical approach."
A paper in Consciousness and Cognition discusses three categories to organize and better understand meditation. See Are all meditation techniques the same?
The two common categories are focused attention, concentrating on an object or an emotion, like compassion; and open monitoring, being mindful of one's breath or thoughts, either contemplating the meaning of them, or just observing them.
Transcendental Meditation uses a different approach and comes under the third category of automatic self-transcending, meditations that transcend their own activity.
The TM technique does not employ any active form of concentration or contemplation, but allows the mind to effortlessly experience the thought process at more refined levels until thinking comes to a quiet settled state without any mental activity. The mind is awake inside and the body is resting deeply, a level of rest much deeper than deep sleep. It is this state of restful alertness that allows the body to make the necessary repairs to rebalance its normal functioning. This cumulative process resets the physiology and shows up as reduced symptoms of cardiovascular disease and improved health.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
In a unique move to bring quality television experience to its customers and drive access to quality programme for African viewers, Samsung has unveiled the first television set with an integrated satellite receiver, Samsung Free Satellite LED TV.
Specifically designed for the African market, the Samsung Free Satellite LED TV allows consumers to enjoy over 30 English channels and more than 27 French channels at no cost to them. The television set is also fitted with a built-in satellite turner that can be connected directly to the satellite dish without the need for a set-top-box.
Business Leader for Consumer Electronics at Samsung, Vishwas Saxena explains: ?Through a deep understanding of our consumer needs and want and the market trends that have become apparent, we designed this tailored made solution to the requirements of our African consumers.? It has a triple protector technology and withstands the impact of humidity, lightening and electricity surge through reduced power dependency. These TVs are also installed by professional trained and accredited installers who understand what it means for our consumers to enjoy an uninterrupted TV experience.
Continues Saxena: An article written Peter Galace on ?Prospects in the Africa Satellite Market? quotes Norbert H?lzle, who now leads the European sales team of SES as saying that ?today only one out of three homes in Africa has a TV set, but this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. The digital migration in Africa is already being driven by satellite, and the markets are ready and eager for assistance?. Our Built for Africa products under which this satellite TV falls is a premium product that really speaks to the understanding that Samsung has around the challenges our African consumers face ? from limited resources, electricity and water for example, to needing true innovation that works with the geographical landscape.?
The Samsung Free Satellite LED TV is available now in all Samsung shops.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? President Barack Obama failed to bring any new ideas that could revive the economy during the second presidential debate, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said Wednesday.
Ryan told supporters in the Cleveland area that running mate Mitt Romney followed up a strong first debate with another winning performance.
The Wisconsin congressman said Obama is out of answers and it showed in Tuesday night's debate. "This might be the best President Obama can give us, but it's not what we should settle for," Ryan said.
Later in Columbus, Ryan appeared at an event tailored to display his strength on fiscal issues. Eleven dinner companions at an Italian restaurant on the city's east side peppered him with questions on the federal debt, taxes and Obama's health care law.
"Do you have a whiteboard here?" Ryan quipped with a smile when he was asked to explain how a Romney administration would tackle the deficit.
He inquired when joining the table if diners had already said grace. When the answer was yes, he said he'd say his own private prayer.
Several dozen protesters organized by SEIU Local 1199 and ProgressOhio chanted, "Four more years!" and waved signs outside the event. They brought clean pots and pans and displayed signs that said, "Soup Kitchen Photo Op - NO."
While in northeast Ohio, Ryan mixed politics with football in Ohio ?two topics that are unavoidable this fall in the prized swing state ? by dropping in on practice at the Cleveland Browns facility with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a lifelong Browns fan.
Both took turns talking with the team.
Ryan told the players he's been impressed by the play of rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden, but it turns out he was pointing at backup quarterback Colt McCoy. That got a good laugh out of their teammates. Ryan recovered quickly, mentioning the team's victory over Cincinnati last Sunday.
Ryan also shared his favorite hunting spots with Browns Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas, who's also a Wisconsin native. Ryan lamented that he's missing hunting season this fall. "I've got this election thing going on," he told Thomas.
Earlier at Baldwin-Wallace University, Ryan said that Obama's campaign is now trying to scare voters because he can't run on his record. "He gives us a growing debt and no solutions," Ryan said.
The Romney-Ryan ticket says its economic plan would grow jobs in the energy industry and through small businesses, helping to create 12 million jobs.
Obama spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw said Romney's plan would end up hurting the middle class and only benefit the wealthy through $5 trillion in tax cuts. "Mitt Romney misled voters time and again last night and refused to explain his indefensible ideas when he was exposed on the emptiness of his own plans," she said.
One dinner guest in Columbus asked Ryan if he could dispel the notion that he and Romney would raise taxes on the middle class. He said it's a mistaken idea perpetuated by "hundreds of millions of dollars in negative advertising."
Ryan said he and Romney have records of cutting taxes and plan to continue to do so if elected.
Rice also joined Ryan at the rally at Baldwin-Wallace University. She told the crowd that it has been a rough decade, starting with the terrorist attacks in 2001 and the economic collapse near the end of the decade. "The last four years have been very tough on people who just want to work hard and make a living," Rice said.
She said the country is at a crossroads, adding: "We cannot continue to spend money that we cannot afford to pay back."
For the first time, two new models of the giant collision that spawned the moon can explain why our satellite seems to be made of the same stuff as Earth. Both rely on the very young Earth spinning much faster than was thought possible ? resulting in a day lasting just 2.5 hours.
The moon is thought to have formed from the debris remaining after a planet-sized object collided with the early Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. The trouble is that until now, impact simulations have always resulted in a moon made mainly of material from the impactor.
That conflicts with analyses of lunar rocks carried out over the last 10 years. They show that the ratios of oxygen isotopes are almost identical on the Earth and the moon, suggesting the two bodies formed from the same material. Meteorites from Mars and asteroids have very different oxygen isotope compositions from the Earth, so the impacting proto-planet probably did, too.
"There's been this quandary," says Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "How do you end up with a moon and Earth that have identical oxygen isotope composition?"
Rotation clue
The two new models resolve the conundrum thanks to a new insight about the rate of Earth's rotation in the solar system's chaotic early days.
Earlier collision models all assumed that just after the moon formed, the Earth rotated once every 5 hours. That's because the moon started out much closer to the Earth than it is now, and has been drifting away slowly ever since (it is still receding by a few centimetres every year). Just as an ice skater that pulls her arms in will spin faster, because angular momentum is conserved, the Earth spun faster when the moon was closer ? and spun slower and slower the further out the moon moved. Taking this into account, a five-hour day at the time of the moon's formation results in the 24-hour day we have now.
But models featuring Earth spinning at this rate during the great collision always resulted in dynamics that produce a moon with the wrong composition.
So recently, Matija Cuk of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and Sarah Stewart of Harvard University have suggested a new mechanism for slowing down Earth's spin. It meant Earth could have had a day as short as 2.5 hours when the great collision occurred ? and still have the 24-hour day we observe now. The mechanism involves gravitational tugs by the sun on the moon that, in turn, allow the moon to "steal" momentum from the Earth, slowing it more aggressively.
Smaller, faster impactor
Now, Canup, who saw Cuk and Stewart's work presented in February, has used the insight to create a full model of moon formation.
In her model, two bodies, each about half the current mass of the Earth, come together and stick. The energy from the impact melts them both. Most of the mass is merged into a central planet, but a bit streams out into a surrounding disc, which coalesces into the moon within 100 years. The resulting two objects have the same composition because of thorough mixing of the molten rocks following the impact.
Such a model seemed impossible previously because it spits out an Earth with a 2.5-hour day ? but thanks to Cuk and Stewart, that's no longer a problem.
Cuk and Stewart, meanwhile, have come up with a rival model. They find that if you assume that Earth already had a 2.5-hour day before the collision, a much smaller, faster impactor than previously thought possible can create a moon. Similar to Canup's model, the resulting planet and moon would both be about 90 per cent proto-Earth material, 10 per cent impactor material.
Cuk claims his model is more likely. "It's easier to have a smaller body, because there are more of them," he says. Based on simulation data, Canup says that the odds of the impactor being the same size as the proto-Earth are about 1 in 5. "It's not overly improbable," she says.
Neither model is the final word on the formation of the moon, says Erik Asphaug of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the new studies. But allowing the Earth to spin faster will open up a new set of ideas that couldn't be explored before. "There's a big new conversation beginning," he says.
Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1225542 and 10.1126.science.1226073
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by Grae Drake | Wednesday, Oct. 10 2012 2 comments Ethan Hawke ditches his sensitive-guy persona in favor of straight-up horror in Sinister. He talks to Grae Drake about why he made a scary movie and what images from the movie he had a hard time shaking when the cameras stopped rolling.
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Discovery of gatekeeper nerve cells explains the effect of nicotine on learning and memory
Monday, October 8, 2012
Swedish researchers at Uppsala University have, together with Brazilian collaborators, discovered a new group of nerve cells that regulate processes of learning and memory. These cells act as gatekeepers and carry a receptor for nicotine, which can explain our ability to remember and sort information.
The discovery of the gatekeeper cells, which are part of a memory network together with several other nerve cells in the hippocampus, reveal new fundamental knowledge about learning and memory. The study is published today in Nature Neuroscience.
The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is important for consolidation of information into memories and helps us to learn new things. The newly discovered gatekeeper nerve cells, also called OLM-alpha2 cells, provide an explanation to how the flow of information is controlled in the hippocampus.
"It is known that nicotine improves cognitive processes including learning and memory, but this is the first time that an identified nerve cell population is linked to the effects of nicotine", says Professor Klas Kullander at Scilifelab and Uppsala University.
Humans think, learn and memorize with the help of nerve cells sending signals between each other. Some nerve cells send signals far away to other areas of the brain, while other neurons send signals within the same area. Local nerve circuits in the hippocampus process impressions and turn some of them into memories. But how does this work? And how can nicotine improve this mechanism?
The new research study literally sheds new light on this intriguing mechanism.
"We have used a new technology called optogenetics, in which light is used to stimulate selected nerve cells. We were amazed when we discovered that light activation of the gatekeeper cells alters the flow of information in the hippocampus in the same way as nicotine does", explains coauthor Richardson Le?o.
Through research on mice, the scientists showed that the gatekeeper cells connect to the principal cell of the hippocampus. Active gatekeeper cells prioritize local circuit signals arriving to the principal cell, while inactive gatekeeper cells allow inputs from long-distance targets. Nicotine activates the gatekeeper cell, thereby prioritizing the formation of memories via local inputs.
Next, the scientists want to test which types of memory and learning may be selected for by the activation of gatekeeper cells. With such knowledge, it may be possible to stimulate these nerve cells by artificial means, for example by selective nicotine-like drugs, to improve memory and learning in humans.
"Ideally, one would like to access the positive effects of nicotine on the hippocampus's ability to process information, but without creating the strong nicotine dependence that keep smokers addicted to inhaling dangerous tobacco smoke", says Klas Kullander.
###
Uppsala University: http://www.uu.se
Thanks to Uppsala University for this article.
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In turning to foreign policy, Mitt Romney is playing to a traditionally Republican strength while trying to build on momentum from his winning performance in last week's presidential debate.
He's also resurrecting an old GOP theme: that President Barack Obama's policies have reduced U.S. influence around the world ? particularly in the Middle East.
"If America doesn't lead, others will, others who don't share our interests or our values," Romney told an audience Monday at Virginia Military Institute.
Romney has suggested in the past that Obama had "apologized" for U.S. behavior and values while overseas, an accusation not borne out by the facts.
While he didn't use such words on Monday, he said that friends and allies want more, not less, American leadership and that, "We must show them that we still have faith in ourselves."
Polls have shown that Obama generally does better on handling national security and foreign policy issues than the former Massachusetts governor.
Romney generally has dwelled more on U.S. economic woes. But with the economy showing some recent employment gains and last month's deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya and anti-U.S. protests in Egypt, his team saw a new opening on foreign policy.
Fighting back, Obama's campaign released a new TV ad in Virginia denouncing Romney's foreign-affairs policies as "reckless" and "amateurish."
"We're not going to be lectured by someone who's been an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy every time he's dipped his toe in the foreign policy waters," campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Romney also planned a rally in Newport News, Va.
On the other side of the country, Obama had three fundraisers in San Francisco and was declaring a national monument at the home of Cesar Chavez, the deceased founder of the United Farmworkers ? a move no doubt calculated to help rally Latino support.
___
Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APcampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012
Eds: With 29 days left until Election Day, here are insights into today's highlights in U.S. politics.
Here is an email from Dave dated July, 2012, with news about how well their passive solar home is doing:
Well, compared to Greenville, we certainly are cool.? It is supposed to get up to a roasting 82 today, which for Maine is pretty darn warm.? Without air conditioning, this house can warm up a lot in the day.
On the other hand, the house does really, really well in the winter.? We never turned on the heat last winter; we just warmed up the bathroom for showers, and burned less than half a cord of wood in the wood stove.? A friend gave the wood to us in exchange for baby-sitting. Our power bill last month was $8.91.? This month it went up to $9.58. Our neighbor was so inspired by our solar system that he installed 28 photoelectric panels on his garage roof, more than twice as many as I have.?
If my rock samples are not currently getting in the way, could you save them while I think about it??? I am going to be teaching a geology course at the local branch of the University of Maine, and may need some of my samples that are stored at ECU. The Belfast branch of U Maine has almost no budget.
Now that Sally cut all her teaching ties to ECU and took a job at the Belfast Free Library, lots of people on the street in town recognize her.? "Hey mom, it's the library lady!"? It really is fun to be part of such a small town that you meet people you know just walking from the post office to the grocery.
This one is dated July, 2011:
Yes, we are all moved in, and the house is fun.? Despite a string of cloudy days, we generated 75% of the electricity we used, and most of the hot water.? The soil here makes gardening a challenge, though.? You think the soil can be clay-rich in Greenville, you ought to see this stuff.? If this were Mexico, we could build with adobe.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tC1wlvVuxBT-zEPBsHcWyNfqIa6lRBGqRyjrQvhToqL0ZXGt_RiXhQrHE-m0Y7M27yjB4F5WVY6LklNQw-C2OWNyAorEN6ZUxnW5sxQZQ=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 17-Oct-2012
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In a unique move to bring quality television experience to its customers and drive access to quality programme for African viewers, Samsung has unveiled the first television set with an integrated satellite receiver, Samsung Free Satellite LED TV.
by Grae Drake | Wednesday, Oct. 10 2012 
2 comments 
Developing an online presence and a brand image can be a difficult process, requiring research, thought, and valuable time since there are several ways to achieve this and one way is with the selection of a great web design firm. There are many companies and individuals who can accomplish a project; however, it is still crucial to determine which among one best meets a company?s internet needs. The selection process could draw the line between an inferior and superior website since not all firms are equal. Below are tips on how to pick a good Texas web design firm that fully understands company objectives and knows how to effectively increase a business internet presence.