Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling | Video on TED.com

Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling | Video on TED.com

25 Body Hacks to Supercharge Yourself

25 Body Hacks to Supercharge Yourself

Some very good ideas. Check it out!

Why Meditation Relieves Chronic Pain and Stress - Lifehacker

Why Meditation Relieves Chronic Pain and Stress - Lifehacker

Recent reports from several different sources clearly indicate that sitting whether on a chair at your desk or on a cushion in an ashram for more than 15-30 minute intervals can be dangerous for your health (Surgeon General take note). So I now try to do most of my meditating in an upright position, usually in motion. My favorite and most profitable is while playing tennis. I concentrate my total attention on the seams of the tenis ball and as Emeril might say "wham" I'm in the zone and my inquisitive, questioning brain is temporarily "off-line". My tennis game has improved dramatically as a result of this innovation. Now I'm looking for opportunities to apply the principle to other endeavors.

Mind, Brain & Meitation

“The brain has a fixed location. The mind has no such definitive location, mainly because it can't be ascertained what it is. Though some might say the mind is around the head area, but then there is a question as to what is there. Absent content what is mind? The brain needs nourishment. Does the mind? The mind doesn't have blood flowing through it.”

“We have no experience of what it's like to be a brain, unless this is what it's like. Though I don't feel wet in the head.”?

“If mind is equated with consciousness then mind is the aware aspect of being. This aware mode may be an epiphenomena or the foundation of all that is
It has been commonly accepted by the majority of experts in the fields of neuroscience, brain research and other related fields that the mind exercises significant influence over the brain and also can affect actions and behavior independent of the brain.

In her book “Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain”, Sharon Begley provided a clear and well-researched description of the mind and it’s potential. More recently, Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Ms. Begley have greatly expanded on the topic and related it to many facets of quantum physics and the latest developments in brain research in their recently published “The Mind & the Brain”.
The fact that we are endowed with a mind as well as a brain isn’t exactly hot news. There is a clear differentiation between the two dating back hundreds of years. In Latin we have “mens” as name for the mind and “cerebrum” for the brain. Although up until very recently, the scientific community ignored the existence of the mind and its functions, my father explained how the mind was the only source of answers when it came to complex, non-mathematical problems over fifty years ago (he said the brain was just a calculator or adding machine) .

My own exploration of the mind, its functions and capacities began with my study of Buddhism. Then, a few months ago after my wife suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm, I started reading everything I could find about the brain and the mind. In parallel with this, I had almost accidentally discovered a way to use my mind to sharpen my tennis game. The major problem most club players experience in tennis sooner or later is a failure to watch the ball and like many others, I recognized my weakness but couldn’t correct until I started focussing my attention on the seams of the tennis ball rather than the ball itself and this simple maneuver put me straight into “the Zone”, an experience very similar to meditation exercises I’d practiced in India two years ago. Suddenly the brain dropped into a passive secondary position and the mind took over. As a result, I was hitting the ball with the center of my racket (the “sweet spot”) getting to the ball much faster and making shots I never before had even attempted.
Now, the big question is “If I can do this with a tennis ball, what else can I do to focus the amazing power of the mind?


“Mind is much bigger than brain. Mind includes talking to other folk, it includes typing stuff, reading, and doing things generally. To think is to do.

If so how do you measure the mind?By intelligence? From what I understand, the mind is abstract, more or less like our consolidated experiences since birth. Perhaps at death it is the mind that lives on. Maybe the mind is the soul.

MORE ON BIN LADEN'S ASSASSINATION - THE NONSENCE OF AL-QAEDA WEB SITES MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS - THE NONSENSE OF AL-QAEDA - BACKGROUND ON BIN LADEN - CHUCKMAN'S CHOICE OF WORDS

MORE ON BIN LADEN'S ASSASSINATION - THE NONSENCE OF AL-QAEDA WEB SITES MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS - THE NONSENSE OF AL-QAEDA - BACKGROUND ON BIN LADEN - CHUCKMAN'S CHOICE OF WORDS

The pond is murky indeed and it looks like we may never get to the bottom of the Administration's "virtual reality show". The valiant force of 12 (or was it 37?) Seals or was it really the Pakistan Army who breached the Bin laden Compound. No pictures?
Because we don't want to offend the sensibilities of the guys who brought us 9/11?

To say that the whole story raises far more questions than it answers would be a huge understatement.
Could it be that Obama's "Shining Hour" may turn into his Waterloo a deja vue of the Carter disaster?

Naomi Klein "tells it like it is". There is no question about the fact that the real agenda of the RNC is to bring down the U.S. Government and create a new system, an Oligarchy an instrument for the super rich to take complete control.

Let's Make it Easier on the Rich

How about a one-time "Emergency Surtax" for the uber-rich. 1% of income for the disaster victims in Japan and libya

Ode to My Mind

In the wee small hours of the morning is the time I miss you most of all
At 4:30 AM in the middle of my 76th year, it seems as if the world is imploding around me. Memory is slowly fading - yesterday was a low point. Forgetting stalked me at every step I took and later I woke about an hour ago - in that time when we are completely disconnected. Alone with our thoughts and memories, searching for something or someone to relate to. Perhaps this is some sort of post-traumatic reaction. I have survived the events of last December when my wife suffered brain injuries and lingered on the edge of life for a few days. She has survived and is now sufficiently recovered to return to work, drive a car and resume most normal activities.

Ode to My Mind

"In the wee small hours of the morning is the time I miss you most of all.

TSA, DHS plan massive rollout of mobile surveillance vans with long-distance X-ray capability, eye movement tracking and more

TSA, DHS plan massive rollout of mobile surveillance vans with long-distance X-ray capability, eye movement tracking and more: "mobile surveillance technologies at train stations, stadiums and streets."

Maybe the DHS is worried that our unemployed young people might start protesting the government's failure to do anything about the unemployment situation, even going so far as to eliminate a lot of the government jobs that might be open to recent graduates

C L O S E R » Blog Archive » Egypt’s Revolution 2.0: The Facebook Factor

C L O S E R » Blog Archive » Egypt’s Revolution 2.0: The Facebook Factor: "As a septuagenarian FB and Twitter user and someone who has participated in the growth and development of the internet about 30 years, I am thrilled and excited about the newest developments in cyberspace. The birth and meteoric development of the social media have taken many of us completely by surprise but the author's generalizations concerning the post-thirty somethings misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the significance and portent of these new developments is unfortunate and misleading.
What is truly significant is not just their contribution to the cause of real democracy today but what it could mean in the future.

The majority of politicians in the U.S. and the rest of our global village will shudder to learn that their days are indeed numbered. These middlemen of democracy are already redundant, perhaps archaic. With the further development and growth of social media, real democracy without the interference of incompetent go betweens, dedicated exclusively to the enhancement of their own personal power, influence and wealth, can be replaced with direct vote of the people.
Real 'Power to the people'!"

WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?: Why Obama's Budget Sell-Out to Republicans Threatens Our Economy

WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?: Why Obama's Budget Sell-Out to Republicans Threatens Our Economy
Dr. Reich's comments are salient but a bit "over the top" (as usual)

It would be wonderful if the occupants of both houses of our national legislature would try to discuss the current fiscal crisis like mature, intelligent adults instead of posturing and lying like the overpaid and under-informed politicians that they are.

Their total disregard for truth and real facts is truly remarkable, their continued power over the fate of our country is unacceptable.

When are the American people going to wake up and throw the bums out?

JFK - Murdered 47 Years Ago Today

The team from my advertising agency was making a major presentation to the regional managers of Alitalia airlines who were meeting in Cincinnati. I was point man for the team, responsible for MCing the presentation. I spent the night at the Hilton and delivered our presentation at 10:00 AM on the morning of November 22, 1963.
The presentation was well received and we could count on the Alitalia business-at least for a while. (In advertising like the restaurant business, you're only as good as your last meal or campaign). The team and I headed to an upscale Italian restaurant for lunch to celebrate our victory. It was a two martini eventl that lasted over two hours, just at coffee, a waiter came to our table and told us that the President had been shot.
I left the restaurant and returned to the Hilton where I picked up my bag, checked out and headed to the airport. I don't remember the flight back to New York but I do remember going home and watching the news on the TV for several hours seeing Caroline "John John" and Jackie, Johnson and Oswald. I saw Ruby shoot Oswald and I knew that Camelot was over and that it had all been a fantasy - a dream.
For the 43 years I ignored politics completely. I had worked hard on JFK's campaign but after that, politics was a fool's game as far as I was concerned. In 2007 I saw Obama at a rally here in Austin and I thought that maybe JFK had a successor.
But Camelot ended a long time ago and Obama is no JFK.

TIME GOES BY | Social Security and President Obama

During Steve Kroft's interview with President Barack Obama on 60 Minutes, here's what the President said about the budget and Social Security:”You’re still confronted with a fact that the vast majority of the federal budget are things that people really think are important. Like Social Security and Medicare and defense.

“And so, you then have to start making some tough decisions about how do we pay for those things that we think are important. And you know, we're not gonna be able to balance the budget just by slashing the National Parks budget... “I mean, we're gonna have to, you know, tackle some big issues like entitlements that, you know, when you listen to the Tea Party or you listen to Republican candidates they promise we're not gonna touch.”

Richard Eskow, writing at Campaign for America's Future on Monday, commented on Obama’s remarks on 60 Minutes:
“That doesn't just sound as if he's preparing to cut the Medicare and Social Security 'entitlement' programs,” wrote Eskew. “It almost seems as if he's taunting the Tea Party and the GOP for not being tough enough to cut them.


“When a Democratic President sounds like he wants to outflank the Tea Party by running to its right, we're in deep trouble.”

TIME GOES BY | REFLECTIONS: On Conflicts of Interest

TIME GOES BY | REFLECTIONS: On Conflicts of Interest: "During a broadcast of 'Open End' a TV panel show moderated by David Suskind in the late 1950's, Susskind tried to divert the panel's focus away from some very parochial gossip about the (mis) behavior of New York's 'litteratti' by broaching the subject of the Soviet Minister of Trade's unprecedented visit to the heartland of America. The panel appeared almost stunned by Susskind's non-sequitor, but then Norman Mailer responded by saying 'Mikoyan's just another poiltician and politicians are all whores. We're not discuss whores in front of a family audience are we?'

Like they say 'politics make strange bedfellows' and it looks like the political whores and the media whores are now sharing the same mattresses."

Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 - Political Hotsheet - CBS News: "An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News."

My youngest daughter was at the rally and she voted my proxy.

Are we winning? Not yet and unfortunately many of the people who did attend the rally may not even vote in this election. The "enthusiasm gap"

strikes again. I did vote (the Green ticket with two exceptions for Deomocrats I have confidence in) but I can empathize with the 60% of the electorate who probably won't get to the polls this year. The whole election "scene" is ugly and decidedly unpleasant. We're all going to need some serious catharsis when it's finally over.

U.S. Deficit as % of GDP? "Fagetaboutit!"

We hear so much B.S. from our politicians and other pundits about our scandalous deficit spending, - how we are putting future generations in hock for centuries to come,  that I finally checked the CIAWorld Factbook and discovered that the U.S. ranks 47th among 129 nations of the world in terms of public debt (i.e. "deficit") as a percent of our GDP (Gross National Product). Among the really big spenders in the list, Japan is no. 2 with 189% of GDP in Public Debt, Italy and Greece running almost neck and neck in 6th and 7th places with around 114% and France - in 16th place with 77.5%, Canada -75%, Germany 72%, UK -68% and way down, close to the bottom of the list in the 109th place, those inscrutable Chinese.

So, pray tell what's all the congressional and media brouhaha all about? Is it just the usual political bull#^@T?

Why is everybody including all the old, wet teabags, got their knickers so twisted? 

"The answer my friend is written in the wind" as Bob Dylan wrote so many years ago. Just ask your Tea Party friends (if your unfortunate to have any) "What percentage of our GDP is in hock to (gasp!) PUBLIC DEBT?

We hear so much B.S. from our politicians and other pundits about our scandalous deficit spending, - how we are putting future generations in hock for centuries to come,  that I finally checked the CIAWorld Factbook and discovered that the U.S. ranks 47th among 129 nations of the world in terms of public debt (i.e. "deficit") as a percent of our GDP (Gross National Product). Among the really big spenders in the list, Japan is no. 2 with 189% of GDP in Public Debt, Italy and Greece running almost neck and neck in 6th and 7th places with around 114% and France - in 16th place with 77.5%, Canada -75%, Germany 72%, UK -68% and way down, close to the bottom of the list in the 109th place, those inscrutable Chinese.

and then "How much do you think it should be right now and how much was it under the movie actor who was our president, Ronald Regan?

Does Your Vote Really Count?

With more than half of the Senate bought and paid for  by Big Finance, Insurance & Real Estate,  do you really think the guys that are supposed to be representing you in the Senate are listening to you at all?

If you do, you probably also think Santa Claus is real and the Tooth Fairy as well.

We live in a completely corrupt society where money and only money talks and you have to put up or shut up. Wake up and smell the coffee and unless you've got at least ten million in the bank don't try to get in to the politics game because only suckers play in a game where the cards are stacked against them

True U.S. Unemployment is 17%

FROM TODAY'S WASHINGTON POST:

"The government’s broader measure of unemployment, sometimes referred to “true unemploytment,” now stands at 17.1 percent. As  the Washington Post’s Frank Ahrens puts it, you are not included in the “official” unemployment rate if, a) you would like to have a full-time job but can find only part-time work, and b) if you’ve grown so discouraged at finding work, you’ve simply given up

 Writing recently about increasingly bleak unemployment picture, Paul Krugman, NY Times' economics guru, says, "enormous harm" will come to American families. "You just need to think about how many people are unemployed now for long periods of time. Large numbers of people who have lost their jobs and will never get another if we don't change our policies."

Now that virtually one out of six American workers is out of a job and very little hope of finding one in the near or foreseeable future, it is the duty of the U.S. government to treat the situation seriously and take aggressive steps to find some real solutions.  When the people of France were unable to buy bread, Louis the XIV's doxy, Marie Antoinette, suggested "Let them eat cake" in reply French citizens cut off her head and Louis' as well.

The causes of our current debacle are many but not least of these is obsession with profits "uber alles" Social responsibility and moral integrity have vanished. Currently, our "captains of industry" are stockpiling cash for the moment when (and maybe if) the economy turns around and the American consumer starts another buying spree that will lift us out of the pits we are now mired in up to our necks. However these business leaders seem to ignore the simple fact that we can't spend what we haven't got.

The Road Goes on Forever

I'm "On the Road Again",just like my contemporary, Willy Nelson. Currently in Hudson, NY about 100 miles north of NYC. It's another one of those towns that time forgot for about 100 years but now it's being gentrified by artists, decorators, antique dealers and the like, including my youngest sibling, my sister Nicole who bought an old house here in 2003. It is also, by sublime coincidence, the birthplace of my great,great, great grandfather, James Ward Smith whose parents were some of the earliest settlers of this riverside hamlet. Heading to the Green Mountains of Vermont next and then down to Cape Hatteras, NC , after that.