Research & Rescue

What is Happiness?

I actually discovered the documentary, Happy, about a week ago when I fell into a rabbit hole looking at articles on coaching and liked the trailer for the movie enough that I became a fan on Facebook. The idea behind this movie is not really a new one and I have discussed it on this blog before (Money Isn't Everything).

I think that, despite the movement to downsize our lives, it's easy to get caught up in the message that more [stuff] is better. I certainly succumb to it more often than I'd like and I try to rationalize it (So, what if I have more books than I could possibly read - when I retire or take a vacation*, I'll just hole up with my books and read). What having too much stuff does is clutter one's environment and one's brain and the best money spent is on time with friends and traveling. I was about to add film to that but I've also found that the best pictures are the ones not taken. They reside in one's memories :-)

This is a nice piece from CNN that I hope moves you to support the production of Happy. If not, may you be moved to support the production of happiness - in your life, and in those of others.

 

 

* My friends will tell you it's not in my vocabulary, so I looked it up: Main Entry: 1 va·ca·tion Pronunciation: \vā-ˈkā-shən, və-\ Function: noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English vacacioun, from Anglo-French vacacion, from Latin vacation-, vacatio freedom, exemption, from vacare Date: 14th century 1 : a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission 2 a : a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended b : a period of exemption from work granted to an employee 3 : a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation 4 : an act or an instance of vacating (Source: merriam-webster.com)

So You Think You Know Western Water Law?

Wonderful blog piece (thanks to Chris Merle for the tip)

So You Think You Know Western Water Law? Read 'Ten Water Laws of the West'

Video: Matt Ridley: When ideas have sex

Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist website (and numerous books), presented at TED Global this year. The whole video is worth watching, of course, but I really like the [slightly out of context] quote below.

We've gone beyond the capacity of the human mind to an extraordinary degree. And by the way, that's one of the reasons that I'm not interested in the debate about I.Q., about whether some groups have higher I.Q.s that other groups. It's completely irrelevant. What's relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas, and how well they're cooperating, not how clever their individuals are.

via www.ted.com

 

Do statins really work?

I have a bunch of friends on statins and I have often wondered if they're being over-prescribed. Interesting article in the LA Times indicating others questioning, as well....

As the world's most-prescribed class of medications, statins indisputably qualify for the commercial distinction of "blockbuster." About 24 million Americans take the drugs — marketed under such commercial names as Pravachol, Mevacor, Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor — largely to stave off heart attacks and strokes.

At the zenith of their profitability, these medications raked in $26.2 billion a year for their manufacturers. The introduction in recent years of cheaper generic versions may have begun to cut into sales revenues for the brand-name drugs that came first to the market, but better prices have only fueled the medications' use: In 2009, U.S. patients filled 201.4 million prescriptions for statins, according to IMS Health, which tracks prescription drug trends. That's nearly double the number of prescriptions written for statins in 2001, four years after they arrived on the American pharmaceutical landscape.

But in recent months the drugs' touted medical reputation has come under tough scrutiny.

Read the rest at www.latimes.com

#FelineFriday video: Need a new wing man?

Don't drink and job hunt

 

U. MICHIGAN/U. PENNSYLVANIA (US)—Drinking alcohol during a lunch or dinner job interview—even when the boss does—could lower the likelihood of getting hired, according to a new study.

“Alcohol consumption plays a prominent role in many professional interactions, including job interviews, negotiations, and informal meetings,” says Scott Rick, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan.

“By introducing alcohol, managers can create a relaxed atmosphere that facilitates information exchange and relationship development.

“But merely holding an alcoholic beverage may reduce the perceived intelligence of the person holding it, in the absence of any actual reduction in cognitive performance—a mistake we term the imbibing idiot bias.”

Read the rest at www.futurity.org

How to walk

Walking in heels isn't actually bad for you. Who knew? Great tips from the Telegraph if you click through and read the whole article.

Walking properly has plenty of benefits, from improving general posture and muscle tone to preventing twisted ankles, calluses and long-term joint damage, but it takes time and concentration to achieve.

In fact, walking correctly is not instinctive, as fitness expert Tony Gallagher explains. “Children [from about eight onwards] copy the way their parents walk. You can see this in families strolling down the street and it has obvious disadvantages if they pick up on their bad habits,” he says.

So what exactly is walking correctly? According to Richard Handford, a podiatrist from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, it’s not as simple as just getting the posture right. Yes, we should be walking with our shoulders back and down. But did you know that your arms should be bent at 90 degrees? It takes practice to reverse bad habits.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

Spinal-Fluid Test for Predicting Alzheimer’s

Researchers report that a spinal fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer’s disease.

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Although there has been increasing evidence of the value of this and other tests in finding signs of Alzheimer’s, the study, which will appear Tuesday in the Archives of Neurology, shows how accurate they can be. The new result is one of a number of remarkable recent findings about Alzheimer’s.

After decades when nothing much seemed to be happening, when this progressive brain disease seemed untreatable and when its diagnosis could be confirmed only at autopsy, the field has suddenly woken up.

Read the rest at www.nytimes.com

Video: Atheist Hymnal

Addendum: How rude of me. This needs a hat tip to Diane D'Angelo for sharing on FB!

Many Sundays on our way to church at United Church of Christ my husband and I listen to The Gospel Train on Sirius Radio in hopes of finding songs we could perhaps use at a service. If you're not familiar with the theology of United Church, we once heard a pastor refer to it, tongue in cheek, as "Unitarians Considering Christ". I actually do love it there but sometimes we have to make special effort to change really beautiful hymns to make their lyrics inclusive. Sometimes it works; sometimes, well - lost in translation. At any rate, given this, you can see where the standard bluegrass hymn that uses concepts like "blood of the Lamb" or "saved from the fires, etc" might not be suitable for the venue. Steve Martin and his bluegrass band set my longing for good inclusive hymns into a musical setting that I can appreciate.

Rabbi Jonathan Miller: Alabama politicians should act like Jesus

VIEWPOINTS: Alabama politicians should act like Jesus

Published: Sunday, August 08, 2010, 5:38 AM

Special to The Birmingham News
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By JONATHAN MILLER

With the near arrival of the fall Alabama political campaigns, we are preparing again for the silly season.

As many candidates did during the primaries, politicians and their wannabes will line up their Christian bona fides, and each will try to "out-Jesus" their opponents. They are preparing their 30-second television commercials touting their faith: They attend church, they can shoot a gun or ride a horse, and they have a hard time accommodating gays and lesbians and budget deficits. Some may even claim they are solely responsible for the Ten Commandments, as though God gave them to political candidates at Mount Sinai. The silly season is about to renew itself in earnest.

 

 

 

 

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I know I sound cynical, but as one of Birmingham's rabbis, I wish our political candidates would act on their Christian faith. Christians are a blessing to the world. I would hope our candidates would put away their guns and rhetoric, and do what Jesus would do if Jesus were in office. Then, regardless of political party, I could vote for them with great enthusiasm.

I have recently returned from a trip to Bangladesh with a group of prominent Christian clergy leaders from Alabama. Birmingham native son Joseph Marino, now an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, serves as the Papal Nuncio to that poor country, and he graciously hosted us. We spent our days with Christian missionaries, Catholics and Protestants alike. I was amazed and overjoyed to meet these people who devote themselves to their Christian faith and their service to God. I daresay that Jesus, the Jew from Nazareth, would find far more in common with these humble servants than with many of the gun-toting or gay-bashing politicians, who turn on these social issues as their religious monikers during the election season, and then turn off their Christian service once they are elected.

The Christians in Bangladesh comprise a tiny minority in this overwhelmingly poor Muslim country, about one-third of 1 percent. Still, Christians are known to their Muslim countrymen for their service for the greater good. They build and run schools to provide a quality education for Christians and non-Christians alike. Large numbers of Muslims attend schools established and run by Roman Catholics. Even the daughter of Bangladesh's founder (who now serves as the country's prime minister) attended a Catholic school. One school had a population that was only 1 percent Christian, and still the school is kept open for everybody. Even in the Christian schools, Muslims are taught about their own religion, and opportunities for daily prayer are provided for all according to their own tradition.

We met physicians who have become priests, and priests who serve as doctors to the poor in the countryside. Dr. Les Morgan and his wife, Presbyterian missionaries, have devoted their lives to serving the sick as best they are able. Forgoing lucrative stateside medical practices, these Drs. Morgan live among the poor, treat them as they come across them, deeply living their faith. This lifetime of service has been challenging. Occasionally, they think of giving it up. Still they serve, one person at a time, one patient at a time. They never ask, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Instead, they ask, "What hurts you, and what can I do to help?"

The Sisters of Charity take in the unwanted children and nurse their wounds and love them for as long as they need love and protection. They don't ask, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Instead, they see the face of Jesus in each child they take off the streets.

Father Eugene has spent 55 years in the Bangladesh jungle. He built a school that educates a thousand children. He knows how to neutralize venomous snake bites.

Bishop Poren's worry for the day was for a poor village in his far-flung diocese. Rampaging elephants destroyed the village, and Bishop Poren is trying to raise $40,000 to help rebuild the 40 homes the elephants destroyed. This small, but overpopulated country doesn't have enough space for all the people and all the animals, who encroach on each other. Bishop Poren's first worry is the shelter and welfare of his people, and then the education of the too often ignored tribal girls so they can make their way in life. I would venture that his serving the poor occupies more of his energy than teaching the Catechism. He serves in the name of Jesus.

So here is my plea to our political leaders and those who are trying to replace them: Don't tell us about your faith; we have seen those clips. Tell us how you are going to serve. If you are yourselves Christian, do what Jesus would do. Take care of poor people. Make sure they have enough to eat. Take care of people who don't have homes. Make sure everyone in our state is treated with dignity, no matter their faith, or race, or ethnic background. It shouldn't matter where people come from. Jesus took care of those who lived in the margins of society. Make sure every child has an opportunity to receive a quality education. Jesus was a teacher. Make sure people whose bodies are hurting have the opportunity to see a doctor and get well. Jesus was a healer. Make sure those who can work can find meaningful employment so they and their families don't have to suffer the indignities of poverty. A few loaves and fish can feed thousands. Help people become bakers and fishermen.

Put away the rhetoric. Don't talk for Jesus. Instead, be like Jesus. Serve like Jesus. Show us your faith.

Jonathan Miller is rabbi at Temple Emanu-El on Birmingham's Southside. E-mail: [email protected].

 

via blog.al.com

 

Posted via email from thinking aloud