The Da Vinci crock

[thegayismine]

Great avatar, n. and I love the awesome hit of your signature as well!

Indeed an awesome song, doublevision - I, too, love it!

[schel]

Great signature line, doublevision -- the immortal Ace of Base -- with their monumental hit -- Happy Nation



Laudate omnes gentes laudate
Magnificat en secula
Et anima mea laudate
Magnificat en secuala

Happy nation living in a happy nation
Where people understand
And dream of the perfect man
A situation leading to sweet salvation
For the people for the good
For mankind brotherhood

Were traveling in time

Ideas by man and only that will last
And over time weve turned to the past
That no mans fit to rule the world alone
A man will die but not his ideas

Happy nation...

Were traveling in time
Traveling in time

Tell them weve gone too far
Tell them weve gone too far
Happy nation come through
And I will dance with you
Happy nation

Happy nation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMfVFAK5Qc

You forgot their other great hit

[zile]

To date, it has been proposed that the superior cardiac protection provided by carvedilol is not a consequence of hemodynamic variances but rather is due to its additional antioxidant effects. Studies in animals suggest that antioxidant effects may be protective in myocardial ischemia and may help retard the progression of atherosclerosis. Carvedilol decreases nitric oxide, the chemical that causes endothelial dysfunction and apoptosis (programmed cell death). [...]

Nowadays it is also thought that fish oil reduces the risk of atherosclerosis. A specific study examined the effect of a fish oil (FO)-rich diet on the development of atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice, which are vulnerable because of their high plasma cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels, focusing on the expression of endothelial adhesion molecules. Mice were fed semi-purified diets containing 5% corn oil (CO), rich in n-6 PUFA or menhaden oil as FO, rich in long-chain n-3 PUFA and 0.15% cholesterol after reaching 4 weeks of age, and they were killed when they were 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 18 weeks or 24 weeks old. Oxidative stress in plasma and aortic tissue was not increased in mice fed the FO-rich diet, despite its high peroxidizability index. A reduction of stenosis and intrusion at the aortic root, a decrease in the surface area of atherosclerotic lesions at the aorta and a decrease in P-selectin, vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression were observed in FO-fed mice compared to CO-fed mice. It seems likely that the reduced expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 could be transcriptionally regulated by nuclear factor-kappaB in the aortic root. The protective effect of FO against atherosclerosis was more evident at early ages. In conclusion, FO reduces adhesion molecule expression in lesions in apoE(-/-) mice. Because these molecules are involved in lesion progression the effect of FO may explain the observed decrease in atherogenesis.

Fish oils combat weight loss in cancer patients

Cachexia (abnormal weight loss) is a major problem in many types of cancer especially cancer of the pancreas. Preliminary research has shown that supplementing the diet with fish oils, about 2.2 grams of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and 1.4 grams of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) daily, will stabilize weight in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Now researchers at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh report that patients with pancreatic cancer can actually gain weight by consuming a nutritional supplement fortified with fish oils. The experiment involved 20 patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer (aged 18 to 80 years). The participants were asked to ingest two cans of fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement per day in addition to their normal food intake. The nutritional supplement provided 310 kcal per can and contained 16.1 g protein, 49.7 g carbohydrate, 6.5 g fat, 1.09 g EPA, 0.46 g DHA, and 28 essential vitamins and minerals. After three weeks the patients had gained an average (median) of 1 kg in weight and at seven weeks an average of 2 kg. A significant improvement in performance status and appetite was also noted after three weeks on the supplement. Other research has shown that EPA inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. It is therefore of interest to note that the average survival time among the patients was over eight months. This compares very favourably with the normal survival time of 4.1 months and is at least as good as the survival time that can be obtained with aggressive chemotherapy. The researchers conclude that a fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement has the potential to be a safe and effective means of preventing weight loss in cancer patients and may even increase survival time in patients with cancer of the pancreas.

[driven]

Fish oils combat weight loss in cancer patients

Cachexia (abnormal weight loss) is a major problem in many types of cancer especially cancer of the pancreas. Preliminary research has shown that supplementing the diet with fish oils, about 2.2 grams of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and 1.4 grams of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) daily, will stabilize weight in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Now researchers at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh report that patients with pancreatic cancer can actually gain weight by consuming a nutritional supplement fortified with fish oils. The experiment involved 20 patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer (aged 18 to 80 years). The participants were asked to ingest two cans of fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement per day in addition to their normal food intake. The nutritional supplement provided 310 kcal per can and contained 16.1 g protein, 49.7 g carbohydrate, 6.5 g fat, 1.09 g EPA, 0.46 g DHA, and 28 essential vitamins and minerals. After three weeks the patients had gained an average (median) of 1 kg in weight and at seven weeks an average of 2 kg. A significant improvement in performance status and appetite was also noted after three weeks on the supplement. Other research has shown that EPA inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. It is therefore of interest to note that the average survival time among the patients was over eight months. This compares very favourably with the normal survival time of 4.1 months and is at least as good as the survival time that can be obtained with aggressive chemotherapy. The researchers conclude that a fish oil-enriched nutritional supplement has the potential to be a safe and effective means of preventing weight loss in cancer patients and may even increase survival time in patients with cancer of the pancreas.

From left: Fred Thompson, Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow have all announced that they have cancer.

By GINA KOLATA
Published: April 15, 2007

Last month, Elizabeth Edwards's breast cancer recurred. Then Tony Snow, the president’s press secretary, said his colon cancer was back. On Wednesday, Fred Thompson, the former Republican senator from Tennessee and a possible presidential candidate, said he has had lymphoma.

The National Cancer Institute reports that death rates have been declining since the early 1990s. The most recent data, from 2002 through 2004, show death rates falling by 2.6% a year for men and 1.8 percent a year for women. Men have more cancer and higher cancer death rates than women, notes Brenda Edwards, a statistician at the cancer institute, but part of the reason the death rate fell so much for men is that more of them have stopped smoking. Lung cancer is the biggest cause of cancer deaths in men and women. Other reasons for the decline in the cancer mortality rate in men and women, Dr. Edwards says, include better treatment, better care, and earlier detection. In men, death rates fell for 12 of the 15 most common cancers, including those of the lung, colon and rectum, and prostate. And, for women, death rates fell for 10 of the 15 most common cancers, including cancers of the breast, colon and rectum, cervix, and the ovaries. Cancer incidence has been flat recently, the cancer institute reports. But incidence is harder to interpret than mortality, explains Eric Feuer, a statistician at the cancer institute. One reason is cancer screening. The harder doctors look the more cancer they will find.

For example, prostate cancer rates rose by an unprecedented 16.2% a year from 1988 to 1992. The reason was that the P.S.A. test, a blood test for prostate cancer, was coming into widespread use and finding cases that otherwise might not have been found for years, if ever. Once all those cancers were found, there was less to find when the same men were tested in subsequent years. Incidence fell by 10.2% a year from 1992 to 1995. Now it is flat. For statisticians like Dr. Feuer, though, the death rates tell the real story and the story is heartening. "I was here at the N.C.I. when mortality was fairly flat," he recalls. "There was a lot of effort, but now it’s finally coming to fruition." GINA KOLATA

[cameo]

Copying words and books is random indeed. But have you ever heard about copying crimes? There's a movie called smth like Copycat paying tribute to the idea. Psychologist Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) is an expert on serial killers. However, after one of her previous subjects, incurable psychotic Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick Jr), almost murders her, she becomes an agoraphobic, fearful of new attacks and living a terrified existence within the walls of her apartment. When a new series of murders begins which mimics the murders of famous serial killers down to incredibly precise details, detectives MJ Monahan (Holly Hunter) and Reuben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney) solicit Helen's help and expertise. Someone is imitating famed serial killers Albert Desalvo, Bianchi and Buono (aka the Hillside Strangler), David Berkowitz, and Jeffrey Dahmer. Serial killers Ted Bundy, Peter Kürten, and Edmund Kemper also are referenced. As the murders add up -- one victim turns out to be of Helen's gay assistant -- the "copycat killer" is revealed to be a lab technician named Peter Foley. He forces his way into Helen's apartment by disguising himself as a policeman. She is taken hostage to the place where Daryll Lee Cullum almost killed her. Foley tries to reenact the crime scene as closely as possible, even going so far as to kill another policeman at the scene just as had happened 13 months earlier. Detective Monahan shows up just in time. She shoots Foley in a climactic confrontation on a rooftop. The movie ends with Daryll Lee in prison, mailing a letter to yet another potential serial killer, continuing his efforts to destroy Helen Hudson.

Does reading about crimes in the newspaper or viewing criminal activity on television news or in Hollywood films produce more crime? Does media exposure of crime inspire copycats? Frequently cited examples include the Tylenol tampering incidents of 1982, the assassination attempt depicted in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver," and the availability of the Terrorist Handbook on the Internet both prior to and after the Oklahoma City federal building bombing in 1995. Other anecdotal evidence abounds. A 1993 movie that depicted a teen risking his life by lying down on a busy highway was said to have "inspired" a number of teens to try the same stunt, with several deaths resulting. An MTV Beavis and Butt-Head episode suggesting to kids that they burn down their homes led to a child trying to do just that.

The idea that media descriptions and depictions have a strong impact on behavior has been referred to in the media effects literature as the "hypodermic needle" model. Like a drug injection, the ingestion of violent or antisocial conduct impacts the psyche and may lead to repeating the behavior. Typically, however, those favoring censorship of criminal depictions do not believe they are impacted in such a way, but, nevertheless believe that some are. Children, imbeciles, the emotionally vulnerable, the undersocialized, and publicity seekers have been cited as in need of protection from negative media portrayals. Since it is impossible to predict how many might react by repeating the crimes, censorship helps to protect society for the possibility of copycat behavior. Until the 1980s there was little empirical research dealing exclusively with copycat crime. Empirical studies of media influence do not support the anecdotal evidence. For example, an Australian study used a 3-year timeframe to compare police data on bank and other armed robberies with local newspaper stories on robberies during the same period. Robberies were compared for two 7-day periods immediately before and after the date of any newspaper story reporting a successful robbery. There was no evidence of any copycat effect following newspaper stories or after possible word-of-mouth communication about the commission of high-value bank robberies. Research results did not support the idea that newspaper reports of successful bank robberies stimulate copycat robberies of banks or other targets.

Ray Surette has done extensive research on copycat crimes since the mid-1980s. He argues that copycat crime is a persistent social phenomenon, common enough to influence the total crime picture, but mainly by influencing crime techniques rather than the motivation to commit a crime or the development of criminal tendencies. A copycat criminal is likely to be a career criminal involved in property offenses rather than a first-time violent offender. The specific relationship between media coverage and the commission of copycat crime is currently unknown, and the social-context factors influencing copycat crimes have not been identified. Certainly, it can not be proven that a media depiction might stimulate an otherwise ordinary person to commit a crime. Although research has established the media's influence on some deviant behaviors, it has not established a direct causal connection between media stimuli and specific deviant behaviors apart from other variables appearing in combination. Simply because a media depiction is followed by the reoccurrence of a similar event does not indicate a connection. In some cases, alleged copycats have stated they knew nothing of the previous publicized incident.

Research is needed in the areas of long-term media effects, media models, and at-risk populations. For example, what is the long-term impact of viewing of thousands of violence acts in cartoons and television shows watched by children as they grow up? Surette also noted that copycat crimes revealed identifiable similarities among incidents. The copycat criminals seemed to fall into at least 4 groupings with some overlap. "Mode" copiers were those who already intended to commit a crime and who received a method from the media event. For example, a potential car thief copies the techniques seen on a television police drama for breaking into and hot wiring a car. "Group" copiers were those who copied acts in groups. In 1995, a group of Tampa, FL teens bragged to police they stole cars and shoot at robbery victims because earlier in the same week a 12-year-old repeat robber had been granted probation rather than prison. The case had been given major media attention. The other two categories were mentally ill or mentally deficient copiers, and terrorists. Since terrorism is partially driven by media attention, it is not surprising that terrorists choose to repeat methods that have produced high media ratings in the past. This has led concerned media executives to consider carefully how much attention they focus on terrorist acts. In spite of the fact that the evidence for copycat behavior is inconclusive, pressure groups continue to advocate both voluntary and mandatory controls on media depictions of crime and violence. Hearings were held in the U.S. Congress several times in the 1990s addressing these issues. While some compare the alleged threat similar to the comic book panic of the 1950s, attempts to curb media violence will continue.

[webber]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, comforts Germany's Michael Ballack after the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain in the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, June 29, 2008, the last day of the European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Spain defeated Germany 1-0.

In Germany people love him and his team, whether they win or not. German players have some great fans and everyone would be proud to be citizen of a country like Germany.

Oh * & ^ %, still making love to oneself!

I don't know what exactly do you mean Adrian, but he's a cutie! Exactly the type of guy I'd date!

He's a babe!

Rebecca, not only he's a babe, but he's a babe I'd do *ANYTHING* on earth to be with! Even if that'd cost $1 million I'd find the money just to have sex once with the guy!

[miXin]

Great signature line, doublevision -- the immortal Ace of Base -- with their monumental hit -- Happy Nation



Laudate omnes gentes laudate
Magnificat en secula
Et anima mea laudate
Magnificat en secuala

Happy nation living in a happy nation
Where people understand
And dream of the perfect man
A situation leading to sweet salvation
For the people for the good
For mankind brotherhood

Were traveling in time

Ideas by man and only that will last
And over time weve turned to the past
That no mans fit to rule the world alone
A man will die but not his ideas

Happy nation...

Were traveling in time
Traveling in time

Tell them weve gone too far
Tell them weve gone too far
Happy nation come through
And I will dance with you
Happy nation

Happy nation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMfVFAK5Qc

What can I say? Listening to Ace of Base and their songs justifies your existence!

God bless Ace of Base!

[hitch]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, comforts Germany's Michael Ballack after the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain in the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, June 29, 2008, the last day of the European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Spain defeated Germany 1-0.

In Germany people love him and his team, whether they win or not. German players have some great fans and everyone would be proud to be citizen of a country like Germany.

I don't know what exactly do you mean Adrian, but he's a cutie! Exactly the type of guy I'd date!

He's a babe!

Rebecca, not only he's a babe, but he's a babe I'd do *ANYTHING* on earth to be with! Even if that'd cost $1 million I'd find the money just to have sex once with the guy!

No kidding, this guy is hot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyZYgO0aM6o

[4F-1]

Hahaha - I know what ya mean, dadada!

Care to explain a bit?

[shell oil]

From a religious point of view, many critics, citing Dan Brown's own comments in various media interviews, claim that the book is a deliberate attempt to undermine Christianity in favour of a feminist/pagan agenda, and decry the many negative implications about the Roman Catholic Church and Opus Dei.

As early as August 1912, Jung had intimated a letter to Freud that he had an intuition that the essentially feminine-tones archaic wisdom of the Gnostics, symbolically called Sophia, was destined to re-enter modern Western culture by way of depth psychology. This takes us to the Gnostic text the Pistis Sophia. Pistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text. The five remaining copies, which scholars date c. 250­-300 AD, relate the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha), when the risen Christ had accomplished 11 years speaking with his disciples. In it the complex structures and hierarchies of heaven familiar in Gnostic teachings are revealed. The female divinity of gnosticism is Sophia, a being with many aspects and names. She is sometimes identified with the Holy Ghost itself but, according to her various capacities, is also the Universal Mother, the Mother of the Living or Resplendent Mother, the Power on High, She-of-the-left-hand (as opposed to Christ, understood as her husband and he of the Right Hand), as the Luxurious One, the Womb, the Virgin, the Wife of the Male, the Revealer of Perfect Mysteries, the Saint Columba of the Spirit, the Heavenly Mother, the Wandering One, or Elena (that is, Selene, the Moon). She was envisaged as the Psyche of the world and the female aspect of Logos.

The title Pistis Sophia is obscure, and is sometimes translated Faith wisdom or Wisdom in faith or Faith in wisdom. A more accurate translation taking into account its gnostic context, is the faith of Sophia, as Sophia to the gnostics was a divine syzygy of Christ, rather than simply a word meaning wisdom. In an earlier, simpler version of a Sophia, in the Berlin Codex and also found in a papyrus at Nag Hammadi, the transfigured Christ explains Pistis in a rather obscure manner:

Again, his disciples said: Tell us clearly how they came down from the invisibilities, from the immortal to the world that dies? The perfect Saviour said, "Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. Its male name is designated 'Saviour, begetter of all things'. Its female name is designated 'All-begettress Sophia'. Some call her 'Pistis'."

The best-known of the 5 manuscripts of Pistis Sophia is bound with another Gnostic text titled on the binding "Piste Sophiea Cotice". This "Askew Codex" was purchased by the British Museum in 1795 from a Dr. Anthony Askew. Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945, the Askew Codex was 1 of 3 codices that contained almost all of the gnostic writings that had survived the suppression of such literature both in East and West, the other 2 codices being the Bruce Codex and the Berlin Codex. Aside from these sources, everything written about Gnosticism before World War II is based on quotes, references and inferences in the Patristic writings of the enemies of Gnosticism, a less-than-neutral source, where Gnostic beliefs were selected to present their absurdities, bizarre and unethical behavior, and heresy from the orthodox Pauline Christian standpoint. The text proclaims that Jesus remained on earth after the resurrection for 11 years, and was able in this time to teach his disciples up to the first (i.e. beginner) level of the mystery. It starts with an allegory paralleling the death and resurrection of Jesus, and describing the descent and ascent of the soul. After that it proceeds to describe important figures within the gnostic cosmology, and then finally lists 32 carnal desires to overcome before salvation is possible, overcoming all 32 constituting salvation. Pistis Sophia includes quotes from five of the Odes of Solomon, found in chapters between 58 and 71. Pistis Sophia was the only known source for the actual wording of any of the Odes until the discovery of a nearly-complete Syriac text of the Odes in 1909. Because the first part of this text is missing, Pistis Sophia is still the only source for Ode 1.

It is clear that Jung was seeing and defining what we call the Return of (to) the Feminine Energies or higher frequency of thought consciousness. Jung also channeled feminine archetypes including Salome.

Jung believed anima development has four distinct levels, which he named Eve, Helen, Mary, and Sophia. In broad terms, the entire process of anima development in a male is about the male subject opening up to emotionality, and in that way a broader spirituality by creating a new conscious paradigm that includes intuitive processes, creativity and imagination, and psychic sensitivity towards himself and others where it might not have existed previously.

Eve

The first is Eve, named for the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. It deals with the emergence of a male's object of desire, yet simultaneously generalizes all females as evil and powerless.

Helen

The second is Helen, in allusion to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology. In this phase, women are viewed as capable of worldly success and of being self-reliant, intelligent and insightful, even if not altogether virtuous. This second phase is meant to show a strong schism in external talents (cultivated business and conventional skills) with lacking internal qualities (inability for virtue, lacking faith or imagination).

Mary

The third phase is Mary, named for the Christian theological understanding of the Virgin Mary (Jesus' mother). At this level, females can now seem to possess virtue by the perceiving male (even if in an esoteric and dogmatic way), in so much as certain activities deemed consciously unvirtuous cannot be applied to her. As per Ken Wilber's terminology, this third phase seems to represent Up spirituality while the second phase represents Down spirituality.

Sophia

The fourth and final phase of anima development is Sophia, named for the Greek word for wisdom. Complete integration has now occurred, which allows females to be seen and related to as particular individuals who possess both positive and negative qualities. The most important aspect of this final level is that, as the personification "Wisdom" suggests, the anima is now developed enough that no single object can fully and permanently contain the images to which it is related.

Levels of animus development

As a male, Jung emphasized more on the male's anima and wrote less about the female's animus. Jung believed that every woman has an analogous animus within her psyche, this being a set of unconscious masculine attributes and potentials. He viewed the animus as being more complex than the anima, postulating that women have a host of animus images while the male anima consists only of one dominant image. Jung stated that there are four parallel levels of Animus development in a female, which can be personified into: the athlete, the planner, the professor, and the guide.

The athlete

Also referred to as the thug or the muscleman, Jung described it as the embodiment of physical power.

The planner

This stage embodies the capacity for independence, planned action, and initiative.

The professor

Also referred to as the cleric, it embodies "the Word."

The guide

Like "Sophia," this is highest level of mediation between the unconscious and conscious mind.

Anima and animus compared

The four roles are not identical with genders reversed. Jung believed that while the anima tended to appear as a single female, the animus usually consisted of multiple male personalities. The process of Animus development deals with cultivating an independent and non-socially subjugated idea of self by embodying a deeper Word (as per a specific existential outlook) and manifesting this word. To clarify, this does not mean that a female subject becomes more set in her ways (as this Word is steeped in emotionality, subjectivity, and a dynamicism just as a well developed Anima is) but that she is more internally aware of what she believes and feels, and is more capable of expressing these beliefs and feelings. Both final stages of Animus and Anima development have dynamic qualities (related to the motion and flux of this continual developmental process), open ended qualities (there is no static perfected ideal or manifestation of the quality in question), and pluralistic qualities (which transcend the need for a singular image, as any subject or object can contain multiple archetypes or even seemingly antithetical roles).