NYTimes: Video: Core Values: Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Canada, demonstrates a few core exercises that emphasize all the major muscles that support the spine.
Tag Archives: health
Pain kept me away too
Great to hear an acupuncture treatment helped Susie get back to her guitar.
Arthritis in the hands is scary. Part of me is thankful my pain stems only from the back.
Past few weeks I’ve been getting to my garage and plugging in here and there. Becoming re-acquainted with an old friend.
Speaking of that, I’ve been spending the past day transferring old recordings of myself jamming with friends and bands from long ago from cassette to my computer. Around 20 or so cassettes, so its a big job, probably will take a week or more. And I’m doing this, one side of a cassette == one .wav file (for expediency’s sake). Breaking down to individual songs will take a bit.
A shout out to Mike – from heart attack to thanking the EMS
Every few days there’s a new post at Mike’s blog or on his Facebook profile documenting his terrific progress.
Dude – it will be great to see you. You’re an inspiration man.
Things to reflect, or better yet, get mad about
Philly.com: A corrupt judge, a damaged life – Read it.
Yahoo!: House of Cards: The Faces Behind Foreclosures: We have entered the one-strike-and-you’re-out era. One lost job. One medical emergency. One bad risk or misjudgment of the heart.
Boing Boing: Caught on tape: 15-year-old girl beaten by sheriff’s deputy
ProPublica.org: Psychiatric Hospital Pledged Change, But Some Problems Persist – how we treat those most vulnerable says *everything* about our society.
Furious Seasons: Feds Accuse Celexa, Lexapro Maker Of Kickbacks To Docs, Illegal Marketing For Kids – kickbacks to pediatricians ordering psychiatric drugs to children.
Flickr: Photo gallery of Forest Haven – “a children’s developmental center in Laurel, Maryland. It is sometimes referred to (inaccurately) as “DC Children’s Center”, although this was not an official moniker. It was notorious for its poor conditions and abuse of patients. It was shut down in 1991 by a federal court.
Boing Boing: Doctors force patients to sign gag orders forbidding online reviews
Thought provokers, a link dump for Thursday morning
Psychology Today: The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment
ScientificAmerican: The Serious Need for Play
defmacro: Taming Perfectionism
NYTimes Book Review: Reality Intrudes on an Undercover Mental Patient
Cognitive Daily: Would we still obey? The first replication of Milgram’s work in over 30 years
The Frontal Cortex :Kandel on Psychotherapy
NewScientist: Our world may be a giant hologram
Wired: Clive Thompson on How More Info Leads to Less Knowledge
What is Cognitive Science?
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Cognitive Science:
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence, embracing philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. Its intellectual origins are in the mid-1950s when researchers in several fields began to develop theories of mind based on complex representations and computational procedures. Its organizational origins are in the mid-1970s when the Cognitive Science Society was formed and the journal Cognitive Science began. Since then, more than sixty universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia have established cognitive science programs, and many others have instituted courses in cognitive science.
Nikki Sixx on National Recovery Month
“Here we are a year later and [I’m thinking], ‘What can I talk about, what can I say that will make people that are in recovery want to stand up and support Recovery Month?'” he says. “A friend of mine said, ‘You know, the fact that you did a really honest book and it changed people’s lives, that’s something to talk about.’ It’s a year later and the book is still selling, and it’s still changing people’s lives.”
Discussing the wisdom he’s gleaned from his own recovery efforts, Sixx he’s noticed preaching to addicts that they need to stop usually doesn’t help. The “Diaries” song “Accidents Can Happen” relates to how relapse is part of recovery.
“What I used to be told [was], ‘What the f*ck’s wrong with you? Why can’t you do like everybody else? Why can’t you stop? Why can’t you act right?'” he recalls, saying “Accidents Can Happen” attempts to convey that “We all fall off the wagon. It’s only one day, it’s not the rest of your life. Pick yourself up and go again. And I think if someone had told me that at times in my life, it would have been a lot better than being ripped apart.
The purpose of “Diaries” was to deliver a message to the masses. When it comes to his personal life, Sixx tries to show by example that sobriety is cool.
BTW – “Accidents Can Happen” is a terrific, terrific song. Better than anything Motley Crue has released in years. Downright powerful.
Health Care Angers
John Perry Barlow’s “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”
Do you remember when this was shared on the Net? It’s worth a re-read. And some time to reflect. When doing research into my spondylolisthesis, I discovered that John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, is dealing with it as well.
Back Surgery Research – New England Journal of Medicine
There’s a wealth of information in the peer reviewed papers at nejm.org that I plan to read over the following few days.
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Treatment for Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis – May 2007
Back Surgery — Who Needs It? – May 2007
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis – February 2008
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Treatment for Back Pain – September 2007
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Therapy for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis – February 2008
Spinal-Fusion Surgery — Advances and Concerns – Februaru 2004
Surgery versus Prolonged Conservative Treatment for Sciatica – May 2007
Spinal-Fusion Surgery — The Case for Restraint – February 2004