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Dalai Llama muses: meditating monk sets "positive emotion" record : The 14th Dalai Llama, Tenzin Gyatso, muses on new research on the benefits of mindfulness meditation: "A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found that a small amount of "mindfulness meditation" results in positive, lasting changes in the brain and immune system." The mainstream medical community in the U.S. has now acknowledge the significant benefits of mindfulness meditatiion - "...a significant decrease in symptoms, both during and after the course."

[ Tenzin Gyatso ] "The calamity of 9/11 demonstrated that modern technology and human intelligence guided by hatred can lead to immense destruction. Such terrible acts are a violent symptom of an afflicted mental state. To respond wisely and effectively, we need to be guided by more healthy states of mind, not just to avoid feeding the flames of hatred, but to respond skillfully. We would do well to remember that the war against hatred and terror can be waged on this, the internal front, too.".....I once was host to Tenzin Gyatso's brother and several other Tibetan monks for a few weeks - and was never again quite the same. So, when Tenzin Gyatso speaks, I listen.
posted by troutfishing at 9:33 PM PST - 22 comments

Federal judge rules Morpheus, Grokster not liable for Internet piracy. Well that is until the big pocketed music industry finds a favorable judge and wins the appeal.
posted by thedailygrowl at 8:42 PM PST - 3 comments

We Have Cameras Magazines: Why is Maxim offering a free, no-catches 2 years subscription to anyone who can be bothered to give them one of their spamsucker e-mail addresses? Hey, I hate Maxim but I'd take one if I lived in the U.S, if only to keep the postal service busy and ingratiate myself with my nephews. Will all magazines - at least the shittiest ones - be free in the future? Subscription rates, sales and advertising revenues keep falling and it seems the only bargaining chip magazines have left (to solicit advertisements) is circulation. And still new mags, like Radar, keep popping up. Good thing? Bad thing? You tell me.
posted by Carlos Quevedo at 8:08 PM PST - 25 comments

SARS much more deadly than first estimated. Analysis of the latest statistics on the global SARS epidemic reveals that at least 10 per cent of people who contract the new virus will die of the disease. The low death rates of about four per cent cited until now by the World Health Organizatio n and others are the result of a statistical difficulty, well known to epidemiologists, that hampers the early analysis of new disease outbreaks. [...] A better current estimate of the deadliness of SARS may be the number of deaths as a proportion of resolved cases. Those numbers for Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore are 15.8, 18.3 and 13.7 per cent.
posted by Bletch at 5:39 PM PST - 68 comments

Sometimes a mother gives birth only to discover—sometimes immediately, sometimes much later—that she has made a mistake. A post-natal abortion is simply the clean, efficient disposal of that "mistake". We at the Sweetwater Post-Natal Abortion Clinic believe this is a deeply personal choice that every mother has the right to make.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 3:22 PM PST - 101 comments

The Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS). The "engine" of the DMSS is a continuously growing relational database of up-to-date and historical data related to medical events, personal characteristics, and military experiences of all Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine service members over their entire military careers. [It] is available to all military and civilian researchers, policy makers and others with a need to evaluate the health of active duty service members.
posted by the fire you left me at 3:16 PM PST - 1 comments

WebCollage: Exterminate All Rational Thought --Neato (and sometimes beautiful) page refreshed every minute or so. Every image is clickable, too. It finds the images by feeding random words into various search engines, and pulling images (or sections of images) out of the pages returned.
A very cool surfing tool for when you're bored of your usual web haunts (mefi excluded, of course)
posted by amberglow at 2:51 PM PST - 19 comments

better luck tomorrow goes into wide release today. an unknown filmmaker funds his project on ten maxed out credits cards. then, it is chosen out of over 1,000 films to be featured at sundance. then, without an agent, it becomes the first *acquisition* ever for mtv films in conjunction with paramount. and it has an entirely asian-american cast who weren't cast into stereotypical roles. today, it goes into wide release. i'm excited to see how this film does.
posted by notoriousbhc at 2:16 PM PST - 31 comments

Every Unhappy Family Has Its Own Bilinear Influence Function.
posted by semmi at 1:42 PM PST - 19 comments

In a reversal of fortunes for the RIAA et al, a judge rules against them saying that p2p technology is "not significantly different from"..."home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights."
Of course this isn't the end of it, and appeals are being made, but for once things are going the way of the P2P software makers, it seems.
posted by Blue Stone at 1:20 PM PST - 20 comments

Is this your fetus? Are you the one I slept with? Remember when we discussed this before? Florida has now been forced by 4 plaintiffs and the ACLU to repeal the so-called Scarlet Letter law that forces women who are pregnant and giving children up for adoption to take out an ad local papers once a week for 4 weeks, stating her name and her sexual history in the last year, to let men know if they *might* be the father. Here is the ACLU legal brief. The details about the decision are in the first link. Thank god for the ACLU.
posted by aacheson at 11:41 AM PST - 46 comments

"Legislator to alter plan for anti-abortion statue" I'm pleased to see the bill's sponsor realized a statue of a fetus is a bit over the top....but why do it at all? (Especially in light of some budgetary problems we've had with education and other areas.) South Carolina: It's Not The Heat; It's The Stupidity. (more inside)
posted by alumshubby at 11:06 AM PST - 27 comments

Rallies in the streets didn't do much stop it. The Florida Division of Cultural Affairs distributed $28M last year to 720 arts organizations. Gov. Geb Bush proposed a 57% cut to $12M. The House proposed $6.6M, a 78% cut. The Senate voted to abolish the fund, and today the House voted 67-44 in agreement with the Senate. Some Florida press are calling it "culture on the chopping block" but arts groups are mobilizing action in hope of some funding miracle.
posted by bclark at 9:54 AM PST - 17 comments

Throwing Muses are among the most sadly unsung bands of the alt.rock era. Though beloved by critics (particularly the British press) and adored by a small army of devoted fans, they disbanded in 1997 for financial reasons. After releasing a killer new album, the band (featuring prodigal Muse and Belly founder Tanya Donnelly) are back for what may be the last time. (more inside)
posted by pxe2000 at 8:55 AM PST - 32 comments

It's Free Comic Book Day again on May 3rd, 2003. As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:14 AM PST - 26 comments

Centennial of Flight [more]
posted by hama7 at 7:05 AM PST - 14 comments

Style Wars the 1983 graffiti, breakdancing and hip hop culture proto-documentary 20 years later comes out from obscure, grainy, 5th hand bootlegs and into the 21st Century. This funky white boy is excited. (Be sure you check out some of the other links from the NPR site!)
posted by Pollomacho at 6:29 AM PST - 9 comments

How To Bow - learn Japanese etiquette for business and social situations in this quirky flash animation that offers practical tips on how to behave as a guest, how to avoid embarrassing dining gaffes, how to conduct a successful business meeting and what to expect in a public bathroom. Don't "drop a brick" - learn to avoid common mistakes!
posted by madamjujujive at 6:29 AM PST - 28 comments

blur are back. My favourite band since seeing them play in a pub in Leicester, blur release their 7th album next month. They "invented" Britpop, then reinvented themselves when the backlash began, and it's lovely to still have them around. Something I've grown with and recognise as I stare at another edition of Top of the Pops, understanding nothing of the karaoke-cover-pap in the charts today. If you're going to see them in London next month, I'll be the one at the back with a pint in my hand and a contented smile on my face (too old for this jumping around at the front lark)...
posted by jontyjago at 4:21 AM PST - 35 comments

Jeff Webster threw water on women who were silently and legally protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq in my hometown of Soldotna, Alaska. He has been charged with harassment, a misdemeanor. The Anchorage Daily news reports with photos of both parties involved. Video of the incident here (window media format). Aside from the support for and against Webster's actions, does throwing water on people constitute a right of free speech?
posted by ericrolph at 3:10 AM PST - 50 comments

Motor City Online, the online musclecar racing game is going to be over on April 19th. (member only petition here) If you are a a diehard fan still out there: It was great.
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:53 AM PST - 3 comments

Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Doris Day
--four of sixteen hundred photographs of celebrated jazz artists--
William P. Gottlieb - Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz.
posted by y2karl at 1:19 AM PST - 12 comments

With Tungsten C - it's most powerful handheld ever (according to themselves) Palm is making some aggressive moves to turn its business around and brings wireless 802.11b-based connectivity to the Palm family of devices. Microsoft, on the other hand, is to use FM radio waves for news, weather and traffic, etc - on your watch. Is this a race or PDA technology diversity at its best? ...and here I'm sitting around with my stone age Visor.
posted by psychomedia at 12:31 AM PST - 25 comments

Child Slaves in Ghana. Short article and photos, from AllAfrica.com.
Related :- Ghana's trapped slaves. "The girls are my slaves - they are the property of my shrine"
posted by plep at 12:02 AM PST - 10 comments