Resource: http://www.medicaldaily.com/praying-religion-doesnt-always-reduce-stress-it-could-exacerbate-anxiety-related-disorders-298022

For thousands of years, people have turned to religion or spirituality as a way to reduce stress, anxiety, and bring warmth, comfort, and meaning into their daily lives. Some research has shown that praying or believing in God could actually reduce stress.

But researchers at Baylor University — a private Christian school — have found an argument against this notion. Prayer is a complicated thing, after all, affecting everyone differently. The Baylor study was published in the journalSociology of Religion and was funded by the John Templeton Foundation. It found that praying didn’t have the same positive effect over everyone; in fact, this particular study showed that prayer even exacerbated anxiety-related disorders in some people instead of soothing them.

“For many individuals, God is a major source of comfort and strength that makes the world seem less threatening and dangerous,” Matt Bradshaw, an author of the study, said in the press release. “Through prayer, individuals seek to develop an intimate relationship with God. Those who achieve this goal, and believe that God will be there to protect and support them during times of need, develop a secure attachment to God. In this context, prayer appears to confer emotional comfort, which results in fewer symptoms of anxiety-related disorders.”

Others, however, glean something different from praying. People who have “avoidant or insecure attachments to God” — such as people who are agnostic, for example — may not feel totally comforted or confident that God “will be there for them when they need Him,” Bradshaw continued. “For these individuals, prayer may feel like an unsuccessful attempt to cultivate and maintain an intimate relationship with God. Rejected, unanswered or otherwise unsuccessful experiences of prayer may be disturbing and debilitating — and may therefore lead to more frequent and severe symptoms of anxiety-related disorders.”

Interesting interview

There is an interesting question:

Training for the End of the World as We Know It

Nomadic Lass/Flickr

(CNN) -- Editor's note:

This story is part of a series highlighting superlatives of countries around the world. Click here for pieces on Italy, the United States, Canada and South Korea, and watch for upcoming installments featuring other countries.

With 23 million people crammed onto an island that covers just more than 36,000 square kilometers, Taiwan ranks among the 20 most densely populated places in the world.

Although the industrious island has built a global reputation for cheap electronics, this is one Asian tiger that offers far more than stickers on the backs of calculators.

DUBIOUS HONOR:With housing prices in Taipei more than 15 times the average annual household income, comparative statistics make it the world’s most expensive city for housing

Armed with tents and sleeping bags, thousands of protesters camped out overnight on Taipei’s Renai Road last night, in a massive “sleepout” launched by the Housing Movement (巢運) to protest what critics say are soaring housing prices and government inaction toward them.

Led by a coalition of more than 70 civic groups, the movement issued three demands: comprehensive reform of housing policies — including a major overhaul of the nation’s property tax system to curb speculative investment — the enactment of formal legislation to promote construction of public housing; and the protection of housing rights against the interests of land expropriation projects.

According to the organizers, about 10,000 people turned out to participate in the protest, which also paid tribute to the landmark Snails Without Shells movement, a sleepout held on Aug. 26, 1989, against unaffordable housing, which saw more than 50,000 protesters camp out overnight on the city’s Zhongxiao E Road.

Despite sporadic drizzle, yesterday’s demonstrations went on undeterred, starting with a rally at the site of the Snails Without Shells’ camp 25 years ago.

Lee Hsing-chang (李幸長), who described himself as an “old snail” who led the 1989 movement, led a procession from Zhongxiao E Road toward the Renai Road protest site.

source：http://livehealthy.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-extreme-sports-9696.html

Advantages & Disadvantages of Extreme Sports

by Brandi Junious, Demand Media 

Surfers can risk drowning or getting knocked out by a wave.

 

HK protesters not deterred by tear gas

OFFICIALS ‘RESOLUTE’:As thousands ushered in what they called a ‘new era’ of protests, HK officials used tear gas against crowds for the first time since 2005

Hong Kong police fired repeated volleys of tear gas to disperse pro-democracy protests yesterday and baton-charged the crowd blocking a key road in the government district after issuing official warnings against illegal demonstrations.

The territory’s Admiralty district had descended into chaos as chanting protesters converged on police barricades surrounding colleagues who had earlier launched a “new era” of civil disobedience to pressure Beijing into granting full democracy to Hong Kong.

Police, in lines five-deep in places and wearing helmets and gas masks, staged repeated pepper spray attacks and shot tear gas into the air. The crowd fled several hundred meters, scattering their umbrellas and hurling abuse at police, calling them “cowards.”

However, demonstrators returned and by early evening, tens of thousands of protesters were thronging streets, including outside the prominent Pacific Place shopping mall that leads toward the Central financial district.

Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don't judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16 years old.

Q1. Are you happy with the way you look? what do you like and dislike?

source: http://www.medicaldaily.com/real-books-beat-e-readers-how-your-brain-reads-words-paper-vs-screen-304104

If you asked late science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury what he thought of e-readers, or e-books, he would tell you they weren't books. He would say you can’t hold a computer the way you can hold a book; a computer does not smell and in order for it to be considered a book, it has got to smell. True, this is his opinion, but some forthcoming science supports the idea that there is a legitimate disadvantage to reading on a screen versus on traditional, (in the best way) smelly paper.

There are two ways in which people read: non-linear and linear. Non-linear reading is associated with computers and smartphones, also referred to as "superficial reading." It's more of a skim than an actual read, with readers darting their eyes page to page and unable to sit with what's been written for a long period of time. On the other hand, linear reading, or deep reading, is more thoughtful, deliberate, even meditative. And as one could guess, the digital age has made people more prone to non-linear reading.

"Because we literally and physiologically can read in multiple ways, how we read — and what we absorb from our reading — will be influenced by both the content of our reading and the medium we use," Maryanne Wolf, cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., wrote for Nieman Reports; an idea she first explored in her 2008 book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

In Proust and the Squid, Wolf proposed these questions: "Will unguided information lead to an illusion of knowledge, and thus curtail the more difficult, time-consuming, critical thought processes that lead to knowledge itself? Will the split-second immediacy of information gained from a search engine and the sheer volume of what is available derail the slower, more deliberative processes that deepen our understanding of complex concepts, of another's inner thought processes, and of our own consciousness?"

1. You don't rush to the hospital when your water breaks, unlike in every movie ever. You're not supposed to go until you're in "active labor" — having contractions that are super close together. Instead, you hang out at home with really bad cramps, watching House Hunters and stressing about when you should go to the hospital. And worrying about accidentally having your baby in the toilet.

2. If you go to the hospital "too soon," they will send you home. Bye!

3. By the time you're having those close-together contractions and it's time to go to the hospital, you're in pretty bad pain and getting there is the worst car/taxi ride of your life. Every speed bump is a world of hurt.

4. Once you get to the hospital, you still have to wait in the waiting room. It's all shockingly routine. "Oh, you're here to birth a human that is living inside of you? Take a number!" Shouldn't universal health care also include immediate whisking of pregnant women into spa-like chambers where epidurals wait among chocolate fountains?