David Herron's blog

Another reason to get rid of the belly fat: Dementia

David Herron — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:31:30 +0000

Todays news has an article Another reason to get rid of the belly fat: Dementia which discusses recent research showing a connection between 'belly fat' and dementia. The article says the researchers don't understand the mechanism, but they've demonstrated there is a connection.

Links:

Another reason to get rid of the belly fat: Dementia

Belly Fat in Midlife, Dementia Later?

Big bellies may double the risk of dementia

The Skinny on That Stubborn Belly Fat

Increased visceral adipose tissue rather than BMI as a risk factor for dementia

Do You Really Want to Risk Losing Your Mind?

Study shows that a larger abdomen in midlife increases risk of dementia

The Implications of Body Fat Mass and Fat Distribution for Cognitive Function in Elderly Women

Kaiser Permanente Study Shows That a Larger Abdomen in Midlife Increases Risk of Dementia

Belly Fat May Drive Inflammatory Processes Associated With Disease

Chocolate for Weight Loss?

David Herron — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:36:04 +0000

Recently my Chiropractor suggested I try a multi-level marketed food made from Chocolate that is supposed to have great health benefits. I barely remember having read a couple articles the last couple years talking about newfound benefits of chocolate. It's surprising to hear of chocolate to be healthy, right? Well.. read on..

Links:

http://www.mxicorp.com/

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/l/blchocolate.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacao

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Chocolate

Cocoa Flavanol-Enriched Snack Bars Containing Phytosterols Effectively Lower Total and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels

Chocolate as a Health Food?

Chocolate good for your heart

New Benefits Found in Chocolate

Mars talks up cocoa's medicinal potential

A critical look at the effects of cocoa on human health

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties

http://dagobachocolate.com/

The Inner Voice of Love

David Herron — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 21:17:42 +0000

The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom is a collection of passages from Henri Nouwen's journals, written during a period when his self-esteem evaporated, his energy to work disappeared, and God seemed entirely unreal. This is not a book to be read straight through: each short chapter takes time to digest, because, like the following passage, each of Nouwen's thoughts has the raw complexity of real honesty.

7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit

David Herron — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 17:09:23 +0000

7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit: By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.

...One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”.

...Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak?

Ten minutes of sun 'could stop 30,000 cases of cancer', researchers say

David Herron — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 17:07:07 +0000

Ten minutes of sun 'could stop 30,000 cases of cancer', researchers say: The researchers believe vitamin D deficiency may be to blame for 600,000 cancer cases worldwide each year, particularly in northern European countries where sun exposure levels are relatively low.

14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol

David Herron — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:40:48 +0000

14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol is an interesting overview of controlling cholesterol with diet. The typical way to treat high cholesterol is with drugs, right? But what if you could just change your diet a little? The suggestions aren't just to eat less fatty foods, but there have been a range of studies showing foods which act positively to decrease cholesterol levels.

Remembering to do something when there's no way you can do it

David Herron — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:43:45 +0000

Ever remember to do something when it's the last thing you could possibly be doing? Like, you're at the barber shop having your hair cut, and your to-do list starts coming out of the woodwork. Like how you've been meaning to clean out the closets, or shine up the chrome on your car, etc. Why is your subconscious reminding you to do something when it's the last thing you could possibly do? Why don't you remember to do this when it's convenient?

Ways to make new habits stick

David Herron — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:19:40 +0000

I think in many ways habits drive us in ways that create pain in our lives. For example I am somewhat shy, and the shyness is really a habitual not-speaking. I have been outgoing at times, especially when I spent lots of time in friendly talkative situations, but being quiet and retiring has been a lifelong habit. There are of course deeper issues which are what led me to be shy in the first place, but that just means there are multiple ways to understand the phenomena of why we do what we do.

Two views to health

David Herron — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:51:09 +0000

"Love in its essence is spiritual fire"

David Herron — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:12:58 +0000

Had an interesting fortune cookie today: "Love in its essence is spiritual fire"

Gosh, this just makes me think of the experimentation which led to my writings on Inner Homeopathy. This is a practice of Love, to love ones self, to love every single part of you, to love the self destructive parts of ones self, to love, and to love more. This is a very self transforming practice, so very simple yet so comprehensive.

First day on the job

David Herron — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:58:31 +0000

A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done. The monsignor replied, "When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip."

So next Sunday he took the monsignor's advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. He proceeded to talk up a storm.

Upon his return to his office after mass, he found the following note on the door:

Sip the vodka, don't gulp.

A tip for keeping track of your life

David Herron — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:26:05 +0000

I've recently been studying the material in the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and it's a very enlightening book shining a light on habits which create mental clutter, and showing ways to rid yourself of that clutter. The idea is the more "stuff" you carry in your head, the more appointments or to-do list items you carry in your head, the more your mental and emotional energy is tied up with the act of carrying those factoids in your head.

Life is a Verb?

David Herron — Thu, 17 May 2007 17:53:16 +0000

Yesterday my fortune cookie said "Life is a verb", which has me pondering. It also said my lucky numbers are: 5, 38, 11, 50, 29 and 34, but I'm more interested in the words than the numbers.

It's not the job you perform, but creating and manifesting your vision of the world

David Herron — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:42:06 +0000

What career or work or job or activity do you want to do? How will you occupy your time? How will you earn your living and keep food on the table and a roof over your head?

It occurred to me this morning that many times someone sees a job being done or a skill they can learn in school. They learn the skill and then pursue as their life "I'm going to be a X" where 'X' could be Nurse, Barmaid, Soldier, Lawyer, Barber, etc. What occurred to me is how this misses an interesting option.

Making peace with mass media tragedies in our society

David Herron — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:40:10 +0000

Today in the news we have: Officials: Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage ... the story? A lone shooter goes on a rampage on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg VA, he managed to kill 31 people and wound many more. The police sent in SWAT teams, found the killer, and shot him dead.

How to fall in love?

David Herron — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:35:43 +0000

I came across a blog posting by Mario Torre How to fall in love... where he linked to an image of a beautiful young lady. Yup, as a red-blooded male she sure catches my attention.

But it occurred to me ... is that Love? Okay, lust, love, but what I really mean is this question: With whom is your primary relationship?

Organizing the home by "stations"

David Herron — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:19:40 +0000

The Seven Essential “Stations” Every Home Should Have offers an interesting thought that makes some sense.

A little clue in finding ones calling

David Herron — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:51:40 +0000

For several years I've felt a desire to do more with my life than the job I work in the high tech industry. In the high tech industry I've had the opportunity to participate in producing services and products which have had a large impact in the world, by helping define the World Wide Web as it is today. But it seems these things, these technological marvels, do not change anything about the human behaviors that, for instance, lead to warmongering, mass death, destruction of civility among people, environmental destruction, etc. In other words I'm in the same boat as are many others.

Why do health products get tied up in multi-level network marketing campaigns?

David Herron — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:50:16 +0000

Some acquaintances of mine are very impressed with the IsaGenix product line. They think it's wonderful and keep saying it has made a great change in their life etc. They sent me some website links including an online movie, and I went to take a look. Expecting the movie to inform me of the benefits of the product, it instead informed me that health aids is expected to become a $1 trillion market very shortly and that if I wanted to get my piece of the pie, to live richly beyond my dreams, to have a McMansion in the suburbs and drive a Hummer, that I'd better join the IsaGenix sales team.

On leg pain and self love

David Herron — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 21:41:45 +0000

My leg pain and a healer is an interesting read about someone exploring the relative value of "normal medicine" (going to a doctor for pills or surgery etc) and seeing a spiritual healer. It was written by someone experiencing leg pain which worried him considerably. Thinking of mechanical causes he thought about poor circulation in his legs, and scheduled an appointment with a circulation specialist.

The creation of the computer.

David Herron — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 01:21:13 +0000

In the beginning, God created a bit. And the bit was a zero: nothing.

On the first day, he toggled the 0 to 1, and the Universe was. (In those days, bootstrap loaders were simple, and "active low" signal didn't yet exist.)

On the second day, God's boss wanted a demo, and tried to read the bit. This being volatile memory, the bit reverted to a 0. And the Universe wasn't. God learned the importance of backups and memory refresh, and spent the rest of the day (and his first all-nighter) reconstructing the Universe.

Recognizing flaws in debunking of psychics

David Herron — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 06:40:09 +0000

A week ago Shawn Hornbeck was found after having been kidnapped four years ago. That was a nice and touching story and my heart goes out to the kid and his abductor, the abductor has apparently been doing this gig for awhile and indicating a wounding inside himself which draws him to do this. May they all find peace.

Humorous thoughts

David Herron — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:56:59 +0000

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

Drive carefully; it's not just cars that can be recalled by their maker.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY READING THE DIRECTIONS.

If you are lost, admit it and ask a native for directions.

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have the longer you live.

Nobody cares if you can't do things perfectly, just get up and do it

Air flight and the opportunities to buy into fear, or not

David Herron — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 05:19:45 +0000

At the moment I'm flying home from visiting my family for Christmass. While many travelers are being affected by the snow in Denver, my flight is being affected by a completely different thing. The airplane is coming from St. Louis, and the airline intends to use this plane to take us to San Francisco. But the plane has been delayed, twice, due to mechanical problems, twice, in leaving from St. Louis to come to us in Chicago. We were originally scheduled to leave Chicago at 8:30 PM but the delays have slipped our departure to 12:00 or later.

The boy who lived before

David Herron — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 21:02:52 +0000

The boy who lived before is a story about a young boy in Glasgow who vividly remembered his former life, and kept badgering his family retelling stories from his life on the island of Barra, one of the Scottish Isles. He had an amazingly detailed recollection of that former life, of the house he lived in, the name of the family, and on and on. Eventually his current family brought him to Barra and was able to confirm everything.

What would you do if you didn't have a job telling you what to do?

David Herron — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:57:02 +0000

This is the thought that came to mind as I drove to work this morning: What would you do if you didn't have a job telling you what to do?

Like most of us I have fallen into this pattern where the corporation I work for determines what I do in my life. Working in Silicon Valley means living here, even though it's so expensive to buy a house I've never been able to get past sticker shock. Working in the job I have means performing the set of activities the boss wants me to do. For both there is the threat of being fired if I don't do what they say.

Contemplative Prayer

David Herron — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 05:30:52 +0000

Consider the phrase Be still, and know that I am God. It's a popular verse in the Bible. It is one of the instructional phrases in the Bible, and is the core of a form of prayer known as Contemplative Prayer.

A recent DVD, Be Still offers explanation and examples of what is Contemplative Prayer. The movie is done as a series of interviews with Christian authors, pastors and educators, explaining this.

One way they explain Contemplative Prayer is as the difference between listening to God, and talking to God. If, they suggest, you want to hear what God has to tell you, then stop talking and listen. Very simple, eh?

Deep compassionate forgiveness

David Herron — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:03:19 +0000

Former Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney Remember Murdered Colleague Tom Fox and Explain Why They Forgive Their Captors is a Democracy Now interview and story which begins in November 2005, over a year ago. A team of Christian oriented peacemakers was kidnapped while they worked for peace in Iraq. They were held for 118 days, and one of the team members was killed by the kidnappers. A few days ago Authorities captured one or more of the people who kidnapped and held these people. The team members have, as a response to being asked to testify in an upcoming trial, called for unconditional forgiveness of their captors and forgiveness of all involved with the conflict with Iraq.

Re: How feminism destroyed real men

David Herron — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:41:07 +0000

How feminism destroyed real men offers an interesting glimpse into male-female relations. Women don't like wimps is the writers claim. But I wonder if he's overgeneralizing.

In the 1990's it was popular for men to try and embrace their feminine side. As the author says, the idealized relationship was for the man to cry along with their partner while watching a chick flick and then cook up a decent dinner. But, he says, that merely created a generation of spineless and sexless men. Hmmm..?? Instead the "real man" is strong, powerful, decision-making, etc.

Contemplative Science, bringing together scientific method with spiritual experientialism

David Herron — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 05:56:38 +0000

Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism And Neuroscience Converge makes for an interesting line of thinking. In our modern times we think of Science and Religion as occupying two non-overlapping worlds of study. Science is to stay with its rigorous method of proof based on testable hypothesis, while Religion is to stay with matters of the divine, that transcend material existance, and deal with matters of ethics and the like.

But that split exists only in Europe and in relation to the Catholic church. In other regions of the world, at other periods of history, spiritual and religious seekers also studied the material world. The great flowering of learning in Islam, while Europe was in the clutches of Christianity imposed anti-learning dogma, was because the early Islamic practitioners were enamored with getting to know the Divine through studying the material world created by Allah. And what an amazingly intricate creation this world is. The detail in this world which has been revealed to us by science is truly mind-boggling vast in scope, depth, breadth, detail and in every other descriptive measure I could muster.