Men With Long Ring Fingers

The future is digital. So says Professor John Manning, a psychologist and self-styled “finger expert” who has developed an unsettling academic obsession with other people’s hands. He claims that he can inspect a stranger’s fingers – specifically his index and ring fingers – and instantly know whether or not they have an aptitude for running or football.

Manning is the author of The Finger Book which theorizes that in the early stages of pregnancy, fetuses are bombarded with sex hormones (testosterone and oestrogen) that affect the way they develop. Fetuses that are exposed to more testosterone, for instance, have a much better chance of becoming athletically superior to their less testosteronised contemporaries. Manning compares the length of the ring and index fingers and the ratio is the key.  Finger ratios are calculated simply by measuring the index finger of the right hand, then the ring finger, and dividing the former by the latter The average man's ratio is about even or 0.98.  Men with a ring-to-index lower than that, the author says, are better athletes.

NewScientist adds another dimention to the finger ratio phenominom: financial acuity. 

NewScientist says:

Successful financial traders may be born, not made. That's the implication of a new study which found that traders who excel at short-term or "high-frequency" trading may have been exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the uterus. Last year, John Coates at the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues found that traders who started their days with elevated testosterone made more money than those who didn't.

Again, the finger ratio is the key and, as with athletic prowess, the larger the ring-to-index ratio, the better the financial wizardry.  

Previous studies have also suggested a link between a low index-to-ring-finger ratio and autism.  They have found children with the disorder tend to have unusually long ring fingers, compared to their index fingers. This physical feature is associated with high levels of testosterone in the womb. Manning and his colleagues studied 49 children with full-blown autism and 23 with a milder variant of the condition, known as Asperger's syndrome. Manning's team found that children with autism had extremely long ring fingers compared to their index fingers, and children with Asperger's were not far behind.

Why is U.S. Foreign Policy Hostage to Israel?

Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, editorial writer for The Blade, is indeed a brave man for penning this article this morning.  Several months ago he was verbally assaulted and harassed by a right-wing nut over another of his columns.  And here we go again.  Dr. Hussain begins:

Why is U.S. foreign policy hostage to Israel?

THE ongoing carnage in Gaza raises some disturbing and sobering questions for the people of conscious everywhere, and that includes Toledo. At the time of this writing, close to 700 Palestinian men, women, and children had died and three times as many had been injured.

The pivotal question is why Hamas, the ruling Palestinian faction in Gaza, resumed firing rockets into Israel after six months of relative calm following a cease-fire put in place in June.

A cease-fire requires a lack of hostilities between the parties. On Nov. 4, Israel, in clear violation of the cease-fire, went into Gaza and killed six Palestinians who Israel declared were terrorists. That incident and an ongoing siege and blockade of Gaza were enough reasons for Hamas to resume hostilities against Israel. It was retaliation plain and simple. Israel has been preparing for this onslaught for the last six months and chose this time because George W. Bush is still president.

After detailing more history of the conflict, Dr. Hussein says:

Why is American foreign policy hostage to Israeli whims? It is for historians and writers such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, former Congressman Paul Findlay, former President Jimmy Carter, writer Norman Finkelstein, etc., to analyze the phenomenon, which they have done at their peril. The question, however, begs for an answer. Why does an Israeli cause become an American cause? And why does a Congress elected by the people of this country become beholden to the interests of a foreign country?

Indeed, why?   A good question for American Jews to answer as well.  Along with this column in today's Blade, two pro-Israel letters to the editor were published.  Quite interesting was the conclusion of one of them penned by Stephen A. Rothschild.  He concluded:

Until American Muslims take the lead to stop the violence and hate of non-American Muslims that is directed at the rest of the Western world, the world will have no peace.When will American Muslims take that lead?

When?  Perhaps after following the lead of American Jews.  

As the Church Closings Scroll Across the Bottom of my TV Screen

Who knew that there were so many churches in northwest Ohio? As I watch Face the Nation and Meet the Press this Sunday morning, a bevy of church closings scroll across my screen, the day after the snowfall. Amazing number and array of names. I often say that I belong to the Second First Agnostic Church; the first was pillaged and burned to the ground by righteous Christians.

Frank Cottrell Brice of The Guardian penned a piece he called, Losing My Religion,  which is written around the film, God on Trial.  He begins:

People start to write because they think they can change the world for the better. In the end, you find that it's hard enough to make your writing better. Occasionally, though, you can change something, even if it's only yourself. You probably already know this story: a group of prisoners in Auschwitz convened a rabbinical court, put God himself on trial - and found him guilty. I'm pretty sure now that it's an apocryphal tale...

Further in his article, Brice says, "So God On Trial stopped being about theological arguments, and became about the fact that people might be capable of having a theological argument on the way to the gas chamber."  

The dream of the Man in the Sky Above continues.  If the deity does exist, why the suffering and hate?  Oh, those soaked in Scripture will be quick to pull one out to cover this issue or any other related to a question raised.  As if the quote actually assuages the thought and puts it to rest. "We know not the..."  Exactly.  That's the point of the inquiry.  Folderol.

On the way to the gas chamber...  

Say It With Shoes

"Say It With Shoes" is a group for all those who want to take action to prevent the horrific violence we are seeing day after day in Gaza, and to help bring about a just peace in the Middle East, in accordance with international law. It is a group for those that are not prepared to tolerate in silence our Government's continuing military support for Israeli aggression and atrocities. It is a group for all those who want to go beyond writing emails and signing petitions, to join with others in making a direct, physical statement to our Government.

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The phrase, 'our government' is the U.K., not the U.S.A.  No, nothing like this is even thought about here in the states: we are numb to what is going on in Gaza.  Numb and dumb from the preemptive Bush excursion in Iraq which, by the way, was 'won' in May 2003. We Americans, of course, must be 'sensitive' to the Israeli State as stated to us by each president [especially in their campaign].  Compounding this is our personal distress with our financial situation which makes us draw inward to take care of ourselves and family first.

It reminds me of our common national attitude towards Nazi Germany up until December 1941. There must have been much frustration among many citizens that our government stood by while the Nazi war machine rolled through Europe with abandon.  Compare that with the lust for war in our nation in March 2003 as the propaganda of the Bush Administration convinced most Americans on the need  for preemption in Iraq.

After just 6 years since this bloody Patriotic fervor played itself out, we Americans apparently are now suspect of any preemption on the part of this government. Yet, are we to remain silent as we witness another nation play the preemption card just as we did?  At least an old shoe for justice sake? Are we so emotionally drained that we simply  turn our backs on another's aggression?  Has narcissism enveloped our nation like a great miasmic fog?

'Tetris' May Help Reduce Flashbacks

ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2009) — Playing ‘Tetris’ after traumatic events could reduce the flashbacks experienced in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), preliminary research by Oxford University psychologists suggests.

If this early-stage work continues to show promise, it could inform new clinical interventions for use immediately after trauma to prevent or lessen the flashbacks that are the hallmark symptom of PTSD. Existing treatments can only be provided once PTSD has become established.

The researchers report in PLoS ONE that for healthy volunteers, playing ‘Tetris’ soon after viewing traumatic material in the laboratory can reduce the number of flashbacks to those scenes in the following week. They believe that the computer game may disrupt the memories that are retained of the sights and sounds witnessed at the time, and which are later re-experienced through involuntary, distressing flashbacks of that moment.

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I am aware of a psychological technique called EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. This is a therapeutic technique of directing the patient's eyes to move back and forth in a specific pattern guided by the therapist, while the patient concentrates on disturbing or upsetting emotional material. The movement is thought to affect the way memory is accessed and treated.  I have seen this technique used successfully in several cases and suspect that the game Tetris may serve a similar eye-movement desensitization.  Clearly the 'game' is a more appealing technique, especially for younger clients.  Surely the many PTSD soldiers who are returning from Afghanistan and Iraq would choose this 'game' therapy rather than sessions with a therapist.  In fact, perhaps the reason for the 'game' might be withheld during the sessions, offering the Veterans a kind of 'play therapy' that is often successful in younger children.

Bush says he'll leave office with head held high

The Austin American-Statesman reports:

In an Oval Office conversation about his past and his future, President George W. Bush, said Friday that his mission has been accomplished.

"We will let history be the judge," he said. "I will tell you this. I have a great sense of accomplishment, and I am going home with my head held high."

Bush acknowledged some mistakes, gave himself high marks and said he is leaning toward giving a farewell address to thank the nation and to talk about "lessons learned."

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Lessons learned?  From George W. Bush?  Is this a joke or what?  The man has learned nothing in his 8-year fiasco.  Nada!  It was all hunches and intuition.  Garrison Keillor's descriptive phrase, cheerfulist idiot, is most appropriate. 

World Religions Speak Cruel Things

Recently in the Toledo Blade, there have been many letters to the editor castigating Islam for urging war and hate among its followers.  This topic has become more intense as the Israeli attacks on Gaza continue.  Letters supporting both Israel as well as the Palestinians often point out the ugliness in the Holy Book of both religions. 

A Christian minister today penned his own letter shining a red light on Christian cruelty in his Holy Book.  He writes:

All religious groups have some cruelty

In response to the Dec. 30 letter to the editor about violence in the Qur'an, there also are verses about violence in the Bible.

From the book of Revelation: "And he [Jesus] is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and his name is called the word of God .•.•. from his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that he may smite the nations .•.•. these two [leaders] were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him [Jesus] who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."

There are enough violent quotes and deeds within Christianity to fill an encyclopedia. "Have mercy on these poor people. Stab, smite, slay, whoever can. If you die in doing it, well for you!" (Martin Luther regarding the peasants' revolution of 1525)

Therefore, as a Christian pastor who believes in truth, and as a citizen of this land who believes in liberty and justice for all, I hope that we can hold together as a community.

First, I hope we can admit that every religion struggles with justice and righteousness. The majority position of every major religion is about living peaceably with their neighbors.

We need to understand the context of these violent verses in holy books, beginning with our own.

Second, I hope we can embrace the diversity within our own community of Toledo.

Who would wish that we become polarized like Northern Ireland?

It is hurtful to attack the integrity of the thousands of good Muslims in our community by saying they are not living compatibly with democracy.

Perhaps as a new year's resolution we should all promise to study world religions and world history in order to erase the hate from ourselves, and emerge a better and more hopeful Holy Toledo.

The Rev. Ed Heilman

Park United Church of Christ
Harvard Boulevard

No Purple Heart for PTSD

The New York Times:

The Pentagon has decided that it will not award the Purple Heart, the hallowed medal given to those wounded or killed by enemy action, to war veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because it is not a physical wound. 

Chris Ramirez for The New York Times

The Purple Heart will be given for physical wounds only.

The decision, made public on Tuesday, for now ends the hope of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have the condition and believed that the Purple Hearts could honor their sacrifice and help remove some of the stigma associated with the condition.

In June 2008 I wrote about a 22-year-old returning Iraq War Veteran from Newark, Ohio charged with killing his 3-year-old stepson. Corey S. Flugga, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas,  stood emotionless as he was read the murder charge.  At the trial, Family members have said he suffered a traumatic brain injury in August 2006 while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq. He was later awarded the Purple Heart. Yesterday a judge sentenced. Flugga to 15 years to life in prison. At his trial, he denied  the charge.  He said, "I don't think anyone could do anything that would make me do that to one of my boys. I don't think either one of them could do anything to make me do that to them."  

The title of my June writing was, Heal the Warrior Before He Returns Home I recall that the great American mythologist, Joseph Campbell, often mentioned  'the warrior' in his works and the need to heal the warrior after the battle. 

It is interesting in a pitiful way to note that on the 'All American Bowl' section of the U.S. Army website, Specialist Flugga is quoted as saying, " By training and fighting for the Army, not only have I become a better, stronger Soldier, I have also become a better husband, father, and friend."

The Fountain of Youth: SIRT6

STANFORD, Calif. — Two previously identified pathways associated with aging in mice are connected, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding reinforces what researchers have recently begun to suspect: that the age-related degeneration of tissues, organs and, yes, even facial skin with which we all struggle is an active, deliberate process rather than a gradual failure of tired cells. Derailing or slowing this molecular betrayal, although still far in the future, may enable us to one day tack years onto our lives — or at least delay the appearance of that next wrinkle.

"There is a genetic process that has to be on, and enforced, in order for aging to happen," said Howard Chang, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology at the school and a member of Stanford's Cancer Center. "It's possible that those rare individuals who live beyond 100 years have a less-efficient version of this master pathway, just as children with progeria — a genetic aging disease — may have components of this pathway that are more active."

The study, which will be published in the Jan. 9 issue of Cell, grew out of a three-year collaboration between Chang and Katrin Chua, MD, PhD, assistant professor of endocrinology, gerontology and metabolism at Stanford and member of the Stanford Cancer Center and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. Chang and Chua are co-senior authors of the research.

The researchers focused their investigation on two seemingly separate pathways linked to aging. One involved a molecule known as SIRT6 — a member of the sirtuin family of proteins that modulate life span in organisms such as yeast and worms — that Chua's laboratory has been studying for several years. She and her lab members have previously shown that SIRT6 is involved in genomic stability and the protection of chromosomal ends called telomeres. Telomeres, which grow shorter with each cell division, are thought to function as a kind of internal molecular clock associated with aging. Furthermore, mice lacking SIRT6 are born normally but die within a few weeks because of a rapid, multi-organ degeneration that somewhat resembles premature aging.

The other pathway involved a more well-known protein called NF-kappa B, or NF-kB, that binds to and regulates the expression of many genes, including those involved in aging. The expression of many of these genes increases with age, and blocking the activity of NF-kB in the skin cells of elderly mice causes them to look and act like younger cells.

The researchers wondered if NF-kB and SIRT6 somehow work together to help cells age appropriately.

Stanford Medical Center website: [here]

Artificial Molecule Evolves in the Lab

[caution: this information may be harmful to fundamentalists]

"A new molecule that performs the essential function of life – self-replication – could shed light on the origin of all living things.If that wasn't enough, the laboratory-born ribonucleic acid (RNA) strand evolves in a test tube to double itself ever more swiftly. Obviously what we're trying to do is make a biology," says Gerald Joyce, a biochemist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. He hopes to imbue his team's molecule with all the fundamental properties of life: self-replication, evolution, and function.

Further in the New Scientist article:

A life-mimicking molecule will also need to assemble itself from simpler components than two halves, says Michael Robertson, a biochemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Both DNA and RNA currently replicate with the help of a protein enzyme that joins individual nucleotide "letters". Early life may have done the same, or it could have joined short stretches of RNA, Robertson says.

The conclusion of this article:

"If somebody makes something great in the lab, it's fantastic. But really the origin of life on Earth is an historical problem that we're never going to be able to witness and verify," he says.

Ah, but there is the interesting part of it all.  Of course, one group of people already 'know' the answer because it is written in an ancient manuscript some 4000 years ago.  Although this document does not mention RNA or DNA, it does explain life on earth.

I'm fascinated by science and find new and exciting discoveries each day as I link to my favorite science sites. I find it hard to imagine that a small knot of people would refuse to acknowledge these spectacular science revelations in favor of a  4000 year-old legend. The ignorance is beyond belief, pun intended.