50 Ways to Improve Your Life (con't)

all_is_vanity · 发表于 2006-1-14 10:36:00

36. Our Culture Critic Saves a Day for You 
If only there were Cliffs Notes for everything in life. You wouldn't have to fill up precious free time with reading and watching, but you'd be clued in enough to seem semicultured at a dinner party. And sometimes you just want to know that your kids were crying because Dumbledore is dead without having to read 600 pages. So, we're going to help you cheat a bit, thus adding a day of free time to 2006.
The Historian. In this summer bestseller, a teenage girl finds out she's from a line of vampire hunters. Dracula leaves books with academics that are blank except for a picture of a dragon that's really a map. Why? Apparently, he's looking to enslave someone as his librarian. Near the end, the vampire hunters seem to kill Dracula. But then the girl grows up, and she finds a dragon book.
The Da Vinci Code. The head of a group of people carrying the secret of the Holy Grail is found murdered. His granddaughter and a Harvard professor need to figure out who did it and where the Grail is. Turns out the Grail is actually the tomb of Mary Magdalene, who happened to be Jesus's wife and mother of his child. The church hid this fact when the Bible was written way back in the day. So, although the killer was a misguided Opus Dei member, the Roman Catholic Church turns out not to be the culprit in the present day. The real evil guy is a British historian. And the Holy Grail is at the Louvre.
Brokeback Mountain. You should see this, but if you can't bear to cry in public, we'll help you out. Two young men fall in love herding sheep. They go their separate ways, marry women, and have children. They meet a few times a year for trysts in the mountains, but the strain of not being together weighs on both of them. Then one is beaten to death. It is sad.
Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Even we were not going to waste our time on that one.
Aeon Flux. It's the future. A virus has wiped out most of humanity. Aeon is sent to assassinate the leader. Turns out, her orders come from the leader's evil brother, who is trying to take over and get rid of women who can have babies naturally. A lot of people die but not Aeon or the leader, who end up together.
King Kong. You know how it ends. The big ape gets it. The girl and the playwright fall in love. There are freaky brawls with dinosaurs and a gelatinous serpent thing with huge teeth. And it takes THREE HOURS!!!! -Vicky Hallett

all_is_vanity · 发表于 2006-1-14 10:46:00

<DIV class=articleHeadline>39. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! </DIV>

It has been a great year for headlines about lying. In March, Baltimore Orioles player Rafael Palmeiro denied steroid use in front of Congress, only to test positive weeks later. Martha Stewart served time for lying about insider trading. And a New York Times/ CBS poll this month found that 52 percent of Americans believe that the Bush administration "intentionally" misled the country in making its case for war.
When we think, rightly or wrongly, that public figures are lying, it creates a climate of dishonesty in which all lies seem less objectionable. Should you lie? When is a lie worth the consequences?
David Livingstone Smith, author of Why We Lie, says the roots of deception spring from the heart of life itself--the desire to survive and procreate. We've all seen pictures of insects that evade predators by mimicking a brown twig or green leaf. "The tendency to lie is natural," says Smith. "Any moral system based on the principle that lying is avoidable is unrealistic."
Studies seem to back Smith's views. At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, students told to appear likable and competent lied three times in 10 minutes on average, often without even noticing. "I didn't expect the level of deception and the casualness," says social psychology Prof. Robert Feldman, an author of the study. "It's such a part of the social fabric, it's not noteworthy." Men lied to misrepresent themselves, while women lied more often to ease conversation and make the other party feel better.
Noble fibs. Were the Amherst women guilty only of harmless white lies? Not to philosopher Immanuel Kant, who believed that no lie is ever acceptable, even if told to save an innocent life. Plato disagreed, promoting the Noble Lie--one told by the leaders of a utopian society to the masses in order to preserve social order. And philosopher Leo Strauss--influential among pro-Iraq war neoconservatives--espoused lying in politics.
Looking for divine intervention? The Ninth Commandment does not read, "Thou shalt not lie"; instead, it states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Some scholars interpret that as an injunction against lies that harm others, not against lies in general.
Most mainstream ethicists today believe a purely altruistic lie told in a crisis--say, when a would-be murderer asks a bystander where his potential victim has gone--is acceptable. Yet this solution can be a slippery slope--down which we lie to an unreasonable boss, to an unjust criminal system, or to a public viewed as unable to grasp the threat of terrorism.
Sissela Bok, ethicist and author of Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, uses this test: "Would I be able to explain this afterwards?"
Consider the benefit you accrue by lying, the people hurt, and the consequences of detection. If your child is sick, and you have no vacation days, is it acceptable to tell your boss that you yourself are sick? If you've put in weeks of unpaid overtime, is it acceptable to take a two-hour lunch on a slow day for Christmas shopping?
Think you know? Then take Boston College psychology Prof. Joseph Tecce's litmus test for lying: "Is what I gain today worth what I might lose tomorrow?" Is your child's health worth harming work relationships? Is Christmas shopping?
One thing is sure: No one likes to be deceived. Even if we ease through life buoyed on a current of soothing half-truths, exaggerations, and the occasional fib, we self-righteously demand honesty of others. Once a lie is detected, trust and credibility are lost. Lies also beget other lies. "If you find out your boss has lied to you, it makes you feel OK to tell lies to your boss," says Feldman, who has documented the phenomenon.
If you seek the truth, perhaps you should spread that instead of lies. -Caroline Hsu

all_is_vanity · 发表于 2006-1-14 10:47:00

<DIV class=articleHeadline>40. Splurge! </DIV>

Spas are nice, but your spirit might need pampering, too. La Casa de Maria, run by an ecumenical community in Santa Barbara, Calif., is one of the best U.S. retreats (and costs about $100 a night), says Marcia Kelly, coauthor of Sanctuaries: the Complete United States--A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats. "When you walk through their gates," she says, "you [enter] a new and peaceful dimension." If that's not enough, there's also a swimming pool. -Alex Kingsbury

all_is_vanity · 发表于 2006-1-14 10:58:00

<DIV class=articleHeadline>Give It Up! </DIV>
<DIV class=articleHeadline>Eliminate the negative and you will definitely accentuate the positive </DIV>

Now cut that out! Sometimes, the easiest way to make your life better is to eliminate unnecessary purchases and needless annoyances.
44. Calls from telemarketers. Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov (888-382-1222). Since its inception in '03, nearly half of U.S. phone numbers have registered. Telemarketers purge newly registered numbers every 31 days. Cellphones are covered.
45. Antibacterial soap. Scientists have now tested it head to head with regular soap in places as germy as New York City and a squatter's community in Pakistan. Antibacterial cleansers did nothing extra to reduce infections or even the amount of germs left on the hands. Just scrub hard 20 to 30 seconds with any soap, and work up lots of lather.
46. Homeopathy. Large amounts of substances cause disease, but tiny amounts of the same elements--in some cases diluted into nonexistence--make you better, according to this popular alternative medicine. The principle is called "like cures like." But there's nothing to like about it, says the medical journal Lancet . Rigorous studies show no real benefit. Though advocates damned the Lancet , the journal concluded that homeopathy added up to a few tablets of nothingness--and don't call them in the morning.
47. Trans fats. Turns out partially hydrogenated oils like margarine cause just as much trouble for your heart as butter and lard, maybe more. Their trans fatty acids raise bad (LDL) cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, says Nirupa Matthan, a Tufts University cholesterol researcher. In January, the Food and Drug Administration will require labeling of foods with more than half a gram of trans fats a serving. Luckily, Fleischmann's and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter make spreads without trans fats, so no need to forgo fake butter on toast.
48. Vitamin E capsules. In 19 vitamin E studies, researchers found that doses above 150 IU (international units) correlated with a slight increase in death rate. While there is some evidence that a small dose can act as an antioxidant, neutralizing harmful free radicals in cells, large doses might encourage oxidation, reports researcher Edgar R. Miller III of Johns Hopkins. Vitamin E capsules could crowd out other fat-soluble antioxidants and might also increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. For your fix, eat sunflower seeds or peanut butter instead.
49. ATM fees. Two dollars here, $4 there. In a year, it's easy to lose a couple hundred to ATM fees. The average cost of using another bank's ATM is now $2.91, up 6 percent in the past six months. But there are ways to stay fee free. A few banks, like Citibank, don't charge for using a competitor's machines. ATMs at the 547 Wawa stores in the Northeast don't add a surcharge. Nor do most supermarkets and drugstores if you buy something with a debit card and ask for cash back. Things may improve in '06. A few banks, like New Jersey-based Commerce Bank, are waiving and refunding any ATM charges for customers with $2,500 or more on deposit. -Kim Clark, Josh Fischman, Kerry Hannon and Cory Hatch

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-1-14 11:00:02编辑过]

anxiang · 发表于 2006-2-4 22:09:00

I don't like the attached file.
It is afraid too more of its contents.

		自动登录	找回密码
密码			注册

申请者注册名：		*默认获取当前用户名
性别：	男女
年龄：		*请填写您的真实年龄
职业：		*请填写您当前的职业
申请版区名称：		*请选择您申请的版区
联系电话：		*请填写您的联系电话，此项必填！
我的QQ：		*请填写您的QQ，此项必填！
我的专业特长：		*请填写您的特长领域
申请理由：		*请填写您为什么要申请的理由
管理措施：		*您准备以何种措施管理申请的版块？

50 Ways to Improve Your Life (con't)

浏览过的版块

招聘信息 /5

求职信息 /5

技术求助 /5

×