Saturday, September 4, 2010

[Peckers_Pics] Model Wars; Sept 5, 2010; Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated G



Model Wars; Sept 5, 2010
Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated  G
 
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    Today's Health/Exercise Tip:
    From Fat to Fit: Yoga for Every Body
     
    Just glance at all the different yoga class listings at your local gym, and you'll see it's no longer a New-Age celebrity craze.
     
    In fact, to celebrate National Yoga Month, the Yoga Health Foundation is offering more than 1,500 free yoga classes and events throughout September to help you discover which style is best for you.

    Yoga, with roots that extend back thousands of years, offers many documented health benefits. It:

    • Lowers blood pressure, cholesterol level and pulse rates
    • Improves cardiovascular, endocrine and digestive function
    • Boosts immunity
    • Promotes better sleep
    • Lessens chronic pain
    • Increases energy and endurance
    • Reduces risk of depression
    • Improves memory and concentration
    Yoga also "defrags" your brain, says John Kepner, executive director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

    So what's the right yoga class for you? Here's a guide to find the best option.

    Hatha
    This is an umbrella term that refers to any practice that teaches physical postures as a means to enlightenment. Nearly every yoga class taught in the U.S. is technically a hatha class.

    When a class is billed as hatha, it generally is a simple, gentle overview of the fundamental poses – no jumping around or flowing from one pose to the next as in ashtanga or vinyasa.

    What to expect: Older folks, non-limber people and beginners.

    Who should do it: People who want to learn some concrete ways to de-stress and beginners who want a gentle introduction.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone who thinks exercise doesn't count unless you get all red in the face.

    Bikram/Hot
    Bikram classes aren't for the faint of heart. Held in a heated room (between 95-110 degrees), they capitalize on the high temperature to loosen muscles and promote a detoxifying sweat.

    Whether you're in Los Angeles or La Grange, Ill., every Bikram class follows a prescribed sequence of the same 26 poses. Hot yoga is similar (it's also done in a heated room), but doesn't follow the same sequence.

    What to expect: A packed room, a locker room smell and beads of sweat flying every which way. Plus, an incredible sense of cleansing.

    Who should do it: Those who aren't afraid to push themselves and don't mind sweat or its accompanying odors.

    Who shouldn't: Germophobes and those with injuries.

    Iyengar
    Iyengar uses many props – blocks, belts, ropes, and lots and lots of folded blankets – to help students find proper alignment in each pose, regardless of physical limitations. The keyword in an Iyengar practice is "precision," so it's no wonder Martha Stewart loves this style of yoga.

    Iyengar teachers go through years of rigorous training and can customize the practice to a variety of conditions and injuries. They generally don't discuss yoga philosophy or spiritual teachings.

    What to expect: You may do only 10 poses total in an Iyengar class, holding each for minutes. It's a mental challenge in our short-attention-span culture.

    Who should do it: Anyone who wants to learn correct form, and those dealing with a chronic condition, injury or illness, or turned off by spiritual teachings.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone who can't sit or stand still without being consumed by angst. (Although, perhaps Iyengar could help curb that restlessness.)

    Vinyasa/Flow
    A vinyasa class is like learning the steps to a yoga dance – students move seamlessly from one pose to another in synchrony with the breath. The classes can be physically challenging and will make you sweat.

    Vinyasa studios often incorporate yogic philosophy, chanting and meditation, making them a good introduction to all aspects of yoga.

    What to expect: A packed room, a rockin' soundtrack and a great workout, peppered with accessible bites of yogic spiritual teachings.

    Who should do it: Anyone who thinks yoga is boring or not rigorous enough or is open to learning yoga's spiritual side.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone allergic to chanting or looking for a quiet, contemplative or slow-paced experience.

    Ashtanga/Power
    Like Bikram, an ashtanga class follows a set sequence of poses. Which one you do depends on how long you've been practicing.

    Unlike Bikram, an ashtanga teacher doesn't call out the poses: Students move through the sequence at their own pace as the teacher makes physical adjustments. Power yoga is based on ashtanga, but each power yoga class is unique, choreographed by the teacher.

    What to expect: A whole-body physical challenge and an intensity not found in a more playful vinyasa or Anusara class.

    Who should do it: Anyone with energy to burn and a willingness to look like a fish out of water until you learn the sequence.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone looking for a gentle introduction to yoga.

    Anusara
    Anusara teaches that humans are intrinsically good, and that the practice of yoga can help us uncover our innate state of grace. The practice is also defined by a sense of community. It's not uncommon for students to clap when one of them nails a difficult pose. It's also joyful, playful and physically challenging balanced with careful attention to form.

    What to expect: A warm welcome from the teacher and your fellow students, lots of in-class demonstrations and spontaneous eruptions of applause.

    Who should do it: People who want to challenge their bodies, yet are craving a little philosophy to also engage their minds.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone who wants a solitary yoga practice or who isn't interested in yoga's spiritual side.

    Kundalini
    Kundalini yoga is based on the belief that a current of powerful vital energy (kundalini) resides at the base of everyone's spine.

    Its repetitive movements are designed to arouse this normally dormant energy and get it flowing up the spine to boost physical vitality, mental clarity, emotional openness and spiritual awakening.

    It's not a traditional physical workout, but doing the movements for a several minutes will build stamina and can result in exhilaration.

    What to expect: Earthy types of all ages and fitness levels – from hipsters in clogs to bearded health food store devotees.

    Who should do it: People who need an energy infusion and who aren't put off by fortune-teller garb. Teachers often wear white, flowing garments and some wear turbans.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone who thinks yoga is solely a means to get and flaunt a great body.

    AcroYoga
    These classes are all give and take. A combination of yoga, acrobatics and Thai yoga massage, AcroYoga pairs students up with a partner: One is the "flyer" and the other is the "base."

    After a series of warm-ups, the flyer does yoga poses while supported by the base's body. The poses often foster deep feelings of trust and connection between the partners. At the end of class, the flyer reciprocates by giving the base a Thai yoga massage.

    What to expect: Fit yogis having a great time experimenting with new poses and variations.

    Who should do it: Anyone with a sense of adventure and a basic familiarity with yoga.

    Who shouldn't: People who groan when forced to team up with a partner or who don't like to be touched.

    Restorative
    A restorative class uses blankets, bolsters and blocks to prop students up in yoga postures, so they can experience the benefits without physical effort. Instead of doing a full backbend, for example, students lie on the floor with their spine draped over a bolster.

    "Restorative poses allow the body to stretch more than just muscles," says Witold Fitz-Simon, a Brooklyn yoga teacher, founder of yogaartandscience.com and author of The Yoga Practice Journal.

    "The body's connective tissue, known as fascia, can begin to lengthen, which can create fundamental postural changes," he says.

    Above all, the poses feel great – as relaxing as a massage and as refreshing as a nap.

    What to expect: A dark, hushed room filled with lots of props and people sighing contentedly.

    Who should do it: Anyone who can identify with the phrase, "Stop the world, I want to get off" – the over-worked, over-tired, stressed out and recuperating.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone who thinks rest is a four-letter word.

    Jivamukti
    Jivamukti is a form of vinyasa yoga developed by Sharon Gannon and David Life in New York City. Jivamukti yogis are devoted to following the moral precepts of yoga. Classes often open with a lecture on non-violence, for example, accompanied by a few chords on the harmonium.

    The physical yoga is vigorous and adventurous. You'll try poses you never thought you'd be able to do and have a great time doing them.

    What to expect: Beautiful yogis balancing on their forearms and contemplating freedom of the soul while Van Morrison, Donovan or Ravi Shankar blare in the background.

    Who should do it: Those who aren't afraid to try new things.

    Who shouldn't: Anyone uninterested in learning yogic philosophy or who has disabilities or injuries.

    And Now, Model Wars!

    This group is called "Peckers Pics."  The English -  slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues.  In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!"  Whereas, who is the model that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit?"  Warning: This may stoke you!
     
    Remember your participation in discussion of health and news articles in this message is greatly appreciated!
    [CLICK ME For Larger PIC] 
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    [CLICK ME For Larger PIC] 
    [CLICK ME For Larger PIC] 
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    Andres Gutierrez
     
    VS
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    Luke Bontius
     
    You Decide!
    Pheonix Gay Pride (Photo taken before they passed the
    anti-Mexican law.  Now he has to have his birth certicate
    with him. Why would they want to ban this cute guy from
    Arizona?;  April 17, 2010
    [CLICK ME For Larger PIC] 
    Stoked?
    NYC Gay Pride / June 27, 2010

    Obama's Moral Cowardice

    The president needs to find his principles.

    by Jacob Weisberg  / September 04, 2010 / Newsweek

    Barack Obama's redecoration of the Oval Office includes a nice personal touch: a carpet ringed with favorite quotations from Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, both Presidents Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. The King quote, in particular, has become a kind of emblem for him: "The arc of the moral Universe is long, but it bends toward justice." For all the carping about his every move, the only big problem with the Obama presidency is the gap between what's written on his rug, and what's under it --- the distance between the president's veneration of moral leadership past and his failure, so far, to exhibit much of it in the present.

    Obama has had numerous chances to assert leadership on values questions this summer: Arizona's crude anti-immigrant law, the battle over Prop 8 and gay marriage, and the backlash against what Fox News persists in calling the "Ground Zero mosque." These battles raise fundamental questions of national identity, liberty, and individual rights. When Lindsey Graham argues for rewriting the Constitution to eliminate the birthright-citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, or Newt Gingrich proposes a Saudi standard for the free exercise of religion, they're taking positions at odds with America's basic ideals. But Obama's instinctive caution has steered him away from casting these questions as moral or civil-rights issues. On none of them has he shown anything resembling courage.

    Emo-bama: All the President's Feelings

    In responding to the fight over the mosque, Obama has been characteristically legalistic and technical. At an iftar dinner he hosted at the White House, the president supported the right of Muslims "to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan"--- itself a too picky allowance. The next day, he hedged even further, telling reporters, "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there." This sail-trimming, where a bold defense of freedom of worship was wanted, left it to the newly heroic Michael Bloomberg to instruct us, at his own iftar dinner in New York, that the issue was "a test of our commitment to American values."

    With the Proposition 8 fight, Obama has fallen short in a different way, by his reluctance to join an emerging social consensus. Obama had previously criticized California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage, as "divisive." But his official position---which no one believes he actually holds---is that he is against legalizing gay marriage. Americans are changing their views on this issue with inspiring rapidity. Judge Vaughn Walker's moving opinion provided an occasion for Obama to embrace the extension of equal rights to gay people. Instead, he slunk mumbling in the other direction. How dismal that America's first black president will be remembered as shirking the last great civil-rights struggle.

    When it comes to immigration, Obama has largely failed to challenge the new nativism promoted by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. Yes, his Justice Department filed suit to block the implementation of Arizona's harsh law. But in talking about the topic, Obama has remained restrained and self-referential ("I've indicated that I don't approve of the Arizona law"). He has said nothing moving or memorable about the place of immigration in American life, or the rights of noncitizens, including children, to education and medical care, or the reality that 11 million undocumented residents can't and won't be shipped back where they came from.

    Here, as elsewhere, the current politics don't favor the liberal position. But read the rug: "The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us"---Theodore Roosevelt. Obama has let pass moment after moment---such as the recent Republican suggestion to revise the section of the Constitution that guarantees due process---in which he could have reframed an issue in terms of inclusiveness and justice.

    Few would argue that defending liberal principle serves Obama's short-term interests. Americans oppose the mosque 61 percent to 26 percent, according to one recent poll, and support the Arizona law by an even wider margin. But even if some people don't like Islam, or illegal immigrants, or gay weddings, they may respond to admonitions that our society is built around freedom of conscience and equal treatment under law. If he applied his oratorical gifts to these principles, Obama could remind a grumbling nation what it liked about him in the first place.

    "Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."

    ....Jake

    Remember:  Boycott Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations and to Proposition 8 (California) to prevent gay marriage. The Formal Boycott began this past weekend. I stopped shopping these stores - even though I want a new washer/dryer and new clothes for the Fall.  I would not purchase "Blood Diamonds," nor should a person / organization be contributing funds to both Hitler / Nazi's and the Jews at the same time!   Obviously giving money to the Jews and not Hitler/Nazi's is the right thing to do.   Hence, these companies violated my trust and well-being.   They gave money to my enemy who would terminate me from my job, deny me housing and send me to a Internment camp.  Therefore, goodbye Target and Best Buy!  The CEO's of these companies have been insensitive to our reaction and do not even comprehend their actions!  What takes so long to "fire" these Neanderthals?

     

      

     

      
     
     



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    All members of "Peckers PICS" are requested to join our "Obama Biden 2008" group as it runs in conjunction to this group.  Both groups shall not repeat articles from one group to another.  However, to gain full knowledge of Gay rights, members must belong to the Obama group as well as this group.  Therefore, please accept your invitation to join. 

    To join the Obama group please click (or copy and paste the link into your browser) @  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join

    Thank you!
     

    "Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."

    ...Jake (Moderator)



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