We are deeply indebted to Ram Dass, also known as Richard Alpert. We are indebted to him for his immense courage with psychedelics, for the deep wisdom and compassion that he brought back from his journeys to the East, and especially for his enlightening concept of being in the here and the now.

This place in The Caldron is dedicated both to Ram Dass and to being in the here and the now. Let's keep it flowing, folks. Keep sending in your submissions, and we will keep posting them just as soon as we receive them.

Mayan priests to purify area after Bush Visit

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like Bush, with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders. said Thursday.("World Briefs," Daily Camera, p. 5A, March 8, 2007.)

The Year's best (and actual) Headlines

War Dims Hope for Peace
(I can see where it might have that effect!)

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
(Who would have thought!)

Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
(They may be on to something!)

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
(You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?)

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
(Taste like chicken)

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
(Chainsaw Massacre all over again!)

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
(Now that's taking things a bit far!)

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
(What a guy!)

Hawking Books Weightless Flight

Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who authored the best-selling book, A Brief History of Time, soon will experience a brief history with weightlessness.

Hawking, who uses a wheelchair and is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, plans to go on a weightless flight on April 26, officials at the flight operator said Thursday.

The flight, operated by Zero Gravity Corporation, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida based space tourism and entertainment company, will take off and return to a landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center.

"As someone who has studied gravity and black holes all of my life, I am excited to experience first hand weightlessness and a zero-gravity environment," Hawking said in a statement.

The modified Boeing 727 generally soars to 32,000 feet at a sharp angle and then plunges 8,000 feet so passengers can experience 25-second snippets of zero gravity during the descent. As the plane climbs, passengers experience 25 seconds of being pushed down hard, as they feel 1.8 times the normal pull of the Earth.

Zero Gravity CEO Peter Diamandis said assistants will be onboard to help Hawking.

"The key thing here is that weightless and personal spaceflight is something available to everyone, even someone like Prof. Hawking," Diamandis told The Associated Press. "This something that almost everyone can now experience."

Zero Gravity will pick up the bill, which normally is $3,750. The company also plans to have two seats on the flight auctioned off by two charities.

The company began offering the flights in 2004.

Last year, Hawking publicly spoke of his desire to go into space and made an appeal to Sir Richard Branson, whose company, Virgin Galactic, is building a suborbital spaceship that could be flying passengers as early as 2009.

Branson has decided he will personally finance Hawking's ticket into space - a flight that would normally cost $200,000.

"He's one of the greatest physicists of all time," Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn told AP earlier this year. (Associated Press, March 1, 2007.)

Bumper Stickers

1/20/09: End of an Error.

Let's Fix Democracy in This Country First.

You Can't Be Pro-War And Pro-Life At The Same Time.

Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed Yet?

Impeachment: It's Not Just for Blow jobs Anymore.

Frodo Failed. Bush Has the Ring.

The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century.

Study: Sex Makes People Feel Sexier

Sexual activity for men and women, straight or gay, raises testosterone levels, which, at least in women, fuels the desire for intercourse, increases the likelihood of experiencing an orgasm and heightens the individual's belief in her own sexiness, recent studies have found.

The findings are among the first to suggest that men and women can alter their own hormone levels based on how often they cuddle or copulate, both of which can lead to testosterone rises.

The hormone testosterone usually is associated with the development and maintenance of male sex characteristics, but all women possess this secreted compound too. Extremely high or low amounts can lead to health concerns, but the detected rises were within acceptable ranges.

"Our (first) paper does suggest that there might be sexual benefits to higher levels of testosterone," lead author Sari van Anders told Discovery News.

Van Anders, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at Canada's Simon Fraser University, and her team conducted two separate studies. Both have been accepted for publication in the journal Hormones and Behavior.

The first examined how cuddling, intercourse and exercise affected testosterone in 49 women before and after these activities. "After" included directly following sex as well as the next morning, when the test subjects also answered a questionnaire that included questions about orgasms, levels of sexual desire and feelings of sexual attractiveness.

Exercise was included as a control in the study, since physical activity itself can alter a person's biochemistry.

Overall, the test subjects experienced higher levels of testosterone just before and after cuddling and intercourse, with the greatest rises being associated with copulation. The higher the testosterone rise was, the greater the likelihood was that the woman experienced an orgasm and felt more sexually attractive the next day.

"We don't know how testosterone increases after sex and close physical intimacy might benefit women, but some possibilities to examine in future studies include increased sexual desire, more positive moods, or more energy," said van Anders.

The second study also looked at testosterone increases related to sexual activity, but this time the test subjects were single, monogamous or polyamorous. A person is said to have a polyamorous lifestyle when he or she is involved in multiple, committed relationships.

The researchers determined partnered men and women had the lowest overall testosterone levels, while polyamorous men and women both had higher amounts of testosterone than single or monogamously partnered individuals.

The team of scientists theorizes the hormone may be involved in "bond maintenance" and in preparing the individual for competition.

Such competition may be either external, as in fending off other suitors, or internal, as in strengthening the person in preparation for a possible child. Other studies have demonstrated that sperm from different men compete with each other to fertilize the egg, although women also appear to exert some influence over which sperm achieves the feat.

Peter Gray, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has also conducted studies on testosterone as it relates to partnerships and sexual activity.

Gray told Discovery News that the two new studies "are interesting, because they provide another nuance to previous work in this area."

He added, "These studies show that our social relationships and gonads have their own relationships."

In the future, with additional funding and research, van Anders hopes the findings may lead to treatments for clinical conditions related to sexual activities, such as loss of desire and energy. (By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News, March 1, 2007)