Acupuncture receives OK from New England Journal

Some people think of acupuncture as a wacky Eastern medicine, without any basis in science, while others consider it to be a crucial alternative to pain-relief medicine. Whatever the perspective, acupuncture use in the United States is on the rise, and the medical establishment has been taking notice. Now scientists are using advanced brain-imaging techniques to study the ancient practice -- and have begun to uncover some tantalizing clues about how it works.

Two large controlled trials of acupuncture for osteoarthritis pain, published in 2004 and 2005, found that the practice is more effective than a sham treatment. Another study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, found acupuncture to be effective for migraines; however, patients experienced the same level of pain relief regardless of whether needles were placed in traditional acupuncture points or other spots.

"Acupuncture has been shown to have some therapeutic effect, but we have an incomplete understanding of the basic science that supports it," says Bruce Rosen, director of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, within the Harvard-MIT division of Health Sciences and Technology. Rosen and colleagues are part of a small number of scientists using brain-imaging techniques to understand what acupuncture does to the brain, as well as which characteristics, such as needle placement, are important for beneficial effects.

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It's official- brad pitt is my dog

the whole strange story is here:
Brad Pitt is My Dog

Puppies playing with momma in mud and high grass backyard

It's been a while since I put newer photos and movies of the puppies up- and the puppy webcam has been down... still working on the technical difficulties.

So here is an MPG video of puppies playing in the mud in the backyard.

And a couple photos:

Chuck-a-nut and Alice (Cooper) sleeping

Skunk looking up

Two cute puppies being held

Puppy Play, Puppy Awards

The puppies have their 4 weeks birthday (birthmonth? birthweek?) today, on St. Patrick's Day!




They're all playing, teething, chewing on each others' noses- and we take one of them out from time to time to watch basketball on TV. You know, important relevant stuff for puppies.

We also recently gave them awards-

1. Best Groggy Puppy look: Chuckster (aka Chuck-a-nut)
2. Best Pathetic Just-Sitting-There Look: Moo-Cow
3. Looks Cutest on their Back: One-Eye
4. Most Laid Back: Skunk
5. Best Playing Puppy: Squishy-Face
6. Most Adorable: Teddy-Bear
7. Should Be On TV: Porkster (aka Porky)
8. Most Talkative: Third-Eye (aka Yin Tang, aka Du20)

Dog wearing socks chases bacon

Why don't dogs wear socks? Because they won't stay on... especially when they're chasin bacon.

Puppies nursing from momma dog

Here's a video of puppies needin feedin and gettin it. It's about 5 minutes long, but I think you'll share my fascination with their cuteness. It's not exactly steadicam, so don't watch right after you eat ;-)

non puppy webcam- truck driver

this guy's interesting- a trucker driver webcam