|
A Quote I like:
If you love someone you must be strong enough to allow them to be.
with in your contol
feeling
thought
attitudes
awareness
values
desire
education
knowledge
trining
wellness
principles
problem solving skill
choices
How much risk I take
not in your contol
race
sex
age
country of origin
birth family
physical attributes
raw intelligence
other choices
Blogroll:
Joe Blog
RawFrog
Sites:
NCN
NCN Newslogs
RawFrog
Unique Readers:
Syndication:
 ![[Valid RSS]](/pic/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
Tell your Truth. As much as you’re ready for.
Take Risks. As deep as you dare without doing harm. There is no growth with- Out risk.
Pay Attention to .Your Body. Breathe and focus on your internal process.
Express your Feelings. Be alive and in touch
Take Personal Responsibility. Own your thoughts, words, actions, experiences and choices.
Make “I” Statements. Taking responsibility more and blaming less.
Speak Directly to Person You Are Talking Th or About
Stay in the Here-and-Now.
Avoid the Use of Globalisms. e.g. everyone does that - we all feel that way.
If You Don’t Like What’s Happening, Say or Do Something About It. (You may or may not get what you want)
Honor and Allow Silence When it Happens. Notice what is happening when nothing is happening.
Blogroll:
ACLU
boingboing
zenzibar
ming.tv
court tv
Discovery
The history channel
oprah.
frank4zen
info please
Dr Phil.
fact check
how stuff works
cover ups
why files
Nova
NASA
Meet up
White House
CIA
Coast to coast
refdesk
aldaily.
mind power news
web Md..
bbc.co
USA Today
The Christian Science Monitor
This is now
opednews.
altpress
democracynow
America blog
mother earth news
.Forbes.com
Abc news
RawFrog
|
|
|
 28 Jun 2009 @ 01:45
It was quitting smoking that caused a Forks Township man to drive a lawn tractor into the patio of his home and threaten to tear the house down with his wife inside.
So said Charles L. Brinker, 49, before he was sentenced to 18 months of probation, 15 hours of community service and fined $500 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment.
"I was on Chantix to quit smoking, and I believe that had a lot to do with it," Brinker told Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden this morning. "I'm not a doctor, but I believe it had a lot to do with it."
On May 2, Brinker made the threats to his wife, Diane Brinker, as he drove a Bobcat loader into the rear patio of their 1005 Forest Hollow Drive home, according to court records. Police said he many times used the tractor to ram a bar that supports that house structurally.
Brinker has since reconciled with his wife, said defense attorney Leonard Mellon, and she attended the sentencing with her husband.
-- Reporting by Riley Yates, The Morning Call
|
|
|
|
 27 Jun 2009 @ 03:05
it is what you're willing to learn in any unfolding moments and not what we think we already know that finally turns the tide of any trial in our favor. This is why the wise ones have always taught that knowledge is the seed of wisdom. But it's the flowing is in conscious action. More >
|
|
|
|
 24 Jun 2009 @ 23:45
DirGhosh and Basu have discovered that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to acute neurological damage.
Their research focuses on a compound known as NNK, which is commonly found in tobacco. NNK is a procarinogen, a chemical substance which becomes carcinogenic when it is altered by the metabolic process of the body.
Their study reveals that “NNK provokes an exaggerated response from the brain’s immune cells, known as microglia. Microglia cells act as ‘destroyers’ for the brain by attacking damaged or unhealthy cells. However, when provoked by NNK these cells start to attack healthy brain cells rather than unhealthy cells they are supposed to attack.”
“Our findings prove that tobacco compound NNK can activate microglia significantly which subsequently harms the nerve cells,” Basu said.
The study also added that NNK is present in all forms of tobacco and, therefore, it can also enter the body through chewing. The research also suggests that second hand smoking may lead to the same neuroinflammation conditions.
“This research sheds light on the processes that lead to nerve cell damage in those who smoke cigarettes or consume tobacco products on a regular basis,” said Ghosh.
These findings will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry.ect Link Between Smoking And Brain Damage
see this More >
|
|
|
|
 23 Jun 2009 @ 23:08
Girl with tattooed face admits she wanted all 56 stars
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
June 23, 2009 10:01am
Girl with tattooed face admits she wanted all 56 stars
By staff writers
she fell asleep after asking for only three stars, lied because her father was "furious".
She initially insisted she dozed had off after asking the tattooist for just three small stars – then woke in horror to find her face was covered.
The Belgian teen blamed the Flemish-speaking tattooist for not being able to understand her French and English instructions and threatened to sue.
But the Telegraph reported the 18-year-old has confessed she did not fall asleep, that she wanted all the stars and was "fully aware" of what the tattooist was doing. More >
|
|
|
|
 21 Jun 2009 @ 17:38
HE is a living relic and an ancient linguistic treasure.
Kuku Thaypan elder Tommy George, 82, is the sole surviving fluent speaker of his language.
"I'm the last of them," said the son of an Aboriginal king. "Everybody knows that."
When the famed tracker dies, 48,000 years of oral history – from beyond the Dreamtime – dies with him.
Kuku Thaypan, one of four Aboriginal languages spoken in Quinkan country on Cape York, is destined for extinction like 120 other dialects lost across Australia since European settlement.
Despite efforts of academics, the primordial tongue and ancient secrets of the old healer handed down from generation to generation will likely vanish.
It is estimated that of more than 300 specific Aboriginal languages in use pre-British arrival, there will be fewer than 100 left by 2050.
Ilana Mushin, a lecturer in linguistics and indigenous language at the University of Queensland, said language formed an integral part of a culture's world view.
"All sorts of things are expressed in traditional language from how you understand the natural world, to songs, laws, traditions, stories, how you relate to each other, and the whole philosophy of life," she said
"All these are expressed in a language and if you don't have that language any more some of that is translatable but some of it isn't, so a lot of that knowledge gets lost."
Dr Mushin said there were less than 50 indigenous languages still being regularly spoken as first languages, and that it was inevitable that many of these would become extinct.
"If you have the community will then languages can be saved but if you are down to the last speaker there is not much you can do," she said.
When his brother, medicine man George Musgrave, died three years ago, Tommy lost the only other fluent speaker of his tribal tongue.
Both shared honorary doctorates for their efforts in later years trying to document their living archives of tens of thousands of years of traditional knowledge with researcher Victor Steffensen.
"It might die in the throat," blue-eyed elder Tommy, known by his language name of Awu Laya, said yesterday. "But it stays alive in the heart."
Born in a river bed under the totem of the taipan snake, he is curator of Quinkan Country outside Laura: home to some of the world's earliest rock art.
He said any hope of reviving dying Aboriginal culture lies in song and dance.
Today, under the shadow of world-famous artwork like the Giant Horse gallery and other sites depicting good (Timara) and bad (Imjim) spirits, the Laura Dance Festival starts.
Co-founded by Tommy, the three-day festival has become one of the nation's biggest corroborees.
About 20 Aboriginal communities and 3000 spectators are expected to make the trek into the spiritual heartland, four hours' drive north of Cairns. More >
|
|
|
|
 21 Jun 2009 @ 03:12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans strongly support fundamental changes to the healthcare system and a move to create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Saturday.
The poll came amid mounting opposition to plans by the Obama administration and its allies in the Democratic-controlled Congress to push through the most sweeping restructuring of the U.S. healthcare system since the end of World War Two.
Republicans and some centrist Democrats oppose increasing the government's role in healthcare -- it already runs the Medicare and Medicaid systems for the elderly and indigent -- fearing it would require vast public funds and reduce the quality of care.
But the Times/CBS poll found 85 percent of respondents wanted major healthcare reforms and most would be willing to pay higher taxes to ensure everyone had health insurance. An estimated 46 million Americans currently have no coverage.
Seventy-two percent of those questioned said they backed a government-administered insurance plan similar to Medicare for those under 65 that would compete for customers with the private sector. Twenty percent said they were opposed.
President Barack Obama and many Democrats in Congress have argued a publicly run healthcare insurance plan would increase competition and drive down the high cost of care at a time when the U.S. economy is mired in a deep recession.
Republicans argue a public plan would drive insurers out of business and lead to a government-run healthcare system.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives suggested this week that all Americans should be able to get insurance regardless of medical history and that coverage should be mandatory for individuals and businesses.
The proposal, contained in the latest House draft of the healthcare bill, would create new insurance exchanges where people shop around for health coverage. Whether a government-run plan has a role in such an exchange has spurred serious political debate.
Republicans, the minority party in Congress, have proposed more modest healthcare changes, but lack the votes in the House or Senate to push them through or derail the Democrats' health reform drive. They have warned about the expected high cost of restructuring the healthcare system, projected at more than $1.5 trillion -- a huge expense for a nation carrying record budget deficits.
The Republicans also hope to gain traction by playing on fears a vast expansion of government could further hurt the economy and reduce the quality of medical care.
The poll found that people were uneasy about heightened government involvement in the healthcare sector, with 77 percent saying they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.
A total of 895 adults participated in the telephone survey, which was conducted from June 12 to 16 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Peter Cooney)
ARTICLE More >
|
|
|
|
 17 Jun 2009 @ 05:21
If someone sent you a check for $100,000 that also announced his upcoming suicide, would you call for help or keep quiet?
If someone sent you a check for $100,000 that also announced his upcoming suicide, would you call for help or keep quiet?
LEAD STORY: If someone sent you a check for $100,000 that also announced his upcoming suicide, would you call for help or keep quiet?
As Denver's newsweekly Westword asked in a May 2009 story, "Where would you take a $100,000 check that is also a suicide note, to the cops or to the bank?" In July 2008, John Francis Beech, a retired executive in Denver, sent a check for $100,000 to a local charity, postdated to Aug. 1, accompanied by a sealed envelope reading "wait until you hear from coroner" and "everything is OK." The charity's director, Annie Green, opened the envelope anyway on July 21, to find Beech's Last Will and Testament, leaving his entire estate to Green's organization for children with developmental disabilities. Green's choice: Put everything into the school's safe and await Aug. 1 (but she claimed to have left two voice-mail messages for Beech). On July 29, based on longstanding plans, Beech committed suicide. [Westword, 5-14-09]
Cultural Diversity
Over a 10-week period this summer, nearly 200 young Saudi women are auditioning for a beauty pageant, but one called "Miss Beautiful Morals," in which physical attractiveness is irrelevant, replaced by judging of the ladies' observance of traditional Saudi values, especially the honoring of their mothers. Saudi Arabia does have pageants devoted to physical beauty, as reported in News of the Weird in 2007 and 2008, but those are contests for camels and goats, based on such criteria as (according to one camel breeder) "big eyes, long lashes and a long neck." [Indianapolis Star-AP, 5-7-09]
Kailash Singh, 63, who lives in a village near the holy city of Varanasi, India, told reporters in May that he had not bathed in the last 35 years, but for a good reason: remaining water-free would improve his chances of fathering a male instead of a female. (It hasn't worked, and he has moved on to a new cause, shunning baths until India's social problems are resolved.) Singh previously owned a shop, but became a farmer because customers increasingly declined to approach him. [Agence France-Presse, 5-12-09]
Recurring Theme: According to a March dispatch in London's Observer, activists in Mauritania have protested the new military government's support for an African tribal tradition of forcibly fattening up adolescent girls to make them appear "healthier" for early marriage (traditional in, among other countries, Nigeria, mentioned in News of the Weird in 1998). In the custom of "leblouh," the size of the female indicates "the size of her place in her man's heart." [The Guardian (London), 3-1-09]
Latest Religious Messages
Ms. Nour Hadad, 26, was arrested in Orland Park, Ill., in April and charged with (and, according to police, confessed to) beating her 2-year-old niece to death while baby-sitting, and, as usual, police publicly released her booking photograph. However, Hadad's husband, Alaeddin, immediately complained that her photo, without her head scarf, was an "insult" to Islam. Said a Muslim activist, "They should respect the modesty of the accused." [Southtown Star (Chicago), 4-10-09]
Sci-Fi Movies Come to Life
Entomologists in San Antonio said in May that the "Raspberry ant" (whose colonies produce billions and cover everything in sight) had migrated north to within 75 miles of the city and would arrive by year's end, posing, said one, a "potential ecological disaster." [KENS-TV (San Antonio), 5-18-09]
A University of Florida researcher found, for a recent journal article, that mockingbirds, among all animals, are skilled at identifying particular humans who have displeased them and whom they wish to attack. [USA Today, 5-19-09]
World's Greatest Lawyer
Defense attorney John Garcia convinced a jury in Merced, Calif., in May that his client was not guilty of the "forcible rape with great bodily injury" of an 18-year-old woman in 2004, despite the fact that only his client's DNA-identified semen was present, mixed with the victim's blood, on the shorts she wore at the crime scene. Client Daniel Saldana's story was that he had previously had sex with his own girlfriend in the house where the rape occurred and that the girlfriend might have left her shorts on the floor and that the rape victim might have mistakenly put them on after the "other" man raped her. [Merced Sun-Star, 5-6-09]
People Different From Us
Nelson Blewett, 22, was treated for serious burns in Port Angeles, Wash., on May 18 after playing a game of TAG-tag with pals. They were spritzing each other with TAG body spray and then striking matches, creating mostly lower-risk flames. Then, perhaps inspired by too much beer, one friend added lighter fluid to the game. Blewett was afire for 30 to 45 seconds until he leaped from a second-story porch and rolled on the ground. (He survived but with "excruciating" second- and third-degree burns.) [Peninsula Daily News, 5-21-09]
The Aristocrats! Charles Williams, 37, and his wife, Gretchen, 33, were arrested in Greenville, S.C., in April after a domestic dispute, culminating in a gunfight in which they shot each other. [Greenville News, 4-1-09]
Two fathers (Enrique Gonzalez, 26, in Fresno, Calif., in April and Eugene Ashley, 24, in Floyd County, Ga., in May) were charged with forcibly tattooing their young sons. Gonzalez allegedly held down his 7-year-old while a tattooist inked a gang symbol, and Ashley allegedly inked "DB" (for Daddy's Boy) personally on his 3-year-old's shoulder. [Fresno Bee-AP, 4-22-09] [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5-26-09]
Least Competent Criminals
The Right to Remain Silent: Timothy Williams' lawyer had a good defense worked out in Williams' May murder trial in Pittsburgh: When Williams fatally shot the "other" man in the love triangle with Williams' girlfriend, it was a "crime of passion," said the lawyer, befitting manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. But Williams insisted on taking the stand, and by the time he was done, he had openly bragged that he was a "swinger" with many girlfriends, that this particular woman meant "nothing" to him, and that, though he killed the man, police had somehow "sabotaged" the surveillance video of the shooting. Verdict: first-degree murder. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5-2-09]
Update
The long-running battle between Alan Davis, 53, and officials in Altamonte Springs, Fla., began anew in May, upon Davis' release from prison after serving a year for his latest defiance of court orders to clear the "junk" out of his yard ("felony littering"). It was his third prison stretch in five years, and he said he is not done yet. Just before his latest stretch, he had placed a giant sculpted derriere in front of the Seminole County Courthouse. In May, he told reporters that he would rejoin the battle by ringing his yard with 42 smaller, similar sculptures. [Orlando Sentinel, 5-21-09]
Readers' Choice
When retired NYPD officer John Comparetto was approached at gunpoint in a men's room of a Holiday Inn near Harrisburg, Pa., in March, he quietly handed over his wallet, but when the robber left, Comparetto pulled his own gun and gave chase. He also summoned some of the other 300 narcotics officers attending a convention in the hotel and quickly captured the man, who, said Comparetto, is "probably the dumbest criminal in Pennsylvania." [WUSA-TV, 3-10-09]
A 27-year-old woman in Lexington Park, Md., was injured in March during apparently consensual sex play. Her partner placed a "sex toy" over a saber saw blade, apparently to act as a souped-up vibrator, but the blade cut through the toy and caused serious lacerations, requiring her to be med-evac'ed to Prince George's Hospital Center. [WUSA-TV, 3-10-09]
A News of the Weird Classic (June 1997)
In 1993 India Scott dated both Darryl Fletcher and Brandon Ventimeglia when she lived in Detroit and moved in with Fletcher in 1994 when she was about to give birth. Neither knew about the other, and she had told each man he was the father. For two difficult years, Scott somehow managed to juggle the men's visitations, but in March 1997 when she announced she was leaving the area, both Fletcher and Ventimeglia separately filed for custody of "his" son. Only then did Ventimeglia and Fletcher find out about each other. They took blood tests to determine which was the real father of the boy they had cared for for more than two years, and in May 1997 the blood test revealed that neither was. [St. Petersburg Times, 5-14-97]
Thanks This Week to Ben Hestir, Bruce Alter, and Richard Schneider, and to many, many finders of the Readers' Choice stories, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
(And for the accomplished and joyous cynic, try News of the Weird Daily/Pro Edition, at [link]) More >
|
|
|
|
 2 Jun 2009 @ 03:20
Drive your time machine back 3.9 billion years.
When the calendar reads 3,899,997,991 BC, you'll want to scurry down to a fallout shelter in the basement, as you have entered a challenging time called the late heavy bombardment (LHB).
Earth is being pummeled by a rockfall of asteroids from the far reaches of the Solar System. No record of the LHB survives on Earth, because the ancient rocks have long since melted back into the molten interior. But the faces of the moon and Mercury record a serious series of impacts that lasted 20 million to 200 million years.
Thus planetary scientists assume Earth was similarly battered during the same period.
By analyzing isotopes in ancient crystals, some researchers say that life existed on Earth 3.83 billion years ago, right after the bombardment ceased. So did this life start right after the asteroid assault abated, or did it originate earlier and survive the bombardment?
The question seems to answer itself, because the rockfall was a blockbuster: About 2 x 1017 tons of rock fell to the planet, enough to cover the surface with a 150-meter layer of rock.
Long live life
But in a new computer study, two University of Colorado researchers calculate that the entire planet did not get hot enough to obliterate all life in the crust, where bacteria and the other group of single-celled organisms, archaea, are found in holes drilled 4 kilometers into the crust.
To explore how the rain of asteroids affected temperatures in Earth's ancient crust, post-doctoral researcher Oleg Abramov coded a computer to simulate the heavy bombardment. His model included 90 giant strikes by objects at least 50 kilometers in diameter.
This larger-than-a-ping-pong-ball stone would make a crater at least 1,000 kilometers across, and distribute enough steam and blazing rock dust into the atmosphere to sterilize the planet's surface zone. A much smaller impact is blamed for exterminating the dinosaurs about 61 million years ago.
"There had been several previous studies saying that life could not have survived on the surface ... but it was still possible that life could have survived in the subsurface," says Abramov. "When you look at habitable environments on present day Earth, there is always some kind of life there. So long as the temperature is tolerable, life will find a way to colonize."
And so Abramov and Stephen Mojzsis, an associate professor of geological sciences at Colorado, looked a little deeper: literally.
If bacteria had a sense of humor, maybe they were laughing off the long airborne assault, because Abramov and Mojzsis found that some places on Earth always remained comfortably below 110° C -- an upper limit for the most heat-tolerant bacteria known.
Natural fallout shelter
Because microbes are regularly found in the top 4 kilometers of the crust, Abramov directed the computer model to calculate temperatures in that zone, and calculated that the impacts warmed the top 4 kilometers by least 10° C.
At no time did the entire zone exceed 110° C.
The surface of the moon shows that asteroids came in many sizes, and Abramov says size matters. "If you are looking at the top 100 meters of the crust, the huge, basin-forming impacts caused more sterilization." Deeper down, the more numerous smaller impacts were a bigger dealer of death.
Overall, the large impacts may actually have promoted life, because they formed hydrothermal systems - hot water networks that could have circulated microbes through the crust. In fact, the volume of hot pools and streams of water that were tolerable to the most heat-tolerant bacteria actually increased 10-fold during the heavy bombardment, says Mojzsis.
Thanks to the fallout shelter
Until recently, nobody seriously proposed that life existed during the "Hadean" (hellish) conditions before and during the late heavy bombardment, when water was supposedly scarce and temperatures were blazing hot. But Mojzsis says scientists are revising that picture. "In the last dozen years or so, how we view the early Earth has undergone a fundamental shift. Work from this lab and others shows that the oceans were established within 150 million years of the formation of our moon" about 100 million years after Earth's formation.
Analyses of zircons, durable, ancient crystals that provide some of the only evidence for the Hadean period, "reveal an early planet that was far more benign than theorists had previously promoted," Mojzsis says.
Life is the ultimate striver...
The new study, Mojzsis stresses, does not prove that life survived the bombardment, but "simply evaluates the thermal history of the top 4 kilometers of crust. There is always some place cool enough for life to survive."
But if life did predate the LHB, then the new study could explain why, as many scientists now believe, all organisms on Earth descended from heat-loving bacteria. If the wimpier microbes were killed by the bombardment, the heat-tolerant ones must be everybody's ancestors, Mojzsis says. "In hindsight, it makes sense. The impact may have created a genetic bottleneck, and the life that thrived, the hyperthermophiles, lived in the deep hydrothermal environment; that's the life that passed on its genetic inheritance to all subsequent life forms."
Life, Mojzsis says, is not some wilting flower, but a force of nature that adapts and survives, even if it occasionally must duck into the fallout shelter. "Life as we know it is entrepreneurial. It takes advantage of any place where there is liquid water, an energy source and something to eat."
see More >
|
|
|
|
 6 May 2009 @ 13:04
Dear Mr. President:
Please find below . my suggestion for fixing America 's economy
Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander
the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following
plan.
You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.
Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the
following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty
million cars ordered - Auto
Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing
Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!
If more money is needed, have all members of Congress and their
constituents pay their taxes...
If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.
If not, please disregard.
More >
|
|
|
|
 30 Apr 2009 @ 02:49
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 2009
Can humans catch swine flu?
Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.
How common is swine flu infection in humans?
In the past, the CDC received reports of approximately one human swine influenza virus infection every one to two years in the U.S. By late April, however, when the World Health Organization raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 3 to phase 4, the number of people infected with swine influenza A (H1N1) reached 90 cases in the U.S. Officials said they expected the number of cases to continue to increase at a rapid rate. Phases 1—3 deal with preparedness, and phases 4—6 indicate a need for response and mitigation efforts.
What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
What should I do to keep from getting the flu?
First and most important: wash your hands. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health:
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.
How does swine flu spread?
Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?
To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 10 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.
What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?
There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.
infoplease.com
[ More >
|
|
|
|
 20 Apr 2009 @ 00:16
A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.
The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.
The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.
The girl's father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is "a close friend" of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.
Last month, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration
the complicated Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing. The appeals court in Riyadh will now take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.
The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative kingdom recently. While rights groups have been petitioning the government to enact laws that would protect children from this type of marriage, the kingdom's top cleric has said that it's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.
"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks last January quoted in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."
Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry.
"We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls," he said, according to the newspaper. "We should know that Sharia law has not brought injustice to women."
Sharia law is Islamic law. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism.
CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.
Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that his organization has heard of many other cases of child marriages.
"We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger -- especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke said.
Wilcke explained that while Saudi ministries may make decisions designed to protect children, "It is still the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many realms beyond the court."
Last December, Zuhair al-Harithi, a spokesman for the Saudi government-run Human Rights Commission, said his organization is fighting against child marriages.
"The Human Rights Commission opposes child marriages in Saudi Arabia," al-Harithi said. "Child marriages violate international agreements that have been signed by Saudi Arabia and should not be allowed." He added that his organization has been able to intervene and stop at least one child marriage from taking place.
Wajeha al-Huwaider, co-founder of the Society of Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia, told CNN that achieving human rights in the kingdom means standing against those who want to "keep us backward and in the dark ages."
She said the marriages cause girls to "lose their sense of security and safety. Also, it destroys their feeling of being loved and nurtured. It causes them a lifetime of psychological problems and severe depression."
cnn More >
|
|
|
|
 14 Apr 2009 @ 02:51
famous pop music producer Phil Spector has been convicted of murder today in Los Angeles.
Spector is famous for producing mega-hits like “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” and of course the album “Let it Be,” the only Beatles LP to not be produced by George Martin. The 69 year old is looking at 25 years to life.
Spector is now convicted of killing Lana Clarkson more than 6 years ago, on Feb 3. 2003. The jury finally reached a decision in the case after a deliberation over whether Spector killed Clarkson out of anger, or merely witnessed her suicide.
Spector allegedly confessed to the murder to his limousine driver immediately afterword, saying “I think I killed somebody,” before promptly retreating into his home to cover up the evidence. More >
|
|
|
|
 3 Apr 2009 @ 15:24
How to Get Relief from a Stressful Day on the Job and Relax at Home
© Jerry Lopper
Feb 24, 2009
Learn three easy steps you can take to leave behind a stressful day at work so you can enjoy your evening.
Work can be stressful, especially in these difficult economic times. If you still have a job you're either worried about losing it or overwhelmed with the extra workload of co-workers who lost their jobs. You hate to complain, but the stress at work is wearing you down. Worse yet, you're carrying it home with you and you find it hard to relax at home.
Stress Can be Bad for Your Health
Perhaps while searching for ways to deal with workplace stress you come across a WebMD article, "Mental Health: Tips to Control Stress," and find that stress can lead to headaches, an upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, sexual dysfunction, and problems sleeping. It can also lead to emotional problems such as depression and panic attacks. As if that's not enough, the article claims that stress is linked to heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.
If you're used to brooding about the day's problems on your way home, it's time to use your evening commute as a transitional time for stress relief. Re-visiting every problem of the day is like re-living each and every one of them, magnifying the stress you originally felt every time you think about it.
Stress is the trash of modern life - we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life. ~Danzae Pace
Workplace Stress Relief
The following steps will help you leave a stressful day of work at work. This transition process will help you close off your day–even a stressful day–on a positive note paving the way for an enjoyable evening.
Caution: If your commute home requires your careful attention, such as driving in heavy rush hour traffic, consider following these tips by spending a few minutes quietly in the parking lot before setting out. Or stop for a few minutes at a coffee shop on your way home.
Three Step Process of Stress Relief
The first step is to take some deep, cleansing breaths. Breathe in deeply, filling your lungs. Hold it there for a comfortable count of four or five, then slowly exhale. Imagine the day's stress being expelled with your breath. Repeat this three or four times. When you can feel some tension slipping away you're ready for the next stress relief step.
Ask yourself, "What went well today?" Even on the worst of days, something positive occurs. Mentally review everything that went well. Everything, not just major things. The point here is to get into a positive frame of mind. So if your morning coffee was hot and tasty, savor the memory for a bit. Maybe a co-worker told a funny story, or a customer was gracious and appreciative of your efforts. Stay with the day's positive events long enough to notice that you're starting to feel better, more relaxed, and in a more positive frame of mind.
The third step is to ask yourself this question, "What did I learn today?" There is always something to be learned from an experience. Refrain from a negative such as, "I learned my boss is a total jerk!" That's not what you learned, that's a judgment based on anger. Perhaps what you learned from an interaction with your boss was that you could be more aware of her mood before dumping a new problem on her. Changing your perspective from re-hashing the day's problems, which are no longer under your control, to focusing your attention on what you learned puts you back in control and on a positive path of growth.
Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ~Mother Teresa
Three Steps for Workplace Stress Relief
When leaving work, begin the next segment of your day by using deep breathing, followed by asking yourself two questions to help you leave your workday stress at work and enjoy your evening: "What went well today?" and "What did I learn today?"
If you liked this article, you'll probably enjoy Overwhelmed by Work Stress Anxiety.
To learn how values affect stress read Development of Personal Values.
The copyright of the article Three Steps to Relieve the Stress of Work in Changing Personal Habits is owned by Jerry Lopper. Permission to republish Three Steps to Relieve the Stress of Work in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Read more: Three Steps to Relieve the Stress of Work: How to Get Relief from a Stressful Day on the Job and Relax at Home - [link] More >
|
|
|
|
29 Mar 2009 @ 05:45
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit couple accused of trying to cremate their slain 2-year-old son on a barbecue grill and then collecting his welfare benefits have pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
Twenty-eight-year-old Joseph Miller pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and 23-year-old Nickella Reid pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and welfare fraud.
Police found the remains of 2-year-old Deuntay Miller while investigating the 2007 scalding of the couple's 1-year-old son, Nicholas.
Reid faces up to 15 years in prison at her April 7 sentencing.
Miller faces up to 50 years at his April 16 sentencing. Before the plea deal he had been charged with first-degree murder and if convicted would have faced life with no possibility of parole. More >
|
|
|
|
 20 Mar 2009 @ 07:14
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood plasma.
No piece of paper can be folded in half
more than seven (7) times.
Donkeys kill more people annually
than plane crashes.
You burn more calories sleeping
than you do watching television.
Oak trees do not produce acorns
until they are fifty (50) years of age or older.
The first product to have a bar code
was Wrigley's gum.
The King of Hearts is the only king
WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987
by eliminating one (1) olive
from each salad served in first-class.
Apples, not caffeine,
are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
Most dust particles in your house are made from
DEAD SKIN!
The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer.
So did the first "Marlboro Man."
Walt Disney was afraid
OF MICE!
PEARLS MELT
IN VINEGAR!
The three most valuable brand names on earth:
Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...
but not downstairs.
A duck's quack doesn't echo,
and no one knows why.
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush
be kept at least six (6) feet away from
a toilet to avoid airborne particles
resulting from the flush.
(I keep my toothbrush in the living room now!)
Richard Millhouse Nixon
was the first U.S. president whose name contains all
the letters from the word "criminal."
The second?
William Jefferson Clinton
(Please don't tell me you're SURPRISED!!!)
And the best for last.....
Turtles can breathe through their butts.
(I know some people like that, don't YOU?)
Now You Know Everything. More >
|
|
|
|
 13 Mar 2009 @ 04:13
WASHINGTON — For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. On Tuesday, museum curators confirmed it was true. A watchmaker used tiny tools to carefully pry open the antique watch at the National Museum of American History, and a descendant of the engraver read aloud the message from a metal plate underneath the watch face.
"Jonathan Dillon April 13 - 1861," part of the inscription reads, "Fort Sumpter (sic) was attacked by the rebels on the above date." Another part reads, "Thank God we have a government."
The words were etched in tiny cursive handwriting and filled the the space between tiny screws and gears that jutted through the metal plate. A magnifying glass was required to read them.
Jonathan Dillon, then a watchmaker on Pennsylvania Avenue, had Lincoln's watch in his hands when he heard the first shots of the Civil War had been fired in South Carolina. The Irish immigrant later recalled being the only Union sympathizer working at the shop in a divided Washington.
Dillon's story was passed down among his family and friends, eventually reaching a New York Times reporter. In a 1906 article in the paper, an 84-year-old Dillon said no one, including Lincoln, ever saw the inscription as far as he knew.
Dillon had a fuzzy recollection of what he had engraved. He told the newspaper he had written: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a president who at least will try."
For years the story went unconfirmed.
The watchmaker's great-great grandson, Doug Stiles, first heard the tale of the engraving from his great uncle decades ago. He said the story had reached extended family as far away as Ireland.
A few months ago, he used Google to find the New York Times story, and last month he passed the information along to Smithsonian curators, who knew nothing about the engraving.
On Tuesday, watchmaker George Thomas, who volunteers at the museum, spent several minutes carefully opening the watch as an audience of reporters and museum workers watched on a video monitor.
"The moment of truth has come. Is there or is there not an inscription?" Thomas said, teasing the audience, which gasped when he confirmed it was there. He called Stiles up to read his ancestor's words, drawing smiles and a few sighs of relief.
"Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, this was the reaction he had (to the Civil War,)" Stiles said of the inscription.
Later, Stiles said he felt closer to the 16th president.
"My gosh, that was Lincoln's watch," he said, "and my ancestor put graffiti on it!"
Lincoln's family kept the watch until it was donated to the museum in 1958. It was Lincoln's everyday pocket watch, one of the president's only valuable possessions he brought with him to the White House from Springfield, Ill., said Harry Rubenstein, curator of the museum's politics and reform division.
"I think it just captures a bit of history that can transform you to another time and place," he said. "It captures the excitement, the hope of a watchmaker in Washington."
The watch will go back on display at the museum by Wednesday as part of the exhibit, "Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life." It will have a new label to tell Dillon's
see here More >
|
|
|
|
 27 Feb 2009 @ 04:15
Social security, the minimum wage, universal healthcare, college for all are ways to guarantee freedom from want. 45 million working people who can't af An economy that drives down wages to increase investor profits creates a cheap labor trapford healthcare cannot all pull themselves up by their bootstraps,
If you work full time, you won't be in poverty. Period. Over 9 in 10 Americans agree that's how it should be.
Did FDR say, oh, it's a time of war, we can't afford to make sure all Americans have their basic needs met?
We can't afford housing, health care, decent jobs. We can't afford all that, it's too expensive, not at this time. The facts of course are, that the New Deal reduced unemployment every year, except when Roosevelt started implementing more conservative policies New Deal financial regulations provided the foundation of a recovery and a stable economic system. And millions upon millions of Americans were helped by New Deal jobs Many economists feel that the problem with the New Deal is that it didn't go far enough, in terms of spending, or else it would have been even more successful in the short term.
The right's anti-New Deal offensive is aimed at besmirching Obama's stimulus plan. FDR's New Deal got us out of the Depression took the unempoyment from 25% to 14% in 4 yrs
As usual, the conservatives have absolutely no conscience about what they did to create this mess. If they did, they'd all be holed up in their gated communities or on their private islands
As for taxes: Obama's already told us, without apologies to anyone, that he plans to raise taxes on people making over $250,000 a year
When you want to stimulate the economy, tax cuts always beat government spending hands-down.
The problem with tax cuts is that people don't spend them in ways that get the economy moving.The Wall Street Journal reports that only 10 to 20 percent of the money remanded to taxpayers in the 2008 tax rebate actually got spent.
The other 80 to 90 percent ended up in people's personal savings, were used to pay off creditors,
So the GOP is out in a fury trying to create their own self fulfilling prophesies insinuating that “the American people have doubts
We understand fully that the Republicans are between a rock and a hard place the stimulus is passed and the economy begins to turn around they will be have a lot of explaining to do next election;
FDR was elected president four times.
What does that tell you?
the American people in the 1930's experiencing first-hand what was going on? Were they not in the best position to tell if FDR's policies were working
Americans were not fooled. They knew F.D.R. was on their side in a way that Herbert Hoover and his fellow free-marketers hadn’t been They could see first-hand the good that Roosevelt’s jobs programs were doing for the Depression’s victims and the slow but unmistakable improvements in the economy.
What was WWII, but a massive government spending program?
T]he New Deal wasn’t as successful in the short run as it was in the long run. And the reason for F.D.R.’s limited short-run success, which almost undid his whole program, was the fact that his economic policies were too cautious
What saved the economy, and the New Deal, was the enormous public works project known as World War II, which finally provided a fiscal stimulus adequate to the economy’s needs. The New Deal also gave the people hope, which was in short supply up until then.
The reason right-wingers hate FDR so much isn't because the New Deal failed, it's because it succeeded, and it's obvious to everyone.
He is not spreading the wealth around. He is talking about giving the middle class an opportunity to get back the tax breaks they used to have.
remember, all Obama's plan does, is restore the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans back to where they were under Bill Clinton, to 39.6% from 35%. Horrors!
Ever since Reagan, the tax burden has shifted to the rest of us. All Obama's plan does is shift some of the burden back where it was, and belongs More >
|
|
|
|
 26 Feb 2009 @ 08:49
February 25, 2009 · Scientists have discovered a surprising link between Alzheimer's disease and mad cow disease. It turns out both diseases involve something called a prion protein.
The finding, which appears in the journal Nature, could explain one of the great mysteries in Alzheimer's disease: How components of the plaques that form in patient's brains are able to damage brain cells. It also could point the way to new treatments for the disease.
"It's very exciting," says Lennart Mucke, director of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and a professor of neurology and neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco. "The study shines the light on a very unexpected component."
Mucke was not involved in the study, but wrote an article that accompanied it in Nature.
In mad cow disease, and a similar human condition called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, prion proteins fold into an abnormal shape that appears to cause degeneration of the brain and spinal cord. Prion diseases can be transmitted by eating the brain or spinal cord of a sick animal.
In Alzheimer's, prion proteins appear to play a different role, says Stephen Strittmatter, one of the new study's authors and the Vincent Coates Professor of Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine.
Strittmatter says there's no evidence the prion proteins fold into an abnormal shape or actually cause Alzheimer's. Instead, they seem to interact with early stage plaques in the brain in a way that allows those plaques to damage brain cells.
Strittmatter's team made the discovery after looking at hundreds of thousands of molecules that occur naturally in the brain. The prion protein turned out to be the best at interacting with a protein called amyloid-beta, which is what forms the plaques in Alzheimer's
"At first they said, 'No that can't be,'" Strittmatter says. "It's too bizarre that these two diseases would share this common protein."
But he says it seemed less strange when they considered that both diseases affect brain cells and cause dementia.
"Once you start thinking about the details," Strittmatter says, "there are so many shared similarities that it actually begins to make a lot of sense."
After showing that the amyloid-beta from plaque could interact with prion protein, the researchers needed to demonstrate that the combination could harm brain cells.
So the Yale team exposed mouse brain tissue to small clusters of amyloid-beta.
In tissue from normal mice, which contains non-infectious prion proteins, the amyloid interfered with brain cells' ability to communicate.
Then, the team took a slice of tissue from a special mouse whose brain contained no prion protein.
"That slice no longer responded," Strittmatter says. "It carried out completely normal functions."
No prion protein, no problem.
It's still unclear exactly how prion proteins allow amyloid beta to affect brain cells. And the study certainly doesn't suggest that prion proteins cause Alzheimer's.
But Mucke says if prion proteins work the same way in people as in mice, the new research could lead to a drug that would prevent Alzheimer's by keeping prion proteins from interacting with amyloid-beta.
Mucke says finding such a drug could happen relatively quickly because scientists already have spent so many years studying mad cow disease.
"We know a great deal about the biochemistry and biology of prion protein," he says, "which should really facilitate the development of drugs."
npr More >
|
|
|
|
 25 Feb 2009 @ 03:33
What is the link between alcohol and cancer risk?
According to the expert report from the American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, there is convincing evidence that alcohol increase the risk of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. The risk of upper respiratory tract cancer is greatly increased if drinkers also smoke. Alcohol also increase the risk of liver cancer and probably increases the risk for colon, rectal and breast cancer.
How does drinking alcohol increase cancer risk?
When you drink alcohol, the sensitive tissues of your upper-respiratory tract are directly exposed to alcohol in beverages, causing damage to cells and possibly initiating cancer. Cancer of the liver is probably preceded by alcoholic liver cirrhosis which develops after years of drinking. There is less known about how drinking alcohol affects the development of other cancers.
What can I do to lower my cancer risk?
One thing you can do is choose not to drink alcohol, or choose to drink them only in moderation. That's no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 for women.
1 drink = 1 bottle or can of beer (12 oz)
1 small glass of wine (5 oz)
1 shot of 80 proof liquor (1.5 oz)
Why is the recommended limit different for women and men?
Alcohol affects women and men differently. A woman's body has more fat and less muscle than a man's. Alcohol can be diluted into water-holding muscle tissue, but not into fat tissue. Therefore alcohol cannot be diluted as quickly in her body as in his. Also, a woman cannot metabolize alcohol as quickly as a man. Therefore, alcohol stays in her bloodstream longer.
Does drinking present special risks for women?
The risk for developing breast cancer, the second most common cancer in women in the States, rises with increased alcohol consumption. Women at a high risk for breast cancer should consider not drinking. Women develop alcohol-related health problems, such as cirrhosis of the liver, faster then men who drink the same amount. Finally, alcohol can severely injure a pregnant woman's unborn child.
Is it true that drinking alcohol can lower my risk for heart disease?
There is evidence that drinking modest amounts of alcohol is associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease in men, and perhaps women. For more details, read Red Wine - Health Benefits? However, drinking higher amounts of alcohol raises the risk of cancer along with risks for high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, birth defects, inflammation of the pancreas, damage to the brain and heart, malnutrition, osteoporosis, accidents, violence and suicide. There are better ways to decrease your heart disease risk, including exercising, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, lowering saturated fats and trans fats in your diet, controlling blood pressure and not smoking.
Contents from the American Institute for Cancer Research
see More >
|
|
|
|
22 Feb 2009 @ 10:32
BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) – An infant boy was married off to his neighbors' dog in eastern India by villagers, who said it will stop the groom from being killed by wild animals, officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.
Around 150 tribespeople performed the ritual recently in a hamlet in the state of Orissa's Jajpur district after the boy, who is under two years old, grew a tooth on his upper gum.
The Munda tribe see such a growth in young children as a bad omen and believe it makes them prone to attacks by tigers and other animals. The tribal god will bless the child and ward off evil spirits after the marriage.
"We performed the marriage because it will overcome any curse that might fall on the child as well on us," the boy's father, Sanarumala Munda, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
The groom, Sagula, was carried by his family in a procession to the village temple, where a priest solemnized the marriage between Sagula and his bride, Jyoti, by chanting Sanskrit hymns, a witness said.
The dog belongs to the groom's neighbors and was set free to roam around the area after the ceremony. No dowry was exchanged, the witness said, and the boy will still be able to marry a human bride in the future without filing for divorce.
Indian law does not recognize weddings between people and animals, but the ritual survives in rural and tribal areas of the country.
|
|
|
|
 15 Feb 2009 @ 18:38
They call it Mellow Yellow?
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A hardline Hindu organization, known for its opposition to "corrupting" Western food imports, is planning to launch a new soft drink made from cow's urine, often seen as sacred in parts of India.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Corps, said the bovine beverage is undergoing laboratory tests for the next 2 to 3 months but did not give a specific date for its commercial release.
The flavor is not yet known, but the RSS said the liquid produced by Hinduism's revered holy cows is being mixed with products such as aloe vera and gooseberry to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
Many Hindus consider cow urine to have medicinal properties and it is often drunk in religious festivals.
The organization, which aims to transform India's secular society and establish the supremacy of a Hindu majority, said it had not decided on a name or a price for the drink.
"Cow urine offers a cure for around 70 to 80 incurable diseases like diabetes. All are curable by cow urine," Om Prakash, the head of the RSS Cow Protection Department, told Reuters by phone.
Prakash, who is based in Hardwar, one of four holy Hindu cities on the river Ganges where the world's largest religious gathering takes place, said the product will be sold nationwide but did not rule out international success.
"It is useful for the whole country and the world as well. It will be done through shops and through corporates," he said.
The Hindu group has campaigned against foreign imports such as Pepsi and Coca Cola in the past, which it sees as a corrupting influence and a tool of Western imperialism.
The RSS was temporarily banned after a Hindu mob tore down a mosque in 1992 which lead to bloody religious riots.
The Shiv Sena, a hardline Hindu political party also known for attacking what it sees as threats to Indian culture such as Valentine's Day, started a similar initiative last year to appeal to its powerbase in Mumbai.
To promote the food of the native Marathi culture, the Shiv Sena said it was "making a chain like McDonalds" to sell a popular local fried snack. More >
|
|
|
|
 15 Feb 2009 @ 18:30
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Thousands of Indians, many fuming over a recent assault on women in a pub, are vowing to fill bars on Valentine's Day and send cartons of pink panties to a radical Hindu group that has branded outgoing females immoral.
A "consortium of pub-going, loose and forward women," founded by four Indian women on social networking website Facebook has, in a matter of days, attracted more than 25,000 members with over 2,000 posts about the self-appointed moral police.
The women said their mission was to go bar-hopping on February 14 and send hundreds of pink knickers to Sri Ram Sena, the militant Hindu group that has said pubs are for men, and that women should stay at home and cook for their husbands.
The same Hindu group was blamed for attacking women in a bar in the southern city of Mangalore in January, an incident that sparked a national debate about women's freedoms in India.
Collection centers have sprung up in several cities, with volunteers calling for bright pink old-fashioned knickers as gifts to the Sri Ram Sena as a mark of defiance.
"Girl power! Go girls, go. Show Ram Sena... who's the boss," reads one post on Facebook from Larkins Dsouza.
There is a separate campaign to "Walk to the nearest pub and buy a drink (and) raise a toast," that has found supporters from Toronto to Bangkok to Sydney, with even teetotalers saying they will get a drink on Saturday to show solidarity.
"Though I don't promote smoking or drinking for both sexes, we definitely don't need hooligans telling us what to do and what not. Best of luck!," reads one post from Iftehar Ahsan.
There are more heated discussion threads as well that range from the limits of independence to religion and politics, reflecting the struggle facing a country that has long battled to balance its deep-rooted traditions with rapid modernization.
Growing numbers of young and independent urban women have become an easy target for religious fundamentalists and aging politicians trying to force traditional mores on an increasingly liberal, Western outlook.
Not to be outdone, the Sri Ram Sena, which has cautioned shops and pubs in southern Karnataka state against marking Valentine's Day, has promised to gift pink saris to women and marry off canoodling couples to make them "respectable." More >
|
|
|
|
10 Feb 2009 @ 04:07
The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.
They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.
THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.
"The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer," said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine.
Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC) are thought to play a role in variety of biological functions, including pain and anxiety control, and inflammation. Although a medical derivative of THC, known as Marinol, has been approved for use as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients, and a small number of U.S. states allow use of medical marijuana to treat the same side effect, few studies have shown that THC might have anti-tumor activity, Preet says. The only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment against cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study in human glioblastoma.
In the present study, the researchers first demonstrated that two different lung cancer cell lines as well as patient lung tumor samples express CB1 and CB2, and that non-toxic doses of THC inhibited growth and spread in the cell lines. "When the cells are pretreated with THC, they have less EGFR stimulated invasion as measured by various in-vitro assays," Preet said.
Then, for three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression, Preet says.
Although the researchers do not know why THC inhibits tumor growth, they say the substance could be activating molecules that arrest the cell cycle. They speculate that THC may also interfere with angiogenesis and vascularization, which promotes cancer growth.
Preet says much work is needed to clarify the pathway by which THC functions, and cautions that some animal studies have shown that THC can stimulate some cancers. "THC offers some promise, but we have a long way to go before we know what its potential is," she said.
see
|
|
|
|
 21 Jan 2009 @ 00:21
This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror Where one could read it every day.
, but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world That you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world
Love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you Is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, Even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you Before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to some one.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, Something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you Take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received.
Forget about the rude remarks.
So.........
If you are a loving friend,
Send this to everyone,
Including the one that sent it to you.
If you get it back, then they really do love you.
And always remember....
When life hands you Lemons,
Ask for Sugar and call me over!
Good friends are like stars.
You don't always see them,
But you know they are always there.
'Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though Sometimes It's Hell in the Hallway'
I would rather have one rose and a kind word
From a friend while I'm here
Than a whole truckload when I'm gone. More >
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 2 Jan 2009 @ 09:42
I was reading an essay by William Sloan Coffin a few days ago. He was saying that fundamentalists need to return to the verse in Corinthians that says that of faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love. He says that they have made the mistake of believing that the greatest of these is faith, and it has drawn them away from the true intent of Christianity.
I was wondering how this applies to Us(USA or any place). What do we value most? I would guess that for many of us, it's justice. Is this the same as love? Is it large enough? Or, am I wrong about this ? More >
|
|
|
|
 19 Dec 2008 @ 00:29
The Bushido Samurai are elite masters in the art of self-defense. They are specially trained in hand-to-hand combat, but never fight unless they must. The Samurai moral code stresses mindfulness, self-control, loyalty and honor unto death. Thus, Samurai dodge confrontation whenever and wherever possible.
These same principals can easily be applied to everyday life. Think like a Bushido Samurai and avoid unnecessary confrontation. Doing so will decrease your emotional stress and simultaneously increase your productivity.
Be aware of your surroundings and always maintain a clear mind when you are in unfamiliar territory.
Don’t stick out like a sore thumb, but still carve out your own path.
Evaluate the level of risk in every situation before accepting it.
Take control of your actions. Don’t let others steer for you.
Keep a clear mind. Never abuse mind numbing drugs. Avoid those who do.
Even if someone else provokes you, swiftly escape. Most fights are not worth fighting.
Trust only those who have earned it. Be wary of those who have not.
Don’t meddle in other people’s affairs or attempt to solve their problems unless it’s within the scope of your mission.
Maintain a healthy body. Otherwise physical avoidance may not be an option.
Always stay true to your purpose. Practice intelligent avoidance, escape confrontation whenever possible and defend yourself only when you must. More >
|
|
|
|
 18 Dec 2008 @ 23:09
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 18) - A pediatric neurosurgeon says a tumor he removed from the brain of a Colorado Springs infant contained a tiny foot and other partially formed body parts.
Dr. Paul Grabb said he operated on Sam Esquibel at Memorial Hospital for Children after an MRI showed a microscopic tumor on the newborn's brain. Sam was 3 days old and otherwise healthy.
Grabb said that while removing the growth, he discovered it contained a nearly perfect foot and the formation of another foot, a hand and a thigh.
"It looked like the breach delivery of a baby, coming out of the brain," Grabb said. "To find a perfectly formed structure (like this) is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of."
Grabb isn't sure what caused the growth but says it may have been a type of congenital brain tumor. However, such tumors usually are less complex than a foot or hand, he said.
The growth may also have been a case of "fetus in fetu" — in which a fetal twin begins to form within another — but such cases very rarely occur in the brain, Grabb said.
Sam's parents, Tiffnie and Manuel Esquibel, said their son is at home now but faces monthly blood tests to check for signs of cancer or regrowth, along with physical therapy to improve the use of his neck. But they say he has mostly recovered from the Oct. 3 surgery.
"You'd never know if he didn't have a scar there," Tiffnie Esquibel said. More >
|
|
|
|
 17 Dec 2008 @ 03:22
1. your knowledge of “what’s out there” makes you base your choices on your knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work
2. creativity means creative choices of inclusion and exclusion (Robert Mckee)3. What doesn’t work in one context - might work in another. Test your options
4. creativity is interaction. Most of the time with real people
5. the biggest goal for your ideas is casualization. turning your idea into a trend that partly turns “mainstream” or “normal”
6. when an idea is casualized - work on a new idea. Be ahead of the market
7. look at the past to predict the future. Patterns mostly form themselves and repeat themselves
8. being the first is more important to creativity than to be the best. when somebody becomes the best - the first are being first in something else
9. taking a creative project from a-z is a piece of art in itself. Sometimes the creative person can’t manage herself- he’s busy creating other ideas
10. creative action speaks louder than creative words
11. you don’t really need to be tomorrow where you are today
12. you don’t need to have creative past to get a creative future
13. be a firestarter, a twisted firestarter
14. dare to be different, it will really get you further in the long run
15. creative people are often disliked by other people. It’s often real hard for the creative person to accept that
16. see your body mind and spirit as a whole, get inspiration with new ways of eating, living, thinking etc
17. make personal goals and keep them. Do you really want to write that book right now ? - how high priority does it have on a scale from 1- 10 ( 1 is the lowest)
18. make all your thoughts positive instead of negative, don’t nag - think about what a negative situation gives you - in a positive way
19. eliminate the word “against” in your mind. Don’t be against smoking or against war - be FOR health and FOR peace
20. eliminate “forever” and “never” in your mind. This will contribute to reducing you reluctance to change and in the end make your person more in sync
21. don’t go where no man has gone before - go where YOU haven’t gone before - if you don’t like it, see it as an experience, if you do - use it to grow further
22. what do you really want ? get a friend to ask you that question again and again for 5 mins - and write it down ( if you don’t have any friends, IM me and I can ask you)
23. put beauty in everything - live beautifully and clean up your mess
24. smile, try meditation and yoga
25. don’t react negatively to anything, tell people to their face what you think of the way they are behaving
26. Is the processes you have in your life right now draining your energy or giving you energy ? - if it’s draining your energy, get yourself out of there…
27. how do you feel when you have eaten ? tired or energized ? if you fell tired the likelyhood of a food intolerance is big
28. dress up everyday
29. be green - this will change your world ( and it will give you the energy to save the world)
30. tell friends how much you appreciate them - do they know ?
31. make your marks in the sand, claim what is yours before somebody else does
32. what do you want to do right now ?
33. do it
34: l.i.v.e i.n. t.h.e n.o.w!
35: stay philosophical - something like ” is that dress really pink - or is it just my perception of it that’s pink?”
36: don’t just eat everything you put in your mouth, taste it… and taste it again - ask yourself what it tastes of
37: have a happy approach
38: don’t let people who let’s you down, get you down. use the experience to show them what you’re made of
39: be passionate about yourself and your life, if there’s not a tiny spark of passion in what you do, I believe you wouldn’t be doing it
40: try to take yourself where you want to go, not based on where you have been, but based on where you are now
41: see art
42: make art
43: give “it” away - now… it doesn’t matter what “it” is - just give it away
44: be direct, tell people if you don’t agree, but in a positive way - your opinion will be valued and not evaluated if you’re positive about it
45: give people the answers they are looking for, if you can give it to them.. ( and give it to the ASAP - I simply hate hanging on a leash)
46: if you’re in flow, you’re in flow - stop all arrangements and stay there - tell your family that if you say you simply “need” to do something - it’s because you’re in flow.
47: don’t put other people’s priorities first, put your own priorities first.
48: entrepreneurs: get paid for the work you do - if they don’t want to pay you, then they don’t deserve you ( or don’t value you enough) - but hold your head high - it’s hard to live under water
49: listen to music and podcasts - entertain and be entertained
50: have another glass of wine
51: party like there’s no tomorrow… examine the world as if you were born today
52: make yourself an “I am good” book. write down 3 points where you start with “I am good at…”. Then write down 3 points where you start with “Thank you for”. At last write down 3 points where you start with “help me with”… put everything out there - don’t care who you thank or who you ask for help.. just do it everynight before you go to bed… It will get you somewhere…
53: watch movies
54: stop watching TV
55: picture what will be written on your tombstone - picture you’re a hundred and look back at your life, what do you want to be remembered for?
56: take a ceramics course, when you’ve had enough take a guitar course, when you play the guitar to perfection - study litterature at the university… keep evolving yourself..
57: Creativity is not a crime - keep pushin’ the ideas out there
58: try to see patterns and see if you can estimate where the future is heading
60: have the exces energy to cook every night - make it a daily family event
61: have dinner parties for your favorite people.62: listen, and then talk…
63: when people ask you how you’re doing - you should say “great”
64: buy a book today about a subject you don’t think you’re interested in
65: sign up for a new blog today
66: comment
67: try to design it yourself - no matter what you want to do…
68: ask the questions you are scared about first
69: remember your own youth revolution - are you still a part of it and fighting the same things ?
70: don’t fear the unknown
71: tell people if you disagree, when you disagree, not 3 days later
72: be involved in communities
73: use only your weak hand for one day
74: switch to left-handed
75: draw a familiar object, upside down
76: become a designer, in your mind and in your ways of acting
77: DIY - who knows what you might find ( or ruin)
78: draw 20 circles. Try to make each one into something in under 7 minutes (ie: pie, bicycle wheel, sewer grate, etc). repeat daily.
79: write “what if?” scenarios
80: try to do things you didn’t think was possible. fx. if you’re a parent you know how little sleep you actually need to function.
81: act
82: praise yourself
83: make noise
84: imagine your problem was a contestant in the iron chef, but iron chef for X industry/context. how would they win?
85: Imagine other contexts for things. Macguyver everything
86: always keep asking, why?
87: never settle down
88: don’t become to satisfied, be proud, but enhancing
89: if you never ask questions then you’re probably not getting the right answers
90: always keep asking. create questions around whatever you’re trying to do
91: be polite, always
92: revolt
93: be selfconcious
94: take the bike
95: bring a notebook on you and a kick-ass pen
96: love
97: do art
98: join a reclaim the streets
99: picture yourself doing things you never thought you’d do.
100: record yourself singing a song on camera
|
|
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Older entries >> |
|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| 20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
| 27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
|
Promise Yourself —
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble |
|
