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THANKS
Submitted on: February 8, 2010 7:46:08 AM EST
Name:
Loren Jones
Email Address:
lorengregoryjones@hotmail.com
Web site URL:
www.lorenjones.ws
Comments:
I enjoy receiving your emails and looking at your website each day. The information is valuable. I will be joining your
investment club within the next 7-14 days, if not sooner. Keep up the good work.
How did you hear about this site?
Somehow I ended up on your email
Submitted
on: July 26, 2008 1:06:43 PM EST
Name:
Alicia
Email Address:
alicia.bell@att.net
Web site URL:
Comments:
Very creative. I've read so much, I am at a loss for words!
How did you hear about this site?
George : )
Submitted
on: November 10, 2007 7:26:19 PM EST
Name:
Wendy
Email Address:
baby-seal
Web site URL:
Comments:
George, WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I went thru the whole website. I am in awe! I enjoyed
reading the history about Thanksgiving, living a healthy life. I have added it to my favorites and YES, I will be sending
out e mails to my friends to take a look at your website. I beleive it will help people out there who just dont know what
to do or how to begin. I help alot of people with legal problems and try to find attorneys that will take cases on pro bono,
or people looking for places to live instead of a shelter. My parents always said that if I won the lottery that I would be
poor the same day, because I would either donate money or build or buy a huge building to put all the needy and homeless people
in it and teach them a trade so they can get on their own. I havent been that lucky to win the lottery...lol So, do you dabble
in Finances and Real Estate, plus your website? I would ask how you find the time, but I already know. Organizational skills.
I plan things down to the 1/2 and I usually stay on task. Unfortunately I have never been to KC. The furthest I have been
is Denver and that was when I took my daughter to college out there. If I ever do, I will look you up. It would be great to
sit and talk. You have a super weekend. Take Care and God Bless. Wendy
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers
to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. You pull up
in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
6. Leaving
the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause
for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
The next time you enjoy your favorite brew, you might be doing your heart,
eyes, and brain a favor. Medical research suggests that drinking beer in moderation may have significant health benefits.
Heart Health
According to a study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, adults who drink one to two beers per day
may have a 30% to 40% lower rate of coronary heart disease compared with nondrinkers. (Moderate drinking is defined as one drink a day for women and two for men.)
This
benefit appears to stem from the antioxidant chemicals in beer known as polyphenols. Beer has a similar amount of polyphenols
as red wine, which has been touted by many as heart healthy for several decades.
Joseph Vinson, PhD, of
the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, found that beer prevented the oxidation of bad cholesterol—low-density lipoproteins
(LDL)—in rats fed the equivalent of two brews per day. The oxidation of LDL has been linked to heart disease in animals
and humans.
There appear to be other heart benefits of alcohol consumption as well, such as:
Increasing
high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol
Preventing blood clots
Raising blood levels
of vitamin B6, thereby reducing levels of homocysteine (a substance that increases the risk of heart disease)
Good for Your Eyes?
Although drinking
too many beers may cause you to see double, in moderation they may prevent cataracts. John Trevithick, PhD, and Maurice Hirst, PhD, of the University of Western Ontario, announced that beer reduced the incidence
of cataracts in mice. The rats responded better to darker beers, such as ales, than lighter beers. Darker beers have more
antioxidants than lighter varieties. If the same occurs in humans, it would especially benefit people with diabetes.
Brain Power
Having a brew or two (or other
alcoholic drink) may also reduce your risk for Alzheimer's disease. At the World Alzheimer's Congress 2000, researchers reported that people who consume one to two glasses of alcohol
daily have a 30% lower risk for the disease than non-drinkers. They compared the lifetime drinking habits of current Alzheimer's
patients with similar people who did not have Alzheimer's disease. The benefit could be due to antioxidants, increased
blood circulation to the brain, or as yet unidentified factors.
"Alcohol consumption within nationally
recommended limits may offer some protection against developing Alzheimer's disease, yet it would be premature to recommend
this as a prophylaxis until the protective mechanism is fully understood," says senior study author Lindsay Farrer, PhD,
of Boston University School of Medicine and Public Health.
Healthful
Hops?
The antioxidants in alcoholic beverages may be responsible for alcohol's health benefits. Evidence
suggests that antioxidants protect against heart disease, cancer, and some other diseases. Margo Denke, MD, associate professor
of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, says that although the antioxidant contents of
red wine and beer are equivalent, barley and hops contain antioxidants called flavonoids, that are different from those found
in grapes. Whether there is also a difference in their health benefits is not known.
Are
Genes Involved?
A Harvard School of Public Health study suggests that a gene called alcohol dehydrogenase
3 (ADH3), which controls the breakdown (metabolism) of ethanol, is associated with alcohol's heart benefits in moderate
drinkers. People with an ADH3 gene that results in slow metabolism of alcohol appear to benefit more than those with a gene
that produces rapid metabolism. Slow metabolizers have a 35% reduced risk of heart attack when they have at least one drink per day, compared with fast metabolizers.
Are you a slow or fast metabolizer?
So far the only way to find out is to undergo genetic testing.
Not
Everyone Should Drink
Even moderate drinking has been linked to the development of breast cancer in some studies. Women with a family history of breast cancer should drink less than one drink a day, or avoid alcohol altogether.
Will Your Doctor Prescribe a Drink?
"The benefits of moderate alcohol consumption
have not been generally endorsed by physicians for fear that heavy [drinkers] may consider any message as a permissive license
to drink in excess," says Dr. Denke.
Doctors must weigh the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption
against the risk for potential alcohol abuse in each individual patient. Although moderate alcohol consumption seems to provide
health benefits, the negative consequences of excessive alcohol consumption are far greater.
Three Things We Can Do to Lower The Price
of Oil
The good news is that prices for oil and
gasoline are made on the margins — if America cuts its oil use by 10% or even 5%, that should send the price lower
... maybe a lot lower.
After all, 5% of the 20.6 million barrels
we use every day is about 1 million barrels per day. That's more than the current spare capacity on the global market.
So let me tell you what we need to do to get there — and I'll start
by saying you aren't going to like it.
1) Bring
Back 55-Mile-Per-Hour Speed Limits. America has amnesia. That's the only explanation for why our elected leaders
don't know how to deal with an energy crisis. After all, we've had one before. And how did we solve it? One part of
the solution was driving 55 mph.
The 55-mph speed limit was
repealed in 1995. With apologies to Sammy Hagar and his song, "I Can't Drive 55," we all have to start
driving at slower speeds again.
The average driver uses 22.8 barrels of oil
per year. Driving at 55 mph, depending on what speed you have been driving previously, could increase your fuel efficiency
anywhere from 7% to 21%. For every mile per hour faster than 55 mph you go, fuel economy drops by about 1%.
According to fueleconomy.gov, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60
mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas. In other words, if you're paying $3.60 per gallon gasoline,
and you drive 80 mph, you're actually paying $4.40 per gallon.
Driving
at slower speeds, along with other tips I talked about last week including regular maintenance for your car and keeping your
tires properly inflated, could — and should — be our first attack against higher oil and gas prices.
2) Telecommute. These are the facts: Nearly half of all commuters
travel more than 20 miles round-trip to and from work; 22% travel more than 40 miles; and 10% travel more than 60 miles. And
ALL of them could save a lot of money by telecommuting.
According
to a report by the American Electronics Association, an estimated 1.35 billion gallons of gasoline could be conserved annually
if every U.S. worker with the ability to telecommute did so 1.6 days per week (in other words, some people do it one day a
week, some work in their bathrobes two days per week).
Your
boss may not agree to let you telecommute. In that case, see if he or she will let you adjust your hours to come in and leave
30 minutes later or earlier, so you can avoid rush hour. Traffic congestion cuts your fuel efficiency by 10% to 15%. According
to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2003, drivers in the 85 most congested urban areas in the United States experienced
3.7 billion hours of travel delay, and as a result they burned 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel.
3) Peer Pressure. Humans are pack animals, and we respond to group-think like
any herd. If the leaders of the herd (President and Congress) get up and say it's our patriotic duty to do away with fuel
economy exemptions for SUVs ... if movies and TV shows in Hollywood show that conserving is "cool" and people who
drive big fat SUVs 80 miles roundtrip to work are "not cool" ... if the government, Hollywood and industry together
lay out the case for how telecommuting and conserving gas is the plain ol' smart thing to do, it could really help.
A few years back, humorist Bill Maher wrote
a book called "When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden." It was a riff on a propaganda poster from World War
II, "When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Hitler."
If
it was good enough for the "greatest generation" to conserve gasoline, it should be good enough for us, too. And
peer pressure — real leadership on this issue — will magnify the results from points #1 and #2.
Now let's have more fun with math and determine ...
Just How Much Can We Save?
According to data from the state of California, Americans use 456 gallons of gasoline per person per year. Roughly,
that's 400 million gallons of gasoline per DAY.
Simply
rolling back the speed limits and doing the other gas-saving tips I talked about cuts our gasoline use by 10%. That's
40 million gallons of gasoline per day, or 14.24 billion gallons of gasoline a year.
Now, there are 42 gallons in a barrel, right? But wait! Not all of the oil in a barrel is made into
gasoline — some is made into heating oil, jet fuel, diesel, etc. On average, only about 20 gallons of gasoline comes
out of your average oil barrel.
But bear with me and let's
assume a straight 42/1 ratio. That's 339 million barrels of oil per year.
And let's say that HALF of the people who can telecommute actually do so, one or two days a week. Half of
1.35 billion gallons is 675 million gallons, or 16 million barrels.
So
these two steps together could potentially save 355 million barrels a year. And that's nearly 5% of what America uses.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cut America's gasoline use by 6%, and
we saw gasoline futures contracts drop by 33%. I'm not saying things would work out exactly the same — we do have
that rip-roaring demand from Asia to account for — but a 33% drop at my corner gas station would bring the price down
to less than $2.50 a gallon.
And that, my friend, is how you
get cheap gas.
Already a regular
sight on the streets of Paris, Rome, Barcelona and London, the Smart fortwo coupe has now arrived in the United States.
BONUS TIP: Buy a more fuel efficient car. A vehicle that gets
25 MPG will cost you $900 less to fuel each year than one that gets 15 MPG (assuming 15,000 miles of driving annually and
a fuel cost of $3.60). Over five years, that increases to a savings of $4,500.
Americans are already cluing in to this solution. Last month, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States
was a compact or subcompact. When the SUV craze was at its peak a decade ago, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a
small car.
What's more, sales of big SUVs are down more
than 25% this year. And last month saw sales of vehicles with four-cylinder engines pass those of six-cylinder models.
It takes four to five years to turn over America's auto fleet, so this isn't
a short-term solution. In fact, it may take longer than that. But it's one we're going to have to take. American cars
get on average 22 miles per gallon. In Europe, the average car gets 32 miles per gallon.
Pledge to Hedge: A High-Tech Way to Boost Your Vehicle’s Gas Mileage
By
Keith Fitz-Gerald
By Keith Fitz-Gerald
I begin today with a startling number: 5.2.
That’s
the percentage my gas mileage improved when I added Pulstar Pulse Spark Plugs to my 1991 Mazda Miata.
Made by the Albuquerque,
N.M.-based Enerpulse Inc., Pulstar Plugs are the latest in a series of innovative new products that I’ve employed as part of my stated goal of cutting my family’s
household energy and resources budget by 25%. These aren’t actual endorsements, but are instead anecdotes aimed at telling
you what my family and I have done, and the products and technologies we’ve employed in our attempt to hit our goal.
My
research told me that Pulstar Plugs represent a new technology that increases a car’s gas mileage, as well as its power
and performance - all of which reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. In the context of my overall budget-reduction goal, a 5.2%
increase in gas mileage doesn’t seem like a major attention grabber, but when you realize that it’s the equivalent
of a few free gallons of gasoline every month, we’re all over it.
If you’ve never heard of Pulstar Plugs,
or Enerpulse, it’s only because the company is just starting to really accelerate. According to the company, which was
founded in 1996, the so-called “Pulsed Power Technology” (PPT) that’s central to the spark plugs was developed
by Enerpulse with the assistance of the nearby Sandia National Laboratories.
Originally, the plugs were developed for the high-performance after-market. But as fuel prices moved higher, Enerpulse
increasingly viewed them as a potential replacement for the 1.5 billion spark plugs sold each year, Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Parker said in an interview last summer.
To help with its shift toward the consumer market, Enerpulse last July raised $5.5 million in second-round venture
financing (the company has raised $8 million overall, according to published reports). By December, Pulstar Plugs - which
previously had only been sold online by the company from its Web site - were being sold at retail through The Pep Boys (PBY) auto-parts chain. According to some reports, the company is now growing at a rate of 20% a month.
According to my
research, what makes Pulstar plugs different from traditional spark plugs is the capacitor-based circuit mounted inside each
plug. It captures the energy that’s normally wasted by traditional plugs and produces a spark that’s 10 times
“brighter” and more efficient.
The
net gain is a huge jump in the fuel that’s actually burned with each discharge - in two billionths of a second. Not
only is the ignition process made more precise, but the higher energy pulse typically results in a cleaner, faster burn that
translates into better fuel economy, more power, and lower emissions.
I noticed immediately that my car ran smoother
and is faster when running through the gears, while my wife noticed that the garage didn’t smell as much when I first
fired up the Miata’s motor.
In contrast to my simple anecdotal testing, Enerpulse has conducted very scientific,
well-documented analysis on a variety of vehicles, with consistent results. And cars from Corvettes to Mercedes have shown
improvements.
The company said it even made a Toyota Prius greener to the tune of 6% to 8% in additional miles per gallon.
I find that to be most impressive considering that
the 2005 and 2007 “hybrids” Enerpulse tested already get more than 50 miles per gallon. So is the 5% increase
in acceleration, particularly when you consider that hybrid owners typically give up performance in their quest for high mileage.
The
other thing really worth noting here is that the three mile-per-gallon increase for each of the Prius models tested translates
into 1,344 pounds of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions that won’t foul the planet over the next four years (which
is the projected life of a Pulstar plug).
At $24.95 per spark plug, Pulstar Plugs clearly aren’t cheap - that’s
five to eight times the cost of a conventional plug, a ceramic-and-steel device that lacks any circuitry at all.
If
you’re a longtime “Gearhead” like I am (Here’s a Money Morning secret…Executive Editor Bill Patalon is equally
afflicted), there’s another benefit worth noting: At $8 per horsepower gained, Pulstar Plugs are one of the cheapest
ways to increase horsepower, costing even less than such traditional “bolt-on” horsepower boosters as nitrous
oxide, exhaust headers, or low-restriction exhaust systems.
Best of all, Pulstar Plugs are perfect replacements for
factory plugs, meaning you should be able to install them easily in just a few minutes - without having to make any modifications
to your car’s motor.
When you stroll through the
supermarket these days, you might think your eyes are playing tricks on you. But according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), it’s no illusion: Americans are seeing the worst food inflation in 17 years. In fact, retail food prices rose
a whopping 4 percent in 2007 alone. Why such staggering increases? Read on as we uncover the reasons—and reveal the
7 most inflated foods in America.
Understanding Sticker Shock Why is your grocery bill skyrocketing?
Experts point to a variety of factors, including higher transport costs due to rising fuel prices, increasing global food
demand, the weak dollar, speculation in the commodities markets, and a series of unfortunate weather events.
In
addition, USDA economists cite dramatic increases in ethanol production. Ethanol, a gasoline fuel alternative, is made from
corn or sugarcane, and when its production increases, the prices of these two commodities tend to rise in tandem.
The resulting corn shortage has also produced an escalating demand for alternative grains, such as wheat and soybeans, making
those crops more costly, too. According to the United Nations, global wheat prices have risen 130 percent since March
2007, while soy prices have risen 87 percent.
7 Most Inflated Food Prices How does all of
this affect your bottom line? If the following items are on your shopping list, your grocery bill could be sky high.
1. Beans. They’ve always been considered a perfect food for people on a budget,
but these days, beans aren’t quite the bargain they used to be. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer
Price Index (CPI) reports that the cost of dried beans rose 21.6 percent between March 2007 and March 2008.
2.
Eggs. According to the CPI, the cost of eggs skyrocketed 18 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. What do these price
hikes mean for you? While you could have picked up a dozen Grade A eggs for $1.45 in 2006, the same carton will cost you an
average of $2.18 in 2008.
3.Dairy Products. It’s not easy when
an entire food group is inflated, but such is the case with dairy products, which increased 11 percent overall from May 2007
to May 2008, according to the CPI. Which ones will make the biggest dent in your wallet? Cheese is up 14 percent, milk more
than 10 percent, ice cream nearly 6 percent, and butter almost 4 percent.
4. Cereal. Since May
2007, increased corn, wheat, and energy prices have pushed production costs for cereals up 10.5 percent. According to the
CPI, retail prices for cereal increased 4.4 percent in 2007 and are projected to rise approximately 8 percent by the end of
2008. In fact, after its fourth-quarter profits plummeted 17 percent in 2007, the manufacturer of Wheaties cereal announced
that it would raise prices. Think a muffin might be an affordable alternative? Think again. The CPI indicates that baked goods
are just as inflated.
5. Chicken. Soaring gas prices have caused a spike in the production of
ethanol fuel, resulting in increased corn prices. Since corn is often the main component of chicken feed, the poultry industry
has taken on the extra cost of feeding its animals—and passed along the price increase to you. In fact, the CPI shows
that chicken prices increased 4.5 percent from May 2007 to May 2008.
6. White Bread. Among
pantry staples, flour has seen some of the most dramatic price increases in recent years. In fact, the average cost per pound
for flour was $0.34 in 2007 but rose to $0.42 by 2008. Not surprisingly, the cost of white bread is also way up, from a national
average of $1.05 per pound in 2006 to $1.28 in 2008, reports the BLS.
7. Apples. You might assume
that price hikes on poultry, dairy, and carbs may force Americans to start eating more fruit. Well, not so fast. The cost
of fresh produce is also soaring, and one of the most inflated fruits is the apple. In fact, a pound of Red Delicious apples
cost $0.96 in 2006; by 2008, it was up to $1.16.
September 21, 2008
Remember the Numbers "7" and "3" By Dr. David Eifrig Jr.
Trust me, it's not often I'm truly appalled. In reality, I'm rarely surprised
that political bodies don't protect us. And I have no illusions about how easily lobbyists with money can alter the search
for truth.
But the facts I just learned about plastic
chemical bisphenol A (BPA) gave me a genuine shock...
The
news first came to my attention when Carli, a member of our editorial staff, gave me an article last week from the local newspaper,
the Baltimore Sun. I flippantly glanced at it because I recalled hearing a report that said BPA was safe.
But over the weekend, I read a bit more about this nasty-sounding stuff
and was horrified.
The bad news: 90%-95% of us have
BPA in our bodies and our urine. And the evidence shows this stuff is dangerous at best and deadly at worst.
The good news: You can do something about it.
BPA's full name is 4,4-dihydroxy-2,2-diphenylpropane. It's been used since
the 1950s to make polycarbonate, a hard plastic used in a vast array of products including CDs and baby bottles. It is even
used in most canned foods and beverages. If you use these things (and who doesn't), you probably have the stuff inside
your body.
The original safety studies from the 1970s
simply looked at high doses and concluded that weight loss was the only side effect...
But it actually only takes low doses of BPA to alter many hormones in the body. BPA
creates even more havoc in young babies. If not for a 1998 lab mishap, we might have believed the old studies.
Luckily,
scientists noticed some lab mice had suddenly started showing genetic changes – chromosome errors – after their
cages and water bottles were cleaned with a harsh detergent. The researchers discovered the cleaner was not at fault, but
the plastics in the cages and bottles were. After cleaning (and even heating) the water bottles, the BPA started to leak (the
technical term is "leach") to the surface of the plastics and into the water. The mice were exposed and... voila...
genetic changes.
The real test came when the plastic
was removed... and the changes reversed.
One
of the most harmful traits of BPA is its attraction to estrogen receptors. (Sadly, research pointed to the effect on estrogen
as early as the 1930s.)
From what I've
read, BPA can increase the risk of:
•
Birth defects
•
Miscarriages
•
Stroke
•
Diabetes
•
Heart Disease
•
Prostate
cancer
•
Neurological defects in non-human primates (monkeys)
•
Cancer
One BPA researcher, Frederick Vom Saal, points out most studies of BPA show harmful effects. Of the 218 studies on
BPA, 189 report harm. This is a rate of 87%. The government's own National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded several
studies that showed harm.
At this point in my reading
I was fuming, but when I got to a recent article and editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association
I became irate... deeply concerned for my health. You should be, too.
This article confirmed the earlier urine study and found 90% of people had BPA in their bodies. And shockingly,
people with higher concentrations of BPA also had 2-3 times the risk of disease... diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Of course, the almighty FDA states this on its website (as of 9/18/08):
Based on our ongoing review, we believe there is a large body of
evidence that indicates that FDA-regulated products containing BPA currently on the market are safe and that exposure levels
to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects.
Hmmm... What is the FDA reading?
Although the government funded most of the studies (204) cited by Vom Saal, chemical
corporations did fund 14 of them. Not surprisingly (but disappointingly), all 14 of those studies showed no harm. For example,
a Society of the Plastics Industry study from 2002 found that BPA did not harm rats.
Another 15 studies used a type of rat that is basically immune to hormones like estrogen.
Since the problems with BPA are associated with hormones, it's not surprising that no harm was shown in those studies.
We can throw those results out. This means 98% of the valid studies showed harm.
So how do we protect ourselves? It's not easy to tell what products have BPA. But one
easy place to look is on your plastic bottles and containers. Check the bottom for the stamped number "3" or "7."
Those have the BPA. Even plastics with just "PC" (polycarbonate) stamped on the bottom have the stuff.
Here's what I'm going to do!
1.
Throw out all things in my house with a "3," "7,"
or "PC" stamped on the bottom of the bottle.
2.
Avoid
canned food and beverages, and opt for glass more often.
3.
Eat more
fresh vegetables and fruits (of course, this has other benefits, too).
4.
Buy liquids in cardboard cartons.
5.
Use drinking
glasses instead of plastic cups.
6.
Throw out all the old "athletic"
drinking bottles.
I look for
simple, cheap, and safe things to improve the long-term quality of my life. Avoiding BPA is one of them.
Here's to our health,
David Eifrig Jr., M.D., M.B.A.
The 10 Greenest Cities in America
Is your city doing its part to save the planet?
Find out if you live in one of the 10 most environmentally friendly cities.
Quality Health
News
From
solar-powered cars to water conservation to state-wide recycling programs, it appears that America really is beginning to
"go green." And as more people learn about the role they can play in saving the planet, many are taking responsibility
for their own environmental actions.
Amid the ecological advances, some cities deserve recognition for going above
and beyond in this important cause. We've compiled a list of the 10 greenest cities, based on resource conservation, waste
emissions, public-transportation use, recycling habits, eco-friendly buildings, and green space (according to data from the
U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the National Geographic Society's Green Guide). See if your city
made the list.
1. Portland, Oregon.Portland was the first American city to adopt
a Global Warming Action Plan, which has kept CO2 emissions down and helped Portland General Electric become one of the greenest
power companies in the United States. The city also runs a comprehensive system of light rail, buses, and bike lanes to help
keep cars off the roads. There's no shortage of green space either-- 92,000 acres, to be exact--and more than 74 miles
of hiking, running, and biking trails.
2. San Francisco, California. The city's popular transportation
system, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), has significantly cut back on the area's need for cars. And thanks to the year-round
near-perfect weather, commuting by bike has become a daily routine for approximately 17 percent of locals. Through the leadership
of Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco recently became the first city in the country to ban the use of petroleum-based plastic
shopping bags in grocery stores--and the mayor is cracking down on single-serving plastic water bottles as well.
3.
Boston, Massachusetts.This New England city is the home of the first airport terminal to be certified
by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. This system, developed by the U.S.
Green Building Council, is the national benchmark for design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings.
Buildings can receive one of four levels of certification--certified, silver, gold, or platinum--based on how they score in
six areas, including water efficiency, use of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Boston law
now requires that all new buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to earn at least a silver rating under the LEED program.
4. Berkeley, California. This sunny city boasts one of the highest rates of pedestrian
and bike commuting, and special biking boulevards are abundant throughout the area. Berkeley is also the home of University
of California, Berkeley, which recently received a grant that will enable the school to develop new and improved energy sources.
5. Seattle, Washington. In 2005, Mayor Greg Nickels helped form the Seattle Climate Partnership, a
voluntary pact among Seattle-area employers to reduce their own emissions and to work together to help meet the community-wide
goal. Twelve local employers, including coffee behemoth Starbucks, have jumped on the bandwagon. And how's this for a
first? City Light, Seattle's energy utility company, was the first utility to attain zero net emissions of climate pollution.
6. Chicago, Illinois. The Windy City purchases renewable energy and has aggressive
policies in place to promote green building and recycle construction waste. The locals are environmentally friendly, too--nearly
80 percent take part in curbside recycling. Also in full effect is the Bike 2015 Plan, which aims to have 5 percent of all
trips of less than five miles accomplished by bike. Chicago additionally offers tax incentives to residents who buy historic
homes and install energy-efficient technologies.
7. New York City. More than 20 percent of commuters
in the Big Apple travel to and from their destinations by bicycle or foot. What's more, the Hearst Tower and 7 World Trade
Center, both completed in 2006, are gold-level LEED buildings, boasting features such as rainwater collection, natural lighting,
and recycled steel.
8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several initiatives set the City of Brotherly Love
apart. GreenPlan Philadelphia aims to provide a long-term, sustainable roadmap for using, acquiring, developing, funding,
and managing open space in the city's neighborhoods. Then there's Philadelphia's Energy Cooperative, an independent
power supplier that sources electricity off the roofs of residents who own solar electric systems. For those wanting to generate
their own, city and federal tax incentives will pay for up to 60 percent of solar-powered hot water systems.
9.
Minneapolis, Minnesota. The state of Minnesota has set one of the country's first state renewable
energy standards, a move that will require 25 percent of electricity to come from renewable resources. Minneapolis itself
recently celebrated the birth of its light rail line, which heavily exceeded expected ridership in its first year. What's
more, nature abounds in this Midwest city, with more than 15 percent of the city's land devoted to parks and preserves,
plus thousands of nearby lakes.
10. Austin, Texas. Keep Austin Beautiful, a community program aimed
at decreasing litter, reducing waste, and conserving resources, is all the rage in this Texan town. Through an aggressive
strategy that involves taking advantage of the city's strong sunlight, Austin is also working hard to make both residential
and commercial building codes the most energy-efficient in the nation.
Five ways to recycle your Christmas tree
Once the holiday lights go out, give your Christmas tree
new life with these five creative ways to extend its usefulness:
Winter birds will appreciate using the tree for shelter
in your backyard. Secure the trunk to the ground with wire, twine, or stakes.
Entice even more backyard visitors
by adding suet, molded seeds, or homemade treats such as pine cones smeared with peanut butter or strings of popcorn or cranberries.
Chop or grind smaller branches to make mulch for flowers, trees, and shrubs. Cut larger branches into small bundles that
will offer winter protection when placed around newly planted perennials and small shrubs. Remove the branches in spring,
when the plants begin to grow again.
If you have a fish pond, sink the tree to create a refuge and feeding area for fish.
Save the needles to create potpourri—a
great gift idea for next holiday. Dry the branches, remove and crumble the needles, and mix with cinnamon sticks and whole
cloves. Store in jars with lids.
It's Good to Know: 5 Things You Might Not Know You Can Do on Google
1. Enter "define" in the Google search box, then a colon,
then a space, and then the word or expression you want defined.
2. Find out what Google thinks about just about anything or anyone (including you) at www.googlism.com.
3. Enter an airplane's tail
number in the Google search box to find out the plane's service history.
4. Yankees or Red Sox? Heaven or hell? Pen or sword? Which one gets more Google hits?
Find out this and much more at www.googlefight.com.
5. Enter a few key ingredients
to get many recipes.
So there you are. Standing in the produce section at your local grocery store. On your left is a large stack of deep green,
freshly misted broccoli. On your right is a second stack, just as lovely as the first. But the second stack is organic, and
almost twice the price. Your pocketbook says buy the first, but your desire to provide healthy, nutritious food for your family
says buy the second. Is there really a difference between the two? And is it worth it?
Conventional
vs. Organic: What’s the Difference?
The difference between organic and conventional food begins
with the production process. Conventional farmers have the option to use things like pesticides, fertilizers containing synthetic
ingredients, sewage sludge (the semi-solid waste byproduct from municipal sewage treatment plants), or bioengineering to help
produce their crops. Organic farmers, on the other hand, use none of these things. Instead, they use strategies like crop
rotation, mulching, and manure to help them grow their products.
This difference applies equally to plant
and animal products. For example, animals used to produce organic products, such as meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products
are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. The following table lists the differences between conventional and organic farming:
Conventional
Versus Organic Farming
Conventional
Organic
Use chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth
Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure
or compost to feed the soil and plants
Apply insecticides to reduce pests and disease
Use beneficial insects (insects that eat other insects) and birds to reduce pests and disease
May use antibiotics, growth hormones, and medications to prevent disease and promote growth
Give
animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors; rely on preventive measures, rotational grazing, a balanced diet,
and clean housing to reduce disease
How Can
I Be Certain My Organic Food is Really Organic?
Until just last year, it was difficult to know what the
term “organic” meant unless you were familiar with complicated sets of rules set by individual states and private
institutions. However, in October 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented national organic standards
for agricultural products. These standards regulate the way all foods bearing the USDA organic label are grown, handled, and
processed. The only exception to these standards is small organic farmers who sell less than $5,000 a year in organic foods.
These new standards means that organic products or products making organic claims, regardless of where in the
country they are produced, now fall into four clear categories, only two of which are allowed to display the USDA organic
label. The following table lists these categories and outlines clearly what products making these claims may, and may not
contain.
USDA
Organic Food Labeling Requirements
100 % organic products (This product may
display the USDA organic seal.)
Must contain 100% organically produced ingredients, not including added
water and salt.
Organic products (This product may display the USDA organic
seal.)
Must contain at least 95% organic ingredients, not including added water and salt. Must not contain
sulfites. May contain up to 5% of: non-organically produced agricultural ingredients not commercially available in organic
form or other substances.
Made with organic ingredients (or similar statement;
this product may not display the USDA organic seal.)
Must contain at least 70% organic ingredients, not
including added water and salt. Must not contain added sulfites; except that wine may contain small amounts of sulfur dioxide.
May contain up to 30% of:Non-organically produced agricultural ingredients or other substances, including yeast.
Made with some organic ingredients (This product may not display the USDA organic seal.)
May contain at least 70% organic ingredients, not including added salt or water. May contain over 30% of: non-organically
produced agricultural ingredients or other substances.
People who sell or label a
product as organic when they know it does not meet USDA standards can be fined up to $10,000 for per violation.
Going Organic
People who choose to “go organic”
do so for many more reasons than just the price of broccoli. Here’s a list of things you may want to keep in mind while
making up your own mind.
Nutrition
The USDA does
not claim that organic food is any better, or any less nutritious than food produced by conventional methods. The only difference
between organic foods and conventionally produced foods is the way they are grown, handled, and processed.
Quality and Appearance
Organic foods must meet the same standards of quality
and safety as conventionally produced food. However, you may notice organic foods look less perfect (odd shapes, varying colors,
smaller sizes) than conventionally produced foods. You may also notice that organic fruits and vegetables spoil slightly faster.
This is because conventionally produced foods are often selected for their perfect appearance and then treated with waxes
or preservatives to prolong their shelf life.
Pesticides
Some people buy organic foods as a way of avoiding exposure to the pesticides conventional farmers use to protect
their crops from molds, insects, and disease, and this may be a factor in your decision making. However, most experts agree
that the small amounts of residual pesticides found on conventionally grown produce poses a very small health risk to humans,
and that the health benefits of eating fresh produce far outweigh any risks.
Environment
Many people opt for organic products because they support the goal of organic farming, which is to benefit the
environment by reducing pollution and conserving soil and water.
Cost
Cost is often a consideration when making the decision to purchase organic products. Most organic products do
cost more than their conventionally produced counterparts. This is because the practices used to produce them are more expensive
than those used to produce conventional products.
Taste
Some people claim to be able to taste the difference between organic and nonorganic foods. Others say they cannot.
Taste is a personal and very subjective consideration.
Buying
Tips
In the end, deciding whether buying organic is right for you will be a highly personal decision.
Here are some additional buying tips to keep in mind:
In order to ensure the highest quality,
buy your produce in season.
Try to buy your produce on the day it’s delivered. Ask your grocer what day new
produce arrives.
Read food labels carefully. Even some organic foods can be high in sugar, salt, fat, or calories.
Don’t confuse natural with organic. These terms are not interchangeable, nor are other common terms like free-range
or hormone free. Only foods clearly labeled organic have met USDA organic standards.
Wash all produce thoroughly
before eating it.
If you’re concerned about pesticides, try peeling your produce, or trimming the outer leaves
so you can wash it thoroughly. Trim fat from meat and the skin of poultry and fish as some pesticides may collect there as
well.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
The Odds of Dying in ...
· Motor
vehicle: 1-in-84 · Motorcyle: 1-in-938 · Bicycle: 1-in-4,472 · Air travel: 1-in-5,552 · Bus: 1-in-94,242 · Train:
1-in-139,617
· Dating a millionaire: 215-to-1 · Writing NYTimes bestseller: 220-to-1 · Finding four-leaf clover on
1st try: 10,000-to-1 · Getting Rich on 'Antiques Roadshow': 60,000-to-1 ·
Dating a supermodel: 88,000-to-1
A Case of Bad Luck
The Odds You'll ... · Be a Victim of ID Theft: 1-in-465 · Have an adverse reaction to a
prescription drug: 1-in-3,000 · Be sued by the RIAA for illegal filesharing: 1-in-4,666 ·
Be wrongly declared dead by a Social Security data entry mistake: 1-in-23,483 · Die
from a food-borne illness this year: 1-in-33,333
· Assault by Firearm*: 1-in-325 · Poisoning*: 1-in-1,400 ·
Murder this year: 1-in-16,917 · Strangulation*: 1-in-34,424
True
Believers
The Odds of Believing ...
· That it's better
to be poor and thin, than rich and fat: 2-in-3* · You are "extremely stressed": 1-in-3 · That the best way to get rich is to win the lottery: 1-in-5 · Your
tattoo was a mistake**: 1-in-7 · You saw a UFO: 1-in-7
Work It
The Odds That You...
· Have fallen asleep or have felt very sleepy at
work in the last month: 1-in-3 · Work at a job where you never get a paid day off: 1-in-4 · Plan to take sick days this summer to go to the beach or go shopping: 3-in-10 ·
Do not have health insurance: 1-in-7 · Leave home for your commute to work before 6
a.m. to beat traffic: 1-in-8
An Apple a Day
The Odds of Dying From ...
· Heart disease: 1-in-438 · Cancer this year: 1-in-600 ·
Staph infection: 1-in-16,146 · Measles: 1-in-300,000,000
When It
Comes to Kids
The Odds ...
· Your child will be involved
in a school bus accident this year: 1-in-29,180 · Your baby will be delivered by c-section
this year: 1-in-3 · You cannot find Iraq on a map, if you are between age 18 to 24: 2-in-3 · You will have a car crash within the first year of driving (if you are 16 years old): 1-in-5
If You Wondered ...
The Odds ...
· You've
been caught picking your nose while driving, if you're a man: 1-in-2 · You were injured last
year opening a plastic "clamshell" package: 1-in-4,615 · You are a practicing nudist: 1-in-6,000
· You will get injured by a toilet this year: 1-in-10,000
MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) -- University of Minnesota researchers say they have developed a Web site
that provides information on roadway fatalities by typing in in an address.
The Center for Excellence in Rural
Safety at the University of Minnesota mapped out every fatality in the nation with details on each death, so drivers can see
the "dead man's curve" on their commute or the "devil's triangle" in their backyard.
The Web site www.saferoadmaps.org provides vehicle crash data involving fatalities as well as a satellite image of the location of the fatalities. Users can
narrow down a search to see the age of the driver, whether speeding or drinking was a factor and if the driver was wearing
a seat belt.
"When drivers type in their most common routes, they're shocked how much blood is being
shed on it," Tom Horan, research director for CERS, said in a statement. "When it's the route you or your loved
ones use, the need to buckle up, slow down and avoid distractions and drinking suddenly becomes much more personal and urgent."
When I was young, my mom
would take water rings off our coffee table with toothpaste. Today, I use toothpaste for a number of things... especially
when I'm traveling and have to limit the amount of "stuff" I bring with me.
1. Bee sting ointment. If you can't get ice for
your bee sting, dab a little toothpaste on it. It's rumored to be the very best home remedy. (Also works to relieve the
itch of a mosquito bite.)
2.
An overnight zit cream. I find that if I dab just a spot of toothpaste on a rebellious pimple before I go to bed, it's
near gone by morning.
3.
Jewelry cleaner. Simply put a small amount of toothpaste on a soft cloth and rub it on your dry jewelry. Use a soft cotton
swab for the smaller, hard-to-reach spots. Then rinse it off.
4. Shoe cleaner. Toothpaste and a cloth or old toothbrush are great for cleaning the white rubber
parts of tennis shoes.
5.
Bathroom mirror defogger. When I'm in the shower and my husband wants to shave, he squeezes a pea-sized amount of
toothpaste on the mirror and wipes it clean. Voila! The mirror stays clear.
6. CD and DVD scratch repair. Apply a very small amount
of toothpaste (not the baking soda kind) to the disc and rub it off with a soft cloth. Scratches gone!
[Ed. Note: Lori Allen is the director of AWAI's Travel
Division. You'll find tips like these, along with information on travel writing and photography, in her free e-letter
"The Right Way to Travel." To sign up, click here.]
Blueberries have been lauded for their
antioxidant ability and cancer-fighting effects. But another berry may offer protection against some of the deadliest forms of cancer.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh evaluated the effect of a compound extracted from blackberries
called cyanidin-3-rutinoside (C-3-R) on cultured human leukemia cells. The C-3-R was tested on several cell lines of human
leukemia, and the test was repeated using cell cultures of lymphoma, another immune-based cancer. The scientists found that
when applied at low doses, C-3-R killed half the cancer cells within 18 hours of treatment. When applied at higher doses,
the blackberry extract killed all cancer cells present within 18 hours.
According to cancer expert and researcher Gary Stoner, 1.5 to 2 cups of fresh berries may be the
ideal dose for staving off certain types of cancer. So whether you choose marionberries (the "Cabernet of blackberries"),
traditional evergreen blackberries, or big and bold boysenberries, you'll get a burst of summer-fresh flavor... and a
bushel of cancer protection to boot.
How to Check Out Your Doctor
Charles B. Inlander
People's
Medical Society
tudies show that people looking for a new doctor usually ask a friend or family member for a recommendation before using
other sources of information. But while a friend or relative's experience with a doctor can be helpful, neither person
is likely to know the background information that is necessary to make a really informed choice. In the not-too-distant past,
it was next to impossible for the average patient to find information about a doctor's professional credentials. Today,
there are a variety of ways to easily find these facts.
Use the Internet. The Internet has
become the single greatest source for researching physicians, but many people don't know where to start. There are several
Web sites -- many of them available at no charge -- that give basic data on just about every licensed doctor. For example,
I recommend www.findadoc.com, created by doctors and computer programmers, because it allows you to quickly look up a doctor and find out where he/she
trained, whether he is board certified and the typical time spent in the waiting room. Another Web site, www.healthgrades.com, is similar but provides even more information on a doctor, including any malpractice judgments or disciplinary actions taken
by a state licensing board. However, a report on a doctor costs $29.95. And you can get most of the same information -- at
no cost -- by using the sources listed below...
To learn about board certification, the American
Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), which represents the medical boards with the strictest physician specialty requirements,
hosts an excellent Web site at www.abms.org. It offers free verification of a doctor's board-certification status. Or you can call the ABMS at 866-275-2267.
To
learn about disciplinary actions taken against doctors, state medical licensing boards are usually the best
resource. The American Medical Association's Web site has direct links to every state board at www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2645.html. You also can call your local or county court and ask the clerk of the court about any medical malpractice cases that have
been filed against a local doctor. Most non-court sources of information about malpractice, such as state licensing boards
or physician-rating Web sites, include only judgments -- not settlements or cases filed.
Ask a nurse.
Nurses are wonderful -- but underutilized -- sources of information and insight about local doctors. If you know a nurse,
ask for input on your doctor or one you're considering using.
Interview before choosing. When selecting
a new primary care doctor or specialist, set up an interview appointment. Ask about anything that your research has uncovered
or any other points you would like to know about a doctor's background or experience. Most insurance plans will cover
the cost of this visit.
Can Cell Phones Really Trigger Alzheimer's?
By Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD
Can
you hear me now?
How does the idea of playing Russian roulette with your brain sound? How'd you like to live a healthy
lifestyle and come down with a horrible disease, like Alzheimer's, simply because you were using your cell phone?
Not
too pleasant a thought, is it?
Well, perhaps you're aware of the recent news from the prestigious University of
Pittsburgh Cancer Center warning of cell phone risks to your immune system and bone marrow. Their recent research report,
published online, reveals that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones may pose a serious risk for developing
brain cancer, as well as eye cancer and acoustic neuromas, a benign tumor of the nerve in the ear leading to deafness, which
needs surgery to be removed.1,2
Recently, Dr. Paul Song, a radiation oncologist from Los Angeles, appeared
on Larry King live and was asked about the dangers of carrying your cell phone on your hip and holding it next to your head.
Here is what he said:
"Surprisingly, the concern about radio frequency exposure is not so much for the brain or
the hip, but really the testes or the eyes. Those are the areas that are most sensitive to radio frequency, because they get
hot and they don't have the blood vessels to cool off."3
But that's not all.
An
earlier published paper revealed that cell phone radiation kills brain cells that are associated with learning and memory,
and may therefore trigger Alzheimer's.4
How can that be?
Now, although this study was carried
out in rats, it still adds fuel to the fire over the controversy about cells phone safety.
Let me tell you why.
Rats
and humans have very similar brains -- they both have the same blood-brain barrier and brain cells or neurons -- leading researchers
to suggest that similar effects would also occur in humans.
In this cited study, the rats were exposed to two
hours of radiation equal to that emitted by mobile phones. Upon examination 50 days later, researchers found a multitude of
dead brain cells in rats exposed to the radiation.
The scientists also hypothesized that in people whose
neurons are prone to Alzheimer's disease -- either from genetics, family history, increased age, or poor lifestyle --
radiation from mobile phones may trigger the disease.4
Let me be very clear: to some people this research
is very controversial. To others, it's what's called emerging science and is in the same place where the knowledge
about cigarettes was -- say 40 years ago or so. I remember seeing ads in antique magazines, even medical journals, that said
not only was smoking harmless but, amazingly, was actually good for your breathing and digestion.
Only many years later,
after vociferous denials from tobacco companies, was the reality of the truth accepted -- smoking causes lung cancer, bladder
cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other forms of cancer as well as chronic lung disease, heart disease, strokes, and more.
And,
unfortunately, the same now holds true for the cell phone industry. The people in the corporations associated with the cell
phone industry seem to be trying to suppress any and all negative information to protect their own bottom lines.
During
the aforementioned discussion on CNN's Larry King Live on July 29th of this year, Mr. King reported on the response of
the cell phone industry to the warning issued by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center. Here is the direct transcript
form the show:
KING: LARRY KING LIVE contacted cell phone companies to take part in our program
today. We contacted T-Mobile, AT&T, Motorola, LG Electronics, Qualcom (sic), Nokia, Verizon, Samsung and Sprint. All declined
our invitation. We contacted Erickson (sic) too, [and] got no response. Many companies
we spoke with referred us to the association that represents the wireless industry. They too declined our invitation, but
they did give us this statement,
"This is an issue that should be guided by science. The overwhelming
majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the world show that wireless phones do not pose
a health risk. Furthermore, this is the public position of leading health organizations, such as the United States Food and
Drug Administration, the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization. Public statements and declarations not
guided by published scientific research can have the effect of misinforming the general public. As technology continues to
evolve, the industry supports continued research. But we want to stress the fact that there is a consensus among leading health
organizations concerning published scientific research, and they show no reason for concern."
Regardless
of the preliminary nature of these studies, the available data is striking and does beg the following question:
What
can you do right now to protect yourself from possible cell phone damage while waiting for the ongoing prospective studies
to give us a definitive answer; perhaps a decade from now?
Short of throwing your cell phone in the garbage,
there are a few widely accepted ideas.5
First of all, take these ideas very seriously. We are, after all,
nothing but electromagnetic energy and cell phone radiation may clash with that, causing extreme damage.
In addition,
here are some common sense ideas:
Curb calls inside buildings.
Limit time spent on the phone.
Limit
your exposure to WiFi routers.
Use the phone in open spaces as often as possible.
Use a wired headset to
limit your exposure to the cell phone.
Use the speaker phone instead of putting the phone to your ear.
Limit
use by children and pre-adolescents as much as possible, preferably for emergencies only.
And please
remember -- this is all the more reason to take care of your brain.
Let's do everything we can to protect ourselves
from yet another risk factor to our long-term mental and physical health. The important thing to remember is that you need
to be cautious, because we may not have the answer to this for at least another 10 years.
Best of Blessings,
Dr.
Dharma
I have been plugging a head set into my cell phone to keep it away from my head. I have heard people
say and my so called father that they make people beg to get jobs at sprint in kc, then they get radiation poisoning, work
in offices, they all go bald from radiation. Sprint has cell phone camera phones that 'you people' engineers, literal
science, create so their girls can take pictures of you getting murdered in the merrill lynch office and they can email
it, no one needs to put up with you' I SAY DROP A NUCLEAR BOMB ON MERRILL LYNCH IN KC AND STINSON MORRISON AND THE
COURT HOUSE.
5
Strange But True Health Facts
Some may be hard to believe, but all are true.
By Danielle Dowling, Quality Health News
Maggots can heal wounds. Yawns
are contagious. Laughter can keep the doctor away. Perhaps you've heard some of these before and have seriously doubted
their verity. Is it possible, though, that they really are true? Read on for five of the strangest--yet truest--health facts:
Drinking too much water can be harmful. A healthy kidney
can process anywhere from three-quarters to one liter of water per hour. If you consume more than that, though, you risk a
dangerous shift in your electrolyte balance, known as hyponatremia. The excess water in your blood begins to enter your cells,
which is harmful to the brain because cells have little or no room to expand. Brain swelling can ensue, leading to seizures,
coma, respiratory arrest, and even death. Water intoxication occurs rarely--about 300 cases are reported in the United States
each year--but it can be a particular concern to marathon runners (intense physical exertion causes the body to release vasopressin,
an antidiuretic hormone that instructs the kidneys to conserve water), children, and those with illnesses that affect electrolyte
balance.
A hearty laugh a day can keep the doctor away.
In 2005, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine reported that after patients in the study were shown
segments of a funny film, the inner lining of their blood vessels expanded an average of 22 percent. Such dilation plays an
important role in improving cardiovascular health and overall well-being.
Maggots and leeches are good for you. For years, maggots and leeches have been used for medicinal
purposes. They fell into disfavor with the rise of pharmaceuticals, but in 2004, they became FDA-approved medical "devices."
Despite the pharmacological and technological advances that have been made, nothing seems to match the way leeches can promote
circulation (especially in the damaged veins of reattached limbs) and the ability maggots possess to remove dead cells from
seriously infected wounds.
Yawns are contagious.
Well, at least 40 to 60 percent of the time. Scientists remain puzzled as to why this phenomenon occurs, though some theorize
that it might have originated from a time when we used visual rather than verbal cues to coordinate social behavior. And yawns
can be passed not only from human to human but from human to canine as well: A study published in the August issue of Biology
Letters showed that when a man yawned in front of a group of dogs, 72 percent of them responded in kind.
Men can get breast cancer, too. Although breast cancer in men is 100 times
less likely than it is in women, 2008 will bring an estimated 1,990 new cases of male breast cancer in the United States,
according to the American Cancer Society. Men and women are derived from the same blueprint, but varying hormones and hormonal
levels augment and diminish different body parts. So while a woman will develop breasts, a man will not. Yet he still has
the ducts and tissue that she has, and they are subject to cancer, especially if the man has a higher-than-normal estrogen
level due to heredity, disease, or environmental exposure.
It's Fun to Know: The Largest Oil Reserves in the Solar System
Scientists have found a source of natural gas and oil hundreds of times larger than that found on Earth.
But don't toss aside your worries about the rising price of gasoline just yet. This huge cache is on Titan, one of Saturn's
moons. Nightly oil and natural gas rainstorms on Titan form vast oceans and lakes of the liquid hydrocarbons. But with temperatures
reaching minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit, it's safe to say ExxonMobil won't be drilling there anytime soon.
(Source: LiveScience)
Tips To Make Your Home More Energy Efficient By ARA Content
(ARA) - Homeowners everywhere are giving inefficient windows and doors the cold shoulder
this year.
According to a recent study commissioned by JELD-WEN, a leading manufacturer of windows and doors, nearly
26 percent of homeowners say what they dislike most about their existing windows and doors is that they are drafty and inefficient.
As the temperature outside drops, homeowners notice that these inefficiencies quickly turn into rising utility bills.
As
much as half of the energy used in a home goes toward heating and cooling, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. To
minimize the energy and dollars spent to heat a home this winter, it's essential that windows and doors are energy efficient.
"Energy efficient windows and doors are crucial to maintaining a home's comfort during even the coldest months,"
says Brian Hedlund, product marketing manager for JELD-WEN. "Homeowners who replace single-pane glass windows with ENERGY
STAR qualified products can save $125 to $450 on energy costs annually, according to ENERGY STAR."
To maximize
a home's energy efficiency, consider the following tips:
Start at the front. A home's
front door can play a vital role as one of the first lines of defense against the elements. If a door does not close properly
or lets in a draft, a homeowner's utility bills can pay the price. Homeowners should check the weather-stripping and any
gaps around the door that can let heat escape. If these features cannot be easily fixed, it may be time to replace the door.
Glass matters. Choosing windows with insulated Low-E glass is an important step in making a room
more energy efficient because the special coating helps reflect some of the interior heat back into the home. These double-paned
windows also greatly enhance energy efficiency, compared to single-paned windows.
Vinyl windows have become exceedingly
popular because of their low maintenance and energy efficient features. For homeowners who prefer wood windows, manufacturers
like JELD-WEN have introduced "pocket" replacement windows that come with Low-E glass and are designed for installation
into existing window frames, which makes the process simpler, quicker and less damaging to a home's structure.
Drive
home efficiency. The garage is often forgotten when it comes to energy efficiency, but it's one of the largest
entry points of the home. The temperature of a garage greatly affects the overall temperature of the entire home. For energy
savings in the garage, find a proper-fitting garage door and make sure that the door leading from the garage to the inside
of the home is also energy efficient.
Energy efficiency pays off. Beyond the initial purchase
price of a product, consider the long-term value that energy efficient products offer in terms of annual measurable savings.
Homeowners who make energy efficient updates to their home, including windows and doors, can qualify for up to $500 in federal
tax credits if installed by Dec. 31, 2007.
Specifically, the tax credit for replacing exterior windows is 10 percent
the product cost, up to $200. The credit for exterior doors is 10 percent of the product cost, up to $500. The maximum amount
of homeowner credit for all improvements is $500.
Make Your Home More
Fuel Efficient
Old man winter is ‘a comin’. And that usually means high heating
bills. But there are some steps you can take to make your home as fuel efficient as possible while staying warm and toasty.
Use ceiling fans to move heat around a room.
If the air in your home is dry, consider a humidifier to
add moisture.
Keep doors and vents closed in unused rooms or depending on the heating zones, don’t turn the
heat on for that area. Use a throw rug or towel at the bottom of doors to keep cold drafts out.
On sunny days, open
drapes and blinds to let the sun warm your home. Prevent heat loss by using storm windows and doors. At night and on windy
days, keep your curtains closed.
Keep vents and chimneys clean and in good working order. When your fireplace in
not in use, keep the damper closed. Also keep return air grills and warm air outlets dust and lint free.
Change or
clean furnace filters once a month during the heating season. It will help your furnaces consume less energy.
While
sleeping, add an extra blanket for warmth. During the day, put on another layer (sweater, under tee, etc) instead of turning
up the heat.
The True Meaning of Success by Alexander Green
Dear Reader,
Over the
past several months, the headlines have been full of economic misery.
Foreclosure filings hit a record
in April. Repo lots overflow with reclaimed cars. And, according to The Washington Post, personal bankruptcies are
up 40%.
Some of those hardest hit are enduring a perfect storm in the economy: Higher food and energy
prices, a weak job market, rising mortgage payments, falling home values, and tougher lending standards.
Others,
however, are suffering for a different reason. They chased a blinkered image of success: The idea that status and self-worth
are derived from flashy cars, expensive jewelry, or a five-bedroom McMansion in a gated community.
If
you can afford these things, fine. Enjoy them. But if they are a stretch, a struggle... could they really be worth long hours,
strained relationships, or your kids continually asking "Where's Dad?"
After all, life
is short. Time expended earning a living is, in effect, trading life for cash.
We all have an overhead,
of course. But what else are you trading your life for?
I once heard a customer in a jewelry shop asking
the store manager how accurate the Rolex was he was considering.
"Sir," he answered, "I'm
more than happy to tell you about the amazing Swiss craftsmanship that goes into each of these timepieces. But, in truth,
nothing under this counter keeps time as well as the cell phone in your pocket."
This man knew his
business. He wasn't selling watches. He was selling luxury, a certain image of success.
There's
nothing wrong with that. The world is full of desirable things. But some of us have forgotten that the important things in
life aren't things at all. And genuine success cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
As Bob Dylan
once said, "What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between
does what he wants to do."
"What is success?" asked Ralph Waldo Emerson, "To laugh
often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest
critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty. To find the best in others. To leave the world a bit
better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life breathed easier because
you have lived; this is to have succeeded."
Yet, in many ways, society equates success with money
and possessions. Some imagine this is a distinctively modern phenomenon. It's not. There has always been fierce competition
for resources. Citizens of ancient Greece and Rome hungered for wealth and power, too.
What has changed
dramatically is today's level of material prosperity, fueled in part by access to easy credit. Unfortunately, the quest
for more can quickly overtake your priorities.
Nearly 150 years ago, philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
wrote in "The Wisdom of Life":
"It is manifestly a wiser course to aim at the maintenance
of our health and the cultivation of our faculties, than at the amassing of wealth... Beyond the satisfaction of some real
and natural necessities, all that the possession of wealth can achieve has a very small influence upon our happiness, in the
proper sense of the word; indeed, wealth rather disturbs it, because the preservation of property entails a great many unavoidable
anxieties.
"And still men are a thousand times more intent on becoming rich than on acquiring culture,
though it is quite certain that what a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has. So you may
see many a man, as industrious as an ant, ceaselessly occupied from morning to night in the endeavor to increase his heap
of gold...
"And if he is lucky, his struggles result in his having a really great pile of gold,
which he leaves to his heir, either to make it still larger, or to squander it in extravagance. A life like this, though pursued
with a sense of earnestness and an air of importance, is just as silly as many another which has a fool's cap for its
symbol. What a man has in himself is, then, the chief element in his happiness."
The desire
to have, to acquire, and to possess, is in principle insatiable. Yet rarely does it generate the fulfillment we imagine. By
contrast, doing, creating, contributing, or giving does generate the sense of satisfaction we crave.
In
setting our priorities, therefore, shouldn't doing precede having? After all, how can you do what you really
want if you're too busy working for what you already have?
So check your
priorities. Make sure your actions are in sync with them.
As essayist Christopher Morley observed a century
ago, "There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way."
Just about every food you can think of has made the aphrodisiac hit list
at one time or another--and most of it is bosh. But not quite, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Age-Proof Your Body. Although there's no proof that any food will consistently boost desire, there is definitely something seductive about
these five.
1. Bright foods If someone's diet is a junk-food debacle,
their love life may be too, because the quality of our sexual experiences fluctuates with our overall health, says Somer. But
reversing the effects of poor nutrition improves energy, mood, and even conception rates. And since brightly colored fruits
and veggies are the most nutrient-packed foods you can eat, consuming nine-a-day could rev up your night life.
2. Lite foods Men with romance on their minds should think low-fat. University of Utah School of Medicine
researchers found that testosterone levels plunged 50 percent in men after they drank a rich milk shake containing 57
percent fat calories.
3. Chocolate This melt-in-your-mouth delectable has been called irresistible,
wicked and divine--no wonder eating it makes us think of other pleasurable indulgences. But there's actually a possible
scientific explanation for its effects. "Chocolate contains a compound called phenylethylamine or PEA that stimulates
the nervous system, increases blood pressure and makes your heart beat faster--creating feelings similar to being in love,"
says Somer.
4. Alcohol Wine and liquor may rate as love potions because alcohol depresses
higher brain centers, suppressing anxiety and inhibitions. But there's a hitch: More than one or two drinks slows
arousal and increases clumsiness. Oops. Even Shakespeare wrote about alcohol's double-edged side: "It provides the
desire, but it takes away the performance."
5. And, yes, oysters The belief that oysters
boost fertility has some basis in fact: Just one usually supplies the daily requirement for zinc, a trace mineral that's
essential for conception. Even a brief shortage of zinc impairs ovulation in women and reduces semen and testosterone in men.
However, while getting the recommended 15mg of zinc a day will help sustain normal sexual function, larger doses will not
turn a couch potato into Casanova!
Happily, not only is the food of love suprisingly healthy,
so is love itself: Long-term loving relationships can make your RealAge as much as 6.5 years younger.
Cloud computing is to storing and processing data what the electrical grid is to
plugging in your television: a scalable way to deliver services while matching supply and demand across the grid.
Forrester
Research calls it a classic disruptive technology. I call it the best technology I've ever seen.
What
a mighty Web they weave Developers have me convinced that cloud computing is inevitable. See, these diehards
are taking to the technology in record numbers. Salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM) CEO Marc Benioff recently said that 80,000 code jockeys have created some 69,000 software programs using Force.com, its toolkit for cloud computing development.
To understand how massive those numbers are, you have
to understand that writing for the Web is incredibly difficult. The mosaic of servers, software, and protocols that you'll
find there are like cats and dogs -- they tolerate each other enough to not destroy the house, but they don't exactly
get along, either.
Why, then, are developers turning to cloud computing for business? Efficiency. Mark Burns, a clinical
data specialist for medical-robot maker Intuitive Surgical, told trade magazine InfoWorld that his
company is using Force to create an application for collecting and sharing clinical trial information with partners via the
Web. "We could build it using just their tools, so in essence, there was no programming," he said.
But there's
more than efficiency at work here. Users spend more time in browsers than in any other software, making cloud computing supremely
logical. Maintenance is simpler and the user environment is familiar, which results in less training and lower costs.
"The
concept of cloud computing makes enormous sense," Special Olympics top techie Andre Mendes told trade magazine CIO
in March. "It helps the CIO abstract another layer of complexity from the organization and concentrate on providing the
higher levels of value."
In other words, cloud computing is revolutionizing the way companies think about their
work.
Three ways to invest in the cloud If investing in the cloud feels to you as complex as
the mosaic -- there's that word again -- of systems, storage, and software needed for Web-based applications, take heart:
It needn't be that way. Let's examine some of the key players in each area:
Systems. Servers
are the engines of a cloud computing environment. Microsoft has deployed tens of thousands of them for Live.com
and its other online services. Most often, providers are looking for boxes that are cheap, energy efficient, and durable. Rackable Systems(Nasdaq: RACK) has a reputation for producing good boxes. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices(NYSE:
AMD) are working on energy-efficient server chips. And for those who wish to outsource, Akamai's (Nasdaq: AKAM) 36,000-server-strong private network -- governed by a patented algorithm -- is the digital highway for more than 20% of the world's Web traffic.
Storage. Companies
that make disks, such as EMC(NYSE: EMC) and Network Appliance, are one way to invest in storage. But the way I prefer -- because it commands
fatter margins -- is to invest in companies that produce software for managing stored data, like CommVault Systems.
It's also more important for cloud computing.
Software. But storage and servers are like
an orchestra without a conductor; software turns what would otherwise be noise into music. For server operating systems, Microsoft,
Sun Microsystems, and Red Hat(NYSE: RHT) are the key players. For user interfaces, Adobe's (Nasdaq: ADBE)AIR could transform the browser into an OS. For development tools, Force is emerging, but open source options such as Eclipse
are also popular and could be made to create software for the cloud.
In other words, invest in infrastructure
rather than applications software. Infrastructure is far more difficult to replace.
The Foolish bottom line The two truths of tech investing argue for the ascendancy of cloud computing. Those truths are:
My best ideas will always be under assault from
something newer.
Occasionally, these newer ideas will overtake my best ideas.
At Motley Fool Rule Breakers, we believe cloud computing will massively disrupt the desktop computing industry that came before it -- and we think three
stocks, in particular, will profit handsomely from the shift. Akamai is one, and the other two were profiled in our June issue.
If
you'd like to find out what they are -- and gain access to all of our best ideas for new money now -- click here for a 30-day free trial. There's no obligation to subscribe.
According to a study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, adults who drink one to two beers per day
may have a 30% to 40% lower rate of 
So there you are. Standing in the produce section at your local grocery store. On your left is a large stack of deep green,
freshly misted broccoli. On your right is a second stack, just as lovely as the first. But the second stack is organic, and
almost twice the price. Your pocketbook says buy the first, but your desire to provide healthy, nutritious food for your family
says buy the second. Is there really a difference between the two? And is it worth it?
tudies show that people looking for a new doctor usually ask a friend or family member for a recommendation before using
other sources of information. But while a friend or relative's experience with a doctor can be helpful, neither person
is likely to know the background information that is necessary to make a really informed choice. In the not-too-distant past,
it was next to impossible for the average patient to find information about a doctor's professional credentials. Today,
there are a variety of ways to easily find these facts. 
