Spices have untapped health benefits and have recently been stealing the scene as powerful cancer preventatives and fighters. Below are five you might want to consider adding to your diet:

1. Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, yet another cancer preventative. When used in excess it can cause heartburn, but a little sprinkled onto everyday foods should be enough for you to see the benefits. Cayenne peppers are full of beta-carotene, other antioxidants and immune boosters and help to build healthy mucous membranes - our first level of defense against bacteria and viruses.

1. Cinnamon

Besides being a yummy addition to coffee, cinnamon protects against Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Derived from tree bark, this wonderful spice stimulates the body’s circulatory system. Just half a teaspoon taken daily lowers blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It also counteracts congestion, may be useful treating osteoarthritis and improves blood circulation.

1. Garlic

Garlic is one of the most potent weapons in preventing cancer, particularly colon cancer. Containing the photochemical allicin, garlic stimulates the production of cancer-fighting enzymes. Daily garlic consumption can lower total cholesterol and triglyceride levels by 10 percent

1. Ginger

For centuries, this knobby little root has been used for an upset tummy. We now know that it holds anti-inflammatory properties, shows promise in treating cancer, osteoarthritis and, when used topically, rheumatoid arthritis. It can be used as an appetite stimulant, and a treatment for nausea.

1. Turmeric

Researchers have discovered that, not only does it fight cancer, but turmeric also contains an entire spectrum of other health benefits, including inflammation-fighting compounds called curcuminoids. These compounds may help prevent Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. When used topically turmeric has been known to help heal skin infections.

“HELP ME TO FOCUS” Please teach me through my sense of “touch”. I need “hands-on” and body movement to learn.

“I need to know what comes next” Please give me a structured environment where there is a dependable routine. Give me an advanced warning if there will be changes.

“Wait for me, I’m still thinking” Please allow me to go at my own pace. If I rush, I get confused and upset.

“I’m stuck! I can’t do it!” Please offer me options for problem-solving. I need to know the detours when the road is blocked.

“is it right? I need to know NOW!” Please give me rich and immediate feedback on how I’m doing.

“I didn’t know I WASN’T in my seat!” Please remind me to stop, think and act.

“Am I almost done now?” Please give me short work periods with short-term goals.

“What?” Please don’t say “I already told you that.” Tell me again in different words. Give me a signal. Draw me a symbol.

“I know, It’s ALL wrong,isn’t it?” Please give me praise for partial success. Reward me for self-improvement, not just for perfection.

“But why do I always get yelled at?” Please catch me doing something right and praise me for my specific positive behaviour. Remind me (and yourself) about my good points, when I’m having a bad day.

“I may be hard to live with, and have ADHD, but I still have feelings and would have never chosen to behave like I do sometimes.”

In 1995, over 2 million children were diagnosed with ADHD (Woodwell 1997) — twice the number diagnosed in 1990. By 1999, 3.4 percent of all American children had received a stimulant prescription for an attention disorder. Today, that number is closer to ten percent. Stimulants aren’t the only drugs being given out like candy to our children. A variety of other psychotropics like antidepressants, antipsychotics, and sedatives are finding their way into babies’ medicine cabinets in large numbers. In fact, the worldwide market for these drugs is growing at a rate of ten percent a year, $20.7 billion in sales of antipsychotics alone (for 2007, IMSHealth 2008).

While the sheer volume of psychotropics being prescribed for children might, in and of itself, produce alarm, there has not been a substantial backlash against drug use in large part because of the widespread perception that “medically authorized” drugs must be safe. Yet, there is considerable evidence that psychoactive drugs do not take second place to other controlled pharmaceuticals in carrying grave and substantial risks. All classes of psychoactive drugs are associated with patient deaths, and each produces serious side effects, some of which are life threatening.

• In 2005, researchers analyzed data from 250,000 patients in the Netherlands and concluded that “we can be reasonably sure that antipsychotics are associated in something like a threefold increase in sudden cardiac death, and perhaps that older antipsychotics may be worse” (Straus et al. 2004).
• In 2007, the FDA chose to beef up its black box warning (reserved for substances that represent the most serious danger to the public) against antidepressants concluding, “the trend across age groups toward an association between antidepressants and suicidality . . . was convincing, particularly when superimposed on earlier analyses of data on adolescents from randomized, controlled trials” (Friedman and Leon 2007).
• According to a confidential FDA report, prolonged administration of amphetamines (the standard treatment for ADD and ADHD) “may lead to drug dependence and must be avoided.” They further reported that “misuse of amphetamine may cause sudden death and serious cardiovascular adverse events” (Food and Drug Administration 2005).
• The risk of fatal toxicity from lithium carbonate, a not uncommon treatment for bipolar disorder, has been well documented since the 1950s.
• Incidents of fatal seizures from sedative-hypnotics, especially when mixed with alcohol, have been recorded since the 1920s.
• A 2005 report from the Partnership for a Drug Free America, based on a survey of more than 7,300 teenagers, found one in ten teenagers, or 2.3 million young people, had tried prescription stimulants without a doctor’s order, and 29 percent of those surveyed said they had close friends who have abused prescription stimulants.

The whole undertaking has had the disturbing effect of making drug use an accepted part of childhood. Few cultures anywhere on earth and anytime in the past have been so willing to provide stimulants and sedative-hypnotics to their offspring, especially at such tender ages. An entire generation of young people has been brought up to believe that drug-seeking behavior is both rational and respectable and that most psychological problems have a pharmacological solution. With the ubiquity of psychotropics, children now have the means, opportunity, example, and encouragement to develop a lifelong habit of self-medicating.

Mental illness is a fact of life, and it is naïve to imagine that there are not seriously disturbed children in every neighborhood and school. What is more, in the straitened economy of child rearing and education, medication may be the most efficient and cost effective treatment for some of these children. Nevertheless, to medicate not just the most complicated cases, but one child in every ten, despite the availability of less destructive treatments and regardless of doubtful science, is a tragedy of epic proportions.

source

If there was any question about how the Obama administration would get behind agricultural biotechnology, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is removing any doubt. In fact, he says he’s going to do a better job than the Bush administration. (at poisoning us?)

Just back from the G8 summit in Italy, Vilsack pledged to bring a “more comprehensive and integrated” approach to promoting agricultural-biotech overseas.

That will be good news to biotech companies such as Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto but it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Vilsack was a vocal backer of the biotech industry as governor, and President Barack Obama has been a supporter as well.

Speaking to a group of agriculture journalists, Vilsack cited a recent inspector general’s report that said USDA had not done enough to “facilitate trade opportunities” for biotech products. However, the report noted that some USDA officials have been opposed to getting involved in promoting the products of private companies.

Much of the international opposition to genetically engineered seeds is centered in the European Union but that has led to resistance among countries in Africa and elsewhere that export food to Europe.

The declaration issued at the end of the G8 farm ministers’ summit called for increased “investments in agricultural science, research, technology, education, extension services and innovation.”

A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, managed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, and carried out by Veterinary University Vienna, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world.

Feeding mice with genetically modified corn developed by the US-based Monsanto Corporation led to lower fertility and body weight, according to the study conducted by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Lead author of the study Professor Zentek said, there was a direct link between the decrease in fertility and the GM diet, and that mice fed with non-GE corn reproduced more efficiently.

In the study, Austrian scientists performed several long-term feeding trials over 20 weeks with laboratory mice fed a diet containing 33% of a GM variety (NK 603 x MON 810), or a closely related non-GE variety used in many countries. Statistically significant litter size and pup weight decreases were found in the third and fourth litters in the GM-fed mice, compared to the control group. 

The corn is genetically modified with genes that produce a pesticidal toxin, as well as genes that allow it to survive applications of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

A book by author Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette, distributed to members of congress last year, documents 65 serious health risks of GM products, including similar fertility problems with GM soy and GM corn: Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce. Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells. The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning. Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties. Additionally, over the last two months, investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products.

The principle GM crops are soy, corn, cottonseed and canola. GM sugar from sugar beets will also be introduced before year’s end.

Mr. Smith, who is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology says, “GM foods are likely responsible for several negative health trends in the US. The government must impose an immediate ban on these dangerous crops.” He says, “Consumers don’t need to wait for governmental action. They can download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide at www.HealthierEating.org.”

The Institute for Responsible Technology’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America mobilizes citizens, organizations, businesses, and the media, to achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection of genetically modified foods.

The Institute educates people about the documented health risks of GMOs and provides them with healthier non-GMO product choices.

The Institute also informs policy makers and the public around the world about the impacts of GMOs on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, and the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting.

###

Institute For Responsible Technology
Media Contact: NJ Jaeger
Expert Contact: Jeffrey M. Smith
Email: njmail@cox.net
Phone: +1-310-377-0915

Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
Corporate Communication: Univ.-Doz. Ingrid Kiefer
Tel: +43 50 555-25000; E-Mail: ingrid.kiefer@ages.at

Links

Austrian Study: http://www.ages.at/ueber-uns/presse/pressemeldungen/klarstellung-zu-neuen-er
Institute for Responsible Technology: http://responsibletechnology.org
Non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/DocumentFiles/144.pdf
Genetic Roulette: http://www.geneticroulette.com

When I was a kid, about the worst anyone could say about sugar was that it would give you cavities and ruin your appetite for dinner. How innocent we all were! Now we know that over consumption of refined sugar contributes directly to heart disease and diabetes and indirectly to cancer, osteoporosis, and other illnesses.

Yet we now eat (and drink) more of it than ever. In fact, our national epidemic of obesity has continued unabated despite the introduction of an enormous number of beverages and foods sweetened with sugar substitutes over the past few decades. As the health consequences of our sugar addiction become more and more obvious, many consumers are turning to sweeteners that are supposedly healthier or more “natural.”

Which misses the point. In terms of safety, most sweeteners have looked good when they were introduced only to later prove detrimental to health. Concentrated sweeteners—whether they come from a beehive, a lily plant, a maple tree, or a sugar refinery—should be consumed in very limited quantities. And it is true; all of these sweeteners are fine in moderation. But Americans don’t consume moderate amounts of high-fructose corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup: Where to find it

High-fructose corn syrup makes up, on average, about 10% of all of our calories consumed. It is added to sodas, crackers, sweets, bacon, barbeque sauces, breads, and an amazing array of other manufactured foods. One study of eighth graders found that between 14% and 16% of calories eaten in an average day was in the form of fructose. If you are a typical American, only about one-third of the fructose that you get in your diet comes from fruits and vegetables (which are great sources of healthy fiber). Nearly all the rest comes from food and drinks that contain high-fructose corn syrup. Since we’re eating so much of it, high-fructose corn syrup had better be healthy even when we don’t eat it in moderation.

It is ironic that pure corn syrup (not the high-fructose kind) has no fructose at all. Pure corn syrup is made of dextrose, which is 100% glucose. It is about three-quarters as sweet as high-fructose corn syrup. It is not the kind of corn syrup that is used in most processed foods. For our health, I would like to see the corn refining industry change their manufacturing process, to make a no-fructose or reduced-fructose sweetener.

Parents trying to limit the amount of sugar consumed by their little ones may also be interested in recent research showing that if you can teach very young children the benefits of delayed gratification, you’ll reduce the chances of their being overweight as middle-schoolers.

Gamers have largely gotten a bad rep for being lazy, slothful people who spend their hours mindlessly pressing buttons. The Wii changed that a bit by getting kids (and their parents… and their parents) up off the couch, but what about giving their brains a workout too? For your family’s little mind freak to-be Mattel is introducing the Mind Flex.

Mattel has inked an exclusive multi-year partnership with NeuroSky, the “consumer brain-computer interface technologies” company that birthed Mattel’s much publicized Mindflex game, to develop a new category of games and toys that operate using the power of concentration.

The partnership includes exclusivity within numerous toys and games categories, all using headsets featuring NeuroSky’s ThinkGear technology. ThinkGear technology is based on a headset that recognizes a user’s brainwave activity during varying levels of concentration, processes the information into digital signals and then transmits the signals to the base unit as commands.

The first fruit of the partnership, Mattel’s Mindflex game, debuted at Toy Fair this past February. The game ($79.99) challenges players to levitate and guide a small foam ball around a customizable obstacle course using a mix of concentration to change the ball’s height and a hand dial to move the ball horizontally. It will be available at retail this fall.

“Using NeuroSky’s innovative technology, our engineers have created a product in Mindflex that takes gaming to an entirely new level,” said Geoff Walker, Senior Vice President of Wheels, Games and Radica, for Mattel. “Our partnership will undoubtedly lead to future innovations in the toy and game categories in the years ahead.”

By Tracy

He’s bouncin’ off walls, a super ball gone insane,

He runs through your world like an off-rail freight train,

Interruptions are constant, tantrums galore,

When it’s time to do homework, he’s gone, out the door.

The drama is constant; oh his foot fell asleep,

He moans and he wails, the theatrics run deep,

School is a nightmare, the teachers are lost,

If they only could see, he is worth the cost.

He is brighter than most, as most kids are,

And with patience and love, I know he’ll go far,

But what I must take from well meaning friends

Don’t let him do that. Oh these rules that he bends.

You’re not a good parent. Your child’s really rude.

His temper’s Outrageous. He has hands in his food.

He hears this and wonders, just what’s wrong with me?

I tell him, You’re special, you have A.D.H.D.

Now A.D.H.D. is a gift from above,

It teaches us grown-ups how to strengthen our love.

It helps to teach your teachers, no two kids are the same.

You have awesome energy that could bring you great fame.

You don’t need much sleep, you never wear down.

You’re silly and funny, when you act like a clown.

You’ve felt lots of pain from what people have said,

But you pray for those people when you go to bed.

So you try every day to make a fresh start,

For God gifted you with an extra big heart.

As I look at my child, he sees through my soul,

My heart feels like busting, as I realize my goal.

I know this boy like no one else could,

He’s a blessing to me, he’s strong and he’s good.

So I’ll love him and guide him through the worst of the worst,

And he’ll make a great man (if I don’t kill him first).

I’m kidding of course ’cause I know what’s to be,

When I look in his eyes, I see a reflection of me.

I loved this, even though my ADHD child is a girl, many of the situations she describes are exactly like ours. The constant motion and drama are an apparently inescapable part of life when you have an ADHD child, boy or girl. One of the few things that help is seeing things like this poem and realizing that you are not alone out there.

The occasional Susan Smith or Andrea Yates who kills her kids has given way to the weekly child, sibling, parent, grandparent, spouse and all-of-the-above killer.

In the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, D’Andre Howard is accused of killing his girlfriend’s sister, father and grandfather and leaving her mother in critical condition.

The same day in Middletown, Md., Christopher Alan Wood killed his wife and three children. A few days later in Towson, Md., William Parente killed his wife and two daughters.

Kerby Revelus killed two of his sisters in Milton, Mass., — decapitating his younger sister in front of her birthday cake while police watched in horror. In Orting, Wash., James Harrison killed his five children. Devan Kalathat killed his two children and three other relatives in Santa Clara, Calif., and left his wife in critical condition, where she clings to life. And Michael McLendon slaughtered his mother and grandparents in southeast Alabama, along with many others.

The press quickly blames the monthly and even weekly family killings on economic stresses and lack of jobs. Psychologists say a bad economy can create a family annihilator like Bob Dylan’s Hollis Brown, who “looked for work and money … and walked a rugged mile” and whose “children are so hungry that they don’t know how to smile,” until he kills his wife and five children in a mercy massacre.

Some have even blamed Binghamton, N.Y., killer Jiverly Voong’s spree on his poor English, and Revelus’ spree on his lack of job skills after prison.

What is conveniently forgotten in all the psychobabble is: When people lost their jobs or wives in the past, they didn’t kill their entire families in a fit of irrational rage. Not every week.

Behind the deeds of Howard, Wood, Parente, Revelus, Harrison, Kalathat, McLendon, et al. — who are almost always called “depressed” and “bipolar” — are some health care professionals thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t have prescribed that psychoactive med,” and hoping no one thinks to question them.

Certainly Middletown’s Wood was prescribed the violence-linked Cymbalta and Paxil, along with two other psychiatric drugs before his deeds. His suicide notes even confirm he felt he was getting worse, not better, on the medication, say police.

Who can forget that Andrea Yates was on a double dose of Effexor when she drowned her five children in 2001?

At a time of heightened concerns about waste, climate change and the need for cleaner energy, it is worth pointing out that not all the news is bad. Technologies are redressing the balance — and one of these is Advanced Anaerobic Digestion (AAD).

AAD will not turn muck into brass, or gold, but it does offer the potential to transform the sewage treatment process from a simple clean-up to one that recovers significant quantities of energy.

These technologies harness natural oxygen-free decomposition by which organic materials break down to produce biogas – roughly made up of 65% methane and 35% carbon dioxide – along with a much reduced residue of stabilized organic material. The latter can be safely deployed as fertilizer. In fact, by returning it to the soil in this way, nutrient and organic matter cycles that occur naturally are completed.

Advanced Anaerobic Digestion significantly enhances the benefits of anaerobic digestion by separating and optimizing the key process stages used in more conventional digestion systems. The result is a far greater conversion of organic matter into biogas when the material is transferred into the anaerobic digestion phase. Following this digestion phase, there is a 50% reduction in sludge volumes, combined with the additional biogas/CHP- derived energy being produced, and ultimately a better quality bio-solids fertilizer.

One of the major benefits of this, of course, is that energy from biomass, including sewage sludge, are classed as renewable and therefore contribute to meeting international commitments to address climate change.

But it does more than that too.

Using AAD reduces the mass of material that is required to be transported off-site and offers the benefit of nutrient recovery from materials that are presently wasted. Indeed, some particularly difficult materials, such as food wastes, need the conditions of AAD to render them safe.

One other benefit that is not to be sniffed at, AAD results in reduced odor.

The digested sludge cake remaining after the process will be a Class A biosolid – a safe and low odor product containing no detectable levels of pathogens, such as E. coli, and may be used as a valuable agricultural fertilizer.

The energy recovered from the sewage sludge goes a long way towards making the entire wastewater treatment process energy self-sufficient.

Source

I’m not sure where this list originated, but it’s funny.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when…

1. You accidentally enter your PIN 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 three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they
don’t have e-mail addresses.

6. 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.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even 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.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this
list.

I did, indeed scroll back up to see if there was a #9 or not.

Were you wondering how to keep on top of your budget, stay in shape and keep up your hectic schedule without damaging the interior of your home?

Everyone knows that, for the sake of health and well-being, they should try and work out most days. A home gym makes daily exercise a little easier but who wants to fill up their house with bulky, unsightly exercise equipment? It is now possible, thanks to a most extraordinary piece of fitness equipment, The Fitness Cub.

The Fitness Cube is an ultra-compact exercise unit for people who prefer their home to be clutter-free. Inside the cube is everything you need for a complete workout session. You simply pull the handle and within seconds you have your very own weights machine. The resistance intensity can be adjusted to your fitness level, using the eight-position adjustable switch.

There are 30 different exercises you can perform with this piece of equipment and all the necessary accessories are packed into the cube. An exercise poster details how you can use the various accessories to tone all the muscles in your body. You may also opt to purchase a DVD that shows you how to perform the various exercises.

The Fitness Cube is manufactured by Domyos, a French fitness company. It is very compact – about 20inches by 20 inches by, of course, 20 inches (50×50x50cm). It’s a cube! It weighs just 33 pounds (15kg), so you can easily move it from room to room. If you’re really keen, you can even take it with you on vacation. Its stylish compact design means it will blend in with most decors or can just as easily be packed away.

The Fitness Cube retails for about USD$145 (GBP99), which seems reasonable compared to a yearly gym membership.

For more details, including a video, see Fitness Cube.

Now I just need to find a local retailer. I don’t think I want to pay to have this shipped from the UK, it does weigh 33 pounds!

Maybe I’m getting old, but this song cracks me up.

Soulja Boy - Kiss Me Through The Phone:

Baby u kno that I miss u

I wanna get wit chu

Tonight but I can’t now

Baby girl and that’s the issue

Girl u kno I miss u

I just wanna kiss u

But I can’t rite now so baby

Kiss me through the phone

Kiss me through the phone

(I see u lata on)

Kiss me through the phone

Kiss me through the phone

(I see u when I get home)

Kiss you through the phone? How the hell does that work? Then I ran across this on gizmag.com:

April 24, 2009

The KissPhone for remote kissing

French freelance inventor Georges Koussouros was thinking outside the square when he came up with the KissPhone. Humans already interact synchronously with voice, text and video, and there’s a whole science developing behind closed doors called Teledildonics, which is about remote sexual interplay. The KissPhone fits somewhere in between and has a mouth which you kiss - it subsequently measures the pressure, percussion speed, temperature, and sucking force of your mouth, transmits those same parameters to the remote user’s Kissphone where it recreates your kiss for your teleparamour.

The KissPhone is designed for remote kissing. It has a mouth that you kiss - it subsequently measures the pressure, percussion speed, temperature, and sucking force of your mouth, transmits those same parameters to the remote user’s Kissphone where it recreates your kiss for your teleparamour.

Koussouros claims the Kissphone will enable its users to:

· Send or receive kiss from distance

· Leave or receive a kiss in answering machine

· Repeat the kiss saved on the phone

· Forward the kiss to other people

· Download or upload the kiss to/from the web

· Receive the kiss from a “kiss bank” from the likes of Madonna or from an imaginary Hero

My first and most obvious reflection on the KIssPhone is that you’re not gonna pull this out on the bus or the subway on the way home, because you may get locked up or worse. Even if you’re not intending to use it as a remote kissing machine, but rather as a telephone, it’ll certainly get you classified as a wierdo rather than an early adopter, at least in the near future.

But work is progressing rapidly in the field of teledildonics and although authentic replication of the nuances of a kiss are years, possibly decades away, there’s equally no doubt that at some point in the future, such sensuous interaction will be captured and replicated remotely.

It’s only a concept at this point and truly interesting but we can’t see it threatening the iPhone, at least not this decade. Mike Hanlon

Who knew Soulja Boy was such a technophile? Forget it “build it, and they will come”, now it’s all about sing it, and they will make it.

I don’t mind signing a petition for a good cause. There are plenty of causes to choose from online. Here a few that were sent to me from Change.org:

I demand congress and the President enact single payer universal health care.
Congress and the President must enact S 703 single payer universal health care and set up a new prescription drug benefit in Medicare Part B covering 80% of the cost of all drugs with no extra monthly premiums, no extra yearly deductible, no means tests, no coverage gaps, and remove the means test for Medicare Part B and until that happens, I won’t buy ANYTHING from Republican contributor Rite Aid Pharmacies.

This seems like a step in the right direction. Our “health” care system is clearly not working, and we have to do something. Our children deserve better.

I demand congress and the President enact The Employee Free Choice Act.

In 2008 Brown-Forman of Kentucky, the maker of Jack Daniels Whiskey and Southern Comfort gave Mitch McConnell money for his campaign.

SENATOR McCONNELL MUST GET HR 1409, S 560 THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT ENACTED INTO LAW AND MUST PLEDGE THAT HIS ENTIRE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS NOT EXECUTE ANY REPUBLICAN FILIBUSTERS DURING THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY AND UNTIL THAT HAPPENS I WON’T BUY JACK DANIELS WHISKEY OR SOUTHERN COMFORT OR ANY OTHER OF BROWN-FORMAN’S PRODUCTS.

While free choice always sounds good, I don’t know how much freedom this actually creates for employees. Our government has become way too adept at doublespeak for me to take anything they say at face value. I belonged to a union, and while it always worked well for me, there is a definite potential for bureaucratic abuse. I have to say, that all things considered, I’m a pro-union girl. Somebody has to rein in corporate greed, and a solid union is a good start.

I demand that the congress and the President enact a $10 an hour minimum wage into law.
Congress and the President must enact a $10/HR MINIMUM WAGE into law and until this happens I will not go to any Republican contributor Wendy’s Restaurants.

I can live without Wendy’s for an increased minimum wage. However, why are we only boycotting Wendy’s? I’m pretty sure there are a lot more companies donating to Republicans than just Wendy’s with minimum wage employees that would be affected by this change.

I demand that Norm Coleman concede the Senate race.

The following companies gave money to Norm Coleman for his campaign.

Target Corp Stores $174,855 Phone 800 591 3869

3M Co Scotch tape and supplies $62,254 Phone 888 364 3577

Marriott International Hotels $43,400 Phone 888 236 2427

Best Buy Electronics Computers Stores $41,350 Phone 888-237-8289

General Mills Cereals $34,650 Phone 800-248-7310

I demand that you get Norm Coleman to concede the senate race and end his legal challenges to the result of the Minnesota senate race and the Senate seat to acknowledge Senator Al Franken as Senator from Minnesota and until that happens, I refuse to do business with 3M corporation, General Mills, Target Corporation, Best Buy Corporation and Marriott International Hotels.

OMG. They still haven’t sorted that out? What the hell? Obama has passed his first 100 days and they still haven’t sorted out who their Senator is? I thought Oklahoma was slow.

I demand that the congress and the President enact The Women’s Freedom of Choice Act into law.

I demand that the congress and the President enact The Freedom of Choice Act (H.R. 1964 / S. 1173) into law and until that happens I will not do business with Dominos Pizza and Curves for women’s health clubs (2 companies that actively give money to the forced birth of fetuses movement.)

I’m pro-choice, even if it’s not a choice I would make. It was too hard for me to get pregnant to ever terminate one. But I also know that for a lot of women it was not just their best choice, it was their only choice. Do I think a woman should be allowed to use abortion as post conception birth control because she was, for whatever reason, not using any birth control? NO, absolutely not. I also think that the whole “irresponsible slut casually aborting baby after baby” stereotype is a myth. I’ve met many women who have, for many different reasons, chosen to abort an unplanned pregnancy. None of them made the decision lightly, some of them made it unwillingly, many of them regretted it, none of them forgot it, and all of them bear the burden of “what if?”.

The American Diabetes Association released its list of diabetes superfoods earlier this week. The list offers 10 foods that have nutrients necessary for good diabetes management, including fiber, potassium, healthy fats, magnesium and antioxidants. The nutrients included in these foods can promote good health and help prevent some of diabetes serious complications, such as heart attacks and strokes.

All of the items have a low glycemic index (GI) and provide key nutrients–such as calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, C and E–these nutrients are often lacking in a typical Western diet. The following list comes directly from the American Diabetes Association:

1. Beans. Their high fiber content gives you nearly one-third of your daily requirement in just 1/2 cup. Beans are also are good sources of magnesium and potassium, important nutrients for people with diabetes. Although they are considered starchy vegetables, a 1/2 cup provides as much protein as an ounce of meat without the saturated fat
2. Dark green leafy vegetables. These powerhouse foods such as spinach, collards, and kale are so low in calories and carbohydrates, you can eat as much as you want.
3. Citrus fruit. Grapefruit, oranges, lemons and limes provide part of your daily dose of soluble fiber–important for heart health–and vitamin C.
4. Sweet potatoes. This starchy vegetable is packed full of fiber and vitamin A –important for vision health. Try these in place of regular potatoes for a lower GI alternative.
5. Berries. Blueberries, strawberries and other varieties are packed with antioxidants, vitamins and fiber.
6. Tomatoes. No matter how you like your tomatoes–pureed, raw, or in a sauce–you’re eating vital nutrients like vitamin C, iron, and vitamin E.
7. Fish with omega-3s. Salmon, albacore tuna, mackerel, halibut, and herring are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for heart health.
8. Whole grains. These grains, such as pearled barley and oatmeal, are loaded with fiber, potassium, magnesium, chromium, omega-3 fatty acids and folate. The germ and bran of the whole grain contain the important nutrients a grain product has to offer. Processed grains, like bread made from enriched wheat flour, do not have these vital nutrients.
9. Nuts. An ounce of nuts can go a long way in providing key healthy fats along with hunger management. Nuts also give you a dose of magnesium and fiber. Some nuts and seeds, such as walnuts and flax seeds, also contain omega-3 fatty acids.
10. Fat-free milk and yogurt. Fortified dairy products are a good source of vitamin D.