politicians' space in Tokyo

UFO debate invades politicians' space

TOKYO (Reuters) - A debate over flying saucers has kept Japanese politicians occupied for much of this week, ensnaring top officials and drawing a promise from the defense minister to send out the army if Godzilla goes on a rampage.

"There are debates over what makes UFOs fly, but it would be difficult to say it's an encroachment of air space," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference Thursday.

"If Godzilla were to show up, it would be a dispatch for disaster relief."

His remarks came after the top government spokesman was asked Tuesday about an opposition politician's demand that the government confirm the existence of unidentified flying objects.

"Personally, I definitely believe they exist," chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura said, drawing laughter from reporters.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda took a more guarded stance later in the day, saying he has yet to confirm their existence.

The debate started Tuesday when the cabinet issued a statement in response to the opposition lawmaker's question, saying it could not confirm any cases of UFO sightings.

Not all lawmakers are enthralled.

"Give me a break," ruling party lawmaker Toshihiro Nikai was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri newspaper. "There are many (other) things politics has to respond to."

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota and George Nishiyama; Editing by Mike Miller)

Acne

About Acne

What is acne?

All acne begins with one basic lesion: the comedo, an enlarged hair follicle plugged with oil, dead skin cells and bacteria. Invisible to the naked eye, the comedo lurks beneath the surface of your skin waiting for the right conditions to grow into an inflamed lesion. As the skin continues to produce more oil, bacteria flourish within the swollen follicle. The surrounding skin becomes increasingly inflamed as your white blood cells fight against the intruders.

Though all pimples start the same way, they can take many forms and may react differently for different people. Please note that the following guide is not intended to be used for conclusive self-diagnosis. These definitions may be used to help you decide whether or not you should consider seeking medical attention.

 

None inflammatory:

 

Closed comedo, or whitehead: If the plugged follicle stays below the surface of the skin, the lesion is called a closed comedo, or whitehead. They usually appear on the skin as small, whitish bumps.

Open comedo, or blackhead: If the plug enlarges and pushes through the surface of the skin, it's called an open comedo, or blackhead. The plug's dark appearance is not due to dirt, but rather to a buildup of melanin, the skin's dark pigment.

 

 

Inflammatory:

 

Papule: The mildest form of inflammatory acne is the papule, which appears on the skin as a small, firm pink bump. These can be tender to the touch, and are often considered an intermediary step between non-inflammatory and clearly inflammatory lesions

 

Pustule: Like papules, pustules are small round lesions; unlike papules, they are clearly inflamed and contain visible pus. They may appear red at the base, with a yellowish or whitish center. Pustules do not commonly contain a great deal of bacteria; the inflammation is generally caused by chemical irritation from sebum components such as fatty free acids.

 

Nodule or Cyst: Large and usually very painful, nodules are inflamed, pus-filled lesions lodged deep within the skin. Nodules develop when the contents of a comedo have spilled into the surrounding skin and the local immune system responds, producing pus. The most severe form of acne lesion, nodules may persist for weeks or months, their contents hardening into a deep cyst. Both nodules and cysts often leave deep scars.

Acne conglobata. This rare but serious form of inflammatory acne develops primarily on the back, buttocks and chest. In addition to the presence of pustules and nodules, there may be severe bacterial infection.

Bipolar Disorder

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Steven Gans, MD

Patient Empowerment

We are very excited to share that About.com has now added a Patient Empowerment site to its lineup. Trisha Torrey serves as the guide to this topic, which gives focus to "the concept of the patient taking an active role in his own disease management, and supporting that participation by learning all he can about his disease or condition and treatment options" ( The Wise Patient's Guide to Being an Empowered Patient).

Trisha shares, "I began my quest to help others navigate their own health care after being diagnosed with a very rare, life-threatening cancer in 2004. I was told two labs had independently confirmed the diagnosis, and I needed to start chemotherapy immediately or I would die within six months.

"Trusting my intuition that I was not nearly so sick as the lab reports indicated, I set about finding the right professionals, asking questions, researching on the Internet, analyzing medical terms and being doggedly persistent to learn more about the disease I was told would be my demise" ( Bio: Trish Torrey).

Poem By Shakspayer

Alack, what poverty my Muse brings forth,
That having such a scope to show her pride,
The argument all bare is of more worth
Than when it hath my added praise beside!
O, blame me not, if I no more can write!
Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite,
Dulling my lines and doing me disgrace.
Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
To mar the subject that before was well?
For to no other pass my verses tend
Than of your graces and your gifts to tell;
And more, much more, than in my verse can sit
Your own glass shows you when you look in it.

Teen Birth Rate In USA & Public Conserning

Teen Birth Rate Rises in U.S., Reversing a 14-Year Decline

By Rob Stein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 6, 2007; Page A01

After falling steadily for more than a decade, the birth rate for American teenagers jumped last year, federal health officials reported yesterday, a sharp reversal in what has been one of the nation's most celebrated social and public health successes.

The birth rate rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 among 15-to-19-year-old girls, after plummeting 34 percent between 1991 and 2005, the National Center for Health Statistics reported.

This is concerning," said Stephanie J. Ventura, who heads the center's reproductive statistics branch. "It represents an interruption of 14 years of steady decline. Now unexpectedly we have an increase of 3 percent, which is a significant increase."

Ventura said it is too soon to know whether the increase was an aberration or the beginning of a trend. But she said the magnitude of the rise, especially after many years of decline, is worrisome.

"This early warning should put people on alert to look at the programs that are being used to see what works," Ventura said.

While experts said it was unclear what may be causing the reversal, the new data reignited debate about abstinence-only sex-education programs, which receive about $176 million a year in federal funding. Congress is currently debating whether to increase that by $28 million.

"The United States is facing a teen-pregnancy health-care crisis, and the national policy of abstinence-only programs just isn't working," said Cecile Richard, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America . "It is time for everyone who cares about teenagers to start focusing on the common-sense solutions that will help solve this problem."

But proponents of abstinence education defended the programs, blaming the rise on the ineffectiveness of conventional sex-education programs that focus on condom use and other contraceptives, as well as the pervasive depiction of sexuality in the culture.

"This shows that the contraceptive message that kids are getting is failing," said Leslee Unruh of the Abstinence Clearinghouse. "The contraceptive-only message is treating the symptom, not the cause. You need to teach about relationships. If you look at what kids have to digest on a daily basis, you have adults teaching kids about the pleasures of sex but not about the responsibilities that go with it."

Other experts said many factors could be playing a role. It could be, for example, that complacency has set in, or that the increase reflects of a broader trend cutting across all ages. Birth rates have also increased for women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s.

The teen birth rate rose sharply between 1986 and 1991, when it hit an all-time high of 61.8 births per 1,000 girls. The increase led to a massive campaign to counter the trend, and the rates of both teenage sexual activity and teen births began falling steadily every year. Locally, teen birth rates followed that trend, plummeting between the 1990s and 2005.

This summer, however, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the long decline in teenage sexual activity appeared to have stalled nationally, raising fears that it could presage an increase in teen births.

The most recent data come from birth certificates nationwide. While the birth rate among 10-to-14-year-old girls continued to fall, the rate for those ages 15 to 19 increased from 40.5 per 1,000 girls to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006.

"It's a pretty astounding increase," John Santelli, who studies teen health issues at Columbia University. "It's really a sea change, since it's been going down and getting better for so long."

Advocates noted that despite the 14-year decline, U.S. teens are still far more likely to get pregnant and have children than those in other developed countries, and teenage mothers and their children are far more likely to live in poverty.

"The vast majority of teenage mothers never finish high school," said Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "Teen pregnancy and child care is directly related to poverty, both for the mother and the child. This should be a wake-up call for a renewed focus on preventing teen pregnancy."

The increase was greatest among black teens, whose birth rate rose 5 percent between 2005 and 2006, reaching 63.7 per 1,000 teens. That was particularly disappointing because black teens had previously made the greatest gains, with the rate among 15-to-17-year-olds dropping by more than half.

"There had been dramatic, dramatic improvement in that community," Brown said. "All of us had hoped it would continue to decline."

The rate rose 2 percent, to 83 births per 1,000, for Hispanic teens, and 3 percent, to 26.6 per 1,000, for white teens.

The report did not include the latest rates for individual states or the District.

Federal officials also reported other disturbing trends, including a continued increase in the rate of babies being born preterm and underweight, as well as another increase in the rate at which babies were born by Caesarean section, which reached an all-time high.

"These are all trends we'd like to reverse," Ventura said.

Garlic and Cancer

Garlic and Cancer: Can Garlic Prevent Cancer?

From Lisa Fayed,
 

Garlic is famed for its supposed health benefits. In fact, it has been used medicinally for over 5000 years for various ailments. From lowering blood pressure to it's anti-bacterial properties, garlic appears to be effective. The question still remains, however, whether garlic can prevent cancer.

Does Garlic Prevent Cancer?

Studies concerning garlic's anti-cancer abilities look promising. Of 37 studies done to examine garlic's effectiveness as a cancer inhibitor, 28 were successful. Preliminary studies show an increased cancer inhibiting effect on prostate cancer and stomach cancer.

Researchers believe that there are many factors in garlic's ability to fight cancer. One factor is the many compounds found in garlic, including ally sulfur. Ally sulfur can slow down damage the progress of cancerous cell growth.

 

Myth & Mad

The Myth of the Mad Mullahs

By David Ignatius

Wednesday, December 5, 2007; Page A29

In the entryway of "Persia House," as the CIA's new Iran operations division is known internally, hangs a haunting life-size poster of Hussein, the martyr revered by Iran's Shiite Muslims. The division was created last year to push more aggressively for information about Iran's nuclear program and other secrets.

Creating Persia House and spinning off Iran from its old home in the agency's Near East division were part of a broader effort to "plus up" collection of secret information, in the words of one senior official. The CIA made it easy for disgruntled Iranians to send information directly to the agency in cases known as "virtual walk-ins." The National Security Agency and other intelligence organizations made similar drives to steal more of Iran's secrets.

Meanwhile, the intelligence analysts responsible for Iran were given new encouragement to think outside the box. To break the lock-step culture that allowed the disastrous mistake on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, Deputy Director of National Intelligence Thomas Fingar ordered that analysts be given more information about sources and, rather than trying to fit information into preexisting boxes to prove a case, they should simply explain what it meant.

All these strands converged in the bombshell National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that was released Monday. That document was as close to a U-turn as one sees in the intelligence world. The community dropped its 2005 judgment that Iran was "determined to develop nuclear weapons" and instead said, "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program" because of international pressure.

The secret intelligence that produced this reversal came from multiple channels -- human sources as well as intercepted communications -- that arrived in June and July. At that time, a quite different draft of the Iran NIE was nearly finished. But the "volume and character" of the new information was so striking, says a senior official, that "we decided we've got to go back." It was this combination of data from different sources that gave the analysts "high confidence" the covert weapons program had been stopped in 2003. This led them to reject an alternative scenario (one of six) pitched by a "red team" of counterintelligence specialists that the new information was a deliberate Iranian deception.

A senior official describes the summer's windfall as "a variety of reporting that unlocked stuff we had, which we didn't understand fully before." That earlier information included technical drawings from an Iranian laptop computer purloined in 2004 that showed Iranian scientists had been designing an efficient nuclear bomb that could be delivered by a missile. Though some U.S. analysts had doubted the validity of the laptop evidence, they now believe it was part of the covert "weaponization" program that was shelved in the fall of 2003.

The most important finding of the NIE isn't the details about the scope of nuclear research; there remains some disagreement about that. Rather, it's the insight into the greatest mystery of all about the Islamic republic, which is the degree of rationality and predictability of its decisions.

For the past several years, U.S. intelligence analysts have doubted hawkish U.S. and Israeli rhetoric that Iran is dominated by "mad mullahs" -- clerics whose fanatical religious views might lead to irrational decisions. In the new NIE, the analysts forcefully posit an alternative view of an Iran that is rational, susceptible to diplomatic pressure and, in that sense, can be "deterred."

"Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs," states the NIE. Asked if this meant the Iranian regime would be "deterrable" if it did obtain a weapon, a senior official responded, "That is the implication." He added: "Diplomacy works. That's the message."

While the intelligence community regards Iran as a rational actor, the workings of the regime remain opaque -- a "black box," in the words of one senior official. "You see the outcome [in the fall 2003 decision to halt the covert program] but not the decision-making process." This official said it was "logical, but we don't have the evidence" that Iran felt less need for nuclear weapons after the United States toppled its mortal enemy, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, in April 2003.

The debate about what the NIE should mean for U.S. policy toward Iran is just beginning. But for the intelligence community, this rebuttal of conventional wisdom will restore some integrity after the Iraq WMD debacle. In challenging the previous certitudes about Iran and the Bomb, the NIE recalls the admonition many decades ago by the godfather of CIA analysts, Sherman Kent: "When the evidence seems to force a single and immediate conclusion, then that is the time to worry about one's bigotry, and to do a little conscientious introspection."

A poem by Shakespear

 

Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth and where they did proceed?
O, know, sweet love, I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.

Russian & Iran

Russian Roulette on Iran

by Michael Rubin
Wall Street Journal
October 3, 2007
http://www.meforum.org/article/1762

Last week, the United States turned to the United Nations in an attempt to increase pressure on Iran. The U.S. wanted to expand sanctions against the budding nuclear power.

Neither China nor Russia would go along. And faced with the prospect of one or the other vetoing sanctions at the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice punted. She put off further action against Iran until at least November.

It's hard to see how much will change in a month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is firm in his opposition to sanctions. "Interference by way of new sanctions would mean undermining" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it puts pressure on Iran, he said.

This is a charade. The statement came three days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that, based on his talks with IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei, he considered the nuclear file closed. Not only could Iran continue enriching uranium regardless of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the Iranian president said, but Tehran could also export its enriched uranium and nuclear know-how to other Muslim countries.

Yet, the Bush administration continues to seek agreement with Russia with Ms. Rice's undersecretary Nicholas Burns talking about Washington's desire for "compromise" with Moscow. British Foreign Minister David Milbrand is no better. He puts unity above all else: "The most important thing is that the unanimity of the international community."

The debate over Iran then reflects two much larger debates: Whether foreign policy should be unilateral or multilateral and whether it should be based on "realism" or on principle.

Unilateralism, of course, has become a dirty word since the invasion of Iraq. But international venality -- expressed in French and Russian business deals with Saddam Hussein -- had undercut sanctions against Iraq. That left Mr. Bush with little choice other than to stick with a failing multilateralist policy or to act unilaterally.

Now we're seeing that in the case of Iran, "realism" and multilateralism may be mutually exclusive in the effort to curtail proliferation. Or put another way, multilateralism empowers Moscow and Moscow isn't inclined to make a multilateral sanctions regime effective.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, realism is a zero-sum game that maximizes Russian power at U.S. expense. The U.S. can seek Russian cooperation, but for Russian realists, inaction looks like the best option. A nuclear capable Iran is inimical to Russian interests, but Mr. Putin may have seen in Mr. Bush's soul a commitment to deny Tehran nuclear capability at any cost. So why not profit both financially and strategically?

Russia and China have made billions as enablers to Iran's military ambitions. Less than a month after the 9/11 terror attacks, Moscow signed a $7 billion arms deal with Tehran. The Iranian government has paid Russia's state-owned Atomstroiexport more than $1 billion to construct the Bushehr nuclear plant. A 2003 CIA issued report credited Russian, Chinese and North Korean experts for Iran's ballistic-missile advances.

Alexander Denisov, deputy director of the Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said bluntly in 2005, "First of all, we have to count in our national interests. In Syria, we have a huge market, over 80% of Soviet-made arms. The same is true about Iran." Late last year, Russia's state-run Rosoboronexport shipped a $700 million air-defense and missile system to Iran. Last month, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said his government had won a Russian commitment to complete the Bushehr reactor prior to a visit by Mr. Putin to Tehran later this month.

While a nuclear Iran would threaten U.S. national security and shred the international non-proliferation regime, a U.S. military strike on Iran would be costly. Iranians may find Mr. Ahmadinejad odious, but they may respond to a strike by rallying around the flag. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is also capable of striking anywhere from Baghdad to Buenos Aires and is able to set Lebanon and even northern Israel aflame.

On Sept. 29, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed the ability to monitor all movement in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf. The threat is clear: Any conflict with Iran could drive oil over $120 a barrel. This would likely hurt the U.S. economy, but it would also accelerate Russia's return to a dominant position in the world.

Russian realists relish such a scenario. The Kremlin has converted its multibillion-dollar oil windfall into power and influence. Mr. Putin has increased defense procurement by more than 50% over the past two years. Russia has developed a new class of nuclear submarines and a new generation of nuclear missiles. Moscow leverages money into military strength.

Already, Russia uses European aversion to conflict to its advantage. The same European leaders upon whose good faith Ms. Rice pegs U.S. national security have been willing to demote the Czech Republic and Poland to second-class status within NATO to assuage the Kremlin.

During the George H.W. Bush administration, Ms. Rice was the point woman for Soviet affairs on the National Security Council. She distinguished herself for poor instincts with her opposition to Ukrainian independence, among other issues. What Ms. Rice believes conciliatory, Mr. Putin sees as weakness. She may confuse realism with idealism; Mr. Putin, the former KGB apparatchik, will not.

Realism may prevail, but not Washington's realism. The defiant Mr. Ahmadinejad offers the White House a stark choice: Live with a nuclear Iran, or take action to stop it. Winning Russian approval is a chimera, delaying an inevitable decision.

Mr. Rubin, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

honor killing

Honor Killing

An honor killing is a murder, nearly exclusively of a woman, who has been perceived as having brought dishonor to her family. Such killings are typically perpetrated by the victim's own relatives and/or community and unlike crimes of passion or rage-induced killings, usually planned in advance.

In societies and cultures where they occur, such killings are often regarded as a "private matter" for the affected family alone, and courts rarely become involved or prosecute the perpetrators.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000 women.

Definitions

Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as follows:

Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce — even from an abusive husband — or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a specific way to "dishonor" her family, is sufficient to trigger an attack.^[1]

For example, honor killings can sometimes target those who choose boyfriends, lovers or spouses outside of their family's ethnic and/or religious community. Some women who adopt the customs (or religion) of an outside group, may also be more likely to be victims.[3] Furthermore, in certain cultures a raped single woman will garner no bride price if she marries, and thus be considered "worthless" to the family. There is some evidence that homosexuality can also be grounds for honor killing by relatives. Several cases have been suspected but not confirmed. There is also a documented case of a gay Jordanian man who was shot (but not fatally) by his brother.^[2]

Many hold the practice to be self-contradictory, since an honor killing is sometimes justified by its participants or supporters, as an attempt to uphold the morals of a religion or a code, which at the same time generally forbids killing as morally wrong.

Honor suicides

Dandruff & Natural Remedy

Natural Remedies for Dandruff

 

What is Dandruff?

Dandruff is a common scalp condition marked by white flakes on the scalp and itching.

It appears to be caused by a yeast-like fungus called malassezia, also known as pityrosporum. Malassezia is normally found on the scalp without causing problems, however, if it grows unchecked (possibly due to hormone imbalances, stress, immune suppression, infrequent shampooing, illness, or increased oil production), there is mild inflammation that produces dead skin cells. The dead cells mix with oil and clump together, making them appear white and flaky.

1) Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil is an essential oil that comes from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a plant native to Australia. It has been used for centuries as an antiseptic and anti-fungal agent.

There are many tea tree oil shampoos available in health food stores and some drug stores, and many people report these products help with dandruff.

There haven't been many research studies on tea tree oil for dandruff. One study involved 126 people with mild to moderate dandruff. They used either a five percent tea tree oil shampoo or a placebo daily for four weeks. At the end of the study, the tea tree oil shampoo significantly reduced dandruff. No adverse effects were reported. Although promising, this was not a double-blind study (which means that the researchers knew which participants were using tea tree oil and which were using the placebo), so it cannot be considered solid evidence that tea tree oil works. For more information about tea tree oil, read the Tea Tree Oil Fact Sheet.

2) Apple Cider Vinegar

A home remedy for dandruff is to mix 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar with 1/4 cup water.

Pour this mixture into a spray bottle and spritz it on to your hair and scalp, being careful to avoid the eye and ear area. Wrap your head in a towel.

After 15 minutes to an hour, remove the towel and wash your hair. This is generally done once to twice a week.

3) Biotin

Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin that helps to break down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. It is sold in supplement form and is also found naturally in foods.

Food sources of biotin are egg yolk, liver, milk, soy, barley, brewer's yeast, and royal jelly. Biotin is also produced naturally by bacteria in the intestines.

Eating raw egg whites and prolonged use of antibiotics are thought to be causes of biotin deficiency.


Sources
____________________

Satchell AC, Saurajen A, Bell C, Barnetson RS. Treatment of dandruff with 5% tea tree oil shampoo. J Am Acad Dermatol. 47.6 (2002): 852-855.

 

gain weight

 

how to gain weight - weight gain information!

Before you go any further down on this page, let me make sure you know that this weight gain information will be totally FREE. I will not make you buy any kind of "how to gain weight book" or "manual" like some other useless websites do. Instead, I will provide you with completely FREE detailed information regarding everything you need to know about how to gain weight. Enjoy...

How to gain weight

Weight gain is something that isn't easy to do and you probably know this already. I know first hand because it is something I have to do every day. I am an ectomorph by genetics, which is the "skinny body type" and the one with the fast metabolism which makes gaining so hard for guys like me. The key to weight gain is to do everything BIG. You have to eat big, to lift big, to get big. Say that over and over again in your head until you fully understand it. A lot of people think weightlifting is the key to gaining weight, and I won't argue, it is an extremely important part. BUT, there is another thing that is just as important when it comes to how to gain weight, and that is your diet.

So, to put it as simply as possible, there are 5 simple steps to how to gain weight, and here they are:

1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible. Also, weigh yourself.

2) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2500 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5-6 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.

3) Weightlifting! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step to how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly. For more information on weightlifting workout routines and splits, read the workout routines and splits section.

4) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice you're gaining just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 10lb increase. Gaining anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means you're putting on way to much fat. So look for 1 or 2 pound gains at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can be gaining 5-8 pounds a month!

5) Heres an important one. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining for at least 2 weeks, it means it is time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.

More tips for how to gain weight (extremely important!)

- Stay away from bad fat! Even though weight gain is your goal, you don't want to be gaining fat and eating junk. Get rid of the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. Stick to high protein, low (saturated) fat foods like fish (and fish oil supplements), chicken breast, turkey, lean meats, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables, nuts, flax seed oil, etc. (For more information, go here: Diet Plans And Diets)

- Track your progress! Weighing yourself once a week is extremely important, but so is figuring out if the weight you are gaining is muscle or fat. In order to know this information, you need to also track your body fat percentage!

- WATER! Drink water! Drink around a half gallon a day, more if you can. Yes that's a lot of water, but it's that water that will give you the energy you need to gain that weight!

- Sleep! YES! Sleep! The easiest, yet most over looked step. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. You're gonna need it!

Now the concern some people have about how to gain weight, is how to do it without putting on extra fat. Let me tell you how, YOU CAN'T! Unless you are using steroids, it is basically impossible to gain weight without putting on a little bit of extra fat. But hey, you want to see some weight gain right? Well then who cares about the little bit of extra fat you might put on while gaining. You will be able to burn that off later on, right now gaining is your main concern, so that is all you need to worry about.

Laser Printers

 Laser Printers Can Be....

Hazardous to Your Health.....

Last week, researchers from Queensland University of Technology in Australia published a study that indicates that some laser printers create as much fine-particle pollution as cigarette smoke. The researchers warn that laser printer-emitted pollution can affect people's lungs in the same way that cigarettes can, making it a legitimate health threat to people who work around active laser printers in poorly ventilated spaces. The researchers also warn that beyond posing a threat to lung health, exposure to laser printer pollution can ultimately increase one's risk of developing cardiovascular disease and even cancer.

Here are the key findings reported in this study:

1. New toner cartridges and graphic-heavy printing projects tend to emit the most ultra-fine powder -- believed to be toner -- into the air.

2. Some well known brand printers release enough toner into the air to increase the total amount of fine particles in a typical office environment by 500 percent during work hours.

3. Seventeen of the 62 printers that were tested were categorized as "high particle emitters." Specific models that were identified as high or potentially high emitters are as follows:

   • HP Color LaserJet 4650dn
   • HP Color LaserJet 5550dtn
   • HP Color LaserJet 8550N
   • HP LaserJet 1320N
   • HP LaserJet 1320n
   • HP LaserJet 2420dn
   • HP LaserJet 4200dtn
   • HP LaserJet 4250n (old)
   • HP LaserJet 4250n (new)
   • HP LaserJet 5(a)
   • HP LaserJet 8000DN
   • HP LaserJet 8150N
   • Toshiba Studio 450

4. Thirty-seven of the 62 printers that were tested did not release particles that compromised air quality, six released low levels, and two released medium levels.

5. Printers that were tested to be in the non-emission category were made by Toshiba, Mita, Ricoh, and HP LaserJet.

6. Low-level emitters were made by Canon, Ricoh, and HP.

7. The two printers that were categorized as mid-level emitters were made by HP.

The findings in this study were stumbled upon by accident while researchers were testing the efficiency of ventilating systems in different office settings. They quickly found that laser printers were diminishing air quality.

Bush's Promises

President Bush's Broken Promises

by Michael Rubin
Wall Street Journal
http://www.meforum.org/article/1715

During his last 18 months in office, President Bush confronts a broader set of international crises than in his first 18 months. While pundits blame unilateralism and the Iraq war, the deterioration of Washington's relations with once-staunch allies has less to do with a lack of diplomacy and more to do with its kind.

Too often, the administration has sacrificed long-term credibility for short-term calm. Take Turkey. At the June 2004 NATO summit in Istanbul, President Bush promised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the U.S. military would shut down Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorists in Iraq. He did not. Three years later, the Turks no longer trust U.S. promises and may send their army into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Already the damage to U.S. prestige is severe. Once among America's closest allies, Turkey, according to a Pew Global Attitudes Project poll last month, is the most anti-American country in the world. Only 9% of Turks have a favorable impression of the U.S.; 83% hold the opposite view. Most blame U.S. inaction against the PKK.

On June 24, 2002, Mr. Bush declared, "The United States will not support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure." Less than a year later the State Department reversed course, eliminating the cessation of terror as a precondition for engagement. Palestinian terrorism grew.

While the White House condemns Hamas terrorism, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, to which Mr. Bush promised a half billion dollars in July, is equally culpable. A year ago Fatah's military wing threatened to "strike at the economic and civilian interests of these countries [the U.S. and Israel], here and abroad," and it claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot in June.

Empty promises of accountability encourage terror by diminishing the costs of its embrace.

While terrorists benefit, Arab liberals pay the price for the president's rhetorical reversals. His promise in the second inaugural speech to "support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture" rings hollow as Egyptian police beat, arrest and sodomize protestors rallying to demand the rule of law.

Mr. Bush has yet to act on his promise to resolve the case of Palestinian banker Issam Abu Issa, whose visa the State Department revoked in February 2004 as he prepared to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Palestinian Authority corruption. Nor has the president fulfilled a promise to demand the release of Libyan dissident Fathi Eljahmi, imprisoned by Moammar Ghadafi since March 2004. State Department officials say Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Libyan dictator this autumn, regardless of Mr. Jahmi's fate.

On June 5, 2007, Mr. Bush endorsed the Prague Declaration, which calls upon governments to instruct diplomats "to actively and openly seek out meetings with political prisoners and dissidents committed to building free societies through non-violence," and announced that he'd tasked Secretary Rice to implement it. U.S. embassies in the Middle East have yet to reach out to any dissident or political prisoner.

Increasingly, friends view Washington as an unreliable ally; foes conclude the U.S. is a paper tiger. This latter conclusion may transform broken promises into a national security nightmare.

Way back in April 2001, the president established a moral redline when he declared that the U.S. would do "whatever it took to help Taiwan defend herself" in the face of Chinese aggression. But amid Beijing's steady military build-up, Mr. Bush stood in the Oval Office beside Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and condemned Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for holding a referendum on missile defense. Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Bush has yet to send a single cabinet-level official to demonstrate commitment to the island nation. Such contradictions may raise doubt in Beijing and encourage Chinese officials to test U.S. resolve.

After promising Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in May 2003 that Washington would "not settle for anything less than the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear weapons program," Mr. Bush directed his administration to do just that. Despite the administration's self-congratulations over its ephemeral deal with North Korea in February of this year, the fact remains that, against its allies' wishes, Washington acquiesced to Pyongyang's continued custody of its reactor and nuclear weapons. This broken promise is guaranteed to haunt the next U.S. administration.

Kicking diplomatic problems down the road is not a strategy. Addressing crises with insincere promises is as counterproductive as treating a hemorrhagic fever with a band-aid. Empty promises exacerbate crises. They do not solve them. While farsighted in his vision, it is the president's failure to abide by his word that will most shape his foreign policy legacy. It would be ironic if he justifies the "Bush lied, people died" rhetoric of protestors across the White House lawn in Lafayette Park, though not for the reasons they believe.

Mr. Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

Symptoms of High Cholesterol

Only a Blood Test Can Detect High Cholesterol

Heart disease has now surpassed cancer as the number one cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High cholesterol is one of the important components risk factors for heart disease. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms that are associated with high cholesterol. It is usually diagnosed through a routine blood test, and may come as a surprise to the person who is diagnosed, because he or she may feel OK otherwise.

In some cases, people may not find out that they have high cholesterol levels until they have had their first heart attack or stroke.

Although there are no symptoms associated with high cholesterol, it is the most modifiable risk factor for heart disease.

This is why getting your cholesterol checked is extremely important.

Get Your Cholesterol Checked

The current guidelines recommend that everyone over the age of 20 should get their cholesterol checked at least once every five years. However, if you have a family history of high cholesterol, or you have been diagnosed with a chronic condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, you may consider checking your cholesterol more frequently. Once diagnosed, lifestyle modifications, and possibly medication, may lower your cholesterol. Even if you have not been diagnosed as having high cholesterol, there are many preventative measures that can be taken to reduce your cholesterol, as well as your risk for heart disease.

on flage or not?

Is My Period Normal?

From time to time, every women suspects that her menstrual cycle is abnormal for one reason or another. However, often what we think is an abnormal period is actually normal menstruation. How do you know when you're experiencing abnormal periods? What are the signs and symptoms of abnormal periods? You may be experiencing an abnormal period, abnormal uterine bleeding, or an abnormal menstrual cycle if...

• your menstrual cycle is longer than 31 to 35 days apart, or less than two weeks from day one of your period to day one of your next period.

• you need to change tampons or sanitary pads after only one or two hours.

• your period lasts longer than 7 days.

• you suddenly begin experiencing severe menstrual cramps. While it's normal to experience a small amount of cramping during your period and some women never experience cramps during menstruation, it's not normal to experience severe menstrual cramps.
• If you suddenly begin having severe cramps you should be evaluated by your health care provider to determine the cause of the increased pain you experience during your period.

• you see blood clots which are actually clots of tissue in your menstruation -- don't worry, this is a normal occurrence and is no cause for alarm. Blood clots such as these are perfectly normal because menstruation involves the shedding of the lining of the uterus.

• you have recently experienced the onset of menstruation, don't worry if you skip periods or have irregular periods for the first few years. This is a normal process that most young ladies experience.

• you're extremely active in sports activities, periods are often skipped for long periods of time. Nobody is sure why this occurs, but it's a normal occurrence for many women who regularly participate in intense sports or other activities.

• you're a woman who is postmenopausal or younger than eleven should see a doctor immediately if you experience any amount of vaginal or uterine bleeding.

• you are over 16 and haven't had a period yet. In this case your health care provider should be consulted to determine the cause. One possibility that you should be sure and ask about is polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS.

• Things to Remember About Menstruation

  • Normal menstrual bleeding lasts about 5 days.
    
  • The normal amount of blood lost during menstruation is about 2 to 8 tablespoons, although it may seem like more than that.
    
  • The average menstrual cycle is 28 days from Day 1 to Day 1 of your period. However, anywhere from 25 to 31 days between periods is considered a normal menstrual cycle.

  The best thing to do when you suspect that you're experiencing abnormal bleeding or menstrual cycles is to consult with your health care provider.

sax abuse charges

Md. Judge Dismisses Sex-Abuse Charges

Clerk Is Unable To Find Suitable Translator In Time

By Ernesto Londoño

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 22, 2007; Page C05

A 7-year-old girl said she had been raped and repeatedly molested over the course of a year. Police in Montgomery County, acting on information from a relative, soon arrested a Liberian immigrant living in Gaithersburg. They marshaled witnesses and DNA evidence to prepare for trial.

What was missing -- for much of the nearly three years that followed -- was an interpreter fluent in the suspect's native language. A judge recently dropped the charges, not because she found that Mahamu Kanneh had been wrongly accused but because repeated delays in the case had, in her view, violated his right to a speedy trial.

This is one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make in a long time," Katherine D. Savage said from the bench Tuesday, noting that she was mindful of "the gravity of this case and the community's concern about offenses of this type."

Loretta E. Knight, the Circuit Court clerk responsible for finding interpreters, said her office searched exhaustively for a speaker of Vai, a tribal language spoken in West Africa. They contacted the Liberian Embassy, she said, and courts in all but three states. Linguists estimate that 100,000 people speak Vai, mostly in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In arguing to save the case, Assistant State's Attorney Maura Lynch said that dismissing the indictment "after all the efforts the state has made to accommodate the defendant would be fundamentally unfair."

Prosecutors, who cannot refile the charges against Kanneh, are considering whether to appeal Savage's ruling. Kanneh was granted asylum in the United States, according to State's Attorney John McCarthy. A conviction could have led to deportation proceedings.

His attorney, Theresa Chernosky, declined to comment. Delays were compounded by a dispute about whether Kanneh required an interpreter at all.

In Montgomery and elsewhere, the proliferation of languages resulting from immigration is presenting courts with a novel challenge, legal and linguistics experts say. Rarely, however, does a court have such difficulty finding an interpreter that a criminal case must be dropped.

Court interpreters and linguists say a national database of court interpreters would help quickly locate people fluent in uncommon languages. "The burden of increased requests for rare languages makes it a necessity," said Nataly Kelly, author of a book on interpreting.

Knight said the county spent nearly $1 million on interpreters last year, 10 times the amount it spent in 2000. "It's a constant struggle, and it is extremely expensive," she said.

Kanneh was arrested in August 2004 after witnesses told police that he raped and repeatedly sexually molested the girl, a relative.

In a charging document, Detective Omar Hasan wrote that the girl "attempted to physically stop the behavior from the defendant, but was unsuccessful." Hasan wrote that Kanneh threatened the young girl "with not being able to leave the apartment unless she engaged in sexual behavior with the defendant."

Kanneh spent one night in jail and was released on a $10,000 bond with the restriction that he have no contact with minors. He later waived his right to a speedy trial -- in Maryland, defendants have a right to be tried within 180 days following an indictment -- because the defense wanted time to conduct its own analysis of DNA evidence. That waiver was effective only until the next trial date, Chernosky argued in court.

The trial date was extended repeatedly as the state and the defense argued over whether Kanneh needed an interpreter and whether he understood the legal proceedings. The state noted that Kanneh attended high school and community college in Montgomery and spoke to detectives in English. The defense insisted that he needed an interpreter to fully understand the proceedings.

The matter was resolved after a court-appointed psychiatrist who evaluated Kanneh recommended that an interpreter be appointed. Judges who handled subsequent hearings heeded that advice.

The first interpreter stormed out of the courtroom in tears because she found the facts of the case disturbing. A second interpreter was rejected for faulty work. After calling the Liberian Embassy and exhausting other avenues, the clerk's office contacted the administrator of the state's court interpreter program in Annapolis. He located a third Vai interpreter, but at the last minute, that person had to tend to a family emergency.

In recent weeks, court officials had found a suitable interpreter who could have assisted in the trial, but it was too late.

Earlier this month, Chernosky filed a motion seeking to have the indictment dismissed, arguing that Kanneh's right to a speedy trial had been violated. "This delay is just too long," she argued in court. "The reasons for the delay are not the defendant's fault."

With help from the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, The Washington Post identified three Vai interpreters Thursday, including one in Gaithersburg. Lionbridge, a company that offers interpretation services, said it could provide Vai speakers on short notice. Knight said her office had been diligent. "It's these rare languages we're struggling with so much," she said.

In court, Savage attributed no blame for the delay. She called the prosecutor's efforts to help locate an interpreter "Herculean" and said the court system had learned from the case. "Time has become the enemy," the judge said.

Harry Potter

Peeking at Potter

 

Is it wrong to skip to the end of a book?

By Juliet Lapidos

When a few media outlets published early reviews of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this week, author J.K. Rowling protested that the articles contained spoilers. She declared herself "staggered that American newspapers have decided to … [ignore] the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves, in their own time." Presumably, Rowling assumes that half the pleasure of reading a fat, event-filled tome lays in our uncertainty about how it will end. But not every boy-wizard devotee thrives on guesswork and anticipation. According to a poll of 500 children taken for the British bookstore chain Waterstone's, nearly one-fifth of Harry Potter fans will skip straight to the end of the final book in the series. Is there something wrong with sussing out an ending in advance?

Readers are, of course, free to experience books in any way they see fit. It's customary to read page by page, but there are no set rules. And as any Ian Fleming enthusiast can attest, knowing that 007 will eventually escape doesn't mean you feel cool and collected when he's fighting against a giant squid. Yet peeking seems unfair and, ultimately, counterproductive. Authors spend years crafting a story, agonizing over when and how to reveal that Pip's benefactor is really a criminal or that Voldemort is Harry's alter ego. If you skip, you thwart the author's intentions and cheat yourself of maximal enjoyment. Surely it's more fun to speculate about the outcome along the way, and then feel humbled, or exhilarated, or despondent when you realize you got it all wrong.

Peeking feels like cheating, but is there any evidence that flipping to the back of the book suggests dark things about your character? A professor of psychology at Smith College, Phil Peake, says page-skipping may relate to broader issues of impulse control. And according to at least one "delay of gratification" study, bad things come to those who can't wait. In the early 1970s, Harvard professor David Funder and UC Berkeley professors Jeanne Block and Jack Block conducted an experiment in which 116 4-year-old children were shown a wrapped present and told they could open it as soon as they completed a puzzle. The researchers helped the children with their task and then spent 90 seconds shuffling papers before telling the kids to open their present. After each go-round, the researchers calculated a "delay score"—a composite of how many times the child mentioned the gift while toiling away, how long it took the child to grab the gift after completing the puzzle, and whether or not the child unwrapped the gift immediately.

When independent examiners interviewed the kids seven years later, they found significant personality differences between the patient test subjects and the impatient ones. Using a "California Q-set," which consists of 100 character descriptions, the examiners reported that boys who had delayed gratification were "deliberative, attentive, and able to concentrate." Conversely, boys who had not delayed were "irritable, restless and fidgety, aggressive, and generally not self-controlled." Likewise, girls who had displayed restraint under laboratory conditions seemed "intelligent, resourceful, and competent," while those who had not "tended to go to pieces under stress, to be victimized by other children, and to be easily offended, sulky, and whiny."

The parallel between the "gift delay task" and Harry Potter reading habits isn't exact. For one thing, the test subjects knew they were waiting for something good, but J.K. Rowling fans worry that the seventh Harry Potter book will end with something bad—the death of Harry, or some other beloved character, or both. Still, both cases reveal how children regulate their impulses in the face of behavior-constraining norms.

So, it's not crazy to posit that peekers and page-by-pagers may represent two opposing personality types. Maybe the tenacious tots who read Harry Potter all the way through will show great self-restraint, competence, and resourcefulness later in life. And maybe when the peekers come of age they'll whine, sulk, fidget, and try to get ahead by taking shortcuts. To date, I've only heard one convincing reason to flip to the back, from another famous Harry. In When Harry Met Sally..., Harry says "I always read the last page first. That way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends."

How Do I Love Thee?

How Do I Love Thee?

Poem lyrics of How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death

Sex Abuse

Insurance for Sex Abuse

 

A policy tailor-made for the Catholic Church.

 

By Michelle Tsai

Over the weekend the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $660 million to settle lawsuits from hundreds of sex-abuse victims. About $250 million will come out of the diocese bank account; $60 million will come from other religious orders and another $123 million from litigation with orders that chose to sit out the deal. Insurance companies will pay the remaining $227 million. Hold on—can churches buy insurance for sex abuse?

Yes. Like any business, churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations purchase insurance to protect themselves from lawsuits, like discrimination claims or negligence charges against officers. Since the spike in sex-abuse lawsuits in the mid-1980s, churches have also had the option to take out extra liability policies for damages related to sexual misconduct. These policies don't come cheap, and they protect just the institutions, for the most part. Insurers will mount a legal defense for accused individuals, but the support extends only so far: Perpetrators are on their own if they're found guilty or choose to settle out of court.

But insurance companies created these abuse-specific policies only after the lawsuits of the mid-80s forced them to make large payouts. Until then, general liability policies didn't specifically rule out sex abuse, so churches that needed to pay damages argued that insurers should pay. Thus, even though sex-abuse insurance is available today, many of the big payouts actually come from the churches' general policies, since the abuse happened decades ago. (The Los Angeles settlement probably came out of these general policies.)

According to GuideOne, a major insurer for Protestant churches, most of its clients choose $100,000 of coverage for sex abuse. That might cost a small church with one pastor as little as $100 a year. A much larger church that also runs, say, a day-care center, might pay $6,000 to have $1 million in coverage. Religious organizations buying a lot of coverage may need to prove that they're taking precautions to lower the risk of sex abuse. GuideOne, for instance, requires some churches to conduct criminal background checks on employees, to allow volunteers to work with kids only after they've completed six months of service with the church, and to make sure that no child is ever left alone with just one adult. The policy won't cover everything. Insurers may put a limit on how much they will pay in aggregate, or for each case. (Recently, three major Protestant insurers reported that they receive 260 reports of child abuse every year.)

Partly because of rising insurance costs, a small number of churches are foregoing the coverage. More than half of Catholic dioceses buy their insurance from Catholic Mutual, which operates a self-insurance fund for the Catholic Church in North America. No matter who forks over the money for damages, awards today are so large that some dioceses are facing bankruptcy.

 

Fire and Ice

Fire And Ice

Poem lyrics of Fire And Ice by Robert Frost.

Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Hazy Days of Summer

If you're like me you consider summer to be a pretty hot and uncomfortable time of year. I often look at my clients who are so very pregnant and due in the summer months with pity, because I know that pregnancy adds an extra burden to the usual summer heat.

Here are some things that you need to keep in mind during the summer while pregnant, no mater when you're due!

Hydration

Drinking water during pregnancy is very important because of the increased demands on your body. During the summer time it is even more important because even slight dehydration can cause severe problems like preterm labor.

Signs of Dehydration

Dizziness and light-headedness

Nausea and headaches

Muscle cramps

Increase in body temp (leads to heat exhaustion)

Drink at least 2 liters of clear liquids, preferably water, a day. If you are outside you need at least eight ounces of water for every hour you are outside. Drink before you get thirsty, thirst can be a sign that you've waited too long.

When dehydration occurs you lose part of your blood volume. This in turn increases the concentration of the normal amounts of oxytocin (hormone that causes contractions), therefore causing contractions. These contractions can lead to the premature birth of your baby.

Swelling

Swelling can be a normal physiologic part of pregnancy. You need to learn to tell the difference between this normal swelling, which usually increases in the summer, particularly if you are later in pregnancy.

Normal swelling in pregnancy will go down after you have rested. It will not appear suddenly. Any swelling that appears suddenly, does not go away after rest (For example, you wake up swollen.), or is worrisome needs to be checked out by your practitioner.

Normal swelling can be dealt with by salting your food to taste. This means you need to neither restrict salt completely or overdo it on the salt. Many people are not aware that too little salt will also cause swelling to occur.

Rest with your feet up whenever possible. Remove your rings if they are tight, don't risk the pain and misery of having them cut off. Being in water will also help swelling, particularly water that is deeper, like shoulder length. This also works really well for women who have higher blood pressure.

Sun

Ah, what would summer be without the sun? During pregnancy it's best to avoid direct sunlight. If you are in the sun use a 30-45 SPF sun screen. Avoid restrictive clothes, because this can increase your discomfort and add to swelling problems. Try to go outside in the cooler parts of the sunshine, early morning and late afternoon, rather than high noon. Use common sense.

Summer can be a great time of year to get out and enjoy your pregnancy. There are many activities that can still be done during pregnancy, and with a few simple precautions, there is no reason you shouldn't enjoy summer. Remember to watch out for warning signs of dehydration, problematic swelling, or other signs that you need to call your practitioner.

When to Call Your Practitioner

Contractions or cramps, more than 5 in one hour

Bright red blood from your vagina

Swelling or puffiness of the face or hands, a sign of preeclampsia

Pain during urination, possible urinary tract, bladder or kidney infection

Sharp or prolonged pain in your stomach (preeclampsia signs)

Acute or continuous vomiting (preeclampsia signs)

Sudden gush of clear, watery fluid from your vagina

Low, dull backache

Intense pelvic pressure

Management of Adverse Reactions to Medications

Drug Side Effects 

 

Severe reactions to cephalosporins are much less common than with penicillins. However, there is a small chance that someone with a true penicillin allergy could also react to cephalosporins, since the drugs are related. An allergist may be able to help determine if these antibiotics are safe for you.

3. Sulfonamides (including antibiotics, oral diabetes medications and some water pill diuretics). It is unclear whether these reactions are truly allergic or due to another immunologic process. There is no reliable test available to determine is a person is allergic to this class of medications.

4. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID), including aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. This class of medications can cause allergic and non-allergic flares of hives/swelling, worsen asthma, and result in anaphylaxis. There is no reliable test available for most people with reactions to these medications.

5. IV Contrast/Dye. This reaction is non-allergic but can result in anaphylaxis because the high concentration of the dye causes mast cells to release their contents, which mimics an allergic reaction. While there is no test available for reactions to IV contrast, most patients can take the dye safely by taking oral steroids and anti-histamines hours before the contrast is given. The contrast is usually given in a less concentrated form to these patients. Let your doctor know if you've had a past reaction to IV contrast before receiving it again.

6. Local Anesthetics. True allergic reactions to local anesthetics (novocaine, lidocaine) are extremely rare, and usually due to other ingredients in the medication, such as preservatives or epinephrine (present in the local anesthetic to make the medication last longer once it's injected). An allergist can perform testing to various local anesthetics and find one that works for almost everybody.

7. General Anesthesia. Some medications used during surgery are very common causes of true allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. If you think you experienced an allergic reaction during or shortly after surgery, an allergist may be able to help determine the cause.

8. Anti-Seizure Medications. Many medications used for treatment of epilepsy can cause non-allergic reactions as a result of certain enzyme deficiencies in the person taking the medication. Symptoms can include a rash, fever, body aches and hepatitis. There is no test available for this type of reaction.
 

Management of Adverse Reactions to Medications

1. Avoidance/Removal of the suspect medication. Most often, if a medication is causing a person to have an unpleasant reaction, the medication is stopped. Usually this is all that is needed to resolve the problem.

2. Treatment of any allergic or non-allergic symptoms. If the reaction is severe, such as anaphylaxis, or in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis, emergency treatment may be required.

3. Consideration of testing by an allergist. An allergist may be able to help determine what medication caused the reaction and if there is testing that can be accomplished.

4. Determination of a need for current or replacement medication. If the person still has an infection, for example, another antibiotic may be required.

A physician can determine a safe alternative medication in this instance.
5. Consideration of desensitization. In some unique cases, a very specific medication is needed. In most forms of true medication allergy, a person can be desensitized to the medication by giving very small amounts initially (orally or intravenously) with increasing doses over many hours. This is usually done in a hospital given the chance of life-threatening anaphylaxis, and should only be done under the supervision of an allergist.

2 months

Two Months

By Daniel Politi

The Washington Post leads with the growing divide between Republican lawmakers, as some continue to clamor for a change in Iraq, while others are standing behind the White House. The Wall Street Journal tops its worldwide newsbox with President Bush promising to veto any legislation that sets a date for withdrawal. Bush implored lawmakers to wait until the September progress report before passing any Iraq-related legislation. But there's an earlier report coming down the pipeline this week, and the Los Angeles Times leads with its own assessment of the overall Iraq strategy. Although the administration can point to some successes, it's unclear whether they're very meaningful or if they can even be sustained. Meanwhile, Iraq continues to be plagued by many of the same problems, and the chances that things could improve by September are slim at best.

The New York Times leads with Dr. Richard Carmona, the surgeon general from 2002 until 2006, telling Congress that the Bush administration frequently tried to shape his public statements so that they would fit its political goals and prevented him from speaking out about several issues. Carmona has thus become the latest in a string (the WP has a good rundown) of officials who have said that political considerations take precedence over scientific facts at the Bush White House. USA Today leads with a look at how more states are providing discounts in college tuition for veterans, partly as a way to make up for severe deficiencies in the federal GI Bill. Some of it has to do with the increased number of National Guard troops that are being sent into battle, but also because often the money provided by the federal government is simply not enough. But as more state lawmakers are dealing with budgetary woes, some are considering cutting back.

GOP leaders are counting on the fact that Democrats need 60 votes in order to get any legislation passed in the Senate, and the administration went into an all-hands-on-deck mode to try to prevent any more defectors. There are several amendments being discussed in the Senate, but the ones that have the greater chance of getting Republican support do not include a precise withdrawal date and give Bush greater flexibility. Meanwhile, lawmakers aren't the only ones defecting, as the LAT fronts a look at how the three Republican front-runners have been " quietly backing away" from supporting a continuation of the "surge.

As more troops have moved into Baghdad neighborhoods, they continue to face a barrage of attacks and "have been unable to establish security, even for themselves," says the LAT. Iraqis who live in mixed neighborhoods continue to leave their homes in a massive scale. So, while the administration is likely to point to a decrease in sectarian violence in Baghdad, some suspect it is merely a sign that most neighborhoods have become segregated. And although Iraqis are moderately optimistic that U.S. troops could have some success against al-Qaida in Iraq, it's less clear whether they can be effective in creating political unity and economic opportunities, two factors that everyone says are crucial to bring about security.

The LAT points out inside that Bush once again talked about the fight in Iraq as a battle against "the same people that attacked us on September the 11th." As any faithful TP reader should know by now, there's little evidence of a connection between al-Qaida in Iraq and Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network. In other Iraq news, everyone mentions what the NYT calls the "most intense mortar attack to date on the Green Zone" that killed three people , including an American service member, and wounded 18.

Carmona said he was prevented from speaking out on several issues, including stem cells, sexual education, and prisoners' health care. On the issue of sexual education, Carmona said he wanted to discuss contraceptives, but he was blocked due to the focus on abstinence-only policies. Carmona was one of three former surgeon generals who testified yesterday, and although the three discussed some sort of political interference with their jobs, they all said it seems to have gotten worse under Bush.

The NYT and WP front the big changes in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign team as two of his top aides resigned. Despite McCain's insistence that he's still in the race, everyone says this brings further doubt to whether the man who was once considered a shoo-in for his party's nomination will be able to continue his campaign for much longer. The resignations came after several contentious meetings where McCain expressed bewilderment over the news that his campaign was in such poor financial shape. The NYT says McCain only realized the extent of the problem late last month .

USAT fronts a blunt look at the massive problems that Bush will leave for whoever ends up taking his place. "I can't think of a single modern president about to bequeath to his successor such a difficult agenda and such a damaged presidency," says Paul Light of New York University.

The WP goes inside with two Justice Department officials saying that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't lie to Congress when he affirmed there hadn't been "one verified case of civil liberties abuse." Even though he knew of the reports that detailed how FBI officials had frequently overstepped their bounds, it turns out they weren't abuses because they weren't intentional.

The LAT fronts news that the Chinese government executed the former head of its food and drug safety agency for taking bribes to approve medicines. Messages supporting the execution were quick to appear online in a show of what the LAT says is the average citizen's frustration with the lack of safety in national products.

USAT reports that Springfield, Vt. (population: 9,300), was the winner of the competition to host the premiere of the Simpsons Movie that pitted 13 Springfields from across the country against each other. They each created a video to make the case for their town, and people voted online for their favorite.

Stress Management

Preventive Stress Management

We all know what it feels like to be overwhelmed by stress, and this site has many techniques that can effectively reduce high levels of stress to more manageable levels so you don't suffer negative health consequences. However, the best way to manage severe stress is to prevent it, or catch it while it's still low-grade stress and prevent it from becoming severe and chronic. This article contains some important suggestions that have also been recommended by the Mayo Clinic on how to manage stress day-by-day to prevent it from becoming overwhelming.

• Relaxing –It's important to keep your mind and body relaxed. Meditation, prayer, having a creative outlet, listening to music and laughter all help.
  For other relaxation techniques, visit the Tension Tamers section.
• Watch Your Body – Before you experience ulcers, heart disease and other major health problems from stress , your body will experience milder forms of discomfort, such as headaches, stomach upset and poor sleep. When you feel these early warning signs, start practicing your tension taming techniques and put a stop to low-grade chronic stress before it becomes a bigger problem.
• Psysical Activity –Practicing martial arts, jogging, lifting weights, or even a short walk can improve mood and reduce feelings of stress by increasing endorphins, lowering cortisol levels, and providing many other benefits. Here are some of the best ways to reduce stress with exercise.
• Eat Well --A healthy diet gives you the energy to handle daily stress, and keeps your blood sugar levels stable so you don't experience mood swings due to low blood sugar levels. Skipping meals and making poor food choices can contribute to fatigue, greater susceptibility to illness, greater feelings of stress, and a general feeling of poor health.
• Setting Boundaries – Being overscheduled and rushed can be a significant cause of stress. By prioritizing your commitments and saying no to some tasks can help you be more successful with what you find to be really important, and you'll have extra time for additional stress management activities.
• Maintain Social Support—Having a supportive network of friends can help you stay healthy and reduce stress in many ways. Friends can provide resources that you may need when you're in a bind, or a supportive ear that helps you feel accepted and understood. Studies show that having a sense of belonging can reduce your risk of depression. And having a friend who makes you laugh can also make you healthier and less stressed.
• Find Fun Distractions –Playing games, reading, watching movies and t.v. can all help you get your mind off of what's stressing you and onto something more pleasant. Sometimes this is just the break you need to stop a pattern of obsessing over your problems, and enable your body and mind to enter a relaxed state. When you come back to your stressors, they may not have the same powerful grip on you.
• Keep a Positive Perspective --Throughout the day, stop and evaluate the endless stream of thoughts that run through your mind. If they're negative, try to reframe those thoughts in a positive way. (This isn't the same as pretending everything's great when it isn't, a form of denial that doesn't always help.) Using less negative language in your self-talk, looking for the hidden benefits as well as the obvious drawbacks of stressful situations, and reminding yourself that this, too, shall pass are all effective strategies in positive thinking that have helped many people.
• Get Help If You Need It --If stress is affecting your ability to work or find pleasure in life, seek help from your doctor, mental health provider or other professional. There's no need to let stress overwhelm your life, and there are many effective forms of help available. Finding it could give you the life you want and deserve.

Working toward implementing these practices into your daily routines can go a long way toward reducing stress in your life and leaving you healthier and happier. Take baby steps at first, and reward yourself for the progress you make, and in no time, these new practices will be old habits.