“Kara Bloomgarden – Smoke” - Meditation for when you only have a minute to spare

Healthy Manhattan: Taking a Moment to Relax

 Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke

March 30, 2011

http://www.nypress.com/article-22263-healthy-manhattan-taking-a-moment-to-relax.html

Meditation expert Martin Boroson came up with the idea for his One Moment Meditation technique out of necessity. When Boroson arrived at a corporate law firm in Dublin to teach a meditation session in 2002, he found that instead of a few hours in a quiet, relaxed location as he had expected, the session was going to take place in a boardroom during lunch hour, with sandwiches lining the conference table.

Boroson decided to teach the roomful of lawyers in suits a short meditation exercise instead of the longer one he had planned. "To my surprise, something happened and it really worked. You could feel the change in the room," he said.

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“Science Daily” - Walnuts Are Top Nut for Heart-Healthy Antioxidants

Science Daily

Mar. 28, 2011

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110327191040.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2011) — A new scientific study positions walnuts in the number one slot among a family of foods that lay claim to being among Mother Nature's most nearly perfect packaged foods: Tree and ground nuts. In a report given in Anaheim, California at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society on March 27, scientists presented an analysis showing that walnuts have a combination of more healthful antioxidants and higher quality antioxidants than any other nut.

"Walnuts rank above peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts," said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., who did the analysis. "A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don't eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet."

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“Laurie David and Grace R. Freedman, Ph.D.” - The Power of Family Dinner to Fight Childhood Obesity

Laurie David and Grace R. Freedman, Ph.D.

03/30/11

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-david/the-power-of-family-dinne_b_842357.html

Thanks to Michelle Obama and many public health advocates, much-needed attention has been directed to the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. Many possible interventions have been raised, including programs for healthier school lunches, more opportunities for play and recess, and less consumption of processed, poor quality foods.

There is one simple idea, though, that gets barely any attention. It's something that parents can act on right away, without any special training or government support and its available to them every day! That solution is family dinner. How and where we eat may seem too simple in the face of the enormous problem of childhood obesity. Yet, the ritual of eating meals together as a family, be it one parent at the table or both, has been shown to greatly improve healthy eating habits.

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“Steve Sheffey” - Progressives Should Support Israel

Steve Sheffey

3/30/11

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-sheffey/progressives-should-suppo_b_842259.html

The progressive movement has been tarred by a vocal minority that seeks to criticize Israel at every opportunity. It's time for the progressive community to stand up and show its support for Israel.

Israel is a progressive's dream: "Universal education, universal health care, equal rights, minority rights protections, strong activist courts, and gays and lesbians openly serving in the military." As progressives, we should be outraged by the way the Arabs, including the Palestinians, treat women, gays and other minorities. We should be outraged that the Palestinians demand that no Jews should be allowed to live in the West Bank, even as over one million Palestinians live within pre-1967 Israel. We should be outraged by the beheadings and honor killings. Israel is not perfect, but Israel holds itself to its own standards, to progressive standards.

Israel is accused by some of apartheid. Yet Arab Israelis "can be found on the Supreme Court, in the Knesset (parliament), in ambassadorial positions, as senior officers in the police and army, as mayors, as deputy-speakers of the Knesset and even as government ministers and deputy ministers. Prominent Arab Israelis can be found in almost every sphere of Israeli life, including in the medical fields, media and playing on Israel's national soccer team." Whatever an apartheid state is, it's not Israel.

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“IBT” - Schumer to Republicans: Avoid Shutdown, Ditch Tea Party

IBTimes Staff Reporter

March 29, 2011

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/128268/20110330/federal-budget-charles-schumer-democrats-republicans-gop-budget-debate.htm

"It is time for House Republican leaders to rip the band-aid off. Mr. Speaker, it's time to forget the Tea Party and take the deal," Schumer said on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

House Speaker John Boehner R-OH, said on Tuesday that Democrats in the Senate had failed to pass any budget cutting plan of their own in the 38 days since the House passed H.R. 1, which seeks $61 billion in cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year, until September 30.

In the meantime, lawmakers have passed a total of $10 billion in cuts in a pair of stopgap budget deals. The latest three week extension was meant to give lawmakers time to negotiate

Schumer said Republicans and Democrats negotiating on that long-term deal had made progress, which quickly ended at the end of last week.

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“Pete Altman” - EPA to Cut Toxic Pollution Across the U.S.

Pete Altman

March 16, 2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-altman/epa-to-cut-toxic-pollutio_b_836643.html

As my colleague John Walke eloquently explains, the EPA is taking action today that -- if polluters and their cohorts in Congress don't get in the way -- will save tens of thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of respiratory illness.

Today, the EPA announced the most important actions to clean up air pollution from dirty coal-burning power plants since the Clean Air Act was last updated in 1990.

EPA’s proposed mercury and air toxics standards for power plants that burn coal and oil are projected to save as many as 17,000 American lives every year by 2015. These standards also will prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms, and there will be 11,000 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children every year.

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“Maggie Baumann” - Is Vegetarianism a Risk for Teen Eating Disorders?

Maggie Baumann 

Monday, March 28, 2011

http://www.momlogic.com/2011/03/vegetarianism_risk_teen_eating_disorders.php

Maggie Baumann, MA: Becoming a vegetarian has lots of healthful benefits. Studies show that a healthy vegetarian meal plan that consists of plenty of vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains), foods that are high in fiber, low in cholesterol and saturated fats can help in avoiding heart disease, high cholesterol and excessive weight gain and/or obesity.

The most basic vegetarian is someone who chooses not to eat meats, fish and poultry. Some vegetarians adhere to more strict food rules and choose not to eat any foods derived from animals, such as cheese and eggs. Vegetarians must be prudent in maintaining diets that provide them with plenty of protein, calcium and iron sources so they don't experience nutrient deficiencies that can cause a host of health problems.

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"Linda Gunter" - Russian Chernobyl Expert Warns of Dire Consequences for Health Around Fukushima

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 25, 2011 3:05 PM	CONTACT: Beyond Nuclear Linda Gunter, International Specialist, Media Director (301) 270-2209 x 2 (o)
https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/03/25-4

Dense populations and risk of plutonium releases could mean Fukushima accident worse than Chernobyl, prominent Russian scientists says

TAKOMA PARK, MD - March 25 - Dr. Alexey Yablokov, co-author of “Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment," and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, warned today that the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan could be comparable to or potentially greater than the health and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl reactor explosion on April 26, 1986 in Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, DC, Dr. Yablokov said: “We are seeing something that has never happened – a multiple reactor catastrophe including one using plutonium fuel as well as spent fuel pool accidents, all happening within 200 kilometers of a metropolis of 30 million people. Because the area is far more densely populated than around Chernobyl, the human toll could eventually be far worse in Japan."

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"Mike Bundrant" - The number one health destroyer is all natural

by Mike Bundrant
http://www.naturalnews.com/031890_chronic_stress_health.html

(NaturalNews) It is linked to nearly every major disease and multiple non-lethal conditions that plague us. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, headaches, chronic anxiety, depression and addictive disorders that foster unhealthy lifestyles are all scientifically linked to chronic stress. In fact, over 50 conditions have been correlated with high stress lifestyles. Even obesity and all the health issues that flow from it, is believed to be a direct result of chronic and excessive stress.

No organ system is immune to the effects of stress. Here is a brief and partial synopsis of the damage stress can do to the body:

Hair: Excessive hair loss and premature baldness are linked to excessive stress

Skin: Eczema, psoriasis, hives, excessive blushing and sweating are linked to stress

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"ScienceDaily" - America's Most Distressed Areas Threatened by Emerging Infections of Poverty

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329172240.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2011) — Neglected infections of poverty are the latest threat plaguing the poorest people living in the Gulf Coast states and in Washington, D.C., according to Dr. Peter Hotez, Distinguished Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at The George Washington University and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, in an editorial published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on March 29th.

Hotez explains that current post-hurricane conditions in the Gulf coast states coupled with the BP oil disaster and extreme levels of poverty make these areas extremely vulnerable to neglected infections of poverty. Conditions such as dengue hemorrhagic fever and other vector borne neglected infections, like Chagas disease and cutaneous leishmaniasis, as well as non-vector borne neglected infections like trichomoniasis and toxocariasis, are affecting the people living in the region. Additionally, Hotez notes that Washington, D.C. is also among the worst U.S. cities in terms of life expectancy and health index, meaning its residents suffer from the lowest incomes, lowest educational attainment, and shortest life expectancy. Despite the fact that these conditions are triggers for neglected infections of poverty, no surveillance data currently exists to reflect their prevalence. Even trichomonaisis, which is extremely common in Baltimore, MD., has not been tracked.

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