Great Discoveries: Recommended Websites For You

 Nasa.gov: Nasa has a new content-rich multimedia website  and image gallery.

ICyte.com: stores information off your computer permanently - files, images, mail, webpages,  whatever.

FUTURITY.org: latest research news from universities in America, Canada and the U.K.

healthyimagination.com: sharing health ideas with partners around the web.

realage.com: Find your real age according to your health habits, track your health progress, learn about new research, try new recipes. (a favorite, getting better)

 Royal Magazin: A fun site to browse, if not very practical.

All-Acronymns.com: Growing in popularity, this helpful site lists organizations and meanings connected to initials, e.g. A.M.S., the American Mathematical Society (AMS) has 278 additional definitions.

Is This a Woman Or a Man?

An abaya

Belgium has banned use of the burqa, pictured next. The BBC calls it the "first move of its kind in Europe."

alaffia.com

Amnesty International has reacted; they say it's a "dangerous precedent." Human rights groups say wearing a burqa is "an expression" of identity and beliefs.

This is an extremely controversial topic, and I disagree even with my sixteen year old daughter, who believes in self-expression and is tolerant of these coverings and thinks it is none of my business. It's my turn to react.

To me, these coverings are dangerous pieces of clothing in many ways.

1) The many layers of cloth can get caught in anything moving, such as vehicles, revolving doors, elevators and escalators, and there is a continual nuisance factor.

2) It is very similar to a cloak of invisibility and affords extreme privacy where none is expected, necessary or welcome. Many people can't readily identify someone wearing a full-body covering without years of practice and it can be a security risk in many situations, such as schools and public spaces. It is like a pair of sunglasses that obscures a person, but this object of clothing covers the entire body, and it isn't an efficient coverup from the point of view of the weather.

3) Most importantly, it is associated with countries where the freedoms women can expect to enjoy, and have taken years of hard work to achieve, are ignored.

Liberal Muslims and women's rights groups are advocating for the compulsory enforcement of the Burqa to be stopped so [women] are given the choice to decide if they want to wear the Burqa or not. (relijournal.com).

Turkey and Tunisia prohibit the wearing of hijab [Quran's admonition to women to dress modestly] in government buildings, schools and universities. But Saudi Arabia and Iran and warlords in southern Afghanistan "enforce the dress code strictly with severe punishments through the religious police."

You Know You Wondered: Miss Alaska 1984 Aims for Politics

This is the woman who actually did win the Miss Alaska 1984 title where Sarah Palin placed second. Maryline Blackburn, once of Alaska, now lives in Georgia, and is running for the State Legislature in Georgia.

Maryline Blackburn
ajc.com

To Save Ourselves, Innovations Must Be Developed

Many are discussing the politically sensitive issue of offshore oil drilling off the coast of the United States after the recent destruction of an oil platform off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill threatens the surrounding coastline with an environmental disaster and guarantees lawsuits against BP for years.

 

Oil Slick off the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River near Louisiana

newser.com.AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The big problem is the world's increasing need for oil. While some might accuse the media of distorting the amount of oil being squandered since the current offshore loss is a small percentage of daily oil usage in the United States alone, they miss the big point: oil is a non-renewable resource and when it's gone, it's gone. This controversial resource would almost seem more precious than water and people, although it isn't and must be kept in its place as a tool.

If only the problem of oil-dependence could inspire and reward innovators to act now as the Administration hopes.  If oil runs out completely, Americans and most other nations around the world will be forced very quickly to change the way they conduct and run businesses, heat houses and power landscape equipment. At some point in time, not very far into the future, all forms of transportation will have to rely on alternative fuel.

The world must practice sustainability. America, too, should unify to create new ways to become more energy self-sufficient and less dependent on oil. Native Americans near Cape Cod on the East Coast, specifically two Wampanoag tribes, say the sight of newly-built wind farms there will "disturb their spiritual sun greetings."

redgreenandblue.org

Can Americans help themselves and the world, including China and India with their increasing consumption of oil, and reduce, if not eliminate their oil demands without changing their businesses and lifestyles? Where is the world going to get more oil when natural reserves run dry? Hope is a luxury.  It isn't the correct answer.

Proof: Slushees Cool The Body Better Than Cold Water Or Hot Tea

Yes, indeed, at least before going outside on a hot day, says an interesting article in the New York Times by science writer Gina Kolata called "To Beat the Heat, Drink a Slushie First." Drinks variously called slushes, slurries, slushies, or slushees, made of crushed particles of ice and syrup are useful at cooling the body on hot days. Best news yet, this advice has the approval of a study in the Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. In the study, "those who drank the slurry " hit a heart rate of 185 beats per minute ten minutes later than those who drank cold water.

While the article mentions how useful these drinks would be for sports team players and exercisers, the advice could usefully extend to anyone who stands outside for an hour on a hot day, or to northerners who arrive in the tropics and experience sudden excessive heat, despite the danger of "brain freeze" or "ice-cream" headaches.

This proof would debunk the erroneous idea that hot tea keeps the body cooler as many believe. It would be nice to have scientific proof that hot drinks likewise warm the body if taken before an hour outside (shoveling snow perhaps) on a freezing cold day. (Certainly it's more welcome to see slush in a tumbler in the heat than unexpectedly on the road in a white-out as happened to me last month!)

www.thepartyrentalcompany.com

Odd the name of such a pleasurable drink is spelled so many ways in English.


 

"Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof": Video review

Did you know that you should try to keep your cholesterol level below 150 mg/dL and your LDL below 80 mg/dL? 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)  and the American Heart Association guidelines recommend higher levels, such as cholesterol levels below 200 mg/dL, and have for many years. The truth calls for much stricter guidelines. Everyone interested in prevention should take heed.

Cleveland Clinic, home of the Wellness Center

 This highbrow video by Caldwell Esselstyn MD, (former) Chief of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic discusses studies with charts and images of healthy and unhealthy arteries and how he has successfully reversed heart disease in his patients. A low fat, plant-based diet without oils is key. This is a great video well-worth watching. Dr. Esselstyn makes very important health suggestions through diet therapy. He advocates not just slowing and reducing intake of fats, but eliminating them.

Here's a link to his book called "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure" available at amazon.com. It has many detailed photographs and wonderful recipes.

Wikipedia notes Dr. Esselstyn was an Olympic athlete in rowing competitions and connected by marriage to the founder of the Cleveland Clinic. He and his family practice this diet.

UPDATE: further reading indicates Dr. Esselstyn was the winner of a  Gold Medal at the Olympics and "1st recipient of the Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine".

Did You Know Digital Copiers Retain Images on Hard Drives?

wivb.com

Did you know that a photocopier's hard drive might be keeping unauthorized copies of your personal records? The hard drives on almost every digital copier made since 2002 (such as these pictured above) store images of all copies made on them. Anyone can take personal information from photocopiers unless their hard drives are scrubbed clean. This year is the 50th anniversary of the old-fashioned copy machine, yet advanced technology has opened up a hole in data security: copiers are computers that keep data.

Secondhand American photocopy machines are routinely resold around the world through intermediaries. The general public should be aware that copied private information can travel to wherever photocopiers are resold. When private information is copied anywhere by these large digital copiers, it can be kept available years into the future for unauthorized use in unexpected locations. Those photocopiers are sent on to locations around the world where computer hackers and terrorists could conceivably steal or hijack them to obtain personal records.

CBS News bought four used copiers from a warehouse in New Jersey and  none of them had been scrubbed clean. Half an hour after hard drives were removed, investigators had downloaded thousands of previously copied documents using a free software program available on the internet.  The previous owners of the photocopier, the law department within an American city's police department, didn't know that confidential information was retained on the photocopiers they leased. News investigators found hundreds of thousands of documents on these copiers. They found police and medical records, social security numbers, birth certificates, income tax, financial records and other secret information assumed by the general public, and even professional corporations, to be secure and private. 

Sharp's 2008 survey said that 60% of Americans don't know, or had forgotten, that copiers store images on hard drives. Only one brand, Sharp, has a photocopier with an automatic deluxe feature that scrubs hard drives clean.  The  CBS  News  investigation video says only one business in America, in San Diego, scrubs hard drives. Small home copiers should be all right, says an expert.

There should be a law banning the sale of photocopiers with any content whatsoever on their hard drives, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. What do you think?

Have you unwittingly copied information on photocopiers you wanted kept private anytime since 2002?

Here's the video at CBS Evening News.

A Beautiful American Concerto: "American Coastlines"

"American Coastlines: Concerto for Piano, Orchestra and Choir" would make beautiful background music for a movie.

It is rare indeed to find such beautiful music born and bred in the United States by an American composer. Reminiscent of the music of some of the greatest and most ambitious American movies past and present, these songs on the piano are clearly discernible and majestic. The added overlay of the orchestra adds fullness and richness of texture. The entire performance is marvelously imaginative and innovative, truly an American masterpiece of which to be proud.



It is rare indeed to find such beautiful music born and bred in the United States by an American composer.  Reminiscent of the music of some of the greatest and most ambitious American movies past and present, these songs on the piano are clearly discernible and majestic. The added overlay of the orchestra adds fullness and richness of texture. The entire performance is marvelously imaginative and innovative, truly an American masterpiece of which to be proud.

Haunting and mellifluous melodies interweave with background music of an orchestra and choir composed and conducted by Tim Keyes, with piano music by Darlene Popkey. This stunning performance was recorded live at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, New Jersey in four movements.

1. Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey: July

2. Long Boat Key, Florida: October

3. Galveston Island, Texas: January

4. Big Sur, California: April

Darlene Popkey, for whom the concerto was written, has enjoyed numerous international  musical awards and honors. Darlene has played with the Tim Keyes Consort such masterpieces as Dvorak's Symphony no. 9 (From the New World) and Saint Saens Symphony no. 3 as well as other new symphonic compositions.  In this 79 minute-long concerto called "American Coastlines" musical notes blend and continuously melt into each other. Dignified, memorable melodies take after Chopin and Rachmaninoff and show off her command of glissando. Darlene's schedule continues with live virtuoso solo and orchestral musical performances.

Tim Keyes is a New-Jersey-based composer, conductor and director of his eponymous orchestra of instrumentalists from Central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

It is really quite extraordinary and refreshingly reassuring to be able to hear soothing and majestic new American compositions.

It's wonderful to play on the computer or in the car. This would also make wonderful music for ecclesiastical settings, school plays and would be a terrific present to buy as a gift. Everyone would love it. It is available from Amazon and iTunes.

Here is video link to a description of the CD on Youtube.

Darlene Popkey has an audio CD called "Small Town" also available at Amazon.

Aggregate Demand

The intimidating Icelandic word Eyjafjallajökull rather aptly sounds a lot like the English word "awful" and that's what I would call it as a consequence of a volcanic eruption that has grounded  16,000 flights today.

Eyjafjallajökull wikipedia.com

Such a beautiful place, too. Many millions are impacted from the fallout of this exogenous shock as this map of airports impacted in northern Europe shows:

nytimes.com

and so soon after earthquakes in Haiti, Peru, Mexico and China, too.

At least Americans don't have the problems Europe has now, at least specifically Greece's debt problem, not yet.

A panel at Princeton University today featured a spectacular sprinkling of eminent Economists. Alice Rivlin, sunny, optimistic Christina Romer, and the uniquely humorous Uwe Reinhardt talked about current issues. A post here covers  some of the main points.

UPDATE: a description of air conditions that explain plane cancellations from CNN:
Guy Gratton, head of the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements at Britain's Cranfield University, flew into the skies Thursday and saw "a really strange and complex set of layers of ash," with a layer of perfectly clear air suddenly giving way to a layer of ash, he told CNN. If particles of ash enter a jet engine, when they come out they can solidify on turbine blades, he said.

Inefficiencies Responsible For Illegal Immigration

Immigration laws in America are outdated if southern border-crossers do find actual work in America, albeit of a seasonal and temporary nature, yet are not awarded real legal cards to do so. For those who care about human rights, personal dignity and integrity in the developed world, American immigration laws should keep up to business demands. The importance of the business and social value of illegal migrants was recently highlighted in America where border guards did not notice 80,000 "fake border-crossing cards" as Michael Ferraresi said in the Arizona Republic today:

"An elaborate human-smuggling network that ferried tens of thousands of illegal immigrants into Arizona using shuttle vans was broken up Thursday during a series of raids, federal authorities said.
In what officials called the biggest operation of its kind targeting illegal-immigrant smuggling, 47 people were arrested at five companies in Phoenix, Tucson and Nogales during sweeps involving more than 800 federal agents and local police."

..."The organization targeted in the raids is accused of illegally transporting more than 80,000 immigrants into the U.S. in the past 10 years. They brought daily van loads of undocumented migrants into the country, using Phoenix as a primary hub." 

  ..."The shuttle businesses named in a federal indictment provided immigrants with phony $30 bus tickets and fake border-crossing cards to avoid raising suspicions at U.S. law-enforcement highway checkpoints, authorities said."

One ponders personal circumstances motivating these admirable, self-improving individuals to risk their lives and money to obtain fake cards instead of real ones. The mind-boggling number, 80,000, that slipped through the border in the last ten years, dangerously, surreptitiously, invisibly and illegally, should be internationally embarrassing and shameful to American citizens.

The American immigration system has not in the last thirty years, and maybe never has, kept up to business demands with efficiencies in legal immigration paperwork.

I do not wish to sound anti-government; what's needed is a government system that works. This issue sounds like governmental neglect  and inefficiency on a giant scale. Aren't American immigration policymakers kidding themselves and not being realistic since these border-crossers do in fact find jobs in America? If  work permits cannot be legally, peacefully and swiftly available to them, they face a future of abiding within America illegally for as long as they can get away with it. Wouldn't it be safer for all Americans to at least pre-screen southern border-crossers for criminal histories?

Donations Needed for Newly-Built Congo Hospital Foundation

Dikembe Mutombo wikimedia commons

If you've ever wanted to make a small donation to help eradicate disease in Africa, please read on. Congo is a country bigger than Western Europe, according to Dikembe Mutombo. One of ten children, he played professional basketball in America from 1991 to 2009 and became a basketball legend. In his long career, he played with the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. 

Dikembe Mutombo wikimedia commons

The seven-foot-two-inch four-time N.B.A. Defensive Player of the Year loved to play soccer and run as a young student, and was tapped to join the Georgetown University basketball team in his second year at the University and in America. The rest of his legendary career has led him to develop a new passion to help his own people in the Congo.

He created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation and built a hospital in Massina near Kinshasa, Congo, where he was born and raised. He dedicated the Biamba Marie Hospital and Research Center, named after his late mother, on June 17, 2007. This is the first new major medical hospital in Congo in forty years and is a major achievement of its kind. Your generous support can make a difference. The founders hope to improve health, quality of life, mortality rates and the economics of the entire region and  country.

Mutombo is currently raising money for the hospital through speaking engagements. Today in Pennington, New Jersey, the legendary pro ballplayer answered questions from the audience, such as whether the government is supporting him.  The Congolese government does provide security guards, Mutombo said, but online donations of any size will help the underprivileged served by the hospital. Secretary Hillary Clinton recently visited and praised the new hospital.

congoplanet.com

Congo is certainly troubled with atrocities of various kinds.In this disturbing article about Congo in The Daily Beast yesterday: "The Congolese population is pleading for the United Nations to conduct a more thorough assessment of how U.N.-backed military operations risk civilian lives. We hope for concrete action by the U.N. and Congolese government to mitigate such risks, with specific attention to protecting women and girls from rape."

It was nice to hear good news in person today and find a way all of us can help out. Donations to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation would be appreciated to help fight diseases almost unknown in the developed world, such as malaria and polio. The medical community hopes to improve infant-mother mortality rates and HIV AIDS in this inspiring new location. We commend and congratulate courageous Mr. Mutombo for spearheading and providing major funding to build this worthwhile project.

Happy Family

My fave photo so far of one happy family!!! 

Whoever voted for someone else should realize this President won fair and square in a popular vote. He was elected democratically and deserves to enjoy his success. America and the world are very fortunate to have such a level-headed  and efficient President  (who even tweets) in this time of speedy communication and difficult world challenges. It's patriotic and co-operative to get behind the President. Co-operation helps him get work done faster and will help Americans in the end.

Why not simply enjoy the advantages this President can offer? Relax. America has done well and this President is doing fine. So far not a single critic has advocated impeachment, to my knowledge. And whatever else happens, he got the Nobel Peace Prize. Congratulations, Mr. President!

UPDATE: At the time this was written, I didn't know the Office of the President had completely stopped having news conferences in the White House since July 22, 2009, almost a year, as this article states in no uncertain terms. That's still what many of us want. President Obama has eschewed the traditional question and answer session in favor of shows edited to show off his best. Perhaps it's time to take the questions, too, Mr. President.

Effective Company Leadership Causes Stock Prices to Rise

While I write posts for my other blog "Grow Your Dollars" I often wonder exactly what makes a company thrive. So often, it is the leadership.

A CNBC interview today of a psychologist and long-term investor drilled into what to look for in a good stock purchase, because not all great CEOs make businesses with rising stock prices.

Chuck Akre, of Akre Focus Fund, said that managers must have "an equal part of integrity and skill". Most importantly, they must compound "economic value per share."  He cites Berkshire Hathaway, insurer Markel, and American Tower as three companies with strong leadership that have been good long-term holds.

The psychologist and business advisor Dr. Susan Battley, interviewed by David Faber and Erin Burnett said that a company with great management is a wise choice, so you are "investing in the artist not the painting." She said we often make the mistake of what psychologists call "confirmation bias" where we confirm, "we overweigh first impressions" and should weigh those powerful first impressions against reality. She also said that leadership effectiveness is the "ability to attract and retain talent" and "the bench to execute consistently over time."

It has always been thus with business.

This fine interview can also be seen here.

Happy Just To Be Alive

I would love to be able to thank the Good Samaritan who drove my SUV to the side of the road while I slowly stopped Pennsylvania Turnpike traffic all by myself, just by waving my arms in the late afternoon of Tuesday, March 30, 2010. There were no police or plows to help us out. It all took fewer than ten minutes and then we were off again. If only I could thank him and his girlfriend in their black SUV for saving my life, I would love to. He really risked his life to drive my car to the side of the Turnpike. I admired him so much. He was extremely brave. But I have no idea who he is. Hope he emails me. Here's the context:

Since my last post, I have been thrown off course by the double whammy of a death in the family - my mother was in her 93rd year - and an almost fatal car crash on the day-long drive home from the funeral. We thought it would be a clear day, with a little drizzle in spots, but we ran into wind and saw a few snowflakes.

Most unexpectedly somewhere between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, my Lexus RX350 SUV spun more than 360 degrees and slid to a diagonal stop in the middle lane of the mighty Pennsylvania Turnpike, no less, in a wintry mix just over a week ago. But it stalled and I couldn't start it to get it out of the middle lane immediately. Really the vehicle spanned all three lanes. Imagine my fear of other cars and transport trucks sliding and spinning where mine did and wiping us all out. Luckily, traffic was light. I got out and stopped all traffic, except a couple of trucks (which slowed) while the Good Samaritan drove my car to the side of the highway for me. This was in elevated mountain terrain, more than we knew, and the highway itself was elevated fifty feet. It was snowing like this, but this is not my photo or the spot where it happened:

Courtesy: farm4.static.flickr.com

White-out conditions then began and prevailed until we could reach the next exit over an hour later where we stopped unexpectedly for the night at a Best Western three miles seemingly straight down the mountain in six thick inches of snow. Everyone agreed the snow was a surprise, and nothing had shown up on the weather radar that morning, and we weren't warned of the severe weather until after it had happened. My recently-tuned SUV had only 17,000 miles on it. That area of Pennsylvania doesn't get the weather attention Philadelphia gets, where reporters stand outside six hours before a flake drops! The white-out was even worse than this:

Courtesy: celebratecanada.files.wordpress.com

After escaping completely physically unscathed with the car, I found myself in unexpected need of rest. I feel refreshed now with many new ideas for blog posts. That, at least, is positive. I'm happy just to be alive.

Please be careful when you drive in a "wintry mix" and don't be worried to wave your arms around to stop traffic if you have to. And if you see someone waving their arms, try to help. It could save not just your life, but also prevent a catastrophic pileup on the highway.