The United States and Canada came out on top with the highest levels of contamination of cocaine on paper money with between 85% and 90%. China and Japan ranked the lowest with only between 12 and 20% of their money being contaminated.

A similar study was conducted two years ago, and the new results prove that there is an increase of 20% from the previous study. Scientists have been aware of the contamination on banknotes. Paper money is used during drug deals and also when people are rolling it to snort cocaine. Then the money ends back up at the bank where it contaminates non-illicit drug money.

The levels of cocaine that showed up on the bills fell between .006 micrograms and 1,240 micrograms. As a reference, .006 micrograms is several thousands of times smaller than one grain of sand and 1,240 micrograms equals about 50 grains of sand. The scientists also noted that some of the cities tested definitely had higher contamination levels than others. Baltimore, Detroit, and Boston ranked among the highest contamination levels. Salt Lake City had the lowest in the United States.

If you were expecting to get something out of this you should probably move along. You’re not going to get high off a few dollars from your local bank. You won’t even have any health problems stemming from handling paper money.

It is also unlikely for any trace amounts of drugs that were on a bank note to end up messing up your drug test at work.

Where I live, health food stores are hard to come by, but I do know a little about their goods. So, when I came across this article called “10 Things Health Food Stores Won’t Tell You” on SmartMoney, I just had to talk a little about it.

1. Organic doesn’t mean healthy all the time. A survey recently found that consumers believe that organic foods have more nutrients in them than other non-organic foods do. This is very debatable. While organic doesn’t mean more nutritious it does mean it is a FDA monitored word that means that no synthetic or harmful (like pesticides) substances were used in growing produce and that no antibiotics or growth hormones were used in raising livestock.

2. Label standards are guaranteed to be the same today as they were yesterday. Once there were regulations on what was to be considered and labeled organic, lobbyists started hitting up senators for weakening of the regulations. It has worked on a few occasions, such as when two Alaskan senators sponsored an amendment to a wartime bill that would open the door for seafood caught in the wild to be labeled organic.

3. Our store sells overpriced prepacked goodness. Heath food doesn’t have to eat up your entire grocery budget for the month in a week. You can do things like shop at farmer’s markets or join a co-op to get healthy organic (and locally grown) produce. I find it absolutely ridiculous to pay 3 times more at the grocery store for organic beef versus regular beef.

4. There is no regulation on dietary supplements. The dosing instructions as well as the daily amounts on the bottles of dietary supplements (sometimes called vitamins if the store can get away with it) is not regulated by the FDA. Claims that the companies make on the bottles don’t have to be entirely accurate and things can end up being banned in the future. What you may be taking right now as a supplement, may, in the future, be a banned toxin (see: ephedrine).

5. Just because it’s from a health food store doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight. Recently, in my small town, a Smoothie King store has popped up in a strip mall. Everyday in class, I would see a quarter to a third of my classmates with the cups ranging from the “small” 20 oz size to the behemoth that they call a “large.” Smoothie King drinks are good, but they are FULL of sugar, and where there’s sugar, there’s calories. Many of the smoothies offered are meant to be meal replacements, but many times I would see people having a Subways sandwich with the smoothies. Now, I don’t know what they had in the cups, but I’m sure they weren’t looking at the nutrition facts when they were ordering (I always have to because too much sugar makes me really sick).

I wrote it in an article just a few days ago, I enjoy shopping. I think shopping is not only fun, but it is a social activity that I can do with my friends. However, I will not say that my closet is full of expensive clothes, shoes, and handbags. I actually pride myself on how cheap I can get certain things. My recent bragging point is my $7 pair of slacks.

However, I am sure that Chris wishes I would have just left most of the stuff I find on the rack. Chris is the kind of guy who only goes clothes shopping if every shirt in his closet has holes in it or he has to have a new pair of slacks or shirt for some sort of event.

We are fiscal opposites, kind of; and we’re not alone.

When it comes to money, fiery opposites attract, according to “Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction: Spendthrifts and Tightwads in Marriage,” a study being authored by a team of professors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University.

“We found that people tend to marry spouses with opposing emotional reactions toward spending,” the report said.

The study suggests that we all register how much an item or items cost by how much it hurts to give out the money. Because of this, those who are more free with their money gravitate to those who are a bit more tight with their money to help them create a kind of balance with their financial responsibilities and emotional responses to money.

It all has to do with the idea that opposites really do attract. People will often seek out people with the good qualities that they don’t have themselves.

“Tightwads and spendthrifts are generally unhappy with their emotional reactions toward spending, and complementary attraction may benefit both spouses if they help each other overcome their prepotent emotional reactions toward spending,” according to the report.

I believe that people who are financial opposites, or have financial dissimilarities can be happy and have a long marriage as long as they can find a way to work out their issues with money, and any other issues that may come up during their marriage.

Source

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.

With Swine Flu making parents (and others) across the country nervous about even going into public with out tiny bottles of hand sanitizer, of course companies would start taking advantage of them.

Kellogg is beginning to join in on the trend by plastering “Now helps support your child’s IMMUNITY” on boxes of Cocoa Krispies. Cocoa Krispies, along with other Kellogg cereals are not only loaded in sugar, but have not done anything to truly back up such a claim.

The city attorney in San Francisco finds the claim just as false as everyone else and has sent a letter to Kellogg as well as the Food and Drug Administration asking Kellogg to disclose what exactly helps boost immunity in the cereals.

Kellogg has been responding to critics’ attacks saying that it started developing a more healthy cereal last year and actually released them in May 2009 not to capitalize on the H1N1 “flu situation” but to respond to consumers’ needs for a healthier foods and a more positive nutrition value. A spokesperson from the company said that there are more vitamins A, C, and E in the cereals; increased from 10% daily value to 25% daily value.

Here’s an idea, if the company wanted to take advantage of consumers’ needs for a more healthy cereal, why not take some of the sugar out of its cereals?

It is a good thing that this has been given to the FDA for consideration. The FDA is supposed to be the governing body of false and misleading labeling on products. Right now, the FDA isn’t saying anything about this cereal or its strange, and likely false label.

Sugar coated cereals are not good for children in the amounts that are typically given to them. Have you ever measured out a serving of cereal? It’s not as much as many people pour themselves. Not to mention, cereals in general (even though many are made out of whole grain of some kind) are carbohydrates and while they may help keep your child awake for the first little while they are at school, carbs tend to burn quickly…adding sugar to that equation doesn’t help too much either.

Most parents don’t have the time to make a real, homemade breakfast everyday for their kids, so why not give them cereal that will actually help throughout the day or at least a cereal that is a bit healthier than Cocoa Krispies or any of the other sugar laden cereals that have found their ways on to our grocers shelves? I like sugary cereals from time to time. I actually enjoy Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I also know that it won’t keep me from getting sick and it is DEFINITELY not a replacement for my vitamins.

Cash is one of the grossest things that people can come in contact with. Cash switches hands so many times that it gets pretty gross. There is even a strain of H1N1 virus that can live on paper money for up to three days. This makes it difficult for some people NOT to get the flu. So what are some of the most gross things that people can come in contact with on a a daily basis?

This is the list compiled by Consumer Reports:

1. Doctors’ neck ties. A doctor’s tie can be a carrier of some pretty harsh bacteria and viruses. Not to mention, if you go to the doctor and come in contact with the tie, you’re probably not the first person to do so that day. Some of the things that have been known to travel on doctor’s ties includes MRSA.

2. The office candy bowl. In my opinion, this is kind of like the bowl of peanuts at the bar that people talk about. When tested in a lab, bar peanuts are shown to have traces of urine on them. With other people’s hands you can never be sure what you’re getting yourself into. People will dig around in a candy bowl until they find what they want and it can get pretty gross in there.

3. Library books. Of course there would be a lot of germs living on library books. After all, when a book is popular it may switch hands many times a month. Also, everyone knows someone (or might just be guilty of this themselves) that licks their thumb before turning the page. Now, think of all the people who could have done that before you checked out the book. It’s kind of gross.

4. Bathroom door handles. I could not actually tell you how many times I’ve gone to the restroom and seen people walk out without washing their hands. This is why every time I leave the restroom, I take an extra towel with me to open the door with. I’m not going to risk touching a bathroom door because someone before me decided they couldn’t take 30 seconds to wash their hands.

5. Telephone receivers. There aren’t too many public telephones anymore, but what about at work? I know when I was working in an office a few years ago, many people switched telephones around the office. It was gross to think about all the germs that may have ended up on the receiver or anywhere else on the phone. I just had to keep a box of Lysol wipes at my desk. (I’m not a germaphobe)

6. Kids. Hey grandparents, this is kind of interesting. Parents can become immune to the germs that kids pick up, but grandparents who only take care of the children from time to time never become immune and can get sick easier. The worst culprits are kids ages 4-12.

7. The movies, theater, or opera. Large groups of people in an enclosed space equals some pretty serious germ spreading. This is also a great way to pick up viruses and other ailments.

Source

Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Connecticut, recently released a survey that says 64% of voters disapprove of Republicans in Congress and the job that they are doing and only 25% actually approve. The same poll said that 53% have an “unfavorable opinion” of the Republican party in general.

The poll was conducted to see how potential votes feel about the very crucial health care debate. It found that 61% of those polled are in favor of a government-run option that would directly compete with private insurance. Right now, this is the exact thing that those very vocal Republicans and their followers are up in arms about.

One thing that continues to irk me about watching the national news and watching (very obvious) Republican voters go to these town hall meetings to protest and yell is that they don’t listen. They will only listen to the side of the story they want to hear and will NOT have it any other way. A lot of times, the most extreme conservative followers only listen to those who are on the fringes of the party anyway…and they’re the ones who seem to be the loudest and, in most cases, they are wrong (this is where the whole “death panel” thing came from).

I continue not to be able to understand exactly why people do not support a government run option for health care. Is it because it will cause health costs to increase? That’s unlikely because, if anything, it will cause premiums on private insurance to decrease. It could mean that hospitals won’t be able to charge thousands of dollars for band-aids anymore. Hospitals RIGHT NOW have to charge that much because of all the people who go in without health insurance. They have to make up the money they are going to lose on people who will not pay their bill. That is what causes your health care costs to rise.

There are some that disagree with the way the way that illegal immigrants are being handled in the bill. Well, in order to sign up for the health care plan that is run by the government, it would be easy for them to make a person produce documents to prove they they were not only born in the United States (or a citizen) but also actually check social security numbers. Many illegal immigrants get away with faking documents because no one ever actually runs the social security numbers.

I think that if people would calm down and listen, there is a lot of good stuff in there for everyone. Then again, there are some people (and I know people like this personally) who, no matter what, will always oppose ANYTHING the democrats support. With these people, if the democrats supported “go pet a puppy day” they would protest and complain and be as vocal as possible. These are the kinds of people that I un-friend on Facebook (haha).

Source (for the poll numbers)

It appears as though one of the items that has forever been seen as a “cinch” could be coming back to crunch into investors. Life assurance corporations have been offering policies to individuals for years and premiums repeatedly increase as the insured starts to get older.

An investment ploy that has showed up in the most recent few years is when a person which is insured cannot come up with the money for the premiums or is trying to “cash out” a life insurance policy which he or she has beenpaying for, a person will come by and procure it for a fraction of the payout and sell it off to investors who will pay the premiums until the original insured person dies.

There have been over a dozen life-settlement scams to come under investigation since 2008. Life settlements obtain assets by promising high returns. The business also gains the attention of other senior citizens who have empathy for the policy holders that have looked to cash out. And so, there have been a lot of corporations prepared to take advantage of those individuals.

Similar to at which time the market for securities became overstuffed and backed by houses created the subprime mortgage chaos, the marketplace for life settlements has produced a jump in counterfeit insurance policies titled STOLI’s or stranger-originated life insurance. These STOLIs are unlawful and start with a life insurance representative who is also a life-settlement insurance broker. The representative talks a senior citizen into accepting out a large life insurance policy and wines and dines them. After that the representative agrees to forfeit the premiums and the possession of the policy is transferred to investors.

Once more, the issue with these STOLIs is that they are unlawful and may possibly cause danger to the policyholder from being capable to gather any insurance in the future. Some frightening figures are that in excess of 50% of life settlements at present were on policies which were below 4 years old. The cause for the jump and the huge amount of settlements on policies which are under 4 years old is the STOLIs. These policies come out to colossal losses for the insurance corporations also and could potentially impair the insurance corporations to the mark where they are incapable to disburse authentic insurance claims.

It looks like the administration is taking a log. Last month Senator Herb Kohl headed up a unique commission on the challenges connected with life settlements. The commission assembly ended with the IRS and SEC being contacted to deliberate regarding gaps that are missing in legislation in life settlement actions. The SEC has decided to look into the issues facing the industry. Due to this activity, it seems as though the market has cooled down a bit.

Alright, I am a supporter of a public option for government sponsored health insurance. This may make me a “bad guy” to the conservatives of the country but I truly don’t understand what is wrong with wanting an option to have government sponsored health insurance that I PAY for.

Currently, I can’t afford car insurance, my mortgage payment, my student loan payments, AND health insurance so something has to go. Sure, I had a bout of bad luck when I had to have my gallbladder removed a few months ago, but other than that I have not had any troubles with my health.

I would really like to have some form of health insurance and I honestly don’t think that those who have insurance through their employer really understand how much it can cost for the rest of us. Even without a preexisting condition, the cost per month can be $150 with a $5,000 – $10,000 deductible. That is outrageous considering car insurance costs me $80 per month for FULL coverage with a $500 deductible AND I’ve had a car accident that was deemed my fault in the last 3 years.

I wish I did not have to pay that much for health insurance. Over the course of a year, if I did not have to pay over $1,200 for health related costs then I would be ahead over paying for health insurance (if I were paying $100 per month for insurance). Then again, if something disastrous were to happen, then I would be up “that” creek without a paddle (if you know what I mean). I hate the fact that I rely on hospital charity for serious conditions, but paying for health insurance simply is not worth it in my opinion. And in the opinion of the charity workers of the hospital, I do not make enough money to have to pay for health care.

I just do not understand why people argue so much about something as simple as a universal health care OPTION (this is not even something that is forced on you, it’s just an option). I wish, more than anything, that I could afford health care for not only myself, but my husband also. I feel as though we pay too much for health care we never use. I get dirty looks when I visit the doctor and tell them I don’t have health insurance, and even though I can pay for my visit, they still give me the look of someone who has stolen something.

This has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I have nurse friends who agree with me. I wish that I could encourage everyone to support some kind of health care for everyone, but I don’t think that will happen because some will “stick to their guns”. I just wish that those people could see the problem from my point of view or have the same issues I have. Then, perhaps, they would be willing to change their minds.

When I woke up this morning, I wondered if, as a society, we are overly medicated. I wondered because I woke up with an awful sinus headache, the kind I cannot shake unless I take a couple ibuprofen and an allergy pill (my choice today was Allegra).

It can be argued that modern medicine has led to great things such as people living to be 90 and older which was once simply unheard of also, children being able to fight off cancer (which was also unheard of). It can also be argued that modern medicine has led to the failure of natural selection.

It just seems like, overall, we have a pill for everything. If you watch the national news in the evening, it is very obvious that there are too many medications. There are so many that they have started to combine medicines. If you look, there are at least a dozen different kinds of drugs for something as common as heartburn.

When is the last time you walked into the drugstore and actually looked at all the different pain relief medicines? How about allergy medications? After Chris caught a cold last week, I literally spend half an hour looking at different cold remedies when I just gave up and bought DayQuil.

Pharmaceuticals is a HUGE business. Just look at this list. It’s outrageous when you start to look at all the money we spend yearly on medication. I don’t believe that we’ll all be walking around in a drug induced stupor anytime soon, but maybe we shouldn’t run to the medicine cabinet whenever something hurts or we should start looking for more natural remedies for common problems like headaches, allergies, and upset stomachs.

Again, this is all just something I was thinking about this morning when I woke up. It is a little bit of a scatterbrained idea, but when I realized I was fumbling around for the same drugs I run to every time I get a sinus headache I stopped and thought about my mindless actions.

Doctors in the United Kingdom are calling for a ban on all alcohol advertising according to the BBC. This includes sport and music sponsorships. The reason for the ban is to put the brakes on the rising rates of consumption in the country.

What will advertisers do with all that extra money? After all, in the UK, the alcohol industry spends over 800 million pounds per year on promoting their wares.

The problem in the UK, as well as across the world, is the rising cost of medical expenses related to treating those with alcohol related disease. According to the BBC, the cost to the NHS for treating alcohol related illnesses is estimated to be around 3 billion pounds in the UK alone. In the country, alcohol related illnesses is the third most dangerous disease, only smoking and high blood pressure are greater.

Of course, they are having the same problem that we have been having for years. There is a focus on marketing to younger people and that has to be stopped.

They are also trying to target the price of alcohol. If it is more expensive, there is a lesser chance that everyone would be able to afford it. Much like cigarettes are being taxed in the United States now, if alcohol is being taxed higher in the UK perhaps less people would be willing to drink so freely.

I honestly believe that there are some members of the population that will partake whenever they want if they want. The problem with trying to get younger people to stop is that it’s just so much of the culture, that you have to change the culture to get them to stop, or slow down. Look at college fraternity parties; when you see them portrayed on TV they have kegs of beer and there seems to be an unlimited supply of alcohol. In real life, it’s not much different; however, I’ve never seen anyone throw a mattress out a window.

It has to be taken a bit further than just limiting advertising in my opinion.

Source

I have to keep reminding myself why I’m trying to give up sodas for good. I have been drinking the diet stuff for years now and it’s time to give it up.

So here’s 9 reasons why we should all stop drinking soda:

1. Soda is absolutely useless. There aren’t any benefits from drinking sodas. Even diet sodas are mostly filtered water and artificial sweeteners.

2. It increases the risk of Osteoporosis. If you drink a lot of soda, it can increase your risk of getting Osteoporosis because people aren’t getting the same amount of calcium in their diets. Once upon a time, kids were drinking several glasses of milk a day and now, they aren’t drinking nearly as much so they have weaker bones early in life.

3. Obesity. If you’re drinking the sugary stuff, you’re getting a lot of empty calories and many people forget about the calories in a drink. Drinking a can of soda every day can translate into over a pound of weight gain every single month. If you think you’re safe by drinking sugar-free diet sodas well, you’re wrong there too. Many studies are now saying that the diet sodas are causing people to actually eat more because the diet sodas make them hungrier.

4. High blood pressure. Typically the heavier you are, the more likely you are to have high blood pressure. Also, scientists are saying that consuming too much fructose can lead to higher blood pressure.

5. Soda can lead to heartburn. This one I know from experience. Whenever I was having gallbladder problems, I thought at first it was really bad heartburn (because that’s what the hospital initially told me) and they told me to stop drinking soda.

6. Dental erosion. Soda contains acids that eat away at enamel, more than that sugary sodas also end up causing cavities.

7. Aspartame is a toxin. The artificial sweetener in most diet sodas is not only 200 times sweeter than regular table sugar, it also breaks down into three different kinds of chemicals: phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Methanol ends up converting into formaldehyde and formic acid, which are both carcinogens.

8. Dehydration. Caffeine and sugar both cause dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic and drinking a caffeinated drink can actually cause you to be thirstier.

9. You can get more nutrition from other drinks. Herbal teas, green tea, and even regular tea all have antioxidants in them and can help you ward off health problems. Milk is full of calcium and vitamin D, both of which we don’t get enough of.

It is becoming more apparent that the 87,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest that were destroyed in a recent wildfire that started August 8th was started by marijuana growers that are linked to a Mexican drug cartel. This would mark the very first major wildfire started in California by drug traffickers.

The fire was not started by the traffickers smoking their product, it came from a cooking fire.

Sheriff’s spokesman Drew Sugars said investigators found tens of thousands of marijuana plants growing in the area. No arrests have been made, he said.

“The suspects are still at large,” Turner said. “We’ve closed the area to the public … so if anyone is likely to encounter them, it would be the firefighters, and of course those people have all been alerted and are on the watch.”

Illegal marijuana growing in California has become a serious problem in the past few years. Federal agents as well as local agencies have had to step up their efforts in getting rid of the growers and their crops.

I would like to know how they tied this one patch of unburned marijuana to Mexican drug cartels. Are there no American drug cartels or a large group of dealers in the area that could have been in the mountains growing their “crop”? Turner said that not all the marijuana gardens could be connected to the Mexican cartels.

Overall, people need to be more careful because these actions are ending up hurting people who should have never been hurt. Of all the wildfires that was burning in the state in recent weeks, this one was the largest. Another wildfire caused the evacuation of 2,000 people near Santa Cruz.

Source

Recently, there has been a lot of uproar about the United States’ government’s plan to create a public option for citizens to have health insurance. This would help the millions that don’t have health insurance and can’t afford health care.

There are so many people in the United States that simply don’t get health care because it is far too expensive for most people to afford if they don’t have health insurance. I recently had my gallbladder taken out and the surgery, excluding surgeon fees but including anesthesiologist fees was around $12,000. That was a pretty minor surgery that took less than 45 minutes to perform and I was out of the hospital that day.

I support the government’s plan to create a public option for health care because not only is health care outrageous as far as cost is concerned and health insurance can cost hundreds a month and you’ll still have a high deductible and no prescription coverage. A public option means that families could afford health insurance and food all in the same month.

However, the plan has been getting a lot of opposition due to some of the clauses in the “bill” (I put it in quotations because there isn’t a bill yet). The least popular part of the bill is the end of life counseling which some are calling pro-euthanasia for the terminally ill. However, it seems like the end of life counseling is more like letting people know what their options are and how their quality of life will be affected. There are several thousand people who end up very ill in hospitals for a long time and are uncomfortable, that could spend the last few months of their lives comfortable in their homes and pass away peacefully. Some people would prefer that instead of being hooked to machines in a hospital. I believe that is what the end of life counseling is.

I don’t know if the bill will pass through due to the uproar that it has caused. There are so many people who are so against the bill and I just don’t understand why. If the government were to pass the bill, it is not forcing these people to sign up for its health plan, but it would cause the cost of other plans to come down. I guess I can’t ever understand why people get so angry when they can simply opt-out.

Where I live, health food stores are hard to come by, but I do know a little about their goods. So, when I came across this article called “10 Things Health Food Stores Won’t Tell You” on SmartMoney, I just had to talk a little about it.

1. Organic doesn’t mean healthy all the time. A survey recently found that consumers believe that organic foods have more nutrients in them than other non-organic foods do. This is very debatable. While organic doesn’t mean more nutritious it does mean it is a FDA monitored word that means that no synthetic or harmful (like pesticides) substances were used in growing produce and that no antibiotics or growth hormones were used in raising livestock.

2. Label standards are guaranteed to be the same today as they were yesterday. Once there were regulations on what was to be considered and labeled organic, lobbyists started hitting up senators for weakening of the regulations. It has worked on a few occasions, such as when two Alaskan senators sponsored an amendment to a wartime bill that would open the door for seafood caught in the wild to be labeled organic.

3. Our store sells overpriced prepacked goodness. Heath food doesn’t have to eat up your entire grocery budget for the month in a week. You can do things like shop at farmer’s markets or join a co-op to get healthy organic (and locally grown) produce. I find it absolutely ridiculous to pay 3 times more at the grocery store for organic beef versus regular beef.

4. There is no regulation on dietary supplements. The dosing instructions as well as the daily amounts on the bottles of dietary supplements (sometimes called vitamins if the store can get away with it) is not regulated by the FDA. Claims that the companies make on the bottles don’t have to be entirely accurate and things can end up being banned in the future. What you may be taking right now as a supplement, may, in the future, be a banned toxin (see: ephedrine).

5. Just because it’s from a health food store doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight. Recently, in my small town, a Smoothie King store has popped up in a strip mall. Everyday in class, I would see a quarter to a third of my classmates with the cups ranging from the “small” 20 oz size to the behemoth that they call a “large.” Smoothie King drinks are good, but they are FULL of sugar, and where there’s sugar, there’s calories. Many of the smoothies offered are meant to be meal replacements, but many times I would see people having a Subways sandwich with the smoothies. Now, I don’t know what they had in the cups, but I’m sure they weren’t looking at the nutrition facts when they were ordering (I always have to because too much sugar makes me really sick).

If you want to read the rest of the list check out the source.

Regulating and taxing marijuana in California could generate the state somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion in revenue, at least according to an analysis released yesterday by tax officials in the state. The State Board of Equalization report has estimated that, when a $50 per ounce fee is imposed, marijuana sales would bring in $990 million as well as $392 million in tax.

A bill was introduced by Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman, in February that would allow those over 21 to be able to posses, grow, and sell marijuana legally. He is one of the main people currently pushing the legalization of marijuana to help bridge the state’s $26 billion budget deficit.

“It defies reason to propose closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor while this potential revenue is available,” Ammiano said in a statement.

In it’s current state, the bill could not start collecting taxes until the federal government decides to legalize marijuana (which will likely never happen), but Ammiano has said that there are plans to remove that provision in the bill. The bill also states that the $50 per ounce fee is to be used for drug education and rehab programs.

The figures weren’t created out of thin air, the Equalization Board went through law enforcement and academic studies to find out that, in California each year, about 16 million ounces (500 tons) of marijuana is consumed. If it became legal, that number would likely increase by about 30% because legalization would lead to lower prices.

“That’s one reason why we look at multiple reports from multiple sources — so that no one agenda is considered to be the deciding or determining data,” said board spokeswoman Anita Gore.

If the bill is passed, it would likely increase tensions between the state and the federal government over the black-market drug. There has been tension between the two governments ever since voters passed a ballot measure in 1996 which legalized marijuana for medical use.

Hearings on the bill are expected to begin this fall.

About 443,000 signatures are necessary to place The Tax, Regulate and Control Cannabis Act on the November 2010 ballot. The measure would repeal all state and local laws that criminalize marijuana.

Vicodin and Percocet are high on the list of drugs the Food and Drug Administration want to see banned in the United States.

These two very popular painkillers are recommended for banning not because of their potential for addiction but because of their acetaminophen content and its effects on the liver. High doses of acetaminophen (also found in over the counter pain killers like Tylenol and Excedrin) have been known to cause liver damage and liver damage from acetaminophen kills more than 400 people in the United States each year. Anyone suffering from dependency on these types of medications should consider painkiller rehab programs.

Both Vicodin and Percocet mix acetaminophen with a narcotic to help in pain relief. If the ban goes through the FDA, then other pain killers which mix the two will also likely be banned. Popular pain killers in that category include Darvocet (which has a fairly large group of people upset with the drug) and Lortab.

The recommendation also included limiting the “maximum” dosage for acetaminophen to 650 milligrams, way down from the current 1,000 milligrams on the extra strength Tylenol bottle.

It is likely a surprise to those who currently take the drugs for pain relief. Honestly, after reading some comments on the story across the internet it doesn’t make a lot of sense why the FDA wouldn’t just limit the amount of acetaminophen in the drug rather than doing away with something that is commonly prescribed to patients all the time.

There are some people out there who have stomach issues who can’t take aspirin or NSAIDS because of the chances that they may cause ulcers. They are told if they have pain of any kind to take Tylenol. So, what happens to those people if they end up in the hospital and prescribed pain medicine?

This is something the FDA really needs to look at before accepting the recommendation and banning the drugs.

In no articles I came across did it say what the FDA recommended for a “safe” dose of acetaminophen in these drugs.

Zicam, one of the most popular cold “remedies”, has been advised against by the FDA. It was announced today by the Food and Drug Administration after it has come to the attention of the FDA that the over-the-counter drug is directly related to the loss of sense of smell.

The loss could be long lasting or even PERMANENT.

The products that have the FDA issuing the warning are:
Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel
Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs
And the discontinued Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size

The FDA says that it has received about 130 reports from consumers saying they have experienced the loss of the sense of smell associated with using Zicam, many reporting the loss of smell after just the first dose.

Losing your sense of smell is a pretty bad thing to have happen to you. If you lose your sense of smell, how can you smell things like natural gas if your house were to have a gas leak?

Now, if you used these products and don’t want to risk having this very adverse side effect, there are other products on the market that people are saying have a fairly similar effect . The Neti-Pot is one of those things. It is a product that involves the user filling it with water and basically “rinsing” out their nasal cavity by pouring water into one nostril and having it drain out the other. It may sound awful and a little like torture, but it’s actually really effective, especially with allergy problems.

Zinc lozenges are also popular. While they may or may not work as fast at some say Zicam works, they do eventually work the same way that Zicam does. I believe this is what Airborne basically is: a big dose of Zinc.

Then there’s just plain ‘ol Vitamin C. Many people have been using vitamin C for years to help boost the immune system and fight off colds. I, for one, take extra vitamin C during cold season to help fight off getting sick, and whether it is psychosomatics or not, I have had shorter colds if I even get sick at all.

I’m sure there is some way to combine all these remedies to help keep the cold at bay. Just remember to wash your hands frequently and don’t touch your face and then you really don’t even need these over the counter remedies.

President Obama has been working tirelessly at a health care plan that opponents believe is due for failure and has been dubbed as “socialized medicine”, much like the system that is already failing in Europe. As part of his restructuring plan, the President has proposed to systematically cut $200 billion of federal funding to hospitals. The head of the American Hospital Association, Rich Umbdenstock, said that these proposed cuts would hurt the health care industry exponentially, well beyond the point that it is already hurting. He said the group is “deeply disappointed and concerned” that the Obama administration is wants to cut funding to hospitals at a time when more patients are relying on health care from their hospital.

Yesterday, President Obama gave a speech on health care reform at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association (in which the words “government run health care” were repeated several times). Obama has suggested cutting federal funding to hospitals by about $200 billion over the next decade, justifying the change by saying that it will create greater efficiencies and broader insurance coverage. Hospitals say this is extremely unfair and will harm the sick and elderly. In a statement released after Obama’s speech Monday, Umbdenstock reminded the public that hospitals already have to worry about $41 billion in proposed cuts to the Medicare payment system.

Medicare, the health program for senior citizens and retirees, covers a large number of patients at many hospitals, just due to the fact that older folks need more health care for more debilitating diseases and conditions. Umbdenstock said that federal health programs like Medicare already pay hospitals at least $32 billion a year less than the price of provided health care. This is due to the fact that when Medicare is billed, the federal health program decides how much they believe the care received is worth paying for and a payment is issued for that amount rather than the amount billed.

He said that cutting Medicare and Medicaid, the federal programs that are set up to reimburse hospitals that treat many poor and uninsured patients “could severely jeopardize hospitals’ ability to care for their patients and communities. “These programs also help to mitigate the financial shortfalls hospitals experience from government program underpayments and treating undocumented immigrants.” He also noted that Medicare and Medicaid provide quality health care for uninsured children and adults, and properly provide what he called “essential community services” including trauma and burn units, disaster readiness, neonatal care and emergency psychiatric treatment.

Umbdenstock asked Congress not to reduce the payments from such programs “before coverage expansions are universal and fully implemented as part of reform, and Medicare and Medicaid shortfalls are addressed.” He also criticized a possible proposal for a productivity adjustment for hospitals, saying it does not make sense.”Our focus needs to be on ensuring that patients receive the right care at the right time in the right setting,” he said, also reminding the public and the government that hospitals agree that national health care costs must be reduced that that they remain dedicated to that endeavor.

It’s been a few days since I’ve heard anything about the swine flu on television or read about it on the internet. Yesterday, however, it was announced that the “piggy” flu has become an international pandemic.

As of now, the swine flu has reached 74 countries and infected close to 30,000 people. While it is considered a pandemic, most get the illness and never actually seek medical treatment and get better on their own. It has turned out that swine flu is a lot less potent than some were worried that it would be. It shouldn’t be considered any more dangerous now that it is considered a pandemic, just that it has reached several countries around the world.

In my opinion, the swine flu is a lot more hype than anything else, at least while it is in its current form. Only 144 people have died from swine flu, that number is dwarfed by the amount of people who die around the world from the regular people flu every flu season. Nearly half a million people die every year from the ordinary flu; when you think about it, more people die every year from the common cold than from the swine flu in its current form.

That being said, every year, the flu takes on a new form and typically turns into a new strain that we don’t have a vaccine against. So, in the future, the swine flu could be very bad…but this time around, it’s just not.

While the swine flu has been deemed a pandemic by the United Nations Health officials WHO, drug makers could start making vaccines against it, however…if they were to start making a vaccine for the swine flu, they would not have the ability to manufacture the regular flu vaccine to capacity for the coming up flu season. Manufacturers need to decide which is more important right now and if the current totals are an indication as to which is more important, I believe it is a no brainier.

I think it’s kind of amusing that China, the country that has brought us illnesses like SARS, has been quarantining visitors from other countries, including the mayor of New Orleans, if they believed that they could be carrying the flu.

Still, New York City reported three more swine flu deaths Thursday, including a child under 2, a teenager and a person in their 30s.

“Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection,” Chan warned.

President Obama met with Congress yesterday to discuss the details of his socialized health care plan. The President campaigned last year on his aspirations to reform the health care system in the United States and has wasted no time. He has been discussing a plan to allow Americans to buy into a government insurance plan. Some rumors say that the President plans to make this plan mandatory with hefty penalties if not purchased and adhered to.

Obama sent a letter to Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Max Baucus of Montana, chairmen of the two committees he is working with to draft the health care plan. (Kennedy’s committee only includes democratic senators and Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, an independent.) Obama has supposedly initiated dialogue that makes the plan a law, requiring every American to purchase health insurance of some kind, the government plan at the very least, but requesting a “hardship waiver” for those in poverty that cannot afford the related costs.

Obama wrote in the letter, “The plans you are discussing embody my core belief that Americans should have better choices for health insurance, building on the principle that if they like the coverage they have now, they can keep it, while seeing their costs lowered as our reforms take hold.” President Obama made it clear during the 2008 Presidential election campaign that his main influence for health care reform was the death of his mother, Anne Dunham, in 1995 from cancer, after watching her struggle with greedy insurance companies and high costs.

During a debate with Arizona Senator John McCain, his opponent in the election, in late 2008, he stated his heath care plan very simply, “I think it [health care] should be a right for every American. In a country as wealthy as ours, for us to have people who are going bankrupt because they can’t pay their medical bills – for my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they’re saying this might be a pre-existing condition and they don’t have to pay her treatment, there’s something fundamentally wrong with that.”

Covering 50 million uninsured Americans could cost as much as $1.5 trillion over the first ten years of the plan, a cost that opponents of the plan are just not willing to allow taxpayers to pay out. Obama did not offer any solutions to curb those costs though he did mention that he would like to “borrow” an additional $200 billion to $300 billion over ten years from Medicare and Medicaid, a common government action, something many tax experts call “stealing from the elderly”.

Opponents of the plan also question the quality and time efficiency of a socialized health care plan. Hilary Clinton was a major supporter of health care during her husband’s tenure as president, something opponents referred to as “Hilarycare”. The same opponents are fighting it now for the same reasons: In countries where they already have similar health care plans, they are paying three times less than Obama’s plan will supposedly cost and studies have shown that quality will be low and that major surgeries, especially organ replacements, will take years of going through a waiting line.

It doesn’t have to be though. There are plenty of companies that have services to compare rates and make sure that you’re getting a good rate for your coverage level.

Companies like Advantage Life Insurance offer policies that cover term life insurance, whole life, universal, key man, second to die, group policies, mortgage and smokers insurance. A member of their team can give you an idea of what kind of service you will need and can give you an online quote just by filling out a simple form.

After you fill out the form, a company representative will get back to you to customize your plan. It really couldn’t be much simpler.

This company also gives tips on how to lower your life insurance rates.

Really, life insurance is something that many of us don’t think about until it’s too late, but it doesn’t have to be. I hate to sound like a daytime television commercial, but this is something that everyone should look into.

Pfizer will begin offering prescription drugs to unemployed people for reduced costs or free. The company will provide 70 of its most popular drugs in the program. The program is targeted at people who have not only lost their job, but also their health insurance.

Right now, there is a huge push in the government circling around health care costs. There are a lot of health care issues, including the high cost to families who are not covered through their jobs or schools.

With the current economic situation, Pfizer is banking on the fact that everyone knows someone who has lost their job or is going without the prescriptions they need because of lack of health insurance and prescription drug coverage.

Pfizer’s plan is likely to gain market share by gaining brand loyalty. Often, people are more welcoming to a company who is doing good things while times are tough.

The 70 drugs that Pfizer will be offering include diabetes drugs as well as some of the company’s top money makers. Lipitor, Celebrex, Lyrica and even Viagra will be covered in the plan. Other types of drugs that are covered are popular drugs like antibiotics, antidepressants, antifungal medications, heart medications, contraceptives and some cheaper generic versions of the drugs.

Pfizer did have a program that ran fun 2004 to 2008 that helped 5.1 million consumers get 51 million Pfizer prescriptions at a reduced cost, or sometimes even for free. The company estimates that they saved families $4.8 billion.

It is nice to see a big pharmaceutical company trying to help out where they see fit. Even though they stand to benefit greatly by implementing this program, it is still going to be very helpful to many families who may be going without the drugs they need to help control some of their illnesses.

I actually don’t have prescription drug coverage, and today I had to make a trip to the doctor following my gallbladder removal surgery and some pain I am having. The doctor prescribed me some sort of drug that helps get rid of bile, but I was unable to buy it today. I am trying another method before I spend the money on the prescription. I hate that I have to decide whether to pay my cell phone bill or have a drug that alleviate my pain symptoms. I actually commend Pfizer for their attempt to start this program.

While we may not all look forward to retirement, or maybe aren’t planning properly for it, for many of us it’s going to happen. However, now if you will be retiring before 2037, you may want to start looking into a very serious saving plan for yourself and your family.

Today there was a report that came out that announced that Social Security would run out of money by 2037, four years sooner than first thought.

In 2016, Social Security will start paying out more benefits than it takes in, which is what will lead to the depletion of the fund by 2037.

Medicare is actually faring worse than Social Security, is has been giving out more benefits than it was taking in since 2008 and will be depleted by 2017.

There is a serious problem with these programs now, the fact there are so many baby boomers going into retirement now is what is depleting the funds. While I don’t support a completely privatized Social Security/Retirement program, I don’t and can’t appreciate the fact that this money comes out of my paycheck every time I’m paid just so I won’t be able to benefit from it at all in the future. When social security runs out, I will be 51.

Right now I haven’t even finished college and this news has me worried. I have to think about my 401 (k) and other retirement plans just so I won’t have to eat out of a dumpster and live in a box during my “golden” years.

There should be some type of reform to the current social security system. I think that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

My solution would only benefit those, like me, who are worried about 40-50 years down the road not being able to afford the cost of living. I would propose that the taxes withheld for social security and Medicare from each paycheck actually go to the person who is earning that money and is put into a government backed fund of some kind, instead of giving the money to those who have already retired. Of course the problem with that is that those who are retiring now will not be able to draw social security from what is being earned now, and that money will have to come from somewhere.

Some have said that removing the income tax cap would be a better option. Why is it fair for someone who makes $250,000 a year to pay the same amount of tax as someone who makes $5 million a year? While both of these people are obviously not anywhere near poverty, of course the person making $5 million a year can afford to pay more in taxes, even though that person is more likely to spend that money on hiding assets.

The 33 year old woman lived near a popular border crossing town in Texas and had chronic health problems. On top of that, she also had given birth to a healthy baby while sick with the flu at the hospital.

This is, still, much more mild than even seasonal flu outbreaks. Thousands succumb to the seasonal flu every year and it doesn’t ever get as much attention as the swine flu. I am only talking about it because it is popular news and directly affects trade with other countries and the United States. At this point, I think that it is mainly hype. Of course, this is no consolation to the families of people who have the swine flu or who have died as a result of contracting it, but typically the people who have very serious cases of this are the same people who would have very serious cases of the seasonal (regular) flu.

Smithfield Foods, the largest producer of pork products in the world, has released a statement saying their pigs had no signs or symptoms of swine flu, even at its operations in Mexico.

This information was released after, along with Tyson, shares of the company dropped today.

Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), based in Smithfield, Va., says it is cooperating with Mexican officials to assist in the investigation of possible sources of the outbreak and will submit samples from its swine herds to the University of Mexico for testing.

The company also noted that it regularly vaccinates its swine herds against influenza and conducts monthly tests for the presence of swine flu its Mexican farms and processing plant

Of course, you can’t get swine flu from eating cooked pork. It is transmitted through human to human contact and human to (live) pig contact.

There have been over 100 deaths in Mexico from the flu (where the strain originated) and thousands of cases reported. In the United States, some traveling to Mexico have come back with the illness, although cases in the U.S. have been mild.

This is from Wikipedia:
“The new strain [of swine flu] is derived in part from human influenza virus A (subtype H1N1), and in part from two strains of swine influenza as well as an avian influenza. In April both the WHO and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressed serious concerns about this novel strain, because it apparently transmits from human to human, has had a relatively high mortality rate in Mexico, and because it has the potential to become a flu pandemic.”

So this is a pretty dangerous situation where everyone should take precautions to try to avoid contact with someone showing signs or symptoms of the flu.

As a result, the company’s stock price fell about 33% from the previous day’s close of $8.63 to $5.73.

Infinity said that the patients (who were reviewed) in phase 3 were worse off than those in phase 2.

“Patient safety is our top priority and we have acted quickly to implement the recommendations of the (independent review),” said Julian Adams, Infinity’s president of research and development and chief scientific officer, in a prepared statement. “While this outcome is disappointing, we would like to acknowledge the patients and caregivers who have participated in this trial and thank them for their support.”

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A medical alert device can help those we care for have independence and be able to live on their own and go places without having to be constantly held back by retirement communities or nursing homes.

BrickHouseAlert offers the only medical alert device that has fall detection. This is good because if you or a loved one falls in your or their home, they will be able to get help without having to get up.

When looking for a medical alert device, you really have to keep in mind if the company is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and even on the holidays because the risk of getting hurt never goes away because it’s a holiday.

Prices on devices such as the Brick House Alert system are relatively inexpensive when compared to other monthly expenses. For less than $50 a month, you can have peace of mind when it comes to you or your loved ones.

Topping the list is the Hawaii Chair.

Other unacceptable equipment on the list includes the “Treadmill Bike” which I’m sure is a joke, and the vibrating belt thing that was oh-so popular in the 60′s (well on television shows supposedly set in the 50′s or 60′s anyway, I don’t think my parents or grandparents had one).

The good thing about this article is that the website does offer good alternatives to these useless machines.

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