Posted by: Dr. Mercola
1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.
2. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. Cans are commonly lined with bisphenol-A, an organic compound that may be associated with diabetes and heart disease.
3. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches.
4. Opt for organic chicken. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.
5. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Snack foods are also generally loaded with salt, corn syrup and other unhealthy ingredients.
6. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.
7. Always buy organic produce. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer.
8. Avoid Teflon cookware. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for a large variety of diseases, many of which are not even well documented at this time.
9. Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food.
AND
8 Spots Germs Love to Lurk in Your Home
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
1. TV remote
Many people watch TV while they absent-mindedly chew their fingernails, snack on food and flip through channels, leaving all kinds of bacteria on the remote. Make sure to sanitize the remote control regularly to prevent sickness.
2. Tub and shower
Your bathtub may have 100 times more bacteria than the trash can, according to an in-home bacteria study conducted by the Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community. The Hygiene Council recommends that showers and tubs be disinfected twice a week to get rid of dead skin cells left in the tub that can carry germs too.
3. Pet food dish
Most pet food dishes stay on the floor and do not get washed regularly.
4. Kitchen cloths and sponges
People frequently use sponges or cloths to wipe germs from surfaces in the kitchen. As a result, 70 percent of kitchen sponges in U.S. homes failed the hygiene test by having high levels of bacteria, according to the Hygiene Council. The council recommends running sponges through the dishwasher regularly and washing kitchen cloths on the hot cycle in the washing machine.
5. Microwave touch screen
This spot is notorious for not getting cleaned. Even though the food comes out cooked, the germs that can make you sick are left on the outside of the microwave for the next person to touch. It is important to wipe down the touch screen regularly, especially after cooking raw meat.
6. Light switches
Touching the light switch is practically unavoidable, but keeping it clean is not. The bathroom light switch can have as many germs as the trash bin. Disinfect light switches twice a week, or every day if a member of your household is sick.
7. Baby changing table
During diaper changes, the baby wipes container, the diaper packaging, the trash can and anything around the changing area get contaminated with bacteria through touching after handling a dirty diaper. The baby changing table area should be cleaned often.
8. Kitchen faucets
Typically people wash their hands after handling raw meat in the kitchen, but they touch the faucet to turn on the water and do not think about the bacteria that they leave. The Hygiene Council found more than half of faucets in American homes are covered in bacteria.
Two donkeys walking up the side of a bell.
I was about to do a differences story...not that this is a difference. But I cross this bridge nearly every day...
http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/loc
Maybe we should start a letter campaign to try to keep it open! And all this while I'm 'stuck' in Wi. I wanted to take my new roomie to BG and part of that experience was definitely the BBW.
I guess I'm biased. It's an okay ride, but I got to ride it with Goat and it's a truly stellar ride with Goat. So much so I made others ride it - with him - for the experience.
I am depressed now. All the wrong things are changing and all the wrong things are staying the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1O1rv7v
If the link doesn't take you there search "The Mp3 Experiment Six"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJD
"Froze Grand Central"
5 Amazing Holes
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
Top Seven Weirdest Houses
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
How Were These Amazing Photographs Even Possible?
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
Who Knew a Picture Could be so Hypnotic?
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
Is There Anything Cuter Than This?
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
Bruce Lee Plays Ping Pong -- With Nunchucks
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
National Geographic's Best Pictures Of The Year
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic
The Most Alien Looking Caterpillars on Earth
Propel Water (by Gatorade) has decided to replace the relatively safe sucrose sweetener with high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is one of the main reasons I need to get off Coke. That siren calling bitch is the WORST of the poisons out there and it's in goddamn EVERYTHING. Including bread for instance.
So it's damn near impossible to not eat something arsenic ladden (even tap water with its fluoride and medical drugs diluting anything watery about it) and Gatorade (a company that positions its image as healthy drinking) has decided to toss in with the devil too. Yet another poison to avoid. They were going to be my by-pass on my little road from addition, but their sales won't be spiking any time soon.
Feel free to imagine a happy place for me now, while I go off to swear about soulless profit-seeking death mongering America for a minute.
Yeah, I'm back.
Whatever. America is what it is and the state of someone else's soul is not my concern. I will go off and attempt to find something safe to eat and drink.
I won't say that I'll never have any again. I can't think of any way to more surely sabotage my efforts than that. Just that Coke's stock might plummet a little over the intervening days and weeks.
My health has been a little weird lately and I had one of those middle of the night revelations as to the culprit. Coke is, after all, a poison. I gave it a pass since it was my only vice (don't smoke, don't do drugs and drink alcohol so rarely I'm probably safe in saying I don't drink). I don't even drink any other sodas and I don't see the point in exchanging one poison for another. I guess my body has processed as much poison it cares to and it needs better if it's going to function better.
So I sit here, drinking water, and offering a symbolic toast goodbye to my demon-disguised-friend.
Sigh...
I guess it's true that people either loved it or hated it. So I offer what those before me seem to lack - an impartial analysis as best as I can give it. This reviews Breaking Dawn but also the whole saga as the "problems" with Breaking Dawn are evident in many of her books.
First off I will address the writing itself. Meyers writing style in all the Saga is wordy and 'loose'. Not in a moralistic way but just that she takes 30 pages (for instance) to write something that could be said in 5. It's why her books have relatively straight forward stories but are still 500-800 pages long. On the other hand, what's so special about concise writing - you could argue that her style sets atmosphere, tone, and character development. Even her critics - or people expecting to hate the series - seem to get sucked into turning each page. One 1-star reviewer said she read the whole series in a weekend. Over 2000 pages!! I'm sorry, but if it was a truly terrible series I could not continue to devote a weekend to it. So something kept the 1 star reviewer going. That said, were I her editor, I would hand back some of the more egregious sections and tell her to tighten them up. In Breaking Dawn that would be Book 2 - Jacob. It just went on and on, long after we got the point.
On the heels of that I would add that my biggest and first complaint as a reader was the beginning. There I feel she didn't take ENOUGH time. I would happily slice off 100 pages from book 2 and donate them to book 1. The wedding was rushed, the honeymoon was unsatisfying. In my opinion. Which is a critical statement.
The problem with the popularity of this book is that everyone imagined their own happy ending and then got mad at Meyers for daring to have a conflicting one. It is clear, perfectly clear, that this is the end Meyers had in mind all along. The arcs, the foreshadows, the back history are all present. I dare say most of the ire over this ending is not based on the ending at all but on the fact that the book didn't go where that one fan wanted it to go. A large cross section of "you can't please all the people". In fairness to those fans though, the tone and theme did markedly and abruptly change. It was an adult book following three very teen novels. Bella grew up and a semblance of reality was introduced. Suddenly it wasn't teen fantasy. It wasn't hormones, ogling, prom and millionaires. The fantasy of vampires and immortality hangs in the wish that we would never have to grow up. That one goes from being a pimply awkward teen to a beautiful fantastic millionaire in the space of a 'kiss'. I have yet to see the vampire story where the vamp is a newborn and penniless living in a ghetto. They are always several hundred to thousands of years old and consequently wealthy or they are sired by a wealthy vamp and thus skip any reality-inducing transition.
Most criticism is based around the adult direction this novel then took. They wanted to see more romping by Edward and Bella. Maybe with specific scenes in mind (college? hanging at the Cullens? backpacking through Europe). Something romantic and just outside our existence enough we could vicariously live it and just inside our existence enough that we feel we could have it to, if only. If only we met our true love, if only we found the family we would want to hang with, if only we could take an extended vacation and buy that European ticket. But for one small, but POSSIBLE request, we could be there too.
Instead Meyers takes Bella into a world of adult choices and consequences. No romping, no drawn out fairy tale wedding. No fairy tale honeymoon. Again, as the editor, I would have scrapped the honeymoon and had it re-written. They argued. There was negative tension. For a book built on romance they cannot argue on the honeymoon. Not only that but Edward didn't believe Bella's explanations and then withdrew emotionally. He made a decision and then carried it out unilaterally without her feelings. This is not a good romance, and arguably is not a good marriage. Many plot points come from the honeymoon, but if I lampooned her for anything it would be this section. She needed to find a different way to get there.
As for remarks from reviewers that it was "too easy" and there was no suffering, those comments are laughable. Again the same flaw as before. Meyers characters did not suffer the way some of her audience wanted or expected. And suffered terribly in other ways. But those other ways 'don't count' and suddenly it was too easy and there was no sacrifice. Not true.
As with any book some lines I would cut, some characters could use a little more attention, some characters a little less. Examples would be to be a little less obsessed with Jacob (trim book two) and flesh out Rosalie more. She became more of a major character but stayed two dimensional. Not good. Alice disappeared and it wasn't until deeply in that a cursory reason was offered. Edward reverted to being a little too two dimensional himself, practically repeating the same lines over and over. While the story supported it to an extent I would have asked her to dig deeper. His actions made sense enough for the story she wanted to tell, but with a little soul-searching and digging around she might have transformed past the story she did tell and find one that would resonate more deeply with more fans. Edward needed to be more present as a true character.
Her story is a 2 person romance at its core - but in book 4 she shed the romance early on and then relegated Edward to an auto-pilot version of himself. No wonder a huge chunk is told from Jacobs point of view!
There were plot points that I didn't like either (yes, the imprinting issue was a major one) but it was her story to tell, not mine. So while I would not have gone in that direction I am also not a best selling author. But that particular plot line seems to have universal UNappeal. Truthfully the whole imprinting concept is a bad one. For a country that loves freedom as much as ours, the concept that you see someone and become their slave regardless of any choice or free will is rather repugnant to me. True love celebrates freedom. Meyers loved introducing Jacob as a REINFORCEMENT to Bella's love for Edward. Bella wasn't settling, she had fine options, she CHOOSE Edward and all that entails. So sad werewolves never get such joy for themselves. They don't find true love, but a happy sort of enslavement with creepy undertones at that. (Imprinting with children? Surely imprinting should ONLY work between adults.) This is not a tangant so much as an unfortunate offshoot of Meyers - in telling her fantasy and perhaps flexing her own fantasies - she unwittingly made werewolves the worst kind of culture. In addition to the aforementioned imprinting woes there was also the abuse theme that unfortunately ran too rampant for my tastes. I felt that Eclipse was entirely too close to a sexual attack between Jacob and Bella. Quite simply he used his superior size and strength to force Bella into sexual acts (just kissing but still) that she was not consenting too. But throughout the book he forces Bella into many things she does not consent to - through force or emotional blackmail. She tries to dress it up as his being young or hormonal. So rather than it being a character flaw of Jacob, he can remain flawless by pretending it is a character flaw of all men? That is, quite frankly, a terrible statement. I prefer to believe it is just a character flaw of Jacobs and one that continues to an extent in book 4. Jacob demands his way. I do not find that a friendship, a love interest, or in any way romantic or desirable. It is a temper tantrum and no more. Which paints werewolves as juvenile or valueless. Which is a shame. Meyers, so caught up in the way she regarded it, failed to see this for how it really read or could reasonably be read. A reviewer or editor should have pointed it out.
People found the end battle to be anti-climatic. This is a matter of opinion to a large degree, but it's fair to say that there was a showdown, there just wasn't a huge explosion, metaphorically speaking. The ending was far more intellectual than it was a mindless action movie. More readers wanted the mindless thrill of hunt, destruction and victory. But if they were to re-read the end without preconceived notions then they would find that a lot is going on. Having said that I must address that the ending, climax aside, had some plot holes. Since I'm I'm trying to avoid spoilers, suffice to say that you can't look too closely at the ending or it begins to unravel some. Again a failure of the editor or reviewer to catch this prior to release.
To sum up this review: Meyers tells her story. If it was the first book, like Twilight, when no one knows what to expect, then it would have received a far different review. More popular? Who can say. But certainly different. As the Fourth book of a beloved series people had secret desires and expectations for these characters. The main ire comes from the fact that Meyers told her story instead of the one they secretly demanded. Enter this book with an open mind, let Meyers tell you her story and you have a better chance of enjoying this installment.
There are some minor plot holes and times you might want to slap a character. This is as true for this book as any other probably. It runs fast in some areas, and long in others. As do all her novels.
Lastly, this book is more adult. Less fantasy and more How Their Lives End. Like it or not, the story is supported; it makes sense. It is the way she planned to end the tale. If it's not to your liking, there's always fanfic or your own imagination.
Then Farrah Fawcett (Um, 62, but sick)
Then Michael Jackson. (50)
Dropping like flies.
http://bored.com/games/play/273/Causali
The guy in the office, on the tiolet and the last 3 guys on level three are the hardest....
And this... http://bored.com/games/play/270/Contrap
I only wish Mark was around to see me play it. Some of the WORST engineering ever and some BRILLIANTLY inelegant contraptions THAT WORKED (although they shouldn't have...) :)
http://www.419eater.com/
"So what is scambaiting? ... It doesn't matter if you are new to this sport [Hee hee hee I would so love to see this as a real sport!!] or a hardened veteran; if you are wasting the time of a scammer, or frustrating them in any way well that's good enough for us, and we would welcome you to join with our now very large community.
Although this site concentrates mainly on the Nigerian 419 scam, we are happy to deal with other types of scams if and when the opportunity arises. We also have a large team of experts dedicated to the removal and closure of fake scammer banks and sites.
Even if you are a newcomer, much fun can be had and at the same time you will be doing a public service. If you are new to this game and need to know what scambaiting is all about, please click on the 419 FAQ link at the top of the page. See also Baiting Tips for information on getting started on this great cyber-sport
We encourage everyone to contribute to this site and the good cause of scambaiting by joining in the fun on the FORUM where you can meet new friends and seek expert help, tips and advice on anti-scamming. User participation is absolutely encouraged. Please help us to raise awareness the world over!"
OR
http://www.thescambaiter.com/
"Thanks for taking the time to visit theScamBaiter.com. Our mission is simple: To aggravate and humiliate scammers worldwide. While TSB mainly focuses on 419 Advanced Fee Fraud, we also are involved with tormenting other scammers as well- and as many as possible. By wasting these scammers time, it is less time they have to focus on potential victims.
The eBay Scam Killers (eBSK) are also a part of TSB. eBSK fights auction house scammers and engages in the take down of fake escrow sites. In most cases, we are more effective at thwarting this type of cyber crime than eBay themselves."
Of course, if these sites and forums are scams I may need to climb a clock tower.
LFC 25 - Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaDWpvzM
Better camera angle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhiHatGn
The footage runs for 2 min but there's nothing new.
Melbourne Boxing
http://www.break.com/index/boxing-doubl
Compilation - some are dumb, staged? and hard to see
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5l8ns
You will likely either love this or hate it. Most people seem to hate it and I can understand why. If you loved it, good for you, but spare me the "well you just didn't get it" speech. I got it just fine - and thought it was a waste of precious moments of my life.
We watched this for Anthony Stewart Head and he absolutely didn't disappoint. You may or may not like the movie, but Tony did a fantastic job on his character. Sarah Brightman was an unexpected talent as well.
As for the rest, it's a standard case of the writers being a little too in love with themselves and their work. Strutting about their originality, Repo! is a knock-off of all that came before it. Reminiscent of Rocky Horror, Bladerunner, Tommy etc the only originality is when they decide to toss in some totally random element that leaves you going, 'Huh? What was that?!?!' and not usually in a good way.
The plot is thin and full of holes, the ending weak and along the way plot points are either rushed or drrraaaggggged out.
Some songs are good, but most aren't. Most singers were pretty bad as well, but ultimately that's subjective. If you define a 'cult' movie as a movie that only a very small segment of the population would like, then these are cult songs.
Even then I couldn't call it a cult movie because it's trying too hard. Trying to be original while stealing so much from others and trying to be 'innovative' and 'daring' while only succeeding in being 'random' and 'confusing'. It isn't defined as a cult classic because it's adored by fans, but because the authors demand that it be classified as such.
While I have to give credit to the costuming and sets overall, the movie still plays like it was written by two teenage boys ventilating their hormonal obsession with metal, blood and sex and then arrogantly calling it the new standard.
go to
netflix.com/tellafriend
Entering one of these codes:
M680361590275
M670331590255
M690331590605
Awesome football tricks! I especially liked the last one with the car!
Here's some pics:
http://www.forbestraveler.com/adven
America's Scariest Drives
By Joe Yogerst
Highway One/Big Sur
California
Alfred Hitchcock could not have conjured a scarier highway—122 miles of vertigo between Monterey and Morro Bay. Two lanes for nearly its entire length, the road meanders along cliff tops poised high above the Pacific, including 33 bridges and countless drop offs into liquid oblivion. Anyone faintly squeamish should not attempt to drive this route.
The Saddle Road, Big Island
Hawaii
The Big Island's incredible Saddle Road shoots between two hulking volcanoes across a sweltering lava-rock desert. “Famously bad and dangerous” is how one guide describes Hawaii Route 200 between Hilo and Waimea. Although improved in recent years, much of the route is narrow and one-way; intermittent fog makes it even more hazardous. Side roads lead to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Aspen to Leadville via Independence Pass
Colorado
The 187-mile drive from Aspen to Leadville traverses some of the highest, harshest and most desolate geography in North America. The drive kicks off with a summit of 12,095-foot Independence Pass, a stretch of state highway 82 that is narrow, twisting and often without guardrails. The latter portion near Cañon City includes a short detour across Royal Gorge Bridge, which hovers 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River — built 1929 and still the highest suspension bridge in the world.
Dalton Highway
Alaska
The longest stretch of road in U.S. with no services, the 414-mile Dalton throws down several gauntlets including gravel roadway, steep grades, dangerous animals, and dire weather conditions. It’s an awful long wait for a tow if you break down out here.
U.S. Highway 50
Utah/Nevada
They call it the “loneliest road” in America, the 473 miles of U.S. 50 between Hinckley, Utah and Carson City, Nev. But it’s also one of the creepiest, especially in mid-winter when snow can cover the entire route or the middle of summer when daytime temperatures are almost always in the triple digits. The Nevada Commission on Tourism issues a free “Highway 50 Survival Guide.”
Tail of the Dragon
North Carolina/Tennessee
Tucked just below Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the sinuous “Tail of the Dragon” is an 11-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 129 between Tabcat Bridge, Tenn., and Deals Gap, N.C. Get ready for 318 curves, many of them monster switchbacks and hairpins, as well as a series of steep “S” curves called The Slide.
State Highway 170
Texas
This rollercoaster desert road along the Rio Grande is straight out of No Country for Old Men (which was filmed nearby). A dipsy-do roadway, stray animals and floods are just a few of the hazards along the 99 miles of the river road between Lajitas and Candelaria. Much of the highway runs through picturesque Big Bend Ranch State Park.
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