Yao Ming, Branson join to fight shark fin trade

Recently retired Chinese NBA star Yao Ming and British tycoon Richard Branson made an appeal in Shanghai against eating shark fins, which are a staple of high-class Chinese banquets. (AP)

Virgin Group head Richard Branson (L) and former NBA player Yao Ming attend a news conference organised by Wildaid, a wildlife conservation group, to promote shark conservation in Shanghai September 21, 2011.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/yao-ming-branson-join-to-fight-shark-fin-trade-1316678581-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fyao-ming-branson-join-to-fight-shark-fin-trade-1316678581-slideshow%252Fvirgin-group-head-branson-former-nba-player-yao-photo-041232578.html

5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke

By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com
Tue, Sep 06, 2011

Few things feel more terrifying and random than a stroke, which can strike without warning. And fear of stroke -- when a blood vessel in or leading to the brain bursts or is blocked by a blood clot, starving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients -- is well founded. After all, stroke is the number-three killer in the U.S., affecting more than 700,000 people each year. Here are five foods that cause the damage that leads to stroke.

1. Crackers, chips, and store-bought pastries and baked goods
Muffins, doughnuts, chips, crackers, and many other baked goods are high in trans fats, which are hydrogenated oils popular with commercial bakeries because they stay solid at room temperature, so the products don't require refrigeration. Also listed on labels as "partially hydrogenated" or hydrogenated oils, trans fats are found in all kinds of snack foods, frozen foods, and baked goods, including salad dressings, microwave popcorn, stuffing mixes, frozen tater tots and French fries, cake mixes, and whipped toppings. They're also what makes margarine stay in a solid cube. The worst offenders are fried fast foods such as onion rings, French fries, and fried chicken.

Why it's bad

For years scientists have known trans fats are dangerous artery-blockers, upping the concentrations of lipids and bad cholesterol in the blood and lowering good cholesterol. Now we can add stroke to the list of dangers. This year researchers at the University of North Carolina found that women who ate 7 grams of trans fat each day -- about the amount in two doughnuts or half a serving of French fries -- had 30 percent more strokes (the ischemic type, caused by blocked blood flow to the brain) than women who ate just 1 gram a day. Another recent study, also in women, found that trans fats promoted inflammation and higher levels of C-reactive protein, which have been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

What to do

Aim to limit trans fats to no more than 1 or 2 grams a day -- and preferably none. Avoid fast-food French fries and other fried menu items and study packaged food labels closely. Even better, bake your own cookies, cakes, and other snacks. When you can't, search out "health-food" alternative snacks, such as Terra brand potato chips and traditional whole grain crackers such as those made by Finn, Wasa, AkMak, Ryvita, and Lavasch.
2. Smoked and processed meats
Whether your weakness is pastrami, sausage, hot dogs, bacon, or a smoked turkey sandwich, the word from the experts is: Watch out.

Why it's bad

Smoked and processed meats are nasty contributors to stroke risk in two ways: The preserving processes leave them packed with sodium, but even worse are the preservatives used to keep processed meats from going bad. Sodium nitrate and nitrite have been shown by researchers to directly damage blood vessels, causing arteries to harden and narrow. And of course damaged, overly narrow blood vessels are exactly what you don't want if you fear stroke.
Many studies have linked processed meats to coronary artery disease (CAD); one meta-analysis in the journal Circulation calculated a 42-percent increase in coronary heart disease for those who eat one serving of processed meat a day. Stroke is not the only concern for salami fans; cancer journals have reported numerous studies in the past few years showing that consumption of cured and smoked meats is linked with increased risk of diabetes and higher incidences of numerous types of cancer, including leukemia.

What to do

If a smoked turkey or ham sandwich is your lunch of choice, try to vary your diet, switching to tuna, peanut butter, or other choices several days a week. Or cook turkey and chicken yourself and slice it thin for sandwiches.
How to Tell if Someone Is Having a Stroke
3. Diet soda
Although replacing sugary drinks with diet soda seems like a smart solution for keeping weight down -- a heart-healthy goal -- it turns out diet soda is likely a major bad guy when it comes to stroke.

Why it's bad

People who drink a diet soda a day may up their stroke risk by 48 percent. A Columbia University study presented at the American Stroke Association's 2011 International Stroke Conference followed 2,500 people ages 40 and older and found that daily diet soda drinkers had 60 percent more strokes, heart attacks, and coronary artery disease than those who didn't drink diet soda. Researchers don't know exactly how diet soda ups stroke risk -- and are following up with further studies -- but nutritionists are cautioning anyone concerned about stroke to cut out diet soda pop.

What to do

Substitute more water for soda in your daily diet. It's the healthiest thirst-quencher by far, researchers say. If you don't like water, try lemonade, iced tea, or juice.
4. Red meat
This winter, when the respected journal Stroke published a study showing that women who consumed a large portion of red meat each day had a 42-percent higher incidence of stroke, it got nutrition experts talking. The information that red meat, with its high saturated fat content, isn't healthy for those looking to prevent heart disease and stroke wasn't exactly news. But the percentage increase (almost 50 percent!) was both startling and solid; the researchers arrived at their finding after following 35,000 Swedish women for ten years.

Why it's bad

Researchers have long known that the saturated fat in red meat raises the risk of stroke and heart disease by gradually clogging arteries with a buildup of protein plaques. Now it turns out that hemoglobin, the ingredient that gives red meat its high iron content, may pose a specific danger when it comes to stroke. Researchers are investigating whether blood becomes thicker and more viscous as a result of the consumption of so-called heme iron, specifically upping the chance of strokes.

What to do

Aim to substitute more poultry -- particularly white meat -- and fish, which are low in heme iron, for red meat. Also, choose the heart-healthiest sources of protein whenever you can, especially beans, legumes, nuts, tofu, and nonfat dairy.

5. Canned soup and prepared foods
Whether it's canned soup, canned spaghetti, or healthy-sounding frozen dinners, prepared foods and mixes rely on sodium to increase flavor and make processed foods taste fresher. Canned soup is cited by nutritionists as the worst offender; one can of canned chicken noodle soup contains more than 1,100 mg of sodium, while many other varieties, from clam chowder to simple tomato, have between 450 and 800 mg per serving. Compare that to the American Heart and Stroke Association's recommendation of less than1,500 mg of sodium daily and you'll see the problem. In fact, a nutritionist-led campaign, the National Salt Reduction Initiative, calls on food companies to reduce the salt content in canned soup and other products by 20 percent in the next two years.

Why it's bad

Salt, or sodium as it's called on food labels, directly affects stroke risk. In one recent study, people who consumed more than 4,000 mg of sodium daily had more than double the risk of stroke compared to those who ate 2,000 mg or less. Yet the Centers for Disease Control estimate that most Americans eat close to 3,500 mg of sodium per day. Studies show that sodium raises blood pressure, the primary causative factor for stroke. And be warned: Sodium wears many tricky disguises, which allow it to hide in all sorts of foods that we don't necessarily think of as salty. Some common, safe-sounding ingredients that really mean salt:

• Baking soda
  
• Baking powder
  
• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
  
• Disodium phosphate
  
• Sodium alginate
  

What to do

Make your own homemade soups and entrees, then freeze individual serving-sized portions. Buy low-sodium varieties, but read labels carefully, since not all products marked "low sodium" live up to that promise.

How much protein do you really need?

By Sarah B. Weir and Lori Bongiorno
Posted Mon Aug 8, 2011 2:04pm PDT More from Green Picks blog

Guess how much protein is in a juicy, 8-ounce cheeseburger washed down with a milkshake? This single meal contains two to three times as much as most people need per day.

It’s no great surprise that Americans chow down on a lot of protein. We love beef and consume about 67 pounds per capita annually (that’s four times the international average). The popularity of low-carb regimes such as Atkins has also made meat the go-to food for dieters.

In fact, the average person eats about double the amount of protein that their body requires, according to the results of 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How to fulfill your daily protein requirement
The human body uses protein to repair damaged cells and to build new ones. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at NYU and author of What to Eat, estimates that the average adult man needs about 65 grams of protein a day and the average adult female needs about 55 grams. Some sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization say you can maintain a healthy diet with even less.

What does this actually mean in terms of food choices? The National Institutes of Health explains that most people can meet their daily protein requirement by eating two to three small servings of a protein-rich food a day.

Examples of a single serving of protein include:

1 egg
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
2-3 ounces of red meat, poultry, or fish (about the size of a deck of cards)
½ cup of cooked dried beans such as black beans or chickpeas
Whole grains, seeds, and some vegetables also contain protein, so consuming enough is not difficult even if you don’t eat meat. Vegetarians and vegans can easily get what they need by balancing complimentary proteins such as corn and beans or rice and tofu. Nutritionists used to recommend combining foods at the same meal, but research now shows that is unnecessary.

Are there drawbacks to eating more protein?
Eating large amounts of red and processed meats is associated with higher rates of heart disease and cancer, and most nutritionists such as Marion Nestle recommend cutting back on meat, especially on fatty cuts.

However, it’s less well known that your protein choices can have a substantial impact on the environment. Meat and dairy production requires tremendous amounts of fuel, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, and generates greenhouse gases. The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) recently published Meat Eater’s Guide points out that if you ate once less burger a week it would be the environmentally-positive equivalent of taking your car off the road for 320 miles.

Meat is also expensive. Not all proteins are created equal -- neither at the doctor’s office, nor the cash register. Here’s a comparison of three typical proteins:

Porterhouse steak
Serving size: 4 ounces
Protein: 22 grams
EWG carbon footprint rating: 2 nd worst out of 20 analyzed
Cost: 4 dollars
Fat: 22 grams
Saturated fat: 9 grams

Farm-raised salmon
Serving size: 4 ounces
Protein: 22 grams
EWG carbon footprint rating: 5th worst
Cost: 3 dollars
Fat: 10 grams
Saturated fat: 2 grams

Lentils
Serving size: 1 cup
Protein: 17.9 grams
EWG carbon footprint rating: best
Cost: 20 cents
Fat: zero
Saturated fat: zero

Many people find meat to be a delicious and satisfying component of their diet that they don’t want to sacrifice. But if you want to save money, eat a nutritionally sound diet, and are concerned about the impact meat and dairy production has on the planet, consider reducing your consumption.

What is friendship?

I have searched for the meaning of friendship for a long time, today I happened to find one that I like.  Love to share it with you so we can remind each other to value one another.

Friendship is not how long we have been together.

Not how much you have given or received.

Not how many times we have helped each other.

It's only how we value one another!

http://bbinbean.blogspot.com

FW: Never leave your nuts alone :)

START YOUR DAY WITH A BIT OF HUMOR

A doctor at an insane asylum decided to take his patients to a baseball game.  For weeks in advance, he coached his patients to respond to his commands. When the day of the game arrived, everything went quite well.

As the National Anthem started, the doctor yelled, "Up Nuts", And the patients complied by standing up.

After the anthem,  He yelled, "Down Nuts",  And they all sat back down in their seats.

After a home run was hit,  the doctor yelled, "Cheer Nuts",  They all broke out into applause and cheered.

When the umpire made a particularly bad call against the star of the home team, The Doctor yelled, "Booooo Nuts" and they all started booing and cat calling.

Comfortable with their response,  the doctor decided to go get a beer and hot dog, leaving his assistant in charge. When he returned,  there was a riot in progress. Finding his tizzied assistant,  the doctor asked, "What in the world happened?"

The assistant replied,  "Well everything was going just fine  until this guy walked by and yelled, "PEANUTS" ! ! !

His Holiness Emphasizes Importance of Inner Peace at Public Talk Near US Capitol

 
http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/705-his-holiness-emphasizes-importance-of-inner-peace-at-public-talk-near-us-capitol

Washington DC, USA, 9 July 2011 - On July 9 His Holiness first went to the Kalachakra teaching venue to continue his preparation rituals.  Thereafter, he went to the West Lawn of the Capitol to give a public talk on peace.

Prior to His Holiness’ arrival, monks of Namgyal Monastery recited prayers of blessings. Thereafter, Bhuchung Tsering welcomed the people on behalf of the Capital Area Tibetan Association and also thanked the concerned offices of the United States Congress for enabling this event to take place. Artists of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), who had come from India, performed a special dance next.

Thereafter, actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg went on the stage to make introductory remarks. She exclaimed her happiness to be at a place that was celebratory, adding that it is nice to come out and celebrate the idea of peace.

Ms. Goldberg then introduced singer Skylar Grey who performed the solo version of her song, "Coming Home." Next the video message by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for His Holiness’ 76th birthday was played on the screen.

As Ms. Goldberg introduced His Holiness and he was received on the stage by The Gyalwa Karmapa, Mr. Penpa Tsering, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, and Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the Kalon Tripa-elect of the Central Tibetan Administration.

In his talk His Holiness dwelt on the importance of creating inner peace saying he felt very happy to share these ideas with the public. He said that irrespective of whether one was a believer or nonbeliever, everybody wants a happy and a successful life. He added that these goals depend on inner peace.  His Holiness said that if there were too much suspicion, fear, distrust, anger, etc., at the mental level, life would not be a successful and a happy one. But he said there was the opportunity and ability to create inner peace, through secular way, not necessarily based on religious belief.

He talked about his two commitments of promotion of human values and the promotion of religious harmony.  He said at the level of a human being we were all the same, mentally, emotionally, and physically.  Everybody had a desire to have a happy life and a successful life, he said adding that from our birth everybody had the right to have a happy life, he said.

The problem is that we sometimes neglect our inner values, he said.

Talking about his commitment to promote religious harmony, His Holiness said that according to his “little experience” all religious traditions have the potential to bring about inner peace.  He added that close cooperation among religions is essential.


His Holiness said in life there would always be problems. He said problems were mainly of two kinds: at the sensorial or physical and at the mental level.  Despite difficulties we have the ability to create peace of mind, he said.  He referred to his own experience saying that at the age of 16 he had lost his individual freedom (a reference to his having to assume political responsibilities of Tibet at that young age) and at the age of 24 he had lost his country (after China’s takeover of Tibet in 1959). In all these times, His Holiness did not lose his inner mental calmness.  He talked about scientists who contend that too much anger; constant fear, etc. were eating the immune system.  He also referred to another scientist who told a conference in New York that those individuals who constantly think of “I’ or “we” had a greater risk of heart attack. He also said that scientists say that those individuals who have a compassionate mind and think of others enjoy better health.

His Holiness said that we had the ability to create peace of mind and to do that self-confidence and inner strength were needed. He said that people needs to realize that individual happiness was dependent on the happiness of others.

He said that thinking of compassion or forgiveness as being only for those who are religious was a mistake.  Saying that being religious was an individual choice he added that one could be happy without being religious.  He said that it was also a mistake to assume that being compassionate was only of benefit to others. He said the primary beneficiary of being compassionate is oneself.

Underscoring the importance of strong inner values, His Holiness drew attention to inner beauty being superior to external beauty.  Here he added that even marital relationship tend to be happier and lasting when they are based on appreciation of inner beauty than mere external beauty.

In the practice of compassion, it was important to think of reality and look at things objectively, His Holiness said. Referring to the eighth century Buddhist master Shantideva’s advice that if there is a solution to a problem, there is no need to worry, but if there is no solution then there is no use worrying, His Holiness said this is very realistic.

In the course of his talk, His Holiness pointed to the Capitol building in the front, and talked about the Tibetan people’s admiration of the United States since his childhood.  He pointed out the positive development of promotion of liberty, equality and rule of law as well as human values like democracy, liberty and freedom that exist in the United States.

Following his talk, Ms. Goldberg came back on the stage to moderate the question and answer session. She posed three questions selected from that submitted online. The first one dealt with a query by a 14 year old on how he should approach the issue of promoting peace.  His Holiness talked about the responsibility of the younger generation in bringing about a more peaceful world. He said his generation belonged to the 20th century while the younger generation, to which the 14 year old belongs, belongs to the 21st century. He said they should pay equal attention to their brain development as well as to developing warm heartedness.

Here His Holiness referred to the historical development in the United States.  He said Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery while Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. achieved civil rights. Today, His Holiness said, the United States had a black President. He said these are achievements.

The second question dealt with advice on the proper learning environment.  His Holiness said that it was important to promote secular ethics and nonviolence. He said that people need to realize that the power of truth and the power of compassion are much more effective than the power of gun.

The third question asked whether he hoped to return to Tibet after 52 years in exile.

His Holiness responded positively saying that China was changing. He said the voice of freedom, democracy, rule of law are increasing in China drawing attention to the fact that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao himself has called for political reforms.

"So things will certainly change," he added.

As Ms. Goldberg was ending the session, a person got up from among the audience wanting to ask a question, which His Holiness took. The individual wanted to know what should be done if those in authority were not paying heed.  His Holiness said that people could continue to use avenues available to them to voice their opinions.  He said in particular people should think more carefully in times of election.  He said despite drawbacks a democratic system was the best system and talked about his own relinquishing of authority “voluntarily and happily” in this regard.

Following his talk, cellist Michael Fitzpatrick played a number, “Invocation for World Peace.”

His Holiness then returned to the Verizon Center where he began preliminary teachings in the afternoon. After an extensive explanation of the foundation of Buddhism His Holiness started his commentary on the Stages of Meditation by Acharya Kamalashila.

On July 10, His Holiness will address a conference on Democratic China and the Future of Tibet and continue with his preliminary teachings thereafter.

Homegrown mangoes from Florida!

Mom and sisters send me mangoes every year.  This is a special kind of mangoes (can't be found in the store), sweet like sugar, wonderful aroma, flat seed... too good to be true!

Thank you Mom and sisters for thinking of me. 

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Mangoes are sweet :)
And so are you!