3 Reasons To Embrace Frozen Foods

How are health- and environmentally-conscious individuals and households to feed themselves when their local food production is brought to a halt by the frozen winter months?

Of course, the better planners will have prepared for the rigors of the season, just as people have done for time immemorial. They will have bought big quantities of fresh produce during the time of year when the crops are plentiful and will have canned, preserved or fermented them, stocking their cellar and pantry with all sorts of goodies (jams, sauces, pickles, preserves of fruits and vegetables, etc.) to last them til the earth around them gets fertile again. Some of them will even have made good use of their freezer.

But let’s face it. The pressures of modern life keep these folks in the minority (although the recession is rumored to have spurred more and more people’s interest in these practices). What about the rest of us?

This is when an old type of product comes is very handy: store-bought frozen food.

Let’s clarify a couple of points before going any further: this conversation does not include processed foods nor prepared meals. Our focus is strictly on produce that was frozen and bagged straight from the field, as an alternative to fresh, raw ingredients when none is available.

1 High nutritional value

Scientists and nutritionists will tell you that fruits and vegetables that were picked at the peak of their ripeness and freshness, quick-frozen in the appropriate conditions, and whose “cold chain” was carefully maintained (no higher temperature than -0.4 degrees F or -18 degrees C), possibly offer superior nutritional value than if bought fresh.

Produce bought at the farmers’ market the day after it was picked and consumed quickly obviously stands the test of freshness and high nutritional value. However, we must bear in mind that the longer raw produce lingers–in trucks, in stores or in our refrigerators–the more its quality declines.

2 Food waste reduction

Which brings me to the next point: the astoundingly long shelf-life of frozen food. Buy it in bulk if you wish and use it as you need it. When considering that 40 percent of the food bought in America ends up in the bin (this number includes food served at restaurants but you get the idea; the Brits do hardly better at 35 percent), the opportunity offered by frozen food to dramatically shrink this wastage is simply astonishing.

3 Improving carbon footprint

What is true at the consumer’s level is true on the farm as well: freezing a crop is a perfect way to avoid that any unsold surplus is left to rot in the field or ploughed under. In other words, it ensures that the greenhouse gas emissions that were emitted in order to produce it yield a higher return on investment – so to speak. Which implies a lower average carbon footprint of frozen food when strictly considering food production. Industry professionals argue that this absence of waste on the field, added to the decreased need for regular trips to the store (since consumers can buy in large quantities and fill their freezer) point to a very respectable carbon footprint of frozen food.

This picture is obviously incomplete.

One cannot ignore the energy required in maintaining the integrity of the “cold chain” through the transportation and storage of frozen food from the plant to the home. No reliable data is publicly available to evaluate that carbon footprint (infinite variables make for a very complex pictures, I was made to understand). One thing is for sure, however: the frozen food industry is working at reducing it. In England, the British Frozen Food Federation has deployed a plan, with the support of the Carbon Trust, to reduce the carbon footprint of the “cold chain” by 15 percent across the industry. In the U.S., initiatives are popping up to “green” operations: Oregon-based Stahlbush Island Farms powers its processing plant with a biogas power plant; in Connecticut, the family-business Carla’s Pasta is installing a 300-kW fuel cell power plant at its frozen food processing facility (it will provide 60 percent of its energy needs by mid-2011).

Ultimately, when it comes to making food choices that are not only good for our health but also for the health of the planet, the principles remain the same whether we’re talking fresh or frozen: choose local and organic. One obvious way to stick to these principles is to plan ahead and fill your freezer with fresh, raw food you have bought and conditioned yourself (although it requires some skills and equipment, it is most likely the least labor-intensive of all home food-preservation processes mentioned earlier).

Barring that, hope is on the horizon thanks to one frozen-food company that is applying these same principles to a T. Based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Locavorious offers its members a winter-time CSA program based on food procured from its network of nine local, family farms (not all of them are certified organic).

Imagine if farmers’ markets were thus given a second life wherever the climate temporarily stops food production! Farms’ productivity and revenue would increase (since spoilage and wastage would be a thing of the past) and consumers would benefit from the year-long abundance. 

8 Reasons Not to Eat Tuna

1. Mercury is Toxic

The FDA says: “Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of methylmercury. However, larger fish that have lived longer have the highest levels of methylmercury because they’ve had more time to accumulate it.” What can methylmercury do to us humans? For starters: brain damage, memory loss, personality change, tremors, spontaneous abortion, and damage to a developing fetus. Fatigue and memory loss caused by mercury poisoning from eating fish is so common that doctors even have a name for it: fish fog.

2. Large Fish Are Just Like Kittens (or Maybe Even Tigers)
In the words of PETA’s Ashley Byrne: “PETA thought that by renaming fish sea kittens, compassionate people who would never dream of hurting a dog or a cat might extend that sympathy to fish, or sea kittens.” Why kittens? Well, like cats, fish feel pain, have complex social interactions, form bonds, and express affection by gently rubbing against one another. You wouldn’t hook a cuddly little kitty through the mouth, would you? Greenpeace is taking a different approach, characterizing eating the endangered fish like eating a rhino or tiger. I think I prefer the kittens.

3. Tuna Deserve Respect, Not Extinction
Tuna are migratory fish that travel many thousands of miles in their lifetimes–swimming more than 100 miles in a day. They can accelerate faster than a Porsche and reach speeds as high as 50 miles per hour.

4. Save the Dolphins and Whales
“Tuna is about as ‘dolphin-friendly’ as a boat propeller,” say the folks at PETA. “Even if dolphins aren’t ‘accidentally’ trapped in tuna nets, they are still killed intentionally by Japanese tuna anglers because they prey on tuna. Entire pods of whales and dolphins are rounded up and driven into shallow water where all but the youngest (who are captured and sold to aquariums) are slaughtered with knives and machetes.”

5. Eating Tuna Creates a Large Carbon Footprint
“Once caught,” writes Matthew McDermott, “the fish are packed into refrigerated coffins and flown to auction in Tokyo, where they are bought for up to $100,000 per tuna (bluefin are quite large…). From there, if not consumed locally, they are flown again around the world for sale in the United States, Europe or China.”

6. Overfishing is Killing Our Oceans

Greenpeace explains: “Populations of top predators, a key indicator of ecosystem health, are disappearing at a frightening rate, and 90 percent of the large fish that many of us love to eat, such as tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, halibut, skate, and flounder have been fished out since large scale industrial fishing began in the 1950s.”

7. Food Poisoning
Every year, there are roughly 75 million cases of food-borne illness reported in the U.S. (no including, of course, episodes mistakenly attributed to stomach flu or virus). This leads to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. I’ll give you one guess what’s the number one cause of food poisoning in the U.S.: seafood.

8. Why Eat Dead Fish?
Why disrupt marine eco-systems by killing tens of thousands of creatures we humans do not even need to eat when you can choose a vegan tuna melt or vegan tuna burger or even some raw vegan tuna salad?

5 Things Not to Buy in a Supermarket

We love grocery stores. Their stock and trade is food — fresh, frozen, canned or prepared — and kitchen staples like paper towels and laundry detergent. But there are a whole host of other items that cost a premium in grocery stores because of the “convenience” factor. You can get them cheaper at a discount department or hardware store, dollar store, or drug store so leave the following items off your shopping list:

1. Cookware and Kitchen Utensils

It may be convenient to pick up a frying pan while you’re buying your bacon, but you’ll be paying much more than you ought to for it.

2. Cosmetics, toiletries, and personal care items
It might save time to buy your lip-gloss, moisturizer, toothpaste, razor blades, and deodorant at the same time and place you’re getting your food, but you’ll be paying a premium price.

3. Small appliances

Why buy a toaster for $40 when you can buy the same toaster for $20 dollars at a discount house? The same theory applies to coffee makers, electric tea kettles, and hot plates.

4. Party supplies

Buy your balloons, funny hats, place cards, candles, and name tags in bulk at a party supply store and you’ll pay a whole lot less.

5. Batteries, light bulbs, extension cords

Again, these are pricey specialty items at the grocery store, but cheap impulse buys at a discount hardware, department, or dollar store!

8 Common Myths About the Nursing Field

Blame it on Hollywood: thanks to an endless stream of TV series and movies set in hospitals, most of us probably have the wrong idea about what nurses do and just how important they are to the medical field. They’re usually depicted as smart but somehow inferior to doctors, as if they didn’t have their own medical knowledge or years of experience to guide them through the days. But this, like a lot of other popular portrayals of nurses, is almost moronically lazy and misinformed. Nurses are integral members of a health care team. If you’ve ever come across any of the myths below, or even if you’ve perpetrated them, know that the truth is a lot more interesting than the fictions.

1. All nurses are women: Not true. Admittedly, women outnumber men in the nursing field by a large margin — in the United States and Canada, only about 5-6% of nurses are men — but still, it’s wrong to say that there aren’t any men in the field. As a result of the gender imbalance, the profession is often perceived as an exclusively female one, which in America makes it a feminized one and therefore a less powerful or worthwhile one. Accordingly, portrayals of male nurses perpetuate the stereotype; a few years ago, on Scrubs, Rick Schroder played a nurse with the surname Flowers. Come on.
2. Being a nurse isn’t as challenging as being a doctor: Are you serious? Being a nurse requires education, critical thinking skills, and serious amounts of medical training. Nurses perform research, participate in surgeries, administer medicine and treatments, and act as the glue that keeps the hospital running. The hours can be long, but the work can be extremely rewarding on personal and professional levels. What part of that doesn’t sound challenging?
3. Nurses function as gofers for doctors: Again, a common misconception but a horribly wrong-headed one. Nurses often work in a capacity that sees them assisting doctors, but they’re anything but errand-runners. Nurses diagnose and treat patients, provide health care strategies for the infirm, and work to ensure people know how to take care of themselves. Nurses save lives, period. They apply medical knowledge in a host of areas to a steady stream of patients, and they do it every day. Helping out a doctor, even when it means retrieving something, doesn’t turn them into dull physical laborers in scrubs.
4. Nursing is a dead-end job: The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs nursing as a hot field, with prospects for RNs listed as "excellent." Why? Well, baby boomers are getting old, and we’re also living longer in general, which means there’s going to be a glut of Americans putting a strain on the health care system. If you’ve got the training, you can likely find work, especially if you’re willing to relocate. What’s more, nurses with the right kind of training can further their careers in specialized fields (midwifery, elderly care), which opens doors to even more jobs and opportunities. In short, a smart nurse will succeed.
5. Nurses are all the same: Even patients in hospitals are rarely aware of what nurses do. They see people in scrubs walk in and out, but that’s about it. It’s easy to start thinking that all nurses have the same duties, training, goals, and career paths. But think for a second about the fact that you see nurses in all parts of the hospital, no matter what department or specialty you’re visiting. That’s not an accident. Nurses working for ear, nose, and throat doctors have otolaryngological training; pediatric nurses have knowledge of and training with children; etc., etc. Being a nurse means committing to any one of dozens of specialties, and more if you change tracks.
6. Nurses are people who couldn’t hack it in med school: One of the ugliest myths out there. It’s not unique in assigning weakness to a particular medical job that’s misunderstood; dentists deal with the same stuff. But nursing isn’t a fallback. It’s not an also-ran for people who wanted to be doctors. It’s not a consolation prize. It’s a conscious career choice made by people who want to work in health care, and it’s one that requires some real education. Many nurses hold bachelor’s degrees in their field, and some nurses even go on to attain higher medical degrees but remain devoted to nursing or working a nurse-like relationship. Nurses provide top-flight medical care for patients. They know what they’re doing.
7. Nursing is grunt work: It’s true that nurses are often called upon to perform physically demanding tasks in the course of providing medical care to patients of all ages and shapes, but it’s incorrect to assume that all nursing boils down to a willingness to lift people, boxes, and bedpans. What’s more, nurses work in a variety of fields, whether in hospitals or other areas, and such tasks are only usually a fraction of what they deal with in a given day. This myth is related to the one that says nurses are merely hired hands or assistants meant to run errands, but it’s insidious enough to count as its own separate untruth because of how badly it misrepresents the scope of what nurses do.
8. Nurses don’t get paid well: The federal government reports that median income for RNs in 2008 was $62,450, with earnings ranging from $43,000 to $92,000. That’s nothing to sneeze at, considering that some studies show that anyone earning more than $70k a year has already hit peak happiness in terms of salary. What’s more, many hospitals provide tuition reimbursement for classes designed to advance your degree, which helps save cash. Plus there’s access to entire fleets of medical professionals who know you personally. The medical benefits of being a nurse are definitely not to be overlooked. Between the perks and the salary, it’s a smart job choice.

8 Most Abused Prescription Drugs

Prescription drugs have done wonders for patients suffering from any number of pains, illnesses and diseases. There’s no doubt that prescription drugs have changed the face of medicine and we’d be in trouble without them, but these miracle pills also come with a heavy dose of danger if misused and abused. Here are the 8 most abused prescription drugs:

1. Stimulants: Stimulants are prescribed to increase alertness, attention and energy in patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy and, occasionally, depression. Stimulants increase blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. Prescription stimulants, such as dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine and Adderall) and methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta) work by stimulating the norepinephrine and dopamine chemicals in the brain and increasing dopamine activity. Stimulants often improve mood, relieve anxiety and may induce a sense of euphoria, which makes them highly addictive. Stimulants are commonly abused for recreational purposes and performance enhancement to achieve weight loss and increase energy. To achieve a greater high, stimulant abusers often crush up the pills and snort or inject them. Stimulant abuse can cause serious health consequences, such as rapid or irregular heartbeat, heart failure, delirium and digestive problems.
2. Opioids: Opioids are commonly prescribed to treat pain because of their strong analgesic effects, but these powerful drugs can be highly addictive when abused. Opioids include a wide variety of prescription narcotics, including morphine (Kadian, Avinza), codeine, oxycodone (OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet) and other related painkillers. Morphine is typically used before and after surgeries to alleviate severe pain, whereas codeine is prescribed for mild pain and may be used to relieve coughs and diarrhea. Opioids work by attaching to opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract and block the perception of pain. They can cause drowsiness, nausea and constipation, in addition to producing a sense of euphoria by stimulating the pleasure regions of the brain. It’s this euphoric feeling that makes opioids the most popular type of prescription drug to abuse. Many abusers will crush up opioids, such as OxyContin, and then snort or inject them to enhance their high, which consequently, increases their chances of an opioid overdose.
3. Barbiturates: Barbiturates are within the family of central nervous system (CNS) depressants, which are prescribed to treat anxiety, tension, epilepsy and sleep disorders and sometimes used as preanesthetics to promote sleep before surgery. CNS depressants are commonly referred to as sedatives and tranquilizers because they slow normal brain function by enhancing the activity of the neurotransmitter gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA). The most common barbiturates prescribed are mephobarbital (Mebaral) and pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal). Barbiturates are commonly abused to counteract the symptoms of other drugs, both prescription and illegal drugs. Abusers may combine barbiturates with medications that cause drowsiness, such as prescription pills, over-the-counter cold and allergy medications and alcohol to achieve a greater high, but doing so increases the risk for slowed heart rate and respiration that could be fatal.
4. Benzodiazepines: Benzodiazepines are also within the CNS depressants family. These sedatives are prescribed to treat anxiety, acute stress reactions, panic attacks, convulsions and sleep disorders. Common benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide HCl (Librium) and estazolam (ProSom), are generally prescribed for short-term relief to prevent abuse and dependence issues. Like barbiturates, benzodiazepines also affect the neurotransmitter gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) to decrease brain activity and produce a drowsy or calming effect in anxious or restless people. People commonly abuse benzodiazepines to counteract the effects of other drugs. The drowsy, calming feeling of benzodiazepines is often enhanced when abusers take them with other prescription pills, OTC cold and allergy medications, and alcohol, which can lead to a slower heart rate and respiration and result in death. Also, discontinued use of CNS depressants in large doses can lead to dangerous withdrawal symptoms such as seizures.
5. Sleep Medications: Prescription sleeping pills fall into the family of CNS depressants and are used to treat insomnia, when people have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. The most commonly prescribed sleeping pills to treat sleep disorders are zolpidem (Ambien), zaleplon (Sonata) and eszopiclone (Lunesta). Although these medications have similar side effects as the benzodiazepines, they are called nonbenzodiazepines because they are structurally different on a chemical level. Even though they appear to have a lower risk for addiction and doctors usually prescribe them for two weeks or less, they are frequently abused and can be highly addictive. People often become reliant on sleeping medications because they cannot fall asleep or stay asleep without them. Abusers may also become addicted to the drowsy and calming feeling caused by these sedatives.
6. Anabolic Steroids: Anabolic steroids are used to increase muscle and bone mass. Anabolic steroids are legally prescribed by doctors to treat males who produce abnormally low amounts of testosterone so that they do not experience delayed puberty, osteoporosis and impotence. This muscle-building kind of steroid is also used to treat patients with AIDS and other diseases to prevent the loss of lean muscle mass. Anabolic steroids are widely abused by teenagers and athletes of all levels. They can be taken through tablets or capsules, injected directly into the bloodstream, ointments or skin patches and oral preparations. Those who abuse steroids and use them for non-medical purposes have a higher risk of developing short-term and long-term health consequences, such as severe acne, stunted growth, aggression, high blood pressure, liver cysts and cancer and much more.
7. Muscle Relaxers: Muscle relaxers are prescribed to treat acute muscle problems and chronic pain that cause painful muscle spasms. They can also be administered to treat pain from fibromyalgia, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Baclofen, Tizanidine and Zanaflex are commonly prescribed to reduce spasticity at the level of the spinal cord, and certain benzodiazepines, like Valium, may be used to relieve muscle spasms. Muscle relaxers work by reducing muscle tone and relaxing tenseness, while others affect skeletal muscle fibers and nerves. Muscle relaxers offer temporary pain relief, but do not heal the problem. Much like other painkillers, muscle relaxers can be addictive because they offer pain relief, pleasure and a euphoric calmness. Those who abuse muscle relaxers may take more than the prescribed amount and mix it with other medications or alcohol to enhance their high.
8. Fentanyl: Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has the same painkilling benefits of most opioids, but is more potent than morphine. In a class of its own, fentanyl (Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze) is generally prescribed to patients with chronic, severe pain and can be given to cancer patients. Due to its strong analgesic benefits, fentanyl is also a commonly abused drug. Like other opioids, fentanyl binds to the brain’s opiate receptors and work by blocking the perception of pain. As dopamine levels in the brain increase, users feel a sense of euphoria and calmness. People who abuse fentanyl will often mix the prescription drug with heroin, cocaine or other illegal drugs to amplify their high. Fentanyl abuse and addiction is accompanied by several short-term and long-term health consequences, such as respiratory depression and arrest, nausea, confusion, sedation, unconsciousness and coma.

There are 2 blogs that ripoff everything I post

Anyone have advice on how tho shut these bastards down?

Before I could even get to work on contacting Blog, that ripoff is already gone! I think your advice and action on my behalf must have done the trick!

Thanks! (why didn't I think of that forehead smack has just been performed!)

Dima Bilan Mullet Hair Cuts

Dima Billan Mullet hairstyle
Business up front, party in the back is how many refer to mullets. While this hair style has been worn for decades, it has found moments of popularity with the masses in some generations. However, it has never been as chic to wear this cut as it is now, thanks to the Dima Bilan mullet hair cut.

Russian crooner Dima Bilan has swept hordes of fans off of their feet and ushered in a new look for the man on the cutting edge of fashion. Mullet hairstyles are short on the sides and long in the back. You can choose the length for the top that is most comfortable for you.



Dima Billan razored mullet hairstyle
Dima wears his hair a bit shorter (sometimes longer), razored and layered on the top so that he can wear that tousled look. Taking care of a mullet cut is very easy and does not require much styling product. Thanks to pop culture entering the workforce with great acceptance, you will see men across the globe wearing their hair in this fashion.



Dima Billan Mullet hairstyle with long bangs
Whether you like long bangs or short, you can style your mullet however you like. Heading out to the club and dressed to the nines, playing ball with friends or walking into the board room, Dima Bilan mullet hair cuts will keep you looking your very best.

More Photos of Dima Billan Mullet Hairstyles:

Dima Billan layered mullet haircut


Dima Billan mullet hairstyle


Dima Billan mullet

art deco sketch art of Michael Kaluta, from the artwork book of the movie "Metropolis", the incredible 1927 silent film

I didn't want to watch the silent film, not once I learned that a anime version with English vocals was made. It's a magnificent epic story that varies a lot from the original, and I recommend it highly. The original was written about on Wikipedia, and seems to be a very difficult story to follow, and that must be why it was editted differently by anyone who could, resulting in every known copy that existed from the 1930's to the 1990's having about 30 minutes cut from it to make the story cohesive. Watch the anime version for enjoyment, or the original if you're a film afficianado. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293416/

these two prints are from http://momentdinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/01/metropolis-book.html

Best monster truck wheelie I've ever seen

found on http://www.monstertrucks.com.au/

Home made tank-tracked off roader

Found on http://automotives.tumblr.com
Originally from http://www.monstertrucks.com.au/

Tunisia-Like Riots Are Breaking Out In Egypt

Anti corruption protests in Egypt have turned violent, reminding everyone of Tunisia.

More than 90,000 Egyptians agreed on Facebook to turn out for a "day of revolution" to mark Police Day, a national holiday. Hundreds of thousands turned out for the protests around the country.

Then the riots turned violent in Cairo, according to the NYT:

The officers formed a moving cordon around the demonstration and there were scuffles as the officers tried to halt the march by linking arms and forming lines. One woman was injured when the officers pushed protesters against a wall near an on-ramp leading to a bridge over the River Nile. But the demonstrators quickly escaped the cordon and marched down the riverside Corniche, snarling traffic.

Now police have started firing tear gas into the crowd.


TONIGHT IN Egypt

Police fire tear gas canisters at the crowds


Police are dressed in riot gear, armed with tear gas

A protesters prays with tear gas everywhere

Protesters in Tahrir square

Police fire water at the crowds

Protesters are pushing back a police truck, despite the tear gas

Police throw rocks at protesters

Protesters call on soldiers to join them

Protesters chant about the demonstrations taking place across Egypt

A brief respite for Call To Prayer

Protesters claim on facebook: "Tahrir Square is now COMPLETELY ours. Egyptian Police now is only worried about protecting their head quarters: Ministry of interior."


Is this riot related to soaring food prices?

Michael Douglas Aging Timeline (34 pics)

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