Fact of The Day!

amygdala

An unusual genetic disorder called Urbach-Wiethe disease. The disease destroys both sides of the amygdala, which is composed of two structures the shape and size of almonds, one on each side of the brain. Because of this brain damage, you know no fear, the researchers found

WTF Moment

WTF

Starting a new category I’m going to call WTF Moments. I’ll start one that happened to me. There  was a short time in my life that I was homeless and sleeping out of my car. I was parked in the middle of a field and it was a rainy night. I fell into a deep sleep, the one that feels like you are hypnoed out and you can’t wake up. About half way through the night I felt something wet in my crotch area and woke up to find my belt undone, my jeans unzipped and pulled apart, my car door open and unlocked and, well, the one eye monster peeking over my boxers. Didn’t see anyone around but definitely a WTF moment. True story and not the only time this type of behavior occurred. I had a couple of break-ins into my home, one of them, a person pinched my rear, left a bruise, and left the sheets off of my pelvic area. Didn’t wake up, couldn’t wake up.

FACT OF THE DAY!

 

15 Cool Facts about Breastfeeding

breast feeding

We all know the saying “breast is best” but here are some of the colossal benefits, and a couple quirky facts, about breastfeeding. 1.  Human milk boosts a baby’s immune system big time—helping baby fight viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, including:

  • Respiratory tract infections
  • Ear infections
  • Bacterial meningitis
  • Pneumonia
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Infant diarrhea
  • Common colds and flus

2.  Breastfeeding can actually reduce baby’s risk of disease later in life, including:

  • Type I and II diabetes
  • Hodgkin’s disease
  • Leukemia
  • Obesity
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol levels
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Asthma
  • Eczema

3.  Breastfeeding reduces mama’s risk of ovarian and breast cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis.  The longer she breastfeeds, the higher the benefit.

Get this—breastfeeding a baby girl actually reduces her lifetime risk of breast cancer by 25%.

4.  Breastfeeding saves a family approximately $2 to 4 thousand dollars annually (compared to cost of formula).

5.  Breastfeeding helps mama heal faster in the postpartum, helping her uterus return to pre-pregnancy size faster and lowering overall postpartum blood loss.

6.  Breastfeeding can help mama return to her pre-baby weight.  It takes 1000 calories a day on average to produce breast milk.  Women are advised to consume an extra 500 calories a day, and the body dips into reserves it built up in pregnancy to make the rest (it’s important to consume those extra calories or the body actually goes into “starvation mode” and holds onto the reserves).

7.  Producing breast milk consumes 25% of the body’s energy; the brain only uses 20% by comparison.

8.  On average, babies remove 67% of the milk mama has available—they eat until fullness, not until the breast is emptied.

9.  Almost 75% of all moms produce more milk in their right breast, whether they are right- or left- handed.

10.  Mama’s body is constantly making the perfect milk for baby.  Milk changes its nutritional profile as baby grows (milk made for a 3 month old is different than for a 9 month old).  Milk can even change day to day—for example, water content may increase during times of hot weather and baby-sickness to provide extra hydration.

11.  Human milk contains substances that promote sleep and calmness in babies (who doesn’t love that?)  Breastfeeding also calms mama and helps her bond to baby.

12.  Breastfed infants are at lower risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

13.  Mama’s breasts can detect even a one degree fluctuation in baby’s body temperature and adjust accordingly to heat up or cool down baby as needed.  This is one reason skin-to-skin contact in the early days is so crucial.

14.  Breastfeeding reduces baby’s risk of cavities later on and may lower the chance they will need braces as kids.

15.  Breastfeeding mamas sleep on average 45 minutes more a night, compared to those who formula feed.

By Amy Johnson-Grass written for Healthy Foundations Birth Center

When are Accidents not Accidents

Car Accidents

I have seen some horrific accidents in my time. They have claimed life’s of people and their loved ones. I have been in a couple but have been lucky enough to escape without any serious injury. The CDC has the following on mortality rates:

Number of deaths for leading causes of death:

  • Heart disease: 633,842
  • Cancer: 595,930
  • Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 155,041
  • Accidents (unintentional injuries): 146,571
  • Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 140,323
  • Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
  • Diabetes: 79,535
  • Influenza and Pneumonia: 57,062
  • Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 49,959
  • Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193

As you can see, accidents is number 4 in a list that is filled with natural causes and the last one is for people that have bad dreams or whom I refer to as the murder god. I ask myself if there was anything that could have been done to prevent these deaths. They’re unintentional, seemingly. These stats are yearly, making the total deaths from the above incidents at, where’s my calculator, 2,013,017 deaths per year. Of those roughly 190,700 were preventable or 9% of the deaths yearly. What can we do to prevent some of these deaths, well, for the natural causes, eat right, exercise routinely, at least 20 to 30 minutes 3 or 4 times weekly. That means you have to actually sweat, not pour water over your head or walk in the rain, even though I used to love jogging in the rain on a nice summer day. Stop smoking and using illicit drugs, fall and stay in love, actually proven to help your heart, laugh a lot, even (especially) at yourself, don’t take life too seriously, especially politics, don’t fret over money or things you don’t have control over and watch a comedy.

As for the accidents, check to make sure you tires are safe. That has been my biggest problem over the last couple of years. For some reason my tires have come off while I was driving (almost, one lug nut was left and on it’s last thread) and I had a blowout while driving, luckily my family wasn’t in the car. I have been in a couple of accidents but I have been lucky enough to walk away even though my air bag seems to have failed to go off in 3 of them. I had a close head to head call around a bend with a dump truck, I’m going to thank my boxing training and quick reflexes. Don’t drink while driving you may spill your drink and don’t drive tired, particularly on shitty tires. Drive slow on snowy roads, or you’ll miss everyone spinning out when they think that their car is the car that can drive on snow like on a regular day and be a considerate and attentive driver meaning, don’t be that guy, you know, the guy that sees a person that wants to come into your lane before they get stuck on the exit lane and you purposely stay right next to him so you can frustrate the person and then watch him give you the finger. Don’t tailgateticket because road rage is real and some people are nuts. If you are late to your appointment, don’t try to make up time by playing frogger or pole position with your car, you don’t have three lives. Don’t take a zero tolerance on us idiots that drive badly, show some charity and let us go ahead of you because you will almost be sure to pass us up a mile down the road arguing with a cop about everyone else speeding and why are you giving me a ticket. And most of all, be happy, because you don’t make any money not being happy and it feels so much better to be happy.

Some other good hints are yellow means proceed with caution, not free hamburgers if you make it across and Stop, while self explanatory, people tend to see it only as a recommendation. Here’s a story I like to share, I was driving with my girlfriend and I ran a red light, she said you just ran a red light, I said don’t worry, my brother does it all the time, I ran another red light and she said you just ran another red light, I said again, don’t worry my brother does it all the time, I stopped at a green light and she said, what are you doing, it’s green, I said, I’m just making sure my brother isn’t coming the other way. Hopefully I made you laugh and added an hour to your life.

 

The Zero-Tolerance Debate

zero tolerance

The latest rage is a zero tolerance policy that has both sides of the country pitted against each other, oddly enough, not completely both sides of the political aisle. I don’t know what to make of it. It’s both bad and good. Where do I start, the Dems feel that the policy is abusive and meant to single out immigrants that are trying to escape war torn countries and countries that are run by cartels more than their government. The Repubs, not a name for a bar or a place to get a black and tan but short for Republicans, feel that the rule of law should take hold and that zero tolerance would prevent abuses, here. What can I say, they’re both right. There is a list of cases that have entered court about people being coerced due to their immigration status. The people that hold these items over your head for the purpose of sex and money are predators and they have no heart. The Dems have largely ignored these abuses. On the other hand , to turn people away from our borders so they will meet their or their families certain demise and say it’s not our problem even though we like to use them for cheap labor, well, that’s just as bad. We can’t identify ourselves as Christians, Buddhists, Jews or Islamists and say at the same time, we aren’t going to help you. Those are two completely opposing ideologies. I don’t remember any verse that said go forth and block your fellow man from entering and send them back into the pits of hell for we don’t help anyone except ourselves. Are we or are we not a global community? Isn’t it up to the most powerful nation in the world to try and find a solution? To come together with our neighboring nations and work out a feasible plan?  How can we attack Assad or ISIL and claim human right abuses and not find a way to eliminate the drug cartels that are much closer to our borders. Aren’t they a more imminent threat to our national security then Assad? How does the old saying go, “It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the bunch”, well, these cartels are in the same bushel as us, how are you going to ignore that rotten apple?

I’m glad I’m a blog, barely anyone reads me, so sad, but I can put my thoughts on this page because I’m sure the cartels won’t read me and if they did, I’m a blogger with 7 followers, I’m not changing policy. They’re a scary bunch and I’m not Superman. So, who is right and who is wrong? To me, like I have said many times before, zero-tolerance and sanctuary cities are extreme measures on opposite side of the lineal spectrum. We have to find a way to meet in the middle.

Canelo v GGG

Canelo v GGG

The fight and the war of words is on. Both fighters are ready to get in the ring but they are going to have to wait until Sept. 15th to settle matters. I listened to their interview via facebook on July 3rd and they both look in fighting shape. I then watched their first fight without sound. I know that GGG might be the favorite because of all the hype of how everyone thought he won the first fight, and I was one of them, but now I’m not so sure. I saw Canelo, who everyone said ran, fight a superb fight. Canelo was quicker, more mobile, more elusive, landed the cleaner shots and avoided the big punchers heaviest shots. All in all, Canelo was the better boxer and maybe the better man for the first half of the fight. GGG, well, he’s a wrecking ball, and when you are used to be a wrecking ball the other nuances of boxing, that Canelo did so well, are absent or not worked on as much. They say styles make fights and this might be to the detriment of GGG. Canelo is the overall better boxer, the only equalizer is GGG’s power and reach over Canelo. Canelo shouldn’t change a thing except maybe work on his stamina, which is why GGG brought the numbers to even towards the end. Forget the hype, this about winning the titles and like any other sport, you have to play to your strengths. If Canelo does a little better version of his last fight and leaves GGG frustrated, he will walk out with those belts. I believe that GGG’s team is aware of this and that’s why they are using the “you ran” psychology on Canelo. They are questioning his heart and machismo and it might work if his trainer doesn’t see through this tactic. Canelo is the better boxer and he proved that. Now, let’s see if he lets his manhood gets the better of him because that’s the only chance GGG has unless he gets back to his roots of using a strong jab as his main weapon. Since GGG does have the reach, the only real way to nullify Canelo’s superior boxing skills is to keep that stick in his face and body. GGG is a savvy boxer, he’ll know when to unleash that right hand. If GGG uses that jab, like in the Lemieux fight, and works that body in the early rounds with viciousness, he might be able to offset Canelo’s movement. In the end, it’s still really a 50/50 fight. I wish I had the money to watch it but I’m going to have to watch the replay.

My prediction for this fight, unless there is an outside magical influence, you know who you are, I think I’m going to change it, someone will win or it might be a draw again but two people are going to be punching the hell out of each other.

Healthcare Reform

Please check out this story. Click on the link and read what people will suffer not to go to the hospital. If this isn’t a testimonial that we need to separate healthcare from profit than I don’t know what is. I have written before that healthcare should be a socialist program tied to a capitalist endeavor. That is the fix, if someone felt like caring enough about the issue, of course that someone would have to be filthy rich and not mind taking up the endeavor. The idea is simple, start a gym, charge $300 per member and offer them free healthcare with the membership. Figure out the particulars along the way. You would have to buy out existing gyms and claim their membership but the decrease in health insurance in members would most likely offset any departures from the increase in dues. It seems simple.

Roe v. Wade

Roe v WadeLike my last couple of posts, this is not a boxing match, at least not a traditional one. This is about if we, as a nation, have the right to dictate what a woman can or cannot do with her own body. Roe v. Wade is a 1973 Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of abortion. The left, Democrats, say it is a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body while the right, Republicans, say that aborting a fetus is murder. The dilemma is no easy one. Both point of views are captivating and have some merit. Personally, for me, what a woman does with her body is no one’s business but her own. If she chooses to have surgery done than it’s her decision and she has to live with the consequences of that decision. I could never ask a woman to abort a fetus, especially after becoming a father, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. The funny thing to me is, if you have an abortion, you are most likely a liberal or a moderate because conservatives are against abortions. So why do conservatives care so much? Why does it bother them so much that a liberal is aborting a fetus that will most likely vote against their policies? It’s a really odd situation. Politics is so polarizing that people literally hate each other over it, shoot each over it, set themselves on fire over it, why is it that they feel that this particular issue is something that they must triumph over. I think it’s a cause that they lost in court and maybe they are sore losers because honestly, they hold rallies on how much they dislike the left, they insult them from the moment they are born to the day they die. Politicians want to jail other politicians from the opposite side of the aisle for any inconvenience and you are telling me that they really care that their political opponents choose to have an abortion? The logic is not there for me, I would think they would be ecstatic. The hate, as you can see in every news outlet, in every talk show, in every newspaper, is real. These people honestly hate each other. There are no kind words, no good jobs, no well done, there is only she wore a a jacket that said something or this person has a low IQ or attack your political opponent when they go eat. This is ridiculous. Who would want to raise a child in this environment? Politics has become so nasty that the new policy for both sides is do the opposite of what the other side is doing. I mean, come on, are you telling me that there isn’t a policy that both sides agree on? It seems that all votes these days are along party lines and that’s disconcerting. Can we agree on anything? We should at least agree that choice is the most important thing, it’s what separates from all the other animals, not that all our choices are good ones. When you start removing people’s right to choose, that’s from abortion to guns to where I can hang my hat, then you might as well let Kim Jong Un run our country.

For those that aren’t familiar with the case of Roe v Wade, like me when I started to write this article, it’s a very interesting read. Roe, who’s real name was Norma McCorvey, was trying to have an abortion of her third child. She was 21, single and had prior legal problems. Wade refers to Dallas County District Attorney, Henry Wade. In Texas, at that time, abortions of any kind were illegal except in cases of medical emergencies and possibly rape or incest. The case was heard by Federal District Court which found that the restricting abortions was illegal. The case was then appealed and it made it’s way to the Supreme Court. In deciding the case, the Supreme Court stated that the rights to abortion had to be weighed with the State’s right to protect its citizens. This gave way to the ruling stating that an abortion of a non viable fetus, a fetus that could not live outside the womb on its own, was the decision of the woman and trying to regulate or make a law otherwise violated some very good laws, including privacy laws. This ruling seems to be just in its face meaning that it doesn’t go to far and it doesn’t take away from individual rights. There are a lot of people that say this ruling was wrong because it has nothing to do with constitutional rights but I disagree. If you can tell woman that she can’t have an abortion, and you agree with that statement, then you should be able to tell a woman that she can’t get pregnant. They should then make it where you have to apply for a license just to get pregnant and have the government decide if you will be a fit parent. I feel that this case is not only constitutional but it is an exemplary illustration of a really good decision. To say that States can regulate your choices but the United States can’t regulate the States is absurd. In other words, if a State can make a law, then the United States can determine if that law is constitutional. There are no independent State laws and no state is immune from the United States. While conservatives attack Roe v Wade under the pretense that it allows abortions of late term pregnancies, that case is actually Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). So when you see people yelling at women going into an abortion clinic and yelling that their baby is old enough to survive outside the womb, then you are actually complaining about Planned Parenthood.

Just to note, in PP v Casey, 6 of the Justices were Republican nominees and one of the Democratic nominees had previously voted against Roe originally. In hearing this case, they had a chance to overturn Roe but didn’t because ultimately, when you are a spectator, you have the luxury of saying their wrong but when you are the one making the decision, you have to think about the decision and you can see what voting against Roe would lead to. This is why I think, can’t be absolutely certain, that it doesn’t really matter what Justice gets the nomination, at least in terms of overturning Roe.

An additional note, if you are a politician that asked a girlfriend to have an abortion so your wife wouldn’t find out or have had a wife have an abortion and no qualms with doing it then, voting against Roe makes you a hypocrite that only desires power and you shouldn’t be in office because you are only there for yourself, not the people. I’m talking to you former Idaho congressman.