Monday, December 31, 2012

Quite A Year For Muck (talking-points-memo)

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Preventing Tips For Muscle Cramps ? How To Prevent Muscle Cramps

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Muscular pains and knots are one of the most common issues that people face in their lifetime. Though, muscular strain is nothing as serious as compared to the health illnesses and diseases, but then still it is a major concern that causes pain, discomfort, soreness, inflammation and even cramps in many situations. According to researches, muscle cramps are one of the most prevalent problems that occur in the body irrespective of age and gender.

How To Prevent Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps are a result of a variety of causes and that can happen to anyone. Medicines and drugs are available for temporary relief from muscle cramps but then definitely it is not something that will treat the problem from the roots. Firstly, you need to confirm that what you are facing can be medically categorized as muscle cramps and then you can move ahead to the treatment.

In simple terms, muscle cramps can be defined as a discomforting situation where to face pains, muscle contractions and over shortening from time to time. Once you are sure of the problem in your body, the best is to look out for safe, affordable and permanent solutions to get rid of cramps.

Nothing goes better than some natural home remedies that will make you fulfill all your aims along with keeping your priorities in mind. But what if you could get hands on some preventive measures which will stop the occurrence of cramps in the first place? Prevention is better than cure is something that holds a lot of significance and truth.

Therefore, here we are to discuss about the preventive measures and tips that can help you keep muscle cramps at bay. Check them out and follow regularly if you are really prone to this muscular crisis.

Preventive Measures and Ways for Muscle Cramps

Regular Exercising

Proper muscle movements will ensure that you stay away from any kinds of stiffness or knots in the muscles that can be a direct reason for muscle cramps. Also, it has been seen that less of muscle movements reduces the blood circulation in the area and cause strain.

Ways for Muscle Cramps

The best you can do to keep the muscles fit and fine, strong and free from cramps is to adhere to regular exercises. You can choose any of the exercises for the purpose according to your priorities and likes.

Brisk walking, jogging and running are some of the common exercising techniques that help in keeping the muscles in good working condition. You can also stick to some sport activities like swimming that will ensure proper movements in the body muscle.?Yet again, there are relaxed way of exercising as well which includes yoga as one of the top notch options.

Yoga has innumerable benefits attached including prevention from muscle cramps in a successful and easy manner.?You can also sign up for gym workouts and activities where a personal trainer can guide you with the most preferred and effectual exercises for preventing cramp in the muscles.

Hot/ Cold Compress

You can keep a regular track of the cramps and the area it affects on your body. Once you know the body parts that are prone to muscle cramps you can adhere to hot compress or cold compress in the area once in a while.

 muscle cramps prevention

This helps in improving the blood circulation and also keeps the muscles fit. This should be done once everyday for prevention of cramps and for at least 20 minutes. Choose from a cold compress or a hot one depending upon your comfort and suitability.?Alternate compress of these two can also be of great help in preventing muscle cramps.

A Good Massage

Massaging the body is one of the perfect ways to keep the muscles stress free as well as avoid muscle cramps completely. All you need is a good essential oil or any other beneficial oil as a lubricant and a hired professional as a massager.

Massaging the muscles will lose and ease them out and give you immediate freedom from any form of cramps as well as avoid it in the future if you do it regularly. It is also one of the safest methods to follow where treatment as well as prevention of the problem is concerned.

Also Read

How to Prevent Muscle Cramps
Home Remedies for Leg Cramps
How To Treat Muscle Cramps
The Problem Of Muscle Cramp
Muscle Cramps Causes and Cure

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Cramps can be a major result of dehydration of the body that leads to low levels of blood circulation and oxygen transfer. As a preventive form of method, make sure you drink at least 10-12 glasses of water each day to keep the body hydrated, flush out the toxins and improve blood circulation to avoid cramps in the muscles.

Prevent Muscle Cramps

Along with this you can also include healthy fluids like fresh fruit juices, vegetable juices, coconut water, buttermilk and more. These will only trigger the process of hydration giving you faster results. Green and herbal tea can also work well in this regard. Dehydration also causes other problems like muscle twitching and contractions.

Proper fluid levels will make the movements smoother thus avoiding such problems completely. Drinks with high levels of electrolytes should be considered on a daily basis which will keep the sodium levels in control and balance. This is yet another fluid that will help you prevent the cramps successfully.

Increase Carbohydrate Intake

Carbohydrate deficiency is another major reason for muscle cramps. Improving the carbohydrate intake in the body will automatically help you prevent the problem to a far off level. There are a lot of foods that will provide you with good amounts of carbohydrates. Increase your knowledge about the same and adhere to them in your daily meals for visible results.

Stretching

One of the easy ways to avoid muscle stiffness and cramps is to stick to regular habits of stretching. Stretching movements is a great way to ease out the strain on the muscles as well. Make sure you follow the method at least for about 15 minutes for visible outcomes.

ways To Prevent Muscle Cramps

Source:?http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/groinstretch.htm

This will also relieve you from pain if you are going through any.?These are some of the top most preventive steps that you can take when you see yourself caught in the issues of muscle cramps.

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How To Prevent Muscle Cramps, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Source: http://www.ayushveda.com/mens-magazine/how-to-prevent-muscle-cramps/

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Simple Abundance Exercises Can Change Your Mindset | Self ...

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Source: http://www.medicalguide.pro/4036/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change-your-mindset-9.html

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Mystery BlackBerry 10 device hits the FCC with AT&T-capable LTE

Mystery BlackBerry 10 device hits the FCC with AT&Tcapable LTE

RIM's January unveiling isn't going anywhere without federal approval, and it seems the FCC is happy to oblige. Regulators put an unnamed BlackBerry device with a RFF91LW model number through the standard tests, giving it the green light for AT&T's LTE and GSM bands, as well as a few international frequencies. The handset's label sample is conveniently censored, of course, but FCC reports indicate that at least three of the devices RIM provided were running OS 10.0.9. Could we be seeing the "L-series" BlackBerry Z10? Or is this simply one of the Dev Alpha devices RIM has been handing out to developers? Either way, we'll get verification next month.

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Source: FCC

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mmcdqBQOg4U/

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Consider Video Marketing For Promoting Your Business ...

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Highest Debt to Equity Ratio in the Homebuilding Industry Detected in Shares of Beazer Homes (BZH, KBH, RYL, SPF, PHM)

Written on Sat, 12/29/2012 - 10:25am

By Nick Russo

Below are the three companies in the Homebuilding industry with the highest debt to equity ratios. The Debt/Equity ratio measures a company's leverage and a high level often implies that a company has financed much of its growth with debt.

Beazer Homes ranks highest with a a debt to equity ratio of 5.7. Following is KB Home with a a debt to equity ratio of 4.6. Ryland Group ranks third highest with a a debt to equity ratio of 2.5.

Standard Pacific follows with a a debt to equity ratio of 2.2, and Pulte Homes rounds out the top five with a a debt to equity ratio of 1.4.

SmarTrend is tracking the current trend status for Pulte Homes and will alert subscribers who have PHM in their portfolio or watchlist when shares have changed trend direction.

Keywords: highest debt to equity ratio Beazer Homes KB Home ryland group standard pacific Pulte Homes

Ticker(s): BZH KBH RYL SPF PHM


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ComtexSmartrendNewsBriefs/~3/S35un54etyY/highest-debt-equity-ratio-homebuilding-industry-detected-shares-beazer-homes-

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

An image gallery gift from NASA's Swift

Dec. 28, 2012 ? Of the three telescopes carried by NASA's Swift satellite, only one captures cosmic light at energies similar to those seen by the human eye. Although small by the standards of ground-based observatories, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) plays a critical role in rapidly pinpointing the locations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the brightest explosions in the cosmos.

But as the proxy to the human eye aboard Swift, the UVOT takes some amazing pictures. The Swift team is celebrating eight years of UVOT operations by collecting more than 100 of the instrument's best snapshots in a web-based photo gallery (http://www.swift.psu.edu/uvot/coolPics.php). The images also can be viewed with the free Swift Explorer Mission iPhone app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swift-explorer/id465669299?mt=8) developed by the Swift Mission Operations Center (MOC), which is located in State College, Pa., and operated by Penn State.

Swift has detected an average of about 90 GRBs a year since its launch in 2004. "When we aren't studying GRBs, we use the satellite's unique capabilities to engage in other scientific investigations, some of which produce beautiful images from the UVOT that we're delighted to be able to share with the public," said Michael Siegel, the lead scientist on the UVOT and a research associate in astronomy and astrophysics at the MOC.

The targets range from comets and star clusters to supernova remnants, nearby galaxies and active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.

"One of our more challenging projects in the past was completing an ultraviolet mosaic of M31, the famous Andromeda galaxy," said Stefan Immler, a member of the Swift team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Because the galaxy is so much larger than the UVOT field of view, we had to take dozens of pictures and blend them together to show the whole object."

An ongoing mosaic project targets the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two small satellite galaxies orbiting our own, and makes the Andromeda effort look like child's play. Although the galaxies are much smaller than M31, they are both much closer to us and extend over much larger areas of the sky. The task involves acquiring and aligning hundreds of images and is far from complete.

With the UVOT's wavelength range of 1,700 to 6,000 angstroms, Swift remains one of few missions that study ultraviolet light, much of which is blocked by Earth's atmosphere.

The 6.5-foot-long (2 meter) UVOT is centered on an 11.8-inch (30 cm) primary mirror. Designed and built by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, England, the telescope module includes the primary and secondary mirrors, an external baffle to reduce scattered light, two redundant detectors -- only one has been used to date -- and a power supply.

Each detector lies behind an identical filter wheel. The wheel holds color filters that transmit a broad range of wavelengths as well as devices called grisms, which spread out incoming light in much the same way as a prism spreads sunlight into a rainbow of component colors. The detectors retain information on the position and arrival time of each photon of light, an operating mode similar to typical X-ray telescopes.

Because most ultraviolet light never reaches the ground, Swift's UVOT provides a unique perspective on the cosmos. For example, it can measure the amount of water produced in passing comets by detecting the ultraviolet emission of hydroxyl (OH), one of the molecular fragments created when ultraviolet sunlight breaks up water molecules. Other types of UVOT science include exploring emissions from the centers of active galaxies, studying regions undergoing star formation, and identifying some of the rarest and most exotic stars known.

Toward the end of its energy-producing life, a star like the sun will blow away its outer layers as its core transforms into a compact, Earth-sized remnant known as a white dwarf. This chapter of stellar evolution, known to astronomers as the post-asymptotic giant branch phase, lasts only about 100,000 years -- just an eye-blink in comparison to the star's total lifetime. To better understand the process, astronomers need to study large numbers of these unusual stars.

"The UVOT's capabilities give us a great tool for surveying stellar populations and cataloging rare types of ultraviolet-bright stars," Siegel explained.

One of the first targets for the stellar survey was the giant cluster Omega Centauri, which hosts millions of stars and may be the remains of a small galaxy. Thanks to Swift's UVOT, astronomers at Goddard and Penn State have cataloged hundreds of rare stellar types in the cluster and are now comparing their properties and numbers to predictions from theoretical models describing how stars evolve.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121228203202.htm

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French court rejects 75 percent millionaires' tax

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Constitutional Council on Saturday rejected a 75 percent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to Socialist President Francois Hollande's push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit.

The Council ruled that the planned 75 percent tax on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) - a flagship measure of Hollande's election campaign - was unfair in the way it would be applied to different households.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would redraft the upper tax rate proposal to answer the Council's concerns and resubmit it in a new budget law, meaning Saturday's decision could only amount to a temporary political blow.

While the tax plan was largely symbolic and would only have affected a few thousand people, it has infuriated high earners in France, prompting some such as actor Gerard Depardieu to flee abroad. The message it sent also shocked entrepreneurs and foreign investors, who accuse Hollande of being anti-business.

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the rejection of the 75 percent tax and other minor measures could cut up to 500 million euros in forecast tax revenues but would not hurt efforts to slash the public deficit to below a European Union ceiling of 3 percent of economic output next year.

"The rejected measures represent 300 to 500 million euros. Our deficit-cutting path will not be affected," Moscovici told BFM television. He too said the government would resubmit a proposal to raise taxes on high incomes in 2013 and 2014.

The Council, made up of nine judges and three former presidents, is concerned the tax would hit a married couple where one partner earned above a million euros but it would not affect a couple where each earned just under a million euros.

UMP member Gilles Carrez, chairman of the National Assembly's finance commission, told BFM television, however, that the Council's so-called wise men also felt the 75 percent tax was excessive and too much based on ideology.

FRANCE UNDER SCRUTINY

Hollande shocked many by announcing his 75 percent tax proposal out of the blue several weeks into a campaign that some felt was flagging. Left-wing voters were cheered by it but business leaders warned that talent would flee the country.

Set to be a temporary measure until France is out of economic crisis, the few hundred million euros a year the tax was set to raise is a not insignificant sum as the government strives to boost public finances in the face of stalled growth.

Hollande's 2013 budget calls for the biggest belt-tightening effort France has seen in decades and is based on a growth target of 0.8 percent, a level analysts view as over-optimistic.

Fitch Ratings this month affirmed its triple-A rating on France but said there was no room for slippage. Standard & Poor's and Moody's have both stripped Europe's No. 2 economy of its AAA badge due to concern over strained public finances and stalled growth.

The International Monetary Fund recently forecast that France will miss its 3 percent deficit target next year and signs are growing that Paris could negotiate some leeway on the timing of that goal with its EU partners.

The INSEE national statistics institute this week scaled back its reading of a return to growth in the third quarter to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent, and the government said it could review its 2013 outlook in the next few months.

Saturday's decision was in response to a motion by the opposition conservative UMP party, whose weight in fighting Hollande's policies has been reduced by a leadership crisis that has split it in two seven months after it lost power.

The Constitutional Council is a politically independent body that rules on whether laws, elections and referenda are constitutional.

($1 = 0.7564 euros)

(Reporting by Emile Picy; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-french-court-rejects-75-percent-upper-tax-115449992--business.html

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Gaining Traction In The Auto Insurance Market | Superior Used Cars

Car accidents happen. Some are big, some are minor. You can try to avoid them by driving safely but that does not guarantee that the drivers around you will do the same. This is why purchasing auto insurance is vital to protecting you and your finances. Below are tips to help you purchase auto insurance.

There are a number of steps you can take to reduce your automobile insurance premiums. One way is by maintaining a good credit score. Many insurance companies now use this statistic as part of their criteria in determining a client?s premiums. Joining an automobile club is also a good idea if you have a classic car. Most of these clubs offer members quality insurance policies at reduced rates.

If you want to get low monthly payments on your auto insurance, one of the things that you can do is to choose to have minimum liability on your car. This is the minimum insurance that is required by law. The downside to this is that if you get into an accident the damages will not be paid for by your insurance.

If you want to avoid paying a high premium, don?t drive a flashy car. Sports cars and other high performance vehicles, often have premiums that are two or three times larger than that of a standard car. You should also research commonly stolen vehicles and be sure to avoid them. Most insurance companies will charge significantly more to insure these types of cars.

When deciding to buy car insurance, you should see what the policy says it will use as parts to repair your car in the event of an accident. You?ll know if you?re getting new parts from the factory or not. The kind of part used in repairs can affect the value of car if you decide to sell it later.

If available in your state, request a copy of your driving history before shopping for car insurance. Information can be inaccurate on it which may be causing your quotes to be higher. Make sure you know what is on your report and if you find discrepancies have them corrected as soon as possible.

Know just how much your car is worth when you are applying for car insurance policies. You want to make sure you have the right kind of coverage for your vehicle. For example, if you have a new car and you did not make a 20% down payment, you want to get GAP car insurance. This will ensure that you won?t owe the bank any money, if you have an accident in the first few years of owning the vehicle.

Hopefully, the tips in this article will help you realize that there are ways for you to cut car insurance rates. These simple tips can help you reach a new, lower rate with your insurance company without compromising coverage. All you have to do is put them in action and take the first step by calling your agent to ask about lower rates.

Don?t allow an issue with your automobile spoil your holiday. Before you head out, visit AAA Carolinas shop to address any outstanding issues.


Source: http://www.superiorusedcars.biz/?p=1588

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Video: Hillary Clinton returns after concussion

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50310397/

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56 percent of female university students get drunk in record time

56 percent of female university students get drunk in record time [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
info@agenciasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

Female university students get drunk on purpose quicker than their male counterparts, and live a more sedentary life than they do, according to a study by the University of Vigo. Results show that 56.1% of female students are considered binge drinkers, as opposed to 41.3% of males.

Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the University of Vigo have studied university students' lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, sport and food, concludes that most students indulge in unhealthy behaviour. One of the main results of the study is the high consumption of alcohol.

"The amount drunk per unit of time is higher among women. In other words, even though male students drink more often, females do so more intensively in shorter periods of time, which is known as binge drinking", explained to SINC Jos M Cancela Carral, co-author of the study published by the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Researchers randomly selected 985 students from different degree courses and in different years at the University of Vigo.

Of the females interviewed, 51.2% lead a sedentary lifestyle, while the percentage in males is 41.7%. When analysing students who maintain an appropriate level of physical activity, 38.6% of males do physical exercise, as opposed to only 20.9% of women.

"We were also surprised by the high consumption of illegal drugs among university students 44.9% of men and 30.9% of women which we understand could lead to significant future health problems, mainly related to the nervous system", underlined the researcher.

Anomalous attitudes to food were more evident among women (16.6%), although also present among men (8.8%). "However, the statistical analysis showed that this parameter depended on the degree the student was studying for", added Cancela. Such attitudes were much more common among those studying degrees related to education (19.2%) than among those studying courses related to health (6.3%).

Health network

Spanish universities set up a Healthy University Network in 2008, a project for healthy living for universities from all over Spain, the Spanish University Rectors' Association, the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and some regional public health entities.

In the researcher's opinion, at many universities this network was nothing more than "a simple first step to get on the list and nothing else"; hence transversal content should be implemented in study plans related to food, physical exercise and healthy habits.

"In the light of the results, training and information courses are required in these areas, together with healthy leisure not just sports facilities to set up university guidance services for a healthy student lifestyle", concludes Cancela.

Genetic predisposition

A recent study published in the PNAS journal argues that the gene called RASGRF2 could be related to a predisposition to getting drunk.

According to scientists, this gene regulates the predisposition to drink excessive amounts of alcohol as it influences mesolimbic dopamine neuron activity, which is one of the ways dopamine is taken from one region of the brain to another.

Gunter Schumann, one of the main authors of the study, explained that even though we should not consider said gene to be the main cause as there are many environmental factors and other genes involved the study thereof helps to explain why some people are more vulnerable to alcohol than others.

###

References:

Vernica Varela-Mato, Jos M. Cancela, Carlos Ayan, Vicente Martn y Antonio Molina. "Lifestyle and Health among Spanish University Students: Differences by Gender and Academic Discipline", International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9: 2728-2741, 2012. doi:10.3390/ijerph9082728.

David Staceya et al. "RASGRF2 regulates alcohol-induced reinforcement by influencing mesolimbic dopamine neuron activity and dopamine release", PNAS 109 (51), 5 de diciembre. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211844110.

Contact:

Jos M Cancela Carral
Universidad de Vigo
Director del grupo de investigacin HealthyFit
Tel.: 34-986-801-700/1799
E-mail: chemacc@uvigo.es
Web: www.healthyfit.es


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


56 percent of female university students get drunk in record time [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
info@agenciasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

Female university students get drunk on purpose quicker than their male counterparts, and live a more sedentary life than they do, according to a study by the University of Vigo. Results show that 56.1% of female students are considered binge drinkers, as opposed to 41.3% of males.

Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the University of Vigo have studied university students' lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, sport and food, concludes that most students indulge in unhealthy behaviour. One of the main results of the study is the high consumption of alcohol.

"The amount drunk per unit of time is higher among women. In other words, even though male students drink more often, females do so more intensively in shorter periods of time, which is known as binge drinking", explained to SINC Jos M Cancela Carral, co-author of the study published by the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Researchers randomly selected 985 students from different degree courses and in different years at the University of Vigo.

Of the females interviewed, 51.2% lead a sedentary lifestyle, while the percentage in males is 41.7%. When analysing students who maintain an appropriate level of physical activity, 38.6% of males do physical exercise, as opposed to only 20.9% of women.

"We were also surprised by the high consumption of illegal drugs among university students 44.9% of men and 30.9% of women which we understand could lead to significant future health problems, mainly related to the nervous system", underlined the researcher.

Anomalous attitudes to food were more evident among women (16.6%), although also present among men (8.8%). "However, the statistical analysis showed that this parameter depended on the degree the student was studying for", added Cancela. Such attitudes were much more common among those studying degrees related to education (19.2%) than among those studying courses related to health (6.3%).

Health network

Spanish universities set up a Healthy University Network in 2008, a project for healthy living for universities from all over Spain, the Spanish University Rectors' Association, the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and some regional public health entities.

In the researcher's opinion, at many universities this network was nothing more than "a simple first step to get on the list and nothing else"; hence transversal content should be implemented in study plans related to food, physical exercise and healthy habits.

"In the light of the results, training and information courses are required in these areas, together with healthy leisure not just sports facilities to set up university guidance services for a healthy student lifestyle", concludes Cancela.

Genetic predisposition

A recent study published in the PNAS journal argues that the gene called RASGRF2 could be related to a predisposition to getting drunk.

According to scientists, this gene regulates the predisposition to drink excessive amounts of alcohol as it influences mesolimbic dopamine neuron activity, which is one of the ways dopamine is taken from one region of the brain to another.

Gunter Schumann, one of the main authors of the study, explained that even though we should not consider said gene to be the main cause as there are many environmental factors and other genes involved the study thereof helps to explain why some people are more vulnerable to alcohol than others.

###

References:

Vernica Varela-Mato, Jos M. Cancela, Carlos Ayan, Vicente Martn y Antonio Molina. "Lifestyle and Health among Spanish University Students: Differences by Gender and Academic Discipline", International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9: 2728-2741, 2012. doi:10.3390/ijerph9082728.

David Staceya et al. "RASGRF2 regulates alcohol-induced reinforcement by influencing mesolimbic dopamine neuron activity and dopamine release", PNAS 109 (51), 5 de diciembre. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211844110.

Contact:

Jos M Cancela Carral
Universidad de Vigo
Director del grupo de investigacin HealthyFit
Tel.: 34-986-801-700/1799
E-mail: chemacc@uvigo.es
Web: www.healthyfit.es


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/f-sf-5of122812.php

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Los Angeles collects most guns ever, in post-Newtown buyback event

Police collected more than 2,000 firearms Wednesday in Los Angeles, during a gun buyback event held less than two weeks after the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn. Do such city initiatives help reduce gun violence?

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / December 27, 2012

A police officer tosses a modified gun into a trash bin at a gun buyback held by the Los Angeles Police Department on December 26, following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

David McNew/Reuters

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The city of Los Angeles, one of several municipalities to hold a gun buyback event since the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newton, Conn., collected more than 2,000 firearms ? a record, police officials reported Thursday.

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Los Angeles had moved up the date of its no-questions-asked gun turn-in with the hope that the Newtown tragedy would prompt residents to surrender some firearms, thereby reducing the number of guns in circulation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city would gave $100 to $200 gift cards in exchange for each gun recovered.

At a press conference Thursday, police officials said they collected 2,037 firearms, surpassing the 1,673 guns collected last year.

Los Angeles is the largest city to host a gun buyback day since the Newtown shootings, which killed 20 schoolchildren, six school faculty and staff, and the gunman's mother. Smaller cities have made similar calls for guns, including Evanston, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, which collected 45 firearms, mostly handguns, in exchange for cash. Last Saturday outside Miami in Opa-Locka, Fla., 100 firearms were collected, almost double the total collected in a similar buyback event in June.

A buyback event is planned Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn. ? about 30 miles from Newtown ? and city officials say repeat dates are scheduled every Saturday in January.?

Forty-one members of the US House of Representatives, all Democrats, are calling for a federal gun buyback program. The letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R) and majority leader Nancy Pelosi (D), co-written by US Reps. Gerald Connolly of Virginia and Ted Deutch of Florida, asks for $200 million to fund a program that ?could remove as many as 1 million guns from our streets.?

?The murder of 20 youngsters and five educators in their classrooms has galvanized the public?s desire for immediate action, and partnering with the States on a nationwide gun buyback program is a modest, common sense start,? they wrote.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/9ZdZEG03qew/Los-Angeles-collects-most-guns-ever-in-post-Newtown-buyback-event

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Sue Runsvold: What You Do Matters

There was a time when I believed that it was the movers and shakers that could make a difference. It was the people who could do something grand, big, important -- those were the people who could make a difference that mattered and was notable. And that wasn't me!

And then one day, a light went on. I woke up in a heat controlled house, with a closet full of clothes, food in the fridge, a car to take me to my sweet job and money in my pocket. And I realized, I can make a difference! I may not be able to do something grand, big, important by the worlds standards but I can react, behave and, most importantly, share, in a way that creates a positive outcome for someone else -- someone besides me, myself and I!

While I and my many friends have been building TurningWheels For Kids, I have learned something so valuable. The low-income, disadvantaged children we serve live within families that are challenged -- financially and emotionally! There are stories, some heartbreaking! And a simple gift, a rite-of-passage, number one requested and dreamed about gift, a bike, was out of reach for these kids! Or is it?

One little boy, when given the opportunity, when asked to dream big, his eyes briefly glistened, a smile started and then, just as quickly that light faded, he shut down and he didn't dare utter what he really wanted, a bike! It was entirely too risky! That moment broke my heart! He didn't even dare to dream!

And then I started thinking -- we all have a priceless opportunity! We spend money without even thinking -- $5 for a latte, $2 for our favorite candy bar, $3 for a frozen yogurt or ice cream cone, out to lunch with our friends, $15. And then I did the math! For $9 a month for one short year, money I will not miss, I can provide a bike and a helmet through TurningWheels For Kids for a local kid! That's $.30 a day. Thirty CENTS! Can you do it? Can you step up and make a dream come true for a kid that is afraid to even dream? Just say yes! Because...

What You Do Matters!

As the holidays draw close, there are children fretting over what they are going to say when someone asks the inevitable question, "What did you get for Christmas"? What if the honest answer is nothing? Right now, today, what you choose, yes, choose to do matters a lot to a child near you. Today you have an opportunity to become a mover and shaker, maybe not by the worlds standards but certainly in the eyes of a local little girl or little boy. Are you up for the challenge? Opt in, right now, to become the person who makes a dream come true for a child that is afraid to even dream! Those kids are out there and I think those kids are worth it. Do you? Light up a child's world right now, this holiday season! Your kindness is not insignificant!

This post is part of a series co-produced by The Huffington Post and Points of Light to honor Loreal Paris' Women of Worth initiative. Women of Worth honors incredible women who are making a beautiful difference through their dedication to philanthropy and their passion for improving the world. The 10 women being honored this year were selected from thousands of nominations. Each of the honorees received $10,000 for her charitable cause from L'Oreal Paris. To learn more about Women of Worth or to submit a nomination beginning April 2013, please visit womenofworth.com.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sue-runsvold/what-you-do-matters_b_2372295.html

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Obama, Congress set for late push on "fiscal cliff"

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is due back in Washington early Thursday for a final effort to negotiate a deal with Congress to avert or at least postpone the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and government spending cuts set to begin next week.

No specific bill dealing with the cliff was on the schedule of either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, which are expected to return on Thursday after the holiday break. In Congress, the corridors were almost empty and the doors to members' rooms were locked.

Investors are closely watching the talks, concerned that going over the cliff could throw the economy into recession. U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday after retailers reported disappointing holiday sales as shoppers tightened belts possibly due to fiscal cliff worries.

Aides and members of Congress have said that a modest, last-minute measure to avoid the spending cuts and most of the tax hikes could pass the Democratic-controlled Senate if Republicans agree not use a procedural roadblock known as a filibuster, a commitment that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has so far not made.

The legislative focus continues to shift from deficit reduction to averting the immediate shock of the December 31 cliff dive.

"This is the 'Break Glass' scenario that we have long believed would rise in probability the closer we go to December 31, which essentially calls for extending all the rates for those individuals making under $200K and households under $250K and does not address the debt ceiling or the deficit," analyst Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities wrote in a research note.

But to win approval in the Republican-controlled House of any bill that raises taxes on anyone, a rare bipartisan vote would be required. All 191 Democrats would have to team with up with at least 26 Republicans to get a majority if the bill included tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans, as Obama is demanding.

Some of those votes could conceivably come from among the 34 Republican members who are either retiring or were defeated in the November elections and no longer have to worry about the political fallout.

JANUARY SCRAMBLE?

In the alternative, Congress could let income taxes go up on everyone as now scheduled and then during the first week of January, scramble and get a quick deal to cut them back except for the highest brackets, along with a measure putting off the $109 billion in automatic spending cuts that most lawmakers want to avoid.

Once the clock ticks past midnight on December 31, no member of Congress would have to vote for a tax increase on anyone - taxes would have risen automatically - and the only votes would be to decrease tax rates for most Americans back to their 2012 levels.

Americans' optimism that Obama and congressional leaders will reach a budget agreement before January 1 has waned in recent days, according to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday. Fifty percent believe a deal will be reached - a drop of 7 percentage points from the previous week - and 48 percent are doubtful. The poll was taken just after talks ran into trouble last week.

Obama and congressional lawmakers left Washington on Friday for the Christmas holiday with negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff in limbo.

The president will cut short his vacation in Hawaii and leave for Washington later on Wednesday, arriving in the capital early on Thursday.

Obama is expected to turn to a trusted Democratic ally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to help craft a quick deal.

White House aides began discussing details of the year-end budget measure with Senate Democratic counterparts early this week.

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz is urging workers in the company's roughly 120 Washington-area coffee shops to write "come together" on customers' cups on Thursday and Friday to send a message to sharply divided politicians.

"We're paying attention, we're greatly disappointed in what's going on and we deserve better," Schultz told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-congress-set-one-last-effort-fiscal-cliff-124656798--business.html

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Samsung teases 'whole new Smart Hub' on Flickr feed, CES launch confirmed

Samsung teases 'whole new Smart Hub' on Flickr feed, CES launch confirmed

Samsung's HDTV-based Smart Hub is set to land a major refresh at CES, according to a trio of images and a product description that appeared on Flickr this evening. Like previous iterations, the software interface will provide access to real-time TV broadcasts, on-demand flicks, apps and photos, according to the site's image captions. The new version will feature a new background design, along with a "simplified" UI. While the on-screen interface appears to be new, the screen shot is presented atop last year's Series 8 model, including an identical stand and a built-in camera up top -- there's no hint at what hardware advances we may see in Vegas early next year. Samsung's CES press conference is on the books for the afternoon of Monday, January 7th, so we have less than two weeks to go before this new UI -- and a whole lot of HDTVs -- becomes official.

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Source: Samsung (Flickr)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/I0D8RxOjMHg/

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Twitter users flaunt guns brought by Santa: 'I'll shoot more than my eye out'

3 hrs.

Last year, much of the Web's post-Christmas ire was directed at Twitter users who, like ungrateful brats, complained that Santa brought the wrong color iPhone?or failed to deliver a car. This year, Internet denizens are upset that some people?are?bragging about their new guns???on Twitter and Instagram.

In the wake of?the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.,??gun control has once again?become a topic of national debate. Yet?the?controversy?isn't preventing those who are excited about the?firearms Santa brought from joyfully posting about them on social media.

No matter which side of the gun control debate you're on, these images ??first noticed by?the Verge's T.C. Sottek?and?the Atlantic Wire's Rebecca Greenfield?? could?make you uncomfortable.?There are plenty of men and women ? some who appear to be teenagers???who appear to be disregarding the NRA's three fundamental?rules of gun safety, particularly keeping fingers away from triggers, and pointing the guns only in safe directions. It's especially problematic?since these posts are often accompanied by the #NRA hashtag.

Not that the recipients seem to care.?"I got just what I wanted," one Twitter user wrote. "An Armalite semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. It's like the Christmas Story, but I'll shoot more than my eye out."

"Aw what a nice #assultRifle #santa left me haha (plus a box of 1200 bullets)," the caption on a young woman's Instagram photo said,?next to the image of a rifle resting on the hearth?next to a pile of wrapped Christmas gifts. (The girl later claimed, in a comment under her own post, that the gun was her dad's.)

Another Instagram user proudly posed in what appear to be fur-lined boots and a fur vest while holding her prized present. "Furs & Guns," she writes, "yes, it was a red-neck Christmas."

Searches for hashtags such as #AR15, #NRA, #Bushmaster, #gun and #SecondAmendment reveal plenty of photos of folks posing with their new firearms in front of Christmas trees and declaring how much they love their gifts.

One does have to wonder whether we'd pay as much attention to these images if it weren't for the recent national?focus on firearms and the anticipation of tighter gun control measures. It's also worth asking if this apparent?surge in gun pride isn't a side effect?of the Newtown?tragedy as well.?As a prior report points out, while "a spike in gun?sales is common after a mass shooting," and "the latest rampage has generated record sales in some states."

Between those sales statistics and social media's never-ending?craving for drama, perhaps it was inevitable that last year's whiny gift?recipients?surrendered the spotlight to this year's gift-wrapped rifles.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/twitter-users-flaunt-guns-brought-santa-ill-shoot-more-my-1C7659316

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Automotive Service Technician Education For A New Profession ...

If you are looking for a Profession in auto repair, you will soon discover that automotive service technician Instruction is provided in trade schools, vocational schools and community colleges across the nation. Automotive service technician Instruction is ideal for these who appreciate utilizing their minds to resolve issues, and do not mind obtaining their hands dirty.

These days?s automotive repair expert should be much more than just an auto mechanic; they have to be nicely-trained specialists with solid Education in automotive service and repair and a lot of hands-on encounter. With the correct background and certified auto service Coaching, you may soon have the title of specialist automotive service technician.

The moment you start your automotive service technician Education, you will discover considerably far more than the essentials of vehicle upkeep and auto repair. A thorough automotive service technician course have to touch upon communications and organization practices, which will be specially valuable need to you make a decision to go into company for oneself.

Your practical Coaching will cover the specialized makes use of for electronic diagnostic gear, laptop or computer-based technical reference supplies, diagnostic computers and compression gauges. You will find out how diagnose the supply of engine or electrical dilemma(s) in automobiles, trucks, buses, and motorcycles, and accurately make a decision the variety of repairs essential. The auto service technician course will teach you to execute upkeep and repairs with classic hand tools, including screwdrivers, pliers, and wrenches, as effectively as power tools, specialized computers and hydraulic gear.

To reach the level of certified automotive service technician can take up to a year of study and practical knowledge. Some automotive service technician schools offer you an advanced two-year associate degree system, which would be quite useful Once in search of employment immediately after graduation. The moment you are a certified automotive repair technician, you will be topic to standard critique and recertification. You must be able to depend on your school update their curriculum to keep existing with emerging technologies, and to periodically provide refresher courses for operating technicians.

If you assume you are prepared to start automotive service repair Education, the very first step is to be certain that your selected school provides Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certification. ASE Certification assures that your school will provide you with Coaching that is complete and of high high quality.

To understand a lot more about automotive service technician Instruction, or even on-line automotive Education, go to our web site and submit a request to a couple of schools nowadays. You will soon be on your way to a new vocation in auto service and repair.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a Common OVERVIEW and might or could not reflect particular practices, courses and/or services related with ANY ONE certain school(s) that is or is not advertised on our site.

Copyright 2007 ? All rights reserved by Media Sure Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are totally free to use this post on an ezine or site, supplied the write-up is reprinted in its entirety, such as copyright and disclaimer, and ALL hyperlinks stay intact and active.

Source: http://www.mapsmailedfree.com/380/automotive-service-technician-education-for-a-new-profession.html

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Source: http://asedisglo.posterous.com/automotive-service-technician-education-for-a

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Netflix suffers Christmas Eve outage, points to Amazon

11 hrs.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An outage at one of Amazon's Web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.?

The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray players.?

Evers said that the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services' cloud computing center in Virginia, and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users late on Monday.?

"We are investigating exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented," Evers said.?

"We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix-capable devices can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night," he added.

An outage at Amazon Web Services, or AWS, knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare in April of last year.?

Amazon Web Services was not immediately available for comment. Evers, the Netflix spokesman, declined to comment on the company's contracts with Amazon.

(c) Copyright ThomsonReuters 2012. Check for restrictions at:?http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/netflix-suffers-christmas-eve-outage-points-amazon-1C7662774

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

PFT: Tebow upset he never started this season

Tim TebowAP

Jets quarterback Tim Tebow has acknowledged that he was upset when he learned last week that he had been bypassed on the depth chart by Greg McElroy. Now Tebow says his goal now is to become a good quarterback ? somewhere ? in 2013.

Tebow told ESPN?s Adam Schefter he is ?more determined than ever to dedicate my entire off-season to becoming the best quarterback I can be next season.?

Regarding the ESPNNewYork.com report that Tebow told Jets coach Rex Ryan he didn?t want to play in the Wildcat after he was informed that McElroy would start in place of the benched Mark Sanchez, Tebow admitted that he was upset, and he expressed his displeasure to Ryan. Schefter?s report does not specify, however, whether Tebow flat-out refused to play in the Wildcat when he found out on Tuesday that McElroy was starting, or whether Tebow merely said he was unhappy that he wasn?t getting the opportunity to start.

Whatever transpired between Tebow and Ryan, Tebow did tell Schefter that on Friday he told Ryan that he was willing to do whatever it took to help the team win. By that time, the Jets had been planning to use receiver Jeremy Kerley in the Wildcat role, and that?s what they did in Sunday?s game against the Chargers.

The fact that Tebow even had to express to Ryan that he was willing to do anything to help the team win is telling. If a player is conducting himself the right way, it should go without saying that he is willing to do whatever he has to do to help his team win. If the Jets? coaches needed to be reassured that Tebow was willing to do whatever he had to do to help the team win, that strongly suggests that Tebow isn?t quite the humble, hard-working player that he tries to portray himself as. The job of a football player is to play football the way his coaches tell him to play. It doesn?t matter if Tebow thinks he deserves to start ahead of McElroy. The Jets? coaches decided that McElroy was the starter for Sunday?s game, and Tebow?s job was to support the team in whatever role the coaches told him to play.

If Tebow ever expressed anything other than a firm commitment to doing whatever the coaches asked him to do, then he?s no better than Santonio Holmes, who was widely ripped last year for being a destructive force in the Jets? locker room. Holmes was pilloried all offseason for the way he acted at the end of the Jets? season in 2011. If Tebow is acting the same way at the end of the Jets? season in 2012, he deserves the same scorn.

As for Tebow?s ambitions of being a starter next year, well, good luck with that. There is exactly one NFL team that might be willing to give Tebow a shot, and that team ? Jacksonville ? would be willing to give him a shot for business reasons, not for football reasons. Tebow is desired in Jacksonville because he?s viewed as a good guy, not a good football player. And the news of the last 24 hours suggests that he?s actually not that good a guy.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/24/tebow-upset-he-never-started-this-year-hopeful-for-next-year/related/

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Home for the Holidays? How Do Your Parents Really Feel About ...

?Tis the season. Fa la la. You know: all that merry good stuff. In all honesty, the holidays are serious business. Between the shopping and cooking and picking out the perfect gift, who has time to worry about family drama? Hopefully you?re one of the lucky gals who does not have to worry about what her family will say about bringing home a significant other for the holidays?

couple-in-car-with-gifts

OK, before I go any further, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you?re all at home with your loved ones enjoying the time together with some rad new gifts (and insanely good food). Maybe your guy has joined you in the festivities this year. If so, tell me the truth: how do your parents really feel about it?

J and I have been splitting the holidays between Long Island and New Jersey for the past few years now so it?s nothing new for us or our families, but it definitely took a little getting used to back in the early days. J?s parents were always pretty fine about having J and me stay over for Christmas; they had been dealing with the split-holidays thing for nearly a decade with J?s older brother and his wife. They totally understood that I was an important part of J?s life and that we wanted to spend the holidays together, just as much as we wanted to spend ?em with our families.

My parents, on the other hand, took a little more time to get used to the fact that I wouldn?t be there on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and some of the days following. I am the oldest child of two, after all. J and I alternate which family gets us the 24th and which family gets us the 25th to be fair, and my parents and sister are learning to appreciate the time they do have with us. But J and I are lucky?both of our families were always great about welcoming us BOTH. We never felt uncomfortable or like we were unwanted; that?s why J?s family feels like my family and my family feels like his.

But I know of a girl who said her parents would KILL her if she brought her BF home for the holidays. Her family does live a few hours away from where she (and her BF) lives, so since they don't see her all the time they want that time JUST with her. No ifs, ands, or butts about it: she doesn?t think twice about not inviting him home for the holidays because it would just create too much friction. Plus, she really wants that one-on-one time with her parents, too.

How is it with your family? Do they welcome your partner? Did it take some time for them to warm up? And what's the point you bring your guy home no matter what they think and they just have to deal with it? Does it have to be super-serious with him? Happy Holidays again, you guys! xo

Photo: Thinkstock

Source: http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2012/12/home-for-the-holidays-how-do-y.html

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Being in a parents presence can be the present? - Be Strong Foster ...

Posted by Robyn Harvey on December 23rd, 2012

My last few blogs have been about the holidays.? Holidays are so important to people for so many reasons.? Regardless of which holiday a family celebrates, the important thing is they are together.? I am sure most Foster parents do what they can to eliminate the sadness, but looking at it from the foster child?s perspective, things may not be that cut and dry.? Recently, I met a beautiful young lady I have known about for years, but ironically, our paths had never crossed.? When we met, I knew she would be strong enough to listen to my opinions, but what I was too foolish to know that it was I who would have to find my strength to listen to hers.? It is crushing to listen to her stories at times. The short story is April grew up separated from her family.? She grew up in different foster families.? Before meeting April, I knew the foster parents? perspective, but what she is teaching me is the other side of the story.

Meet April?

?As the holidays approach I often think back on many holidays without my mother, father, siblings, and family. I think about the many years I sat and wondered how they were doing during the holidays. I know, most of, my foster parents tried to make sure I was a part of their family.? It was the best they knew. ?One things that would have made it better: someone who let me talk to my family or asked me if I wanted to on the holidays instead of waiting for a visit two weeks later. I did have one foster parent that went out of their way to let me see my mom on Christmas Day. I didn?t care about any gifts? all I cared about was my seeing my mother. ?As I got older I would leave during the holidays to find my mom and it did not matter to me if I was missing family dinner with the foster homes; it just mattered that I was able to see my mother. I remember many holiday dinners at the Salvation Army and was thankful to just be with my mom and siblings. I was never truly able to spend the holidays with all my siblings until we were much older and out of foster care. ?Now that I am a mother I could not imagine a holiday without my kids. I always wondered what was going through my parents? heads during this time.

The holidays highlighted the fact that there were some times I felt I did not belong. I remember one home took family pictures, and they did not include us in the photo. When a foster home would buy us (the foster kids) one gift and everyone else had many to open, I would feel even less part ?of the family. I know that I was grateful for the one gift, however, it just hurt as a child to see other kids open more and I had to sit through it.?

Reading April?s words makes me sad, but resolved.? Resolved to do better.? This Christmas I am going to help my children feel connected to people they love.? This can be through calls, visits, emails, or Christmas gifts.? I am also going to really try to see things through my child?s eyes.? How it must have felt when April wasn?t in the family picture.? How it must felt as a child to watch others open more gifts than I.? I am going to try to walk in the shoes of my kids.? Santa is watching, and I do not want coal in my stocking again!

Robyn Harvey?is the Be Strong Foster Parents Coordinator for Be Strong Families and moderates?www.bestrongfosterparents.com?where she posts an ongoing blog sharing her experiences as a foster parent. ? You can read more about her by?clicking here.

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Source: http://www.bestrongfosterparents.com/being-in-a-parents-presence-can-be-the-present/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=being-in-a-parents-presence-can-be-the-present

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