DART rolls in new era with Green Line opening

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091409dnmetdartgreen.43d0b4e.html

Did You Know?

Intriguing information about our world. Video shown to Sony executives earlier this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

What Makes Us Happy?

1 "It is social aptitude, not intellectual brilliance or social class, that leads to successful aging." 2 "Relationships matter more than anything else." (1-George Valliant, 2-Joshua Wolf Shenk)

"Some surprises: cholesterol levels at age 50 have nothing to do with health in old aga; regular physical exercise in college predicted late-life mental health." Joshua Wolf Shenk

From "The Atlantic," June 2009.

Bikini Body in 2 Weeks

Here's a helpful article to help you get in shape.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/gabbyguide/11596/bikini-body-in-2-weeks/

Website of Websites

This is one to be saved, it has every place You Might want to Go on the internet.
Website of Websites
You'll probably want to bookmark this one!
What A Handy Tool!

THIS IS THE COOLEST THING SINCE THE INVENTION OF THE TV REMOTE CONTROL

Just Point and click!

http://www.allmyfaves.com/

Then pick a site ! 'BOOM' And there it is !

Obama Email Viruses

Obama Acceptance Speech email has virus. Also Obama Sex Video.
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamavideo.asp

A Hospital Germ on the Warpath

http://bulletin.aarp.org/opinions/othervoices/articles/a_hospital_germ_on_the_warpath_.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-CTRL-122608-F5

Thanks, John.

Jobs Available with Census 2010

The US Census Bureau is currently filling all kinds of jobs for the 2010 Census, and will start hiring this January. You must take a 30 minute test to qualify.

Call this number to find test locations and schedule: 866.861.2010.

Check this website for more information:
http://www.census.gov/2010censusjobs/index.php

Fwd: Obama Acceptance Speech Virus - Verified

True.  Verified on Snopes and About.
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp

WARNING!!!

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/virushoaxes1/a/obama_virus.htm

Christmas Music

If you'd like to listen to Christmas music, I posted some last year.

Go to the "Label" section on the right-hand side of the blog and click on "Holiday music."

The selections are by my church choir at First Baptist Church of Plano. I will post more in the next month since we just recorded a Christmas CD.

Obama and Snopes?

First refutation.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/snopes.htm

Here's a denial from Snopes:

Subject: Re: snopes.com: New Item Submission
From: "snopes.com"
Date: Fri, October 24, 2008 6:09 pm
To: planopaul@grayranch.us

The information you received is inaccurate. Neither of the operators of
snopes.com has any affiliation with, has ever made a donation to, or has
ever publicly expressed support for any political party or candidate. See
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/snopes.htm and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092600853.html
for more information on this subject.

Similar rumors circulate every election year. See
http://www.snopes.com/info/notes/politics.asp for additional examples of this phenomenon.

Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com

An admonition:
The 9th Commandment:
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
The Bible, Exodus 20:16

Economic Outlook

Dr Ray Perryman, economics professor at Baylor and a financial consultant, told a Baylor Network meeting (that Ryan and I attended) this morning to stay the course with the stock market. He says the recession will last 1 quarter, or 2 at most, and economic recovery will be evident by the 2nd half of 2009. He also said the government intervention was absolutely necessary, but flawed and will be reworked.

Dr Perryman also said that the key indices to watch are the Treasury bill rate vs the bank-to-bank lending rate. It is a good sign when they are closely aligned.

Dr Perryman's website:
http://www.perrymangroup.com/

Paul

Baylor plans cancer center in Dallas rivaling M.D. Anderson

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092508dnmetbaylorcenter.17e7a68.html

Amazing pictures from Galveston and Hurricane Ike

http://www.tpicks.com/pictures%20people%20have%20sent%20me.html

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of

Did you know?

Facts about the information explosion and education in the US and China. Excellent!

This is a streaming video that doesn't download the whole file.

Enjoy!

Family Watchdog Site

Thanks, Larry
----------------
www.FamilyWatchDog.us

When you visit the above site you can enter your address and a map will pop up with your house as a small icon of a house. There will be red, blue and green dots surrounding your entire neighborhood. When you click on these dots a picture of a criminal will appear with his or her home address and the description of the crime he or she has committed.

The best thing is that you can show your children or grandchildren these pictures and see how close these people live to their home or school.

This site was developed by John Walsh from Americas Most Wanted. This is another tool we can use to help us keep our kids safe.

Magic of a banana!

Thanks, Larry.
----------------

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas.   He said the expression 'going bananas' is from the effects of bananas on the brain.   Read on: Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet. Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier. PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood. Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.. Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert. Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives. Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system. Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness. Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation. Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady. Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.. Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan. Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack. Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%! Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape! So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple,  it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate,  three times the phosphorus,  five times the vitamin A and iron,  and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A banana a day keeps the doctor away!' PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes??  Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe.. .polish with dry cloth.  Amazing fruit

F.R.O.G. Fully rely on GOD....

Some Nifty Tips: Some New - Some Old

Thanks to Larry.
-------------------
Did You Know ???????????

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them con- nected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Snickers bars make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

1. Reheat Pizza...Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

2. Easy Deviled Eggs ...Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

3. Expanding Frosting...When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

4. Reheating Refrigerated Bread...To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

5. Newspaper Weeds Away...Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

6. Broken Glass ...Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

7. No More Mosquitoes...Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

8. Squirrel Away ...To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

9. Flexible Vacuum...To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

10. Reducing Static Cling...Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! -- static is gone.

11. Measuring Cups...Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

12. Foggy Windshield.....Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

13. Reopening Envelope....If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

14. Conditioner....Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...

15. Goodbye Fruit Flies.....To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

16. Get Rid of Ants .....Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

17. INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS....The heating unit went out on my dryer! The man that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire and potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long. How about that!? Learn some- thing new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Interesting Human Body Facts That You Cannot Live Without

Thanks to Bill for this.
----------------------------
-The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.

-A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball.

-It takes the food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

-One human hair can support 3 kg (6 lb).

-Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

-The attachment of human muscles to skin is what causes dimples.

-The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

-A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

-If the average male never shaved, his beard would be 13 feet long when he died.

-Men with hairless chests are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair .

-There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

-Side by side, 2000 cells from the human body could cover about one square inch.

-Women blink twice as often as men.

-The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

-When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate. They do the same when you are looking at someone you hate!

-It takes twice as long to lose new muscle if you stop working out than it did to gain it.

-Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you aren't.

-Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

-If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

-The average woman is five inches shorter than the average man.

Checked the length of your thumb didn't you?

Study Links Middle-Age Belly Fat to Dementia

Thanks to Clyde for this.
------------------------------
By Rob Stein

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, March 27, 2008

People who have big bellies in their 40s are much more likely to get Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in their 70s, according to new research that links the middle-aged spread to a fading mind for the first time.

The study of more than 6,000 people found that the more fat they had in their guts in their early to mid-40s, the greater their chances of becoming forgetful and confused and showing other signs of senility as they aged. Those who had the most expansive midsections faced more than twice the risk of the leanest.

Surprisingly, a sizable stomach seems to increase the risk even among those who are not obese or even overweight, the researchers reported in a paper published online yesterday by the journal Neurology.

"A large belly, independent of total weight, is a potent predictor of dementia," said Rachel A. Whitmer, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., who led the new study.

The findings are alarming in light of America's growing girth, Whitmer and other experts said.

"If these findings are replicated and better understood, it looks like an unhealthy brain could be another consequence of this epidemic of obesity," said Lenore Launer of the National Institute on Aging.

The research is the latest evidence that fat in the abdomen is the most dangerous kind. Previous studies have linked an apple-shaped physique to a greater propensity for diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Researchers suspect that belly fat cells are the worst because of their proximity to major organs. They ooze noxious chemicals, stoking inflammation, constricting blood vessels and triggering other processes that may also damage brain cells.

"There is a lot of work out there that suggests that the fat wrapped around your inner organs is much more metabolically active than other types of fat right under the skin," Whitmer said. "It's pumping out toxic substances. It's very potent toxic fat."

Whitmer and her colleagues analyzed data from 6,583 members of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California who had had their belly fat carefully calculated as part of a broad health study between 1964 and 1973. The researchers examined whether there was link between abdominal obesity between the ages of 40 and 45 and the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia by the time the patients hit their 70s, between 1994 and 2006.

The risk for dementia, the researchers found, increased steadily with the amount of fat in the abdomen, even after accounting for alternative explanations, such as other diseases, bad habits and lower education. They found no such association for fat in the thigh.

The researchers used a complicated method for measuring fat known as sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD). Those with a SAD score above 25 -- roughly equivalent to a waist of at least 39 inches -- had the biggest bellies and the greatest risk.

Previous studies have shown that people who are overweight are at increased risk for dementia. But when the researchers examined patients' body mass index (BMI), which is the most common way to determine whether someone is overweight or obese, they found that people with big bellies were still nearly twice as likely to develop dementia, even if they had BMIs that were considered healthy. In fact, their risk was about the same as for those who were overweight or obese.

"What that tells you is the effect of the belly is over and above of being overweight," Whitmer said. "One of the take-home messages is it's not just your weight, but where you carry your weight in middle age, that is a strong predictor of dementia."

Stomach fat may increase the risk for dementia in the same ways it promotes heart disease -- by boosting blood pressure and constricting blood flow, said Jose A. Luchsinger of Columbia University. He and others said it may also promote the accumulation of amyloid, a substance found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

"We think the buildup and clumping of this material is an important risk factor," said Sam Gandy of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who chairs the Alzheimer's Association's medical and scientific advisory council. Previous research has found that people who are obese have higher levels of amyloid in their blood, he said.

Some experts remained skeptical, saying this kind of study cannot rule out the possibility that whatever is making people gain weight in their bellies in their 40s also puts them at risk for dementia in their 70s.

"There could be a connection. I'm not saying there couldn't be," said Barbara Corkery, director of Boston University's Obesity Research Center. "But it could be those two things are caused by the same root cause."

While acknowledging that more research is needed, Whitmer said the findings provide one more reason to try to maintain a healthy weight, noting that this type of fat is the most easily shed by dieting and exercise.

"It's not as stubborn as the fat under the skin," she said. "It's a modifiable risk factor."