U.S. Obesity Epidemic Continues to Grow

From Yahoo

The very latest from yahoo health. Some interesting statistical analysis on obersity in the US. The study is authentic since it has been carried out by CDC.

…….The number of U.S. adults who are obese increased almost 2 percent between 2005 and 2007, a new report found.

In 2007, 25.6 percent of adults reported being obese, compared to 23.9 percent in 2005, according to the finding in the July 18 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"The epidemic of adult obesity continues to rise in the United States, …………," Dr. William Dietz, director of CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, said in a news release. "We need to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables, engage in more physical activity and reduce the consumption of high-calorie foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in order to maintain a healthy weight."

Obesity was most prevalent in the South, with 27 percent of residents classified as obese. In the Midwest, the number was 25.3 percent; in the Northeast, 23.3 percent; and in the West, 22.1 percent, according to the report.

In terms of age, among those 50 to 59 years old, 31.7 percent of men and 30.2 percent of women were obese. For those 19 to 29, 19.1 percent of men and women were obese.

Breaking the numbers down by race/ethnicity and sex, obesity prevalence was highest for non-Hispanic black women (39.0 percent), followed by non-Hispanic black men (32.1 percent).

Education levels play a role, too. For men, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (22.1 percent) and highest among those with some college (29.5 percent) and a high school diploma (29.1 percent). For women, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (17.9 percent) and highest among those with less than a high school diploma (32.6 percent).

None of the states or the District of Columbia has met the "Healthy People 2010" goal of reducing the prevalence of obesity to 15 percent or less, the CDC said.

"Obesity is a major risk factor for a number of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. These diseases can be very costly for states and the country as a whole," Deb Galuska, associate director for science at the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, said in a news release.

The CDC defines obesity as a body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) of 30 or above. An adult who is 5-feet, 9-inches tall is considered obese if he or she weighs 203 pounds……

Clearly, a thing to watch out for.

In the coming days, i’ll be giving you some really helpful tips to reduce body weight and the risk of other associated illnesses. So, keep checking.

Which Are Worse: Calories from Carbs or Fat?

From TIME magazine

Diet is a BIG headache for many and a matter for earning money for some. Its a fact that a large part of the population in developed countries as well as the population in the fastest growing "developing" countries face this challenge of over weight and obesity.

Hundreds of articles related to obesity are available on the Internet as well as in print. Consequently our understanding of the problem has increased significantly over the years. In fact, there is a separate branch of science which deals with this kind of problems, the obesity research, and it is not surprising to see millions of dollars have been spent on this subject.

Well, to the general audience, low carb diets are essential to curb obesity. This statement is true. An article published in TIMES magazine throws some light on some of the myths associated with carbohydrate diets and FAT.

“……And if you're wondering whether Dean Ornish's low-fat diet will help you shed pounds better than Dr. Atkins' low-carb menu, the answer is simple: it doesn't matter…..”

They describe the issue….

“…

Q:Will eating a calorie of fat make you fatter than eating a calorie of carbohydrate?

A: From many kinds of studies conducted over years, we are quite confident now that a calorie from fat will cause a similar amount of weight gain as a calorie from carbohydrate. There are some interesting questions about whether eating carbohydrate calories versus fat calories will make you eat more calories, but based on what you put into your mouth, it's pretty clear that the source of the calories is really not important.

[Whether fats or carbohydrates are more filling] is one issue that's been raised — but it's been raised on both sides. The best way to get to the bottom line is to look at long-term studies where we randomize people to a high-fat/low-carb diet or to a low-fat/high-carb diet and follow them for at least a year or more. That kind of study takes into account the possibility that one kind of diet provides more satiety; so, over the long run you would see more weight loss on that diet. But those studies — half a dozen or more have been done — show quite clearly that the percentage of calories from fat has very little effect on long-term weight loss….”

Quite Significant, isn’t it?

Clean Energy Economy

Clean Energy Economy From
wecansolveit.org

Thousands of new companies, millions of new jobs, and billions in revenue generated by solutions to the climate crisis -- this is the clean energy economy we can adopt with today's technologies, resources, know-how, and leadership from our elected officials. Although our reliance on fossil fuels has created global warming, we now have the opportunity and obligation to begin a transformation towards a robust clean energy economy -- one that is supported by highly efficient industries, fueled by clean, renewable resources (like wind, solar and geothermal energy), and based on modern infrastructure and smart transportation planning.

A clean energy economy is a win for American jobs. A recent report showed that investment in a clean and efficient economy would "lead to over 3 million new green-collar jobs, stimulate $1.4 trillion in new GDP, add billions in personal income and retail sales, produce $284 billion in net energy savings, all while generating sufficient returns to the U.S. treasury to pay for itself over ten years."

Studies by leading research institutions have shown that if we invest in clean energy over fossil fuels, we will create more American jobs. A report released by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, for example, found that thanks to the growth of wind energy, approximately 5,200 manufacturing jobs could be created in Iowa alone over the next decade. Additional studies have found that thousands more jobs could be created in other states that have suffered industry job losses and that welcome the opportunity to train workers for the new energy economy.

Even without strong U.S. leadership, clean energy is catching on around the world. Global investment in renewable energy climbed 25% in 2006 (from $80 billion to $100 billion). Three clean-energy industries—biofuels, wind, and solar photovoltaics—each surpassed $20 billion in revenue in 2007. Just last year, clean energy received $2.7 billion in US venture capital investment.

But, in order to fully transition to a clean energy economy, we need our elected officials to take action. Absent policies from government, the private sector may continue to invest in old-fashioned, polluting technologies. More than 80 coal plants without technology to capture carbon pollution are now being considered. If these projects go ahead, this will be billions of dollars invested in technology that is outdated and not "clean coal." We need effective policies that unleash American ingenuity and innovation to propel growing clean energy industries forward.

America is up for the challenge. In the past two decades, the United States took the lead in the high-tech revolution, exporting trillions of dollars worth of products around the world and employing millions of American workers. We can do it again, this time with clean energy technologies, from solar panels to hybrid vehicles.

Each of us can play a role in bringing about this much-needed transition. Tell your business and elected leaders that the next generation deserves to grow up in a world powered by clean energy. Tell your mayor that you want city planning that encourages more efficient new buildings and sidewalks and bike paths that make it easy to walk or ride a bike. Tell your state and national officials to invest in energy grids that can deliver renewable energy to everyone. Tell your utility company that instead of old-style coal power you want to buy solar, wind, or geothermal energy. And tell your elected officials that you want national policies that encourage investors to make long-term commitments to clean energy.

This is the opportunity of our generation— to lead the transformation to an economy that is robust without causing environmental harm. Please get involved today.

Ten Rules to Attain True Happiness

1.
Make a List of things you are blessed with and feel grateful and be thankful to the giver.
2.
Be a part of Good Social Network – sense of happiness increases with good time spent even with strangers.
3.
Try to remember the memories of good times, events, functions and occasions which you enjoyed in the past.
4.
Choose memories not materials or objects when given a choice - like choose a vacation / visit instead of buying some article of interest.
5.
Try to always smile even at the absurdities. Enjoy more and more humor as it amplifies your happiness – like classic shows that never fail to make you laugh openly.
6.
Escape to some memorable place, mentally, where you always want to enjoy the moments with nature or friends – Just play the video in your mind and enjoy the place where you listen to water falling or sea waves or smell the fragrance of flowers chirping of birds or sitting at a calm and comfortable place with full concentration towards the Supreme LORD.

7.
Be positive in every situation and find what is good in that instead of finding errors and faults to be angry and depressed. Try to be content with what you are and what you have been given by the Creator. - Try to enjoy every moment of life by looking at positive side.
8.
Always try to find some time to enjoy the creative person in yourself – by singing or listening music, writing poetry this will enable you forget the sorrow or pain you may be suffering from.
9.
Always try to do some good to others without looking for any return – help some needful person with words of knowledge and wisdom, an object he need or some money. Give a gift to some one you love and say few good words about him.
10.
Celebrate some event without waiting for its real day (like Birth day etc.) Call all your close relatives and friends and enjoy the event.
______________________________ _____
The happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything.
True Happiness

Ratan Saini. http://ratansaini.googlepages.com/home

Illicit Drugs and their effects

drugs and their effects

Annals of Terrorism

How Rita Katz got into the spying business.

 

Private Jihad

How Rita Katz got into the spying business.

by Benjamin Wallace-Wells May 29, 2006

Keywords

Katz, Rita;

Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE);

Rita Katz is tiny and dark, with volatile brown eyes, and when she is nervous or excited she can’t sit still. She speaks in torrents, ten minutes at a stretch. Everybody who works in intelligence calls her Rita, even people who don’t know her well. She sometimes telephones people she hasn’t met—important people in the government—to tell them things that she thinks they ought to know. She keeps copies of letters from officials whose investigations into terrorism she has assisted. “You and your staff . . . were invaluable additions to the investigative team,” the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Salt Lake City Division wrote; the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boise said, “You are a rare and extraordinary gem that has appeared too infrequently throughout the course of history.” The letters come in handy, she told me, when she meets with skepticism or lack of interest; they are her establishment bona fides.

Katz, who was born in Iraq and speaks fluent Arabic, spends hours each day monitoring the password-protected online chat rooms in which Islamic terrorists discuss politics and trade tips: how to disperse botulinum toxin or transfer funds, which suicide vests work best. Occasionally, a chat-room member will announce that he is turning in his user name and password and going to Iraq to become a martyr, a shaheed. Several weeks later, his friends will post a report of the young man blowing himself up. Katz usually logs on at six in the morning. When she has guests for dinner, she leaves a laptop open on the kitchen counter, so she can check for updates. “It is completely addicting,” she says. “You wake up thinking, I’ve been offline for seven hours, but the terrorists have been making plans.”

Traditionally, intelligence has been filtered through government agencies, such as the C.I.A. and the N.S.A., which gather raw data and analyze it, and the government decides who sees the product of their work and when. Katz, who is the head of an organization called the Search for International Terrorist Entities, or SITE Institute, has made it her business to upset that monopoly. She and her researchers mine online sources for intelligence, which her staff translates and sends out by e-mail to a list of about a hundred subscribers.

Katz’s client list includes people in the government who are presumably frustrated by how long it takes to get information through official channels; it also includes people in corporate security and in the media, who rarely get much useful material from the C.I.A. She has worked with prosecutors on more than a dozen terrorism investigations, and many American officers in Iraq rely on Katz’s e-mails to, for example, brief their troops on the designs for explosives that are passed around terrorist Web sites. “You’re thrown into Baghdad, and there are a million different groups out there you’ve never heard of claiming responsibility for attacks,” Robert Worth, a Times reporter who used Katz’s service during the eighteen months he spent in Iraq, told me. “Rita really knows what she’s talking about—who’s responsible for attacks, what’s a legitimate terrorist organization and what’s not.” Because many reporters rebroadcast her information, it can reach the public before people in the government have had a chance to evaluate it; her organization’s work is cited in the Times and the Washington Post about twice a month.

Katz has many critics, who believe that she is giving terrorists a bigger platform than they would otherwise have, and that the certainty and obsession that make her a dedicated archivist also make her too eager to find plots where they don’t exist; she publicized a manual for using botulinum in terror attacks, for example, which experts later concluded was not linked to any serious threat. It’s possible that her immersion in the world of terrorism has removed whatever skepticism or doubts she may have had. “Much as Al Jazeera underplays terrorist threats, the SITE Institute at times overhypes them,” Michael Scheuer, the former head of the C.I.A.’s bin Laden unit, said.

More fundamentally, some people involved in counterterrorism do not think that a private group with limited resources can do as good or as prudent a job as government agencies can. “Intelligence analysis is a set of skills that you learn, not just something that anyone can walk in off the street and pick up,” Steven Aftergood, who monitors the intelligence community for the Federation of American Scientists, told me. Katz, however, pointed out that, for example, the professionals consistently missed signals about Al Qaeda before September 11, 2001, and said that she was simply filling a gap. (A 2004 audit showed that the F.B.I. alone had thousands of hours of untranslated intercepts.) Indeed, Katz has received outsourcing contracts from the government.

Before the September 11, 2001, attacks, the official counterterrorism agencies paid relatively little attention to the jihadis’ online presence. But in the past few years that has changed, in large measure because of changes in the way terror networks operate. “Nearly everything about Al Qaeda that matters is happening online right now,” Peter Bergen, a journalist and terrorism expert, said. Some analysts believe that Al Qaeda today is a model of what is called “leaderless resistance”: self-appointed cells operating with help and inspiration from materials that they find online. Traffic rose dramatically after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, posted a video of the beheading of the American contractor Nicholas Berg.

“It’s not as if Al Qaeda were inventing this,” Jessica Stern, a terrorism specialist who served on the National Security Council under President Clinton, said. What’s unique about Islamic terror and the Internet is that there is up-to-the-minute access to what terrorists are thinking. Rita Katz is, in a sense, the natural complement, the engineer of a leaderless counter-resistance to the terrorist groups. “Some people think that she’s a zealot,” Stern said when I asked her about Katz, “but only a zealot would provide this kind of service.”

the story continues here...................

Annals of Terrorism