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Monday, March 8, 2021
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FDA Orders Calorie Labels on Almost Everything- Anti Obesity Measure

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Fat Tax Could Improve Healthy Living
The United States announced new regulations that force chain restaurants, supermarkets or even movie theaters to put calorie labels on their products. This is an attempt of fighting the high obesity rates, one third of the adult population in the U.S. being obese, according to Centers for Disease Control and Protection statistics.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the new requirements apply to all chain restaurants or vending machines with more than 20 locations. These measures have the aim of informing consumers about the food choices they make and it’s considered to be an important step for improving the public health.

‘Americans eat and drink one third of their calories away from home and people today expect clear information about the products they consume,’ FDA commissioner Margaret A Hamburg explained in a Tuesday statement.

Authorities expect the new calorie labels would improve the diets of the Americans by making them reduce the number of calories they are eating once they are aware of it. In return, the restaurants should prepare healthier food. Beverages are included in the new labeling too.

The menu labels became law in 2010, but groceries and supermarkets lobbied for being left out, even though some of them offered services similar to the restaurants. Supermarket representatives complain about the high prices of the labeling process, which will rise up to one billion dollars, being given the fact that they have thousands of products, unlike restaurants.

The FDA diminished their concerns but excluding from labeling the foods that are intended for more than one person to consume such as cheeses or bulk deli salads. There are also cases when a product will be labeled in one area only; for example fruits will be labeled on a salad, but not when found in a container for sale, where they are meant to be taken home and eaten over a longer period of time.

The Pizza industry is one of the main opponents of the new regulations, arguing that the labeling process is really difficult due to the extremely high number of possible ingredient combinations. The FDA allowed them to label pizza calories by slice, but they still have to label the menu boards in take-out restaurants.

On the other hand, the final version of the calorie labels exempts food served in the means of transport, such as trains or airplanes.
Companies will have to obey to the new regulations until November 2015, but many of them already started to post nutritional information on their websites.

The Veggie Diet: Live Longer and Save the Planet

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veggie

According to a newly released study, one could significantly reduce the environmental costs of agriculture and live longer as well if  healthier food choices were made. These recent findings that were published in the journal Nature reveal the potential positive effects of a healthy diet on our planet.

The research found that between 1961 and 2009, individuals consumed a larger amount of meat protein and empty calories. This trend along with income growth helped to estimate that by 2050, people would be eating fewer portions of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, their consumption of empty calories increased by about 60 percent, as well as the consumption of pork, poultry, beef, dairy and eggs at 25 to 50 percent.

“This is bad for our health, increasing the incidence of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and other chronic non-communicable diseases that lower global life expectancy,” a team of researchers from Minnesota University in the United States said in their report.

But along with a sicker population, the environment has a lot to suffer as well. According to the researchers, if dietary trends continue as they are, by 2050 they will be a major contributor to an estimated 80 percent increase in global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from food production. Furthermore, it could necessitate the clearing of around a billion additional hectares of the Earth’s remaining land for agriculture.

“Solutions do exist,” David Tilman, author of the report, said. “Alternative diets could, if widely adopted, reduce or even reverse environmental impacts and help to prevent a global epidemic of selected chronic diseases.”

“However, it will be difficult to make people change their eating habits as diet is heavily influenced by culture, nutritional knowledge, price, availability, taste and convenience,” the authors added.

The study, published Thursday in the online edition of Nature by Tilman and graduate student Michael Clark, synthesized data on environmental costs of food production, diet trends and relationships between diet, health and population growth.

The study then compared health impacts of the global omnivorous diet with those reported for traditional Mediterranean, pescatarian and vegetarian diets. Adopting these alternative diets could reduce incidence of type II diabetes by about 25 percent, cancer by about 10 percent and death from heart disease by about 20 percent relative to the omnivore diet.

 

Men Live Stream Their Vasectomies for World Vasectomy Day

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vasectomyMost of us had no idea that November 7th was World Vasectomy Day, however, as surprising as it may seem, it was. And although very few might understand the holiday (most of all men, who generally do not want to hear about vasectomies, let alone have one done), health activists the world over are attempting to bring more attention to the event. Consequently, they decided that the very best possibility to do so would be to live stream their vasectomy procedures from the Planned Parenthood headquarters in Kissimmee, Florida.

Doug Stein, MD, World Vasectomy co-founder, is scheduled to perform 25 pro-bono vasectomies in hopes of raising awareness about this yet unused birth control option. The procedures will be streamed in real time, while the patients explain what they are going through.

Together with Dr. Stein, 300 additional surgeons across the globe will be performing a collective of 1,500 vasectomies.

Those undergoing the procedures streamed live aren’t fond of showing their genitalia to strangers- what they hope to achieve is that others understand, through the chatty and calm environment, that the procedure is painless, easy and fast.

“I barely knew it was going on — I was a little nervous at first, but I was surprised by how easy and fast it was.”

one patient said.

Approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended and they generaly come with adverse outcomes for either mother or child. From delayed prenatal care to premature birth, such things are easily preventable when an effective contraceptive method is chosen. This is where vasectomies come into play: 300 million women have decided on tubal ligation, six times the number of men who have had vasectomies. However, such a procedure is invasive, costly and risky as opposed to a vasectomy and the results are equally effective.

“I actually think it’s how women should celebrate World Vasectomy Day. We have all these terrified but willing men in our clinics and this is the one bit they have to do.”

Niall Behan, IFPA chief executive said.

In the past, vasectomies were regarded as complete rule-breaking procedures.

“Was it not bad enough that this association was promoting sex outside of marriage and encouraging adultery? Now it was mutilating men as well.”

said Andrew Rynne, a doctor who began performing the procedure while everything was still fresh.

And although men everywhere are beginning to give the procedure a closer look, the fear is far from gone.

Teal Pumpkin Project Takes Care of Children with Allergies on Halloween

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Teal Pumpkin Project

For children with food allergies, Halloween can be a sad and heartbreaking holiday, as they can’t eat much or any of the sweets handed out to them after trick-or-treating. This year, the Food Allergy Research & Education, FARE, thought of children with allergies on Halloween and came up with the Teal Pumpkin Project that will allow kids to take part in the festivities and enjoy great toys that are handed out from teal pumpkins.

This Halloween, houses across the U.S. that will offer treats of a non-food nature will be marked by the presence of a teal pumpkin outside.

The FARE website had this to say about the Teal Pumpkin Project:

This campaign encourages people to raise awareness of food allergies by providing non-food treats for trick-or-treaters and painting a pumpkin teal – the color of food allergy awareness – to place in front of their house along with a free printable sign from FARE to indicate they have non-food treats available. The Teal Pumpkin Project is designed to promote safety, inclusion and respect of individuals managing food allergies – and to keep Halloween a fun, positive experience for all.

According to the Food Allergy Research & Education researchers, up to 15 million American have at least one type of food allergy. When it comes to children under the age of 18, one in 13 children has a food allergy. In 2013, the CDC released a study that revealed that food allergies are on the rise inside the U.S. and that in children, food allergies increased by 50% in the last 20 years. More than 200,000 visits to the ER happen because of food allergies.

Joey Nespoli is a 6-year-old boy from Aquebogue who is allergic to peanuts, wheat, barley and coconut. Him and his mother, Stacy, have painted their pumpkin teal this year and are looking forward to giving out and receiving toys, glow sticks, crayons, bubbles and vampire fangs.

The parents of children with food allergies along with FARE are working together to educate parents and Americans about food allergies. The Teal Pumpkin Project is just one way to do just that: teach people that food allergies are life-threatening.

Bicycle Fatalities Increasing in California, New Report Says

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Bicycle Fatalities Increasing in California

It appears that bicyclist deaths have slowly but surely begun to rise in the past few years across the U.S. and one of the biggest spikes in fatalities is seen in California. Between 2010 and 2012 there have been 338 people who have died while biking. Bicycle fatalities increasing in California is cause for worry, says new report.

The Governors Highway Safety Association have reported that the cause of the death spike is due to the expanding commuter culture. According to the 2013 Census Bureau data, 62% more people have chosen to go to work using their bikes since the year 2000.

The Governors Highway Safety Association report gathered data from 2010 to 2012 and analyzed it. It appears that California was one of the six states that made up 54% percent of bicycle fatalities in the whole country. The report revealed bicycle fatalities increasing in California has brought the California death toll from 100 in 2010 to 123 in 2012. In percentage numbers, this represents a 16% national increase, while the motor vehicle fatalities only increased by 1% in the U.S.

There are more factors that contributed to the bicycle fatalities increasing in California, other than a high number of bicycle commuters. For example, two thirds of the people who were killed in 2014 were not wearing a helmet and more than a quarter of those died while riding a bicycle had consumed alcohol over the legal limit for driving in the state of California.

The Governors Highway Safety Association report also revealed that the age of the riders has increased: people over 20 made up 21% of the victims in the year 1975 and in 2013, 85% of the casualties were over 20. The vast majority of those killed were men: 74%.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition revealed that in San Francisco, the number of people riding bicycles has doubled between 2006 and now and that in 2013, four cyclists were killed in the city.

The executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, Jonathan Adkins, said that:

There’s more biking in general, and more biking in urban areas. But you’ve got to protect cyclists when they’re out there on the road with motor vehicles. This is a share-the-road situation.

 

Christian Bale Confirmed to Play Steve Jobs in Biopic

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Christian Bale Confirmed to Play Steve Jobs

Christian Bale confirmed to play Steve Jobs in the upcoming biopic directed by Danny Boyle. Some other famous names are attached to the project, among which Aaron Sorkin, the Oscar-winning screenwriter who wrote The Social Network. The movie is based on the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson.

This is not the first movie made about Steve Job’s after the Apple founder passed away in October 2011. In 2013 the movie Jobs hit theaters with Ashton Kutcher playing the tech mogul. While Kutcher bore an extraordinary resemblance to Jobs, the movie wasn’t quite the success its producers had hoped it would be.

Danny Boyle was confirmed as the director of the new Steve Jobs biopic a few months ago and now Aaron Sorkin confirmed the rumors about Christian Bale hopping on board on the project, in an interview with Bloomberg News. He expressed excitement about working with the actor and he said that the Bale is going to be in every frame of the film. He also said that the actor has:

More words to say in this movie than most people say in three movies combined.

If you know Aaron Sorkin’s work, then you know that this statement is not a joke. Sorkin is known for creating characters with a high verbal flow. The dialogues he wrote for the TV series The West Wing are believed to have brought the success of the series.

Christian Bale confirmed to play Steve Jobs in Boyle’s biopic, which means that the Oscar buzz will follow soon. Christian Bale is known for his method acting, which involves immersing oneself in the role completely and only coming out when the work is over.

More details about the movie aren’t known, because it is still in pre-production. An exact date for the beginning of filming is also in the dark, but rumors have hinted at Spring 2015.

Christian Bale is definitely keeping busy, as he’s also set to star in Jungle Book: Origins, directed by Andy Serkis. The movie will hit theaters two years from now, in October 2016. The movie will begin filming in the summer of 2015.

 

 

Ohio Man Admits Killing Samantha Greenlee

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Killing Samantha Greenlee

Just yesterday we reported on the news that cadaver dogs were getting more appreciation from police investigators and today we have the latest news in the case of the Ohio murder. It appears that Jacob Ferrero has come forth and admitted to killing Samantha Greenlee, his girlfriend.

Ohio Man Admits to Killing Samantha Greenlee

The latest news about the murder that shocked the whole state of Ohio reveal that Jacob Ferrero has admitted to killing Samantha Greenlee, his girlfriend; the woman was pregnant with his child. After he killed her, he buried her body in the woods and set fire to the apartment they were living in to cover up any evidence he might have left behind.

The young man made the confession earlier today before leading the police investigators to the place where he buried her body, around the city of Groveport.

Ohio police confirm that the body they found was indeed the body of 22-year-old Samantha Greenlee. They stated that they were led to the place of the burial by Jacob Ferrero, the woman’s boyfriend, around 2 a.m. on Wednesday. They found Greenlee’s body in a wooded area around Madison Christian church.

Following his admission of killing Samantha Greenlee, Ferrero was charged with murder as well as with aggravated arson.
Ferrero admitted that he set fire to the apartment in order to cover up the traces of the killing. He was the father of Greenlee’s unborn child who was reported missing two weeks ago.

The police have questioned Ferrero a few times over these last couple of weeks and every time he claimed that he didn’t know anything of Greenlee’s whereabouts. Thankfully, Jacob Ferrero has caved in and confessed to the gruesome murder.

The killing of Samantha Greenlee shocked the community which is now relieved after news of the finding of the killer were revealed.

The last time anyone had seen Greenlee was on October 8, after she had finished her shift at a Bravo Italian restaurant. The woman had previously filed a report with the police saying that she was scared of her boyfriend. When the police came to their home, they found no signs of violence.

Alfred Wertheimer Elvis Presley Photographer Dies at 85

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Alfred Wertheimer Elvis Presley Photographer

A while back we reported on the spectacular duet between Barbara Streisand and Jimmy Fallon and now it’s time we talked about another legend that is no longer with us: Alfred Wertheimer Elvis Presley photographer.

Alfred Wertheimer Elvis Presley Photographer Dies at 85

Photographer Alfred Wertheimer was the man who documented Elvis’ earlier days as a singer. He was the man who had a part in making Elvis the legend and sex-symbol that he is and was. Today, it is with great sorrow we announce that he has passed away at the age of 85.

Chris Murray, Wertheimer’s editor and gallery curator, told Associated Press that Mr. Wertheimer died from natural causes at his apartment in New York.

Alfred Wertheimer first met Presley when he was assigned to take photos of him by the singer’s record label. When the two met, Elvis Presley wasn’t very well known; Elvis was 21 and he was 26.

Elvis Presley’s wife, Priscilla Presley, said yesterday about the news:

There has been no other photographer that Elvis ever allowed to get as up close and personal in his life through photos as he did with Alfred. I’m deeply saddened by the death of Alfred Wertheimer. He was a dear friend and special soul. I feel he was a gift for all who knew him especially, Elvis Presley.

 

One of the most famous photographs that Albert Wertheimer took of Elvis Presley was The Kiss. It shows the legend kissing with a female groupie backstage at a show in Richmond, VA. Wertheimer used to follow the singer on the road and recorded every move he made during his shows. He snapped hundreds of thousands of photos of the King and thanks to him we’ve got a great repository of Elvis photographs.

Wertheimer himself commented on The Kiss photography:

She says to him: ‘Elvis, I’ll betcha can’t kiss me,’ and she sticks out her tongue just a teeny bit. And he says, ‘I’ll betcha I can,’ in a very masculine, cool way. And he then approaches the kiss, he’s got his tongue stuck out just a wee bit, and he overshoots the mark. I didn’t realize that till I developed my film later on. He bent her nose, you see, a very romantic view. So now he backs off coolly, and tries it a second time, comes in for a perfect landing, and that’s the end of that. That tenth of a second became history.

Rest in peace, Albert Wertheimer Elvis Presley photographer and artist!

Bodies Found by Cadaver Dogs Help Police

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Cadaver Dogs Help Police

A while back we’ve written about how dogs may help socialize domestic robots in the future and now it’s time for another canine news. It appears that cadaver dogs help police not only find bodies, but also solve age-old mystery cases.

Cadaver Dogs Help Police

Courts and police investigators are beginning to trust cadaver dogs more. Cadaver dogs is the name given to dogs that search for dead bodies and human remnants. They can even find the smallest particles human flesh and police officers are starting to accept their help and appreciate them more.

Paul Dostie works with his black Lab, Buster, around 55 miles east of Yosemite National Park. Buster is old and he’s lost a leg, but he can still use his nose to indicate to his owner where the remains are. Dostie says that his old canine buddy discovered the remains of around 200 people.

History Flight is a nonprofit foundation that specialized in finding the tens of thousands of American veterans who have crashed and whose bodies were never recovered. Buster and Dostie are sometimes working with History Flight and Mark Noah, the founder of the foundation is sold: Buster is a miracle dog!

More recently, Buster helped locate Lt. Robert Fenstermacher, a pilot whose plane crashed in 1944 in Belgium.

Another cadaver dog is Alex, a German shepherd whose owner is Deborah Palman. Together they’ve found the body of Maria Tanasichuk, a Canadian woman. Police have concluded that she was shot in the head by her husband and buried. Without Alex, Maria would have never been found.

Cadaver dogs help police and it’s only of late that police departments have started to be more accepting of the canines. Police departments have used dogs for years, but cadaver dogs are not trained by police and they do not belong to the police departments. They belong to volunteers, but all that could change in the future, as cadaver dog training is beginning to grow popular.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, Department of Sciences, believes that cadaver dogs are an incredible investigatory tool — no question about it.

Eiffel Tower Glass Floor Revealed Today – 57 Meters Above the Ground

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Today was a big day for Paris and its most famous attraction, the Eiffel Tower. The opening of the latest attraction, the Eiffel Tower glass floor has gathered hundreds of guests, including the great-great granddaughter of Gustave Eiffel, the man who designed the famous architectural structure. The breath-taking view (standing on a glass floor 57 meters above the ground is pretty scary) was enjoyed by many people, including the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, journalists and famous people.

The Eiffel Tower glass floor cost €30million to build and the renovations included replacing the pavilions from the 1980s at either side of the floor with new see-through glass tiles which offers an incredible view of the City of Lights.

eiffel tower glass floor

The Eiffel Tower glass floor holds businesses, shops and restaurants, places of relaxing and contemplating and seven huge projectors which show a film about the history of the famous tower.

The Eiffel Tower glass floor has a “cultural walk” with all kinds of materials about the works of Gustave Eiffel, which are shown in English and French. Many see the Eiffel tower as a symbol of the evolution of the world. The Eiffel Tower glass floor also introduced four solar panels and two wind turbines, installed on the first floor of the tower. This helps the tower generate its power in an environmental-safe way. The Eiffel Tower glass floor has got a rainwater collection system which will be used for the toilets in all the tower’s pavilions.
The architects of the Eiffel Tower glass floor hope that the renovations will increase the tower’s popularity and people will visit all of it floors, not just the last one.
The Eiffel Tower glass floor marks the 125th anniversary of the tower, which was opened for public visit in 1889. The Eiffel Tower is visited by more than 7 million people every year and it’s one of the most popular historic monuments.
What do you think of the Eiffel Tower glass floor? Have you ever visited the Eiffel Tower? Would you stand on its new glass floor at 57 meters above the ground? It would make a great Facebook profile picture. Please comment in the section below.

 

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