I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, but I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.
—Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower
Comments Off on QOTD: Edward Snowden on Government Spying
Posted in Quote of the Day
…whether you want it or not.
Would you rather buy food, clothing, pay off student loans, help out your sister who’s on the verge of bankruptcy? Too bad. Health insurance is your top priority now. What’s that? You say you’re young and healthy and can get by without insurance for now? The government needs your premium money in particular!
Under the ACA, uninsured Americans have until the beginning of 2014 to purchase insurance through health-care exchanges being set up nationwide or other venues—or face a financial penalty. That penalty is equal to $95 per adult, and $47.50 per child, up to a maximum of $285—or 1 percent of household income, whichever is greater.
Those penalties will escalate in future years.
I’m not sure those penalties are right. I’ve heard higher.
Comments Off on Americans, You Have Until Jan. 1 To Buy Health Insurance
Posted in Uncategorized
These are new terms for me, although once very commonly in use in certain areas. Details are at Central Brittany Journal. For example:
It is interesting to note that prior to the Industrial Revolution, over ninety per cent of the population lived in the countryside, and that most of these people used faggots for cooking, and for heating – i.e. almost everyone enjoyed tax-free, sustainable, eco-friendly heating, which also provided them with a few days of healthy exercise collecting wood in the open air every year.
Comments Off on Coppicing and Faggot Making: What the…?
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged coppicing, faggot making
From GQ:
Kim had also established an institute dedicated to his longevity. Its staff of 200 approved every element of Kim’s diet. Each grain of Kim’s rice was hand-inspected for chips and cracks—only perfectly shaped rice, grown in North Korea, was approved. According to Fujimoto, the rice had to be cooked over wood harvested from Mount Paektu, the sacred mountain where, North Korean propaganda claimed, Kim was born under a double rainbow and a newly born star. All were impressed when Fujimoto served the freshest meal of all: still-living fish he’d fillet alive by cutting around the organs—a skill he’d learned while working at Japan’s Tsukiji fish market.
For special occasions, Fujimoto traveled great distances to procure ingredients for elaborate banquets. He would take a North Korean Air Koryo plane to Beijing, then a commercial airliner to either Moscow or Prague, places Kim stored a private jet. From there, it was off to France for wine or Denmark for ham. Mostly he flew to Japan to buy fish, where the first stop was always a ramen stand at Tsukiji run by Fujimoto’s old friend Inoue. Fujimoto brought many officials to eat Inoue’s noodles, including Kim Jong-un’s brother Kim Jong-chul.
Comments Off on Kim Jong-il’s Unusual Dietary Habits
Posted in Uncategorized
They do if they’re Seventh Day Adventists living in Loma Linda, California, according to a report at MedPageToday.
As far as I know, I don’t know any Seventh Day Adventists. They may not be like the rest of us. For instance, about half of them consider themselves vegetarians. That percentage in the general U.S. population would be much lower. In the study at hand, the largest group of vegetarians (29%) were lacto-ovo vegetarians: they eat dairy and eggs. Only 8% were vegans.
I wonder if Adventists tend to marry and breed with each other (like Mormons), thereby concentrating longevity genes?
The SDA’s of Loma Linda constitute on of the longevity hot spots identified in Dan Beuttner’s Blue Zones book.
The original research report in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Internal Medicine.
Comments Off on Do Vegetarians Live Longer?
Posted in Longevity, Vegetarianism
Tagged Blue Zones, Loma Linda, longevity, vegetarian
Push-ups are one of the 12 exercises
Medical Daily has the details, or you can go straight to the research report. A quote from the former:
It’ll be an uncomfortable seven minutes, but it could be a more effective workout than hours spent running or weight training, Florida researchers say. In a new study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal, two experts said that a combination of 12 exercises done over the course of seven minutes could be just as good for you as hours spent on other kinds of exercise….
It’s called high-intensity circuit training. These are body weight exercises, so you can’t blame lack of equipment as an excuse not to workout.
Comments Off on Another Path to Maximum Fitness Results in Minimal Time
Posted in Exercise
…according to a report at cnsnews.com.
Gee, that seems kind of expensive. Median U.S. household income in 2011 was only $50,000.
Comments Off on Cheapest Obamacare Plan to Be $20,000 per Year
Posted in Healthcare Reform
Tagged healthcare, Obamacare
…by Johns Hopkins researchers.
Six thousand Americans were followed over the course of almost eight years, with attention to heart disease and death. Significantly lower death rates were seen in nonsmokers, and those maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and eating the Mediterranean diet. The more adherence to those healthy factors, the lower the risk of death
Comments Off on Mediterranean Diet Linked Once Again to Longevity
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Mediterranean diet, mortality
I don’t post many pictures of myself here. It’s right for you to wonder what a “diet doctor” looks like. Well, I’m not fat. At a shade under 6 feet tall (183 cm), I weigh 170 lb (77.3 kg).
Steve Parker and son Paul hiking at Horton’s Creek in Arizona on the Mogollon Rim
Comments Off on What Does Dr. Parker Look Like?
Posted in Uncategorized
I’ve written before about twice-convicted felon Kevin Trudeau. He’s a well-known infomercial pitch man who wrote Weight Loss Cures “They” Don’t Want You To Know About.
Problem now is, he never paid his $37.6 million (USD) fine to the Federal Trade Commission. Says he ain’t got the moolah, but the FTC doesn’t believe him.
According to the government, credit card records demonstrate that the corporate entities owned or directed by Babenko [his wife] have been paying almost all of Trudeau’s American Express and Diner’s Club bills. Her companies, the authorities say, have also paid for Bentley automobiles, private jet travel and the rent on a 14,000-square-foot mansion in Illinois.
I don’t feel sorry for Trudeau; I’m sad for the folks he mislead in to buying his book.
Comments Off on Kevin Trudeau In Trouble With Feds Again
Posted in Diet Reviews
Tagged Kevin Trudeau
Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords.com.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 