Top 4 Health Tips: Keep your fruits and veggies safe

An apple a day will keep the doctor away … but only if you clean it first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 23 percent of all food-borne illnesses are caused by contaminated vegetables. That's 2.2 million out of 9.6 million reported cases. And produce foods — which include vegetables, fruits and nuts — sicken 4.4 million people a year.

Scary stuff. Here are ways from Women's Health magazine, published by Rodale, to help you take precautions to lower the number of harmful microbes that could be present.

CHECK FOR BLEMISHES

1 Fruits and vegetables with bruises, cuts and nicks have a greater risk of being contaminated with a food-borne illness. Make sure you inspect every surface of produce you intend to buy beforehand so that you don't contaminate other foods in your shopping cart.

WASH BEFORE YOU EAT

2 It's tempting to sneak a few grapes between shopping aisles, but hold off until you're home. Most of the harmful bacteria are on the outer skins of produce. For bananas and oranges, peeling the outer layers will leave you with safe food on the inside — just make sure your hands are clean. For other foods, a minute of thorough rinsing will reduce potentially dangerous bacteria.

COOK AT A HIGH TEMPERATURE

3 You may prefer your veggies raw, but washing them is only half the battle. Cook vegetables at 160 degrees Fahrenheit will kill most of the harmful microbes. Boiling and steaming will get the job done, but if you're grilling, heat the outer surfaces well.

STORE SAFELY

4 Don't let your food sit in your fridge uncovered. Store food in closed plastic containers or cover with plastic wrap and cool them in a temperature of at least 38 degrees. Vegetables last three or four days, so be sure to eat them in that time frame. Keep these closed foods away from raw meat on a separate shelf or compartment so juices won't drip on them.

Source  http://articles.mcall.com/2013-02-15/entertainment/mc-top-4-health-tips-lehigh-valley-0216-20130215_1_food-borne-safe-food-fruits-and-veggies

Rebellion a topical shifting idea: Jeet Thayil

 Booker-nominated author Jeet Thayil, who was caught up in a controversy for reading out portions of Salman Rushdie's banned book during last year's Jaipur Literature Festival, today said there are people in every gathering who are quick to take offence.

"It seems (that especially here) there is a contingent of people at every gathering looking at a sentence or a gesture to get offended. It is cheapening of the idea of rebellion," said Thayil addressing a session titled "A rebel state", at the the Lit Fest here.

In the spirit of the theme of the session, when invited to read out from his debut book "Nacropolis", the Delhi-based poet and author chose to read out a section filled with a very common Hindi swear word.

Issuing a disclaimer before he began to read, Thayil said, "My apologies to anyone who might feel offended. But this is being said by a character in my book."

"It contains a word that is very commonly heard in Mumbai but is not very often employed in English literature," he said.

As the audience applauded at the end of his reading, Thayil expressed his gratitude to the small gathering at the first session of the last day of the five-day festival.

"Thanks for being a sport," he said.

Thayil was in conversation with Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade who extended his support to the author, and said "there is ample scope for rebels like Jeet to exist".

The discussion that centred around rebellion in literature.

Nemade also argued that every rebellion is necessary in some way. "Every rebellion has a constructive value," he said.

Thayil also pointed out the idea of rebellion changes over time.

"The writers or poets who were once considered rebels are now thought of as part of the cannon. So rebellion is a topical shifting idea," he added.

What remains to be seen, according to him, is how any writing considered rebellious now is perceived in the future.

"We need to see how these books are read in the 30 to 50 years," Thayil said.

At the the end of the session, Nemade had a message for the young generation to go much ahead of just rebellion in books. "A bit of revolution will clear the country forever. So, this would be my message to the younger generation."

At the JLF 2012, Thayil was at the center of a row after he read passages from Salman Rushdie's banned book "Satanic Verses". The aftereffects were seen even this year when some groups voiced opposition to his inclusion in this year's festival and also when he bagged this year's DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. 

Source  http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/rebelliontopical-shifting-idea-jeet-thayil/115551/

Kitty Seawall road best site for 1823 Slave Rebellion monument- Sculptor

Amid controversy over government’s location of the1823 Slave Rebellion Monument, Sculptor Ivor Thom insisted that the Kitty Seawall Road is the best site.

“The land space was there, place for parking and everything was there and more than , anything else, the viewing was very good,” he told a news conference.

He said “we thought that that would have been the best place to put it” because it could be easily seen by persons traversing to and from East Coast Demerara from different directions.

“I still think that…it is the best of all the areas that were suggested,” said Thom.

A broad cross section of African Guyanese groups had planned to meet with Thom to urge him to make a public statement about the location. Those groups plan to ignore the government-built monument and go ahead with plans to build their monument on Parade Ground. They say that it was there slaves were tried, convicted and executed.

However, Culture Minister Frank Anthony has said that a monument on Parade Ground would not be widely seen by Guyanese and it would obstruct the playing of football and other games there.

The state-run Government Information Agency (GINA) said Thom explained the sequence of events that led to the selection of the current location, which he said fulfills the criterion.

Thom outlined the circumstances regarding the site’s selection.    He noted that while preparing his model for the monument he had Paradise, on the East Coast of Demerara, as a possible site however, after being awarded the contract he became aware that certain criterion had to be met regarding the monument’s location. This includes emotional and physical connection to the rebellion, ambience, adequate land space, accessibility, public view, parking and connection to African people.

Currently the base for the monument is being completed and when that is done the monument will be unveiled.

A number of areas were suggested and visited including the Victoria Law Court, Parade Ground, National Park, Success/Montrose, Château Margot, LBI, Old RDC office at Paradise, Melanie Damishana, Ann’s Grove, Belfield, Bachelor’s Adventure and Mahaica.

Thom explained that points were awarded to the suggested areas on the site selection criteria, and based on that Paradise and LBI received the most points. However, LBI was ruled out since it is a predominantly East Indian community and does not tie in with the criterion which entails connection to African people.

After reviewing the other areas, Melanie was identified since Paradise didn’t have the adequate land space. Thom noted that challenges arose with regards to locating the owner of the available land space in Melanie. Indications of its unavailability were clear after a basketball court was constructed on the said land.

With regards to the protests, Thom stated that it was being peddled that Former President Bharat Jagdeo had turned the sod for the 1823 monument however, after visiting the archives it was found that the former President had turned the sod for an Emancipation monument, and not for the 1823 monument.

Additionally, advertisements were issued in the newspapers seeking suggestions for the monument site and only one person responded with Parade Ground. It was found that there was not suitable for several reasons, one being that the monument had to be of a certain height and based on that its viewing would have posed as challenge.

In this regard, it was decided that if there was no suitable place on the East Coast for the monument then it should be placed as close as possible to the ECD, hence the current site, at Carifesta and Vlissengen Roads, was viewed as the gateway to the ECD.

Thom recalled that in 2007 one of the African groups in Guyana contacted him to design a monument based on the contributions made by Africans to Guyana and such was done. Thom brought a model/scale version to Guyana to show the group that said it was sexist because it only had a male figure. The necessary changes were made, and to this date the group has not made contact with Thom again.

Source  http://www.demerarawaves.com/index.php/201301045252/Latest/kitty-seawall-road-best-site-for-1823-slave-rebellion-monument-sculptor.html

After a Decade of Hardship, State Spending Still Up

As Virginians ponder the amendments to Virginia’s two-year budget proposed this morning by Governor Bob McDonnell, it is worth remembering the extent to which state government spending has increased over the past 10 years despite three years of hardship occasioned by the 2008 recession.

Over the last decade, Virginia’s operating budget increased by $15.4 billion (62%) — a 35% increase in general funds and an 86% increase in non-general funds. When controlling for growth in population and inflation, total budget growth was 18% over the ten-year period.

So says “The Review of State Spending: 2012 Update” released November by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). After adjustments, General Fund spending actually declined 1% over the decade but non-general fund spending more than made up the difference.

Nine of 196 programs — including health care, education and transportation — accounted for 78% of the total budget growth over the 10-year period. Interesting… health care, education and transportation are three of the most dysfunctional sectors of Virginia’s (and the United States’) economy. All three sectors are exempt from market discipline, and all three are resistant to  fundamental re-thinking or reform. While tinkering on the margins, Virginia’s political establishment continues to pump more money into these broken institutions.

Source  http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/12/after-a-decade-of-hardship-state-spending-still-up.html

ALMS: Rebellion Confirms Single P1 Entry For 2013

As first revealed in a SPEED.com exclusive last month, Rebellion Racing made its plans official Wednesday to enter the American Le Mans Series, committing to a single full-season entry for its Lola B12/60 Toyota.

The Anglo-Swiss squad, which took overall honors in October's Petit Le Mans, will additionally field a second P1 class contender in the 2013 season-opening Twelve Hours of Sebring, with driver lineups for both cars yet to be confirmed.

A parallel program in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where Rebellion won this year's Endurance Trophy for Private LMP1 teams, is also being evaluated, which could see the team's other two Lola-Toyotas put into action in the global sports car championship.

"We want to build upon those results in 2013 and aim to add to our tally of overall race wins," said team manager Bart Hayden. "The visibility generated by overall wins is more in line with what our partners require and desire.

"The WEC is a World Championship and we would like to find a way to continue racing there too. Over the coming weeks, we will be striving to put together a program to complement our presence in the ALMS.

"We are a team that has grown up with the Le Mans spirit since our involvement in the GT class in the early 2000’s and we want to continue racing in championships that mix the very best professional prototype and GT teams. I will be particularly pleased if we can succeed in finding a way to run cars in both the ALMS and the FIA WEC in 2013.”

On the driver front, SPEED.com has learned that 2012 European Le Mans Series champion Mathias Beche has already signed with the team, with the remainder of the lineup set to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The official confirmation of Rebellion's presence in the premier prototype ranks of the ALMS will see no fewer than three full-season entries in 2013, joining at least one Dyson Racing Lola B12/60 and reigning champions Muscle Milk Pickett Racing with its soon-to-be-upgraded HPD ARX-03c.

Source  http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-rebellion-confirms-single-p1-entry-for-2013/

White Ribbon Day: A white ribbon rebellion

BENDIGO men are saying no to violence against women.

About 30 men stood on the steps of The Capital theatre yesterday morning, united in their stance against violence as part of Bendigo’s White Ribbon campaign.

The Bendigo Business Council hosted a White Ribbon breakfast yesterday and a free community event will be held in Hargreaves Mall tomorrow from noon.

Bendigo Police Inspector Mark Edwards spoke at the White Ribbon breakfast yesterday and said violence against 

women took up a lot of police time.

“Crime is broken into two categories,” he said. 

“We have crime against property and crime against a person. If you look at crime against person, which is stuff like assaults, robberies and all that sort of stuff, 80 per cent of that category is assaults.

“Of that 80 per cent, a third of it is family violence.”  Inspector Edwards said police had done a lot of work on repeat victims and offenders.

“We try to link our victims into the right services, try to give them the courage and the opportunity to make that break, and get out of the cycle that they’re stuck in...So we’ll do things like, rather than wait for a call-out to these addresses, we’ll go to these addresses to check up.

“We’ll just drop in to see how things are going and try to get a feel for the place.” 

Family violence adviser Sergeant Margaret Singe described the response to yesterday’s breakfast as “fantastic”.

“Particularly because probably 50 per cent of the participants were men,” she said. “And White Ribbon is all about men leading the charge. 

“The breakfast was really the starting point in our White Ribbon activities. 

“On Friday we’ve got the community lunch, which goes from noon until 2pm in the mall. And the yarn bombers have been down and decorated our area for us. They’ve got white all around the area.”

Sergeant Singe has her fingers crossed that as many people as possible will support the event.

“It’s free but there will be a cost for the barbecue lunch,” she said.

“We’ll also have some entertainment – performers who’ve both written songs specifically for Friday about White Ribbon.”

Source  http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/1137489/white-ribbon-day-a-white-ribbon-rebellion/?cs=12

Councillors urged to join rebellion against Pickles

Labour councillors up and down the country were called on to co-ordinate for a dramatic fightback against government-imposed cuts to local budgets today. 

Grassroots Labour Representation Committee (LRC) activists have vowed to bring together party-run councils to declare war against both Tory minister Eric Pickles and cuts hawks within Labour itself at their annual conference on Saturday.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Mr Pickles is presiding over massive cuts to council budgets, which the LRC warn disproportionately hit the working class and Labour councils that represent them.

A minority of Labour councillors who have refused to support cutbacks were praised, including Lambeth's Kingsley Abrams who was suspended in June for voting to oppose cuts to jobs and services.

LRC activists warned against a right-wing mentality within Labour that is helping to push through government-imposed cuts without a fight.

And they stressed that one or two councils refusing to make cuts will not be enough to defeat the government's ideologically-driven agenda, stating that there should be "no local cuts in the name of the Labour Party."

Hull Labour councillor Gary Wareing said: "We have been trying hard to develop a strategy to fight cuts imposed on the council by this Con-Dem government.

"We need an alternative. We need to bring together a coalition of councillors and local community groups to say that what the Tories are doing is not what we want in Hull."

Labour MP John McDonnell said a date for the meeting of Labour councillors and councils will be made as soon as possible.

It comes after three council leaders wrote to Mr Pickles on Friday demanding that he come clean over what their budgets will look like for 2013/14, not due to be revealed until December.

The leaders of Labour-run Southampton, Green controlled Brighton and Hove and Liberal Democrat Portsmouth demanded to be told now so they can budget properly.

It will not be the first time Labour councillors have stood up to Tory-imposed central government cuts.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Clay Cross dispute in 1972, when 11 Labour councillors stood up to Ted Heath's Housing Finance Act by refusing to implement increased council housing rents.
 

Source  http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/125971