Today's News: Notes on today's news

The truth shall free us. It will also improve mental health. In today's news, One in five Californians say they could benefit from mental health care. That's not surprising. Most everyone, if the truth be told, could benefit from some type of mental health care.

Who in their right mind could function in such a topsy-turvey world and not be a little touched in the head by it? As I see it, those spunky California free thinkers, those one in five who thought they needed help are by far healthier than those who blithely go on their way thinking they have no need of such help.

Today's Headline: Notes on news headlines

Today, July 26, 2010, there is no specific headline that glares out a me when I read the morning's news. This then is the end of this blog. And to end it is nothing short of common sense on my part. Why should I write about what other have already headlined, why can't I create my own headline and rave and rant about my own misgivings as a human being. Isn't that what makes up a great portion of the news today?

One story today made me think, and think and think. The man who had the desire to tell his wife he loved her slightly before their plane crashed in a lake. Two days later a message found floating in a water-proof medical bag was found and read. Great guy, great doctor, great message. It was heartwarming and astonishing and thought provoking. First, love in such times is always heartwarming. It is astonishing in its effort to get a message to a world so in need of something other than fear about health care. And it thought provoking that in all there are over a hundred articles relating the news of the found love message.

What does that say about us? It says we are in need of reassessing our ideas of health care. So much of it is in the hands of our Father who created us, and that is what I read between the lines in that note. God is love, and in any way He knows how, he tells us that. In fact, he loves us so much, he probably wants to send us all to the Mayo clinic for an evaluation.

Today's headline: is knee surgery always necessary?

Is knee surgery always necessary is the question implied by an article from Reuters? Their words: "Most people who have a common knee ligament injury fare just as well with intense physical therapy as they do with surgery, according to a study comparing the two techniques released on Wednesday".

My thoughts: Impatience and a rush to judgment is no way to heal. Time often takes care of much of what we fret and worry over. This problem is not the case of older knees that are deteriorating because of age, but sports injuries where tissues are livelier and are more able to heal themselves, given time, is what the question is all about. The article and the questions raised are interesting.

Apply that thought to many medical problems and maybe the health care industry will be more in line with what responsible medicine was meant to be. Time heals many wounds and it also heals minds that too often want quick fixes when a better option would be less invasive surgery and rest, symptomatic treatment and a belief that given a chance, bodies sometimes heal themselves without invasive surgery or even dangerous drugs.

T

Today's Healine: Google buying Wind Power

What? Google preferring wind power over solar? I never thought I would see the day when my all time favorite Internet source finder, Google, would get so wind blown. Of course, I must confess, that came a few days after I slightly scorned roof top wind farms -- in some article. Whatever, it's their dime and what I say costs nothing. And that's one big reason I think they are so great, they are extremely generous with their resources. And, as an afterthought, the wind is also free. Maybe Google can tame it somewhat! If anyone can, it will be Google.

For penance, I will be quiet for the rest of the day.

Today's headline: Doctor's notes

Doctor's Notes: Should you read them, By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times.

This morning's headline takes me back many years. It takes me back to the time when I, as a nurse, wrote on patients' charts. The notes concerned the patients' condition and were written for no other purpose than to inform others on their progress. There was no question about who should read the charts, the care givers, including the doctor, or the patient. Absolutely allowing patients to read their own charts was out of the question. The patient was not sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the terminology; and if they were of the medical profession, all the more reason to keep them from reading their own charts.

We watched those who worked in the medical field carefully. We understood they would, if they could, read their own charts. It was up to the doctor to tell them what they needed to know. This was a medical morality issue, what to tell patients and what not to tell patients. It never occurred to any of us in the sixties that at some future date there would be a problem people wanting to read their own medical charts.

That time has come. The law states now that patients are owners of their medical information and they have rights and should be allowed to read it if they should so wish. What do I say? I have been both a health care worker and a patient. I understand the reasoning on both sides. I am in favor of not allowing patients to read their own medical records as a choice, not as an option. The doctor is the own to explain the procedures as well as they can and that should be sufficient.

It is my belief that the law missed a few points. Should it become necessary to prove a case in court, by all means, bring in the records, and bring in the medical personnel, but otherwise, what's the excuse for being so noisy about has been written. So what, if every word may not be to their liking, that is the way it is. There is no way we will be able to control what others say or write about us, nor should we try. As I see it, this is an impediment to progress of the health care reform. Read more. . . .

Today's headline: Homebuilder Confidence in U.S. Falls to Lowest Level in a Year

Home builder Confidence in U.S. Falls to Lowest Level in a Year. by Business Week, is my choice for today's headline. Why? It gives me a chance to put in my two cents worth about homes and home building.

My two cents worth: When the market was booming, and money was cheap, why were such monstrous home being built? Extra large home made sense if a family had several children, but these extra large homes for one, two, or three people? What was the reasoning behind that? Surely, it was not for need, one person needs a little extra space of course, and shouldn't a private bedroom for everyone take care of that? Aside from that, a kitchen, bathroom, living room, a porch or patio, a garage, seems reasonable. But why all the extras?

Why all the extras when the future homeowners were having to mortgage their future and the future of their children -- or child -- to show off in this way, is questionable. It should have been questionable then. If the builders were rich, then it is simply none of my business how they spend their money, housing, or whatever, but how many of the big home builders were spending money they did not own, nor had any hopes of earning is beyond me.

And to compound that problem, why where they allowed to borrow when they could not afford to borrow? Where were the regulations that prevented that? Not that I am alone in my questioning of that, many other also have such wonderful hind sights about what went wrong. Fortunately, for a few of us, we knew we were poor, did not especially like it, but accepted it without denial. We were not envious, we could hardly believe our eyes -- and our eyes -- at the building boom.

The next problem is, what is to be done about it? People need homes. Should we go to the extremes and start building an elaborate outhouse to live in? That headline also surfaced over the week end: Not called outhouses, but the size is about the size of the average green house or tool shed. These houses actually compact doll house size homes that a few hardy souls are living in. Read all about them.

After reading about these cute little homes, they do make a lot of sense. Of course in no time, one would feel cramped living in a such a small space, but the ones advertised, had all the necessities. In a small, 8 foot by 14 space or there about, one could have a bed, a stove, a bathroom with shower and toilet, a space to eat, closet space, etc.

The idea is to have nothing extra of course. One could not squirrel away all their too small or too large clothes, pack away items of sentimental value, have more than three pairs of shoes, buy sale items and stash away, nor do any of the foolish things regular homeowners do. But they do have shelter, a place to sleep and they are warm. Yet, I ask: Where would one put that occasional visitor, how safe are them in storms, and what would keep some thief from hitching their station wagon to one and stealing it while one is at work one day?

Yet, aside from those unanswered questions, a few more reasons a small tool shed like house may be a good investment. A whole bunch of them placed together on a vacant city lot to house the homeless; they can be moved when one wishes to locate elsewhere; weekly cleaning could be done easier.

If doubters still aren't convinced, consider this: They are probably, inch for inch, every bit as roomy as many efficient apartments, and parked in some family members back yard, much less expensive. They would make excellent nanny houses, or a depository site for an occasional guests, or even as rental property for travelers. Think about it. Even living in one might make one reconsider their hoarding lifestyles.

Today's headline: Foot care

High heels shrink calf muscle fibers so states a British Study.

"UK researchers say they have uncovered why women who often wear high heels can find it painful to wear flat shoes."

Fox news warns that women who have worn high heels should not switch to flat shoes.

Of course we have always known that wearing high heels consistently was not good and the the muscles would be altered in some fashion; what we did not know is that the calf muscles fibers, as shown by the British study, was thirteenth percent shorter.

Controversial advice about treatment abounds. It is highly unlikely that women, even those who prefer to wear high heels to work, will live wearing them around the house. And how about gardening, and walking for exercise. At times, even the most urbane of women must resort to flat shoes. What advice for them?

Alternate flats with heels and massage the muscles in attempts to soothe the tightened muscles and gradually get them to become more flexible.

Today's headline: The creativity crisis

Today, a different kind of headline, The Creativity Crisis, 10, 2010 from Newsweek that says America's children are losing their creativity. An interesting finding, and something a little different from the usual day to day things to worry over. Give it a thought or two. Are too many children following the crowd instead of their own quizzical minds?

What is creativity? Ask any two, or three, or four professors and you get the same numbers of answers. Without any of these academic definitions, you can safely say creativity is the ability to create something new and different. It follows along the main areas of living, breathing and thinking. Whatever shape it takes in life, has lot to do with how one thinks and how one uses the thoughts generated. A creative person will find life challenging and which ever direction their talents take them, they will be, for the most part, excellent employers. Possibly not the easiest to work with or to control, but the most proliferate workers. Follow them when problems are to be solved.

Creativity in trading deals with how to use creativity in the market place. "Creativity is essentially making something new. In business and trading creativity is using methods and ideas not tried before, and finding fresh approaches to selling and buying. Creativity in trading is a wide open field beginning. . ."

Today's Headline: New recommendations for Alzheimer's diagnosis

1. WebMd alerts readers there is help on the way for doctors who may be stumped on how to diagnose Alzheimer's. In their article New-recommendations on Alzheimer's Diagnosis Kathleen Doheny reported on a conference in Honolulu, (July 13, 2010) where International scientists gathered to share research findings and to make suggestions on how to present new criteria in diagnosing this dreaded brain disease.

2. Exercise and Alzheimer's: Working Out May Cut Dementia Risk in Half

A new site has been launched whose purpose is to keep track all that is learned and being thought about Alzheimer's. From this site headlines concerning the latest breakthroughs in diagnosis and findings in studies are posted. News from around the world concerning this disease will be posted. The above headline is from their listing of the latest news concerning Alzheimer's.

If it is true, as it is alleged to be, that exercise plays an enormous role in denying Alzheimer's or maybe only delaying it, then that is good news indeed. And I am sure that includes mental exercise as well as physical exercise. Work those puzzles, play those mind games, read that newspaper, keep up with what is going on in the world and give your brain plenty ways to keeps its delicate machinery working.

3. A new Alzheimer's website is launched. While the website is rather skimpy at this point, it is designed to cover all that is known and hoped for where Alzheimer research is concerned. This article was written for Helium after discovering the new web site. I was chasing after information about the conference since I was writing about it, when I discovered this new site that I intend to bookmark so that I can refer to it time and time again.


4. Alzheimer's disease myths and facts . This was written a year or so ago in an attempt to get at some of the wrong information that was believed about the disease. We have come a long way, but are no ways near knowing enough. One of the things I mentioned in this article is that no one dies form Alzheimer's. Once that was the thought. Since it took so long to die when one had Alzheimer's it was assumed that some other disease had to take over and make one ill enough to die. Not true at all. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that takes years before the body is completely robbed of what resembles life.

5. Alzheimer's and dementia: Is there a link
In trying to distinguish between one brain disorder and another is not easy. Most brain diseases that affect the reasoning, thinking, and functioning ability of a person, are thought of as being dementia. Alzheimer's falls into this category, but there are differences that sets the disease apart.

6. New findings on the diagnosis of Alzheimer's This is a current update, from my take on what is going on at the international conference going on in Honolulu as this is now being written. Check it out to see what their agenda and how you can get involved in the studies and become a more informed person concerning the disease.

Todday's Headline: Hot Flashes? Losing weight may help

Hot flashes? Losing weight may help

As the CNN headline news states, losing weight may reduce the symptoms of hot flashes.
"(Health.com) -- Overweight women who experience hot flashes -- the uncomfortable flushing and sweating spells that accompany menopause -- may be able to cool those symptoms by losing weight, a new study suggests. "

That makes a great deal of sense. Anything that calms the body and reduces the demands on it will ease up the hot flashes. This thought did not come from any study, but from personal observation. Even many years after menopause, overeating can cause these sudden hot flashes, or a feeling of extra warmth.

They don't necessarily come in a flash, but one can wake up in the middle of the night and feel overheated. It is then the covers get thrown off, the temperature gets lowered on the thermostat and that is that. System overload is as good a term as any to apply to these early morning heat surges.

After careful observation over a period of time, these nearly always follow after a day of overeating, or a heaping plate for dinner the evening before. During the night when the immune system is attempting to do a little patch work on the body, this overload is probably a deterrent. Just assuming, there is no facts to show this is true, but it is most likely what happens.

Losing weight, for what ever reason, is good for the body. And that is started by not overly indulging in food. That extra that is not immediately utilized for fuel is stored as fat. And as most everyone knows, it clings tenaciously once it is in place among the tissues of the body.

Today's headline: Borrowing is difficult for small businesses

Today's headline deals with reality. Bernanke says borrowing is difficult for small businesses.

Of course that observation is understandable, if not exactly welcoming. It was precisely because everyone was borrowing money they thought they could pay back at their own slow pace, that toppled the expansive economy in the first place. It is an excellent idea, however, that this astute observer of present day spending habits, and knowledgeable leader, lend his expertise on how to deal with these money problems.

The second headline is a Helium debate topic, Who works harder: A stay at home mother or a working mother. The two articles are somewhat related according to today's economy. Many working mothers must work in order to pay bills and keep children fed. "

"The question is an easy one. Working mothers work harder because their work is doubled. Simply because a mother works outside of home for forty hours a week - more or less - does not mean...

"

Today's headline: Depression Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

"Depression Linked to Alzheimer's Disease" from WebMd is today's headline that makes hopeful Internet researchers sit up and take notice.

The above headline makes sense. It says there is a connection between a depressed state of mind and Alzheimer's and it will cause medical investigators to seek further ways of dealing with both. An interesting question one might want to ask is which comes first, the depression or the Alzheimer's. Or is the cause the one and the same.

Whatever evidence is found, it points to another question. Is Alzheimer's alerts -- DNA testing for predisposition to Alzheimer's -- a good thing. Will the worry over the knowledge of Alzheimer's bring the disease faster? If the answer here is yes, then shouldn't the testing be stopped? Not necessarily. It is by this test and the DNA discoveries, that may alert to further reasoning that may have a direct impact on the outcomes of the disease.

The vibes I get at the present time concerning Alzheimer's is that lines of communication are broken and how to repair these, or how to prevent them from being broken, is the next problem to solve.

PS. All of the above, with the exception of the headline itself, is mere speculation on the part of this speculator. It was prompted by speculation and not proven facts.
The headline hunter.

Headlines: Value systems

Something’s Bugging Abercrombie, by Alyce Lomax,

This little gem from the Motley Fools caught my eye this morning. Something’s Bugging Abercrombie, by Alyce Lomax. Somehow it fits into my article for Helium about value systems. At any rate, not to be critical, but to make my point of value systems, sometimes, even the best laid plans of mice and men -- according to Robert Burns, the poet, don't always work out as planned.
The headline Hunter

How experience of life helps human beings to develop values

Values are developed after experiencing events and most likely these are unconscious moves. One never directly sets out, not unless they are in a study to evaluate how values are developed, to develop values. Values are an automatic outcome of one's thinking and one's experience. They are help along by education and daily awareness and change as one matures and gain insight on previous thoughts.

At birth, or possibly even before, values are being formed in some elemental fashion. These have to do with the primal forces that shape developing thoughts and actions. Instincts, such as crying to alert others that something is wrong, is inherent from the very first. There's not much though put into signaling from an empty stomach, a painful bloating stomach, a need for warmth, but how each need is met, is being programmed by the and will begin forming rudimentary value system...

At St. George's, more sleep equals better performance

Bits and pieces of news and research into teenage sleep habits have shown that High school students go to school too early. Their alarm clocks go off forcing them out of deep sleep. They wander into classrooms still half asleep, researchers say. One school, reacting to the evidence of something surely being wrong, decided to start school one half an hour later. The results are amazing.The article by Felice J. Freyer, is from a Providence, Rhode Island newspaper.

Why do I consider this an important bit of information? I was introduced to the problem while researching sleep maladies in general a few years ago. In fact I wrote an article about the teenage circadian pattern of sleep.

How to celebrate the Fourth of July safely

Writing for Helium is fun and it is way to keep on writing. Now and then however, writers try to help by putting information out there where it is most needed. On this 4th of July, my contribution is an article, How to celebrate the fourth of July safely. While lone writers don't have all the answers, collectively there is answers to about all the questions that are being asked. http://www.helium.com/zones/preview/11024

To check out ways on can be safe while out in the woods, while boating, while driving on busy highways, check out my guide on How to celebrate the 4th of July safely.

Hope for today

In the health field a new way to grow stem cells, from frozen blood, an ABC report, gets my vote. "Frozen Blood a Source of Stem Cells, Study Finds... Previously, only cells from skin was used. This is indeed a hopeful new advance in growing new tissue from a person's own cells.

And speaking environmentally, Alex, the hurricane thrashing around in the Gulf Coast area, has subsided. This making clean up of the oil spills from the ruptured oil rig, to begin again. "With Alex fading, Gulf crews set sights on oil cleanup efforts"

These two headlines create hope. Nothing laughable about these topics but they offer a glimmer of light upon darkened waters. And even a glimmer of hope is better than all news being bad news.

On the home front, West Virginia to be more specific, faithful citizens are saying goodby to Robert Byrd, a senator from West Virginia since 1952. He will be back in the Washington area sometime today. Yesterday he was flown in to Charleston and at the Capitol his body was viewed by his numerous friends. Bon Voyage, faithful servant of West Virgina and the US.

One long time supporter of his shared his music album with me yesterday. It came out in 1979 and is on an old 78rpm record. He fiddled and sang and it is right in line with what old time country fiddle playing was all about. He's quite good. I do hope they will redo this album for his many supporters. I believe he would want this to happen. Whatever, I thank Mabel Arbaugh for her generosity.

Today's headline, Thursday, July 1, 2010

Two headlines caught my eye today while searching for headlines: Genes Linked to Hair Loss, by Katrina Woznicki of WebMD Health News; Turkey and Israel hold talks on mending Fences. Although I went there looking for some humor in headlines, but found none. I had to settle for what else, headlines with no special kick to them. Just headlines that in themselves offer a little hope.

The one about genes and hair loss is good news. And the world needs good news.

"June 30, 2010 -- Scientists have identified eight genes that may be associated with the skin disease alopecia areata, a common cause of hair loss that affects 5.3 million Americans.

This is one of the first studies to locate genes potentially linked to alopecia areata. What is most striking about the genes identified is that they are already associated with a number of autoimmune disorders, including type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Now, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York suggest these genes could be targets for new alopecia areata treatments. . ."

The second headline is about Turkey and Israel patching up their differences. As I see it, any time countries in this part of the world make friendly advances toward each other, it is good news, and make for excellent headlines. Turkey and Israel hold talks on mending fences

Until tomorrow, research, read, and post headlines that spell hope, make us laugh, or cause us to wish we could write one like that.

Today's Headlines

This is a new blog. A new adventure for me. Headlines, from whatever sources will be what will be featured each day on this blog. Each day I will find an appealing headline that I thinks fits my idea of a good headline, and I will explain why It is picked.

After that I will explain what the headline is about, and give details, author, and whatever else is appropriate. In order to find an appropriate headline I will search out various newspaper to see who has the best fit.

Others are welcome to submit their headlines to my blog and to explain why they have chosen it. Also discussions about the headline of the day.

Why am I doing this? I is a hobby of mine. For years, too many to remember, I have read headlines and have applauded silently those that I found just right. I will be silent no more. I will find a headline a day and post it on my blog.