Just bringing some attention to the global warming problem. Tuvalu will be affected before many of us.

http://www.tuvaluislands.com/warming.htm

CHILDREN with overly strict mothers are much more likely to get fat, according to new research. The study found disciplinarian mothers ended up with six-year-olds who were nearly five times more likely to be overweight than children treated with flexibility and respect, but who were still given clear rules.

Scientists said youngsters whose mothers were strict might be comfort eating due to stress.

Children of neglectful and overly-lenient mothers were also twice as likely to get fat as those of the “flexible rule-setters”. Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine in the United States surveyed the relationships of four-year-olds in 872 families.

When they measured their body-mass indexes later, they found that 17 per cent of the children of strict disciplinarians were overweight.

That compared with 9.9 per cent of the children of neglectful parents, 9.8 per cent of those with too-lenient parents and just 3.9 per cent of the flexible rule-setters’ offspring.

“The difference between the parenting groups is pretty striking,” said Dr Kay Rhee, a co-author of the study into the four parenting “styles” and their effects.

Another explanation might be that parents who show respect and warmth within a framework of rules help their children learn to make good decisions about food and exercise.

The study, which was published in the journal Paediatrics, said: “These results provide evidence that a strict environment lacking in emotional responsiveness is associated with an increased risk of childhood [obesity].”

Source: Scotsman News UK

–Very interesting research and evidence. Something I never thought of before. I may have been of victim of this when I was younger :). Now I have an excuse for being fat when I was a child! Who needs a pyschiatrist when there are great findings like this?

bit talks about pinching stuff while on the job. What’s the best thing you’ve jacked from an employer. Not an encourageable behavior, but hey tell us your worst :D.

See the thread here.

Health authorities in China and Indonesia on Friday each reported a woman killed by a deadly strain of bird flu. Azerbaijan became the latest country to report an outbreak among fowl, and Nigeria said the virus had spread there, too.

The spread of bird flu has increased the chance that the virus will mutate and cause disease in humans and a possible pandemic, said Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. bird flu chief. He said there is no evidence yet of any change in the bird flu virus.

Source: ABC News

Nevada is once again the fastest growing state. You go girl.

For the 19th straight year, Nevada was the fastest growing state. Its population rose 3.5 percent for the year ended at mid-year in 2005.

It even moved up a notch – from No. 18 to No. 17 – in the list of top 20 most populous states, bumping Missouri down a notch.

The population in Arizona, the No. 2 fastest growing state, grew at just under 3.5 percent.

The other fastest growing states were Idaho (up 2.4%), Florida (up 2.3%) and Utah (up 2%), in the top five.

Then came Georgia (up 1.7%), Texas (up 1.7%), North Carolina (up 1.7%), Delaware (up 1.6%) and Oregon (up 1.4%).

With the exception of Georgia, Idaho and Texas, much of the increase in the populations of the fastest growing states was due to migration of residents from elsewhere.

The Census findings are in keeping with a trend among home buyers and home owners to move away from high-priced markets to more moderately priced ones.

–Now how will this effect consumerism and retail development, housing, etc.?

Source

Two more bird flu outbreaks have occurred. Guess where?

China on Friday reported two new outbreaks of bird flu among its vast poultry flocks, even as it released dozens of farmers and villagers from medical observation with clean bills of health.

The latest poultry outbreaks were hundreds of miles apart - in the northern province of Shanxi and the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua News Agency said. All poultry on nearby farms were killed as a precaution.

China has reported 15 outbreaks of bird flu in poultry since Oct. 19 and has promised tough control measures to prevent human infections.

The country confirmed its first human cases of bird flu on Wednesday - a woman who died and a boy who recovered. The boy’s sister, who died, is a suspected case. But dozens of people who had contact with the three patients showed no signs of the disease, Xinhua said.

“In 2003, we triumphed over SARS,” Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as saying on state television, referring to another deadly disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome. “It shows that we will triumph over bird flu as well.”

–Famous last words?

Source

–I really want to visit China sometime soon. I hope bird flu doesn’t get out of hand/mutate, but not for my own selfish reasons of wanting to travel there.

bird flu, china, sars, health, poultry, disease

Pittsburgh is a wet sponge or at least it is on weekdays where its population soars. Then after 5pm and the weekends that sponge is rung dry.

In a growing urbanization trend sweeping cities across America, many people are enjoying the exciting life of living downtown. Is Pittsburgh one these cities? No, but the data is interesting. The two articles demonstrate the differences between the choices made of each cities population. Some choose the life of suburbia while others are dumping suburbia for downtown living.

This trend is still strong all along South Florida’s eastern shores for living in the up and coming city life.

Interesting demographic data for the City of Pittsburgh.

A parrot in quarantine was found to have Avian Bird Flu which came from South America and died in quarantine.

Cats used to detect Bird Flu

My cat will save me

So is the H5N1 Avian Bird Flu real or just a media hoax ala Y2K?

Mr. Pink thinks so.

Mr. Pink’s Prediction

Bloggers around the net think the blogosphere will have to take part in helping prevent the pandemic from happening by educating the public and keeping communication lines open and free. Bloggers can do this safely from the comfort of their homes thus keeping you (assuming you are reading said blogs in your chair in front of your computer) out of harms way. Just wait till you need to purchase toilet paper.

A slightly smaller crisis, but not less important, will be when the entire blogger community and the readers on the net finally unstick their butts from their computer chairs and get up at the same time to purchase toilet paper at the store. Can you imagine the long “bread lines,” except this will be for TP.

Some bloggers are predicting that a major economic crisis will happen if the bird flu materializes, setting us back to the stone age. If this is true, we will all be wiping our asses with leaves.

bird flu, bird flu hoax, media hoax, toilet paper, bloggers, H5N1