Currently the top prepared salad companies are (in my neck of the woods) Fresh Express and Dole. You know what I’m talking about. Caesar by the bag, Mixed greens in plastic, or just straight up shredded lettuce. Its convenience man and its a big trend.

This audio clip talks about Kraft and Sara Lee getting into the game.

What are some international prepared salad brands? How popular are they where you live? Do you see this trend continuing?

ICalledIt mentioned this story on July 13th this year.

Not even the foiled terror plot that heightened security checks at airports nationwide threatens to delay the rollout, the agency said. Any hitches in getting the technology to work properly could add even longer waits to travelers already facing lengthy security lines at airports.

The new U.S. passports will include a chip that contains all the data contained in the paper version — name, birthdate, gender, for example — and can be read by electronic scanners at equipped airports. The State Department says they will speed up going through customs and help enhance border security.

How much more RFID gets enveloped into our lives now? (Warning: Extreme 2010 like statement) Before you know it, our every move will be watched.

Thanks to Engadget for the heads up though today.

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?

Maybe Frith was on to something when he wrote back in 2005, “So anyway, I was surfing the internet when I came across this totally awesome website called “I Called It”, and it looked like it was about making predictions, and what do ya know…I like to make predictions!

For example, I predict that BUY HIGH AND SELL LOW Microsoft, McDonald’s, and Kran Bioengineering will be the companies to invest in. This is not spam. This is not a joke. This is the chance of a LIFETIME to make a LOT of MONEY during your LIFETIME. Don’t you want to LEAVE A LEGACY for your CHILDREN? Do you want them to think you were a LOSER?”

He may have been slightly joking, but McD is up 4 bucks since that prediction back on 3-20-05 and now get this, McDonald’s is changing their entire look of their stores.

Read the rest of Frith’s prediction over here.

I think this is a good move for McDonald’s. Their menu has been evolving over the last 2 years to include healthier more modern options, yet their stores today still have that brick like flooring and yellow and red fiberglass/plastic benches. I’ve been eating at Mickey D’s since I was a baby where I ate their famous Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. I still eat at McDonald’s today 29 years later, however, most of the time I opt for their salad’s when I’m out running around. BTW the new Asian salad is pretty good.

I don’t own any McDonald’s stock, but I sure could get behind the company with this new look and new successful menu.

Source: MSN, Business Week Online

France appears to be the latest European country affected by the the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

A wild duck, which was found dead last week near the central-eastern town of Joyeux, yesterday proved positive for the H5 strain and “bore strong similarities to the H5N1 Asian influenza”, the French agriculture ministry said.

Samples from the dead bird have been sent to the EU’s Reference Laboratory for avian influenza in Weybridge, England for further tests, but officials expect the worst.

The Netherlands has joined France in putting forward plans to vaccinate poultry, with officials considering proposals to inoculate up to six million birds. However, scientists are divided over the effectiveness of vaccination and officials worry that other countries might use inoculation as a pretext to ban European poultry imports.

….The H5N1 virus has already been found in Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Earlier this week, France extended its ban on keeping poultry outside to the whole of the country. The Government intends to have 14 million human vaccination kits ready by the end of the year.

Source: The New Zealand Herald

–More Bird Flu spreading to India and Iraq. I have added Bird Flu as its own category at this point.

The European Union said avian influenza has been found in two swans in Austria and tests were being conducted to determine if it is the deadly H5N1 strain.

The European Commission, in a statement sent by e-mail today, said Austria was applying “precautionary measures.” Austria becomes the fourth EU nation to be hit by bird flu, after Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

“The Austrian authorities have informed the European Commission this afternoon of a confirmed case of the H5 avian influenza virus in two dead swans found in the region of Stiria, near to the city of Graz,” the commission said. “Further tests will now be carried out.”

A wild swan tested positive for an H5 subtype of avian influenza in Slovenia, the European Commission said yesterday, a day after Italy and Greece confirmed the lethal H5N1 virus in swans. The commission is the EU’s executive branch.

The virus has killed birds in more than 20 countries and infected at least 166 people, killing 88 of them.

Source: Bloomberg

Bird Flu, Avian flu, Italy, Greece, Austria, H5N1

-Side note: I really liked Vienna when I was there.

Fewer Americans died of cancer in 2003 than in previous years, the first such decline ever recorded, although the number of cancer deaths among women increased, the American Cancer Society said on Thursday.

“From 2002 to 2003, the number of recorded cancer deaths decreased by 778 in men, but increased by 409 in women, resulting in a net decrease of 369 total cancer deaths,” the American Cancer Society said in a statement.

Due largely to a decline in smoking among men, it is the first decrease in numbers since 1930, when nationwide data was first compiled.

The society predicts that 2006 will see a slight decline compared to 2005, projecting that 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2006, and 565,000 will die of it.

“The death rate from all cancers combined has decreased in the United States since 1991, but not until 2003 was the decrease large enough to outpace the growth and aging of the population and reduce the actual number of cancer deaths,” the society said.

–A combination of early detection, prevention, and more education are probably the reasons. What does this mean for tobacco companies?

Source: Rueters

Cancer Statistics

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

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