Have Phone, Will Travel
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 22nd, 2009
During the presidential election last November, I was so excited to be a participant in hope….a participant in the energy of bringing Obama to the white house. But it didn’t end there. I know as well as you know, that that was just the beginning of our work. I look back, and getting Obama into the white house was a piece of cake compared to all of the challenges we face daily in getting something done for this country.
Because of the economic climate, expectation is high. Because of those that don’t want our president to succeed, the party of no continues to hit low.
But as Obama says, “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
Well, to believe in your ability is one thing, but in order to believe in it, one has to back it with action. And for me personally, sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough. And when I feel that way, I take action. How about you? Want to have a little fun with people who believe in their abilities like you do?
I read the below letter from ‘Organizing for America’ and I thought, “Yeah, this could be fun”, so I signed up.
Last week the President laid out his health reform plan and challenged Congress to act. OFA volunteers leapt into action, generating hundreds of thousands of signatures and calls to show grassroots support. Now we need to reach out in our communities, spread the facts about the President’s plan, and bring new voices of support into Washington.
If you can spare your lunch hour (or a couple of hours whenever you’re free), you can help make it happen. Here’s how: Organize or attend a “Health Reform Phone Booth.”
It’s simple: Just join up with other supporters in a public area where people will pass by, distribute fact sheetsabout the President’s plan, and help folks call their members of Congress on the spot to voice their support.
You can search online to see if there’s a booth already set up near you. But if not, just host your own! We’ll give you all the materials, phone numbers, and step-by-step instructions you need to make it a success — and when you register your Phone Booth online, other OFA volunteers can join you to lend a hand:
http://my.barackobama.com/SeptPhoneBooth
Passing health reform won’t be easy — they’ve been talking about it in Washington for almost a century. But we know that when ordinary people who believe in change reach out, spread the facts, and help folks from all walks of life make their voices heard, we can make history.
Thanks for making it happen,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America
Let me interject here….If you’re one of those that has a hard time asking for what you want…asking others to join you in what you believe in…then break out of your shell and take a risk. You’ll be surprised that it isn’t that hard and you’ll actually have some fun, and more importantly you’ll discover that you do believe in your ability to bring about real change in Washington. I know I believe, and if you read below, you’ll see that others believe too.
P.S. — In August we asked a few OFA volunteers to test out running a Health Reform Phone Booth in their area, and we got great reports — even from folks who were pretty nervous before they began. Here are just a couple:
I will confess that I questioned my decision to host an event the instant I hit the send button. I imagined myself on a street corner, handing out fliers like the guys hand out restaurant flyers. Relief struck when the first volunteer signed up with me. Imagine how thrilled I was when 15 had signed up!… We distributed 300 phone booth sheets and 600 info sheets… The best part, one of our volunteers was 79 1/2 years old. She was remarkable. Thank you for this opportunity. I am very glad I did it, no matter how nervous I was.
– Mark P. from New York, New York
We had two veterans tell us that they were very happy with the VA system, and one vowed to write a letter to the editor to dispel the myths that that system doesn’t work. Many people thanked us for having a booth and for trying to dispel the lies being spread by opponents of reform.
– Mike O. from Bozeman, Montana
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Readers: Well…how about breaking out of your shell? How about believing in your ability by taking action? All you need to do is give an hour or so of your time. Easy. Do it. Thanks for all you do. And for you Bay Area locals, I look forward to seeing you out there this week!
Peacin’ out…..
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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September 22nd, 2009 at 8:48 am
Nous aimons le Zen Lill d’exercices. Les bouts serrés et les corps forts sont nos buts.
Merci beaucoup
Les filles de Zen Lill de France
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Zen Lill
Your exercises are great! Thanks for thinking of us women who could use some special attention.
I found this on the web. What do you think? I can’t post the pictures that came with the article. But here’s the article.
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DO-IT-YOURSELF FACELIFT
Yoga keeps the body and the mind young, but can it maintain and even restore youth to the face as well? Hearing her students complain about creeping wrinkles and sagging skin inspired New York City yoga expert and instructor Annelise Hagen to develop a class with poses that target facial aging. The results were so positive she wrote a book called The Yoga Face: Eliminate Wrinkles with the Ultimate Natural Facelift. This may sound like an out-of-the-ordinary yoga practice, but a relaxing facial workout can slow, even reverse, some of the effects of aging, says Hagen. She believes that regularly practicing yoga strengthens and tones even the muscles in the face. Why use Botox, she asks, when you can erase years naturally — not to mention for free?
GETTING STARTED
Hagen told me that “facial yoga” (her term) involves not just the poses but also breathing exercises and mild inversion — but not headstands. Breathing exercises and inversions are relaxing, lower the heart rate, increase blood flow
to the head and act as antidotes to stress. The inversions she recommends are simple ones, including Forward Bends, either from the waist or while sitting on the floor, and the classic Downward-facing Dog pose (bend from the waist making a V position, hands and feet on the floor with your arms and legs straight). Hold each pose for 10 to 30 seconds.
Experienced yoga students should feel free to move on to more advanced inversion poses, including the Supported Shoulder Stand and Plow, which are also good for toning the face.
BREATHE AWAY THE YEARS
Hagen recommends two breathing exercises to help oxygenate and relax the body and face. The first one is Alternate Nostril Breathing. Block your right nostril with your thumb, breathe through the left to a count of four… block left nostril with the ring finger and exhale through the right to a count of eight. Pause, switch sides and repeat, either eight or 16 times, on alternate sides.
The second breathing exercise she recommends is Skull Brightener Breath, a quick and intense cleansing breath that pumps the diaphragm muscles, stimulates the lungs, releases toxins and brings freshly oxygenized blood into the face. For this, start with a focus on your exhalation. Expel your breath vigorously through your nose, pumping your diaphragm as you exhale, allowing the in-breath to follow the out-breath automatically, which forces release of air trapped in the respiratory tract. Do this about 45 times, followed by Breath Retention exercise. After exhaling a last time, draw your pelvic floor muscles in and up, then pull your navel in, toward the spine. Consciously “lock” the muscle (this is called a bandha). Now take a short, quick breath through your nose to the upper chamber of your chest and hold it, tucking your chin toward your sternum while keeping the back of your neck long. Hold the breath for as long as you can comfortably do so, then lift your chin, release the lower abdominal/pelvic muscular lock, and exhale slowly. Savor your next inhalation, and return to calming regular breath. These exercises send vital energy to your face and head, bringing a rosy glow and more efficient circulation to your facial skin.
FACIAL POSES RELAX AND REJUVENATE
Hagen also teaches yoga poses that target the most common trouble spots — the crease between the brows (furrows), crow’s feet (eye lines), fine lines around the mouth, the nose-to-mouth fold (nasolabial folds) and sagging jaw lines and neck. Hagen says it takes about two weeks of practice to master the poses, and after that you’ll need just five or so minutes to complete the cycle. Or you can do them intermittently throughout the day if you prefer. Prepare to laugh, she says — some of these look downright silly, at least when you start.
The first pose, the Lion Face, targets laugh lines around the mouth. Clench hands and tense your entire body, including your rear-end and face, squeezing hard as you inhale through your nose…
then open your eyes, hands and mouth wide, stick out your tongue and forcefully exhale saying “HAAAA.” Do three times — on the last one, to attain complete jaw relaxation, hold your tongue out for 60 seconds with your eyes opened as wide as possible.
Next is the Satchmo pose, so called because it employs the same small muscles inside the cheeks (the buccinators) that would be used to blow a trumpet. This is an anti-jowls exercise. Inhale through your nose and puff the air from one cheek to the other until you run out of breath… as you exhale blow out imaginary smoke rings. Repeat three times.
Kiss the Ceiling helps firm the jaw line and neck. Bring your chin up toward the ceiling, reaching and stretching fully as if you are trying to kiss the ceiling… repeat this motion three times, once looking straight up… then looking to the left… then to the right. Repeat the cycle three times.
The advanced version of this exercise is called Baby Bird and Hagen calls it a “real workout for the cheeks and jaw.”
When you tilt your chin up, push the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, then smile and swallow, keeping your tongue in that position. Keep a glass of water handy — this exercise will dry your throat, she says.
These exercises are effective and easy to do. Hagen’s only caution is that while doing them, especially at first, you are likely to also scrunch other areas of your face. More wrinkling is definitely not what you want — to avoid that, do the exercises in front of a mirror, watching to see which muscles you squeeze and wrinkle up. Lightly press your hand and/or fingers on any involuntary wrinkling to smooth it all away.
Images reprinted from The Yoga Face by Annelise Hagen by arrangement with Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Copyright © 2007 by Annelise Hagen.
Source(s): ??Annelise Hagen, New York City yoga expert and author of The Yoga Face: Eliminate Wrinkles with the Ultimate Natural Facelift (Avery).?
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I want to check it out, but I thought I ask your opinion first.
Thanks again
Grace
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 am
Travel Scams — Here, There and Everywhere
What do you think of when you hear the words “travel scam”? Maybe you think of the faxes advertising amazingly low fares for a vacation that expires that evening. (If you call, you’d find out that your travel is free but your hotel stay is charged at an incredibly high rate.)
Or maybe you think about the mail that comes in express mail-looking envelopes announcing you won a fabulous free cruise in a lottery you don’t remember entering. (If you call, you’d find out that in order to collect your prize, you’d have to attend seminars at your expense, or make purchases for things at highly inflated prices.)
We’ve written in detail about these travel scams and cruise scams before – click here.
But what about travel scams that happen once you arrive at your destination?
Thieves and tricksters are forever coming up with new ways to scam travelers, so it’s important to find out about these scams before you travel.
We’ll discuss three of the most common — and sneaky — travel scams today; these scams can absolutely ruin an otherwise delightful travel experience.
1. Front Desk Credit Card Confusion Scam
Anyone who has tried to see a city in a day and a half or cram 2 days of work into a 12-hour business trip knows what that kind of marathon activity can entail.
Imagine that it’s the end of your long day of frenzy, and you’re settling in for the evening in your hotel room. You’re drifting off to sleep when the phone rings. It’s the front desk clerk asking for your help in verifying some information.
The “front desk clerk” (aka scammer) apologizes for the late hour, but explains that at shift change some forms were left unfinished. She needs to confirm that the form she has is yours, and that the information is correct.
She asks if the last four digits of your credit card are 5678. You groggily reach for your wallet and pull out the card. No, you say, those aren’t the last four digits.
Hmmm, she responds, seeming perplexed. She then asks if you could just read the card number to her. You’re sleepy so you don’t pause before responding when she asks for the expiration date as well.
With a joyous Aha, she tells you that she has found your form. She thanks you profusely, apologizes again and assures you that all the information is now straightened out.
You hang up and drift back to sleep, not realizing that you have just been scammed by a con artist.
It might only be when your credit card is declined the next time you use it that you realize you’ve been scammed.
Action: Never give your card number out over the phone at a hotel. Ask for the name of someone to speak to and tell the caller that you’ll come down in the morning to straighten it out. Don’t offer to call the desk from your room and then feel safe giving the card number. For all you know, the thief is calling from a temporarily abandoned front-desk station.
2. Taxi Cabs or Scam Mobiles?
Once when leaving the main train station in Rome, Italy, a friend was heading for the Taxi Stand when she looked up to see an incredible line. She estimated that it would be at least a 30-minute wait. Our friend probably sighed, visibly. She was immediately approached by a nicely dressed man who offered her a ride and a bypass of the line by saying, “taxi?”
She could have taken the offer. But fortunately, we had told her about this scam beforehand.
Never take a taxi ride from someone who is not in an official, metered taxi cab. Doing so risks not just your wallet — but your safety.
Scam artists have been known to pose as taxi drivers and take off with your luggage. They have also taken unsuspecting tourists to a deserted area and then robbed and/or assaulted them.
At the very least, even if you’re lucky and avoid violence or theft, you’ll still be charged at least 4 or 5 times what the rate should be for the taxi ride.
Any taxi cab should have the car number and company marked on the outside, a registration and driver information card displayed on or near the dashboard, and should either have on display or offer on request a list of charges.
Make yourself familiar with the rate list when you first get into the cab. If possible, make your examination of the rate list obvious. Both these actions will help prevent the driver from getting any “bright” ideas.
If you’re not sure about where to catch a taxi or whether or not you were properly charged, ask at your hotel. If you think you were scammed, try to record identifying information about the driver and/or the vehicle so you can report it to the police.
Action: Never accept rides from individuals who don’t have licensed, metered taxis.
3. Hotel “Representatives”
This scam is similar to the Taxi scam.
The voices will start as soon as you disembark from the plane, train, boat or bus: “Hotel?” or “Room? You need a room?” will begin floating towards you any time you arrive in a major tourist destination transportation hub.
Much like the taxi cab scam above, be wary of those who approach you offering hotel rooms. These scammers may wear a laminated badge, carry a notebook or even have brochures about their hotels. (Very likely, they made these on their home computer.)
They’ll offer you a great rate, showing you the colorful pictures in the brochures, and then offer to take you to the hotel.
Once again, you’re in danger of losing your luggage or your wallet, and violence can occur with this scam as well.
Alternatively, once you arrive at the hotel (tired and ready to go to sleep), the hotel clerk will apologetically inform you that the rate promised is magically all filled for the evening — but they have rooms ready for you at twice the promised rate.
Once you wearily agree and head to the room, your “representative” will be handed a hefty tip by the clerk.
You’re best off making your own reservations by phone and confirming rates with a credit card. Make sure you get a confirmation number that you can show upon checking in.
Action: If you arrive in a city without a reservation, avoid these lone representatives. Look for the nearest tourist information office or hit the nearest phone booth with your travel guidebook in hand.
Now that you know about them, you can avoid these three destination travel scams. Have a great — and safe — week.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:16 am
I found this on the web. It is more evidence that Obama needs to work on the FDA.
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FDA gets a taste of its own medicine
It’s about time someone stood up and said, “Enough’s enough.”
The Food and Drug Administration is being sued for censorship and is accused of being in contempt of a court order.
This has been a long time coming.
The accusations stem from the FDA’s constant meddling with the language it will allow to describe the health claims of vitamins and supplements — even when there are clear studies that back up their effectiveness. Back in June, the FDA pulled 13 claims it had previously allowed. Then, it rewrote four others to the point where they were completely useless.
The law firm that filed the suit has represented supplement makers and physicians over the years. They say the FDA’s recent actions violate federal court rulings issued in 1999 and 2002, which declare that disclosure must be favored over suppression.
Right now, the FDA’s main game is suppression — and it has a willing partner in the Federal Trade Commission, which also engages in the harsh censorship of good scientific information.
Both organizations now find themselves in court, with the FTC on the losing end of a decision in August. The FTC sought $24 million in fines from a supplement maker, but a federal judge found that the company had “clearly offered support and substantiation for the claims regarding their products.”
The FTC and FDA like to play the bully — they hope their threats will force vitamin and supplement makers to back down before the case ever reaches a judge, but in this case the company didn’t.
When they got to court, the FTC was all bark and no bite — its own experts couldn’t say that the products in question were ineffective, nor could they say that they harmed consumers — the two main complaints made by the FTC against the company.
There’s no doubt that there needs to be some mechanism in place to prevent unscrupulous firms from making unproven claims about their products. And it goes without saying that you need to be smart about whom you buy your supplements from and stick to reputable companies.
But there’s also no doubt in my mind that the FDA has overstepped its bounds, and its priority is protecting Big Pharma’s big drugs rather than making sure patients have accurate information about vitamins, nutrients and supplements.
The FDA has for years had an incredible double standard when it comes to prescription drugs and vitamins. Vitamins often require long disclaimers, even when there is solid evidence of their effectiveness.
Many prescription meds don’t work nearly as well as some of these nutrients, and yet Big Pharma is rarely required to put the same kinds of disclaimers on its drug bottles.
Some major antidepressants were found to be no better than placebos in a landmark 2008 study — yet the FDA has not forced the inclusion of this very real data onto antidepressant pill bottles or even in their marketing literature.
In fact, it usually takes some pretty serious side effects or even deaths before the FDA will consider a warning on the more dangerous meds — too little, too late.
It’s time for someone to put an end to this nonsense and let people speak honestly about effective vitamins and nutrients.
Enough’s enough.
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Ruth
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Oui! plus de buts d’exercices sont magnifique! Les donwward chien, see above description in Grace’s comment (add alternating right and left leg stretches, bringing opposite fott up on toes, hold that for a count of 3 on each side and repeat 10x’s les buts will be screaming : ) and merci beaucoup to all of you.
Grace, all of those yoga poses will bring blood flow to your face, and it’s all about blood flow (for any body part). Try accupressure when you’re washing your face or applying moisturizer, press along brow line, on either side of nose, along laugh lines, and definitely along chin line and press hard and hold for a count of 3 at least, I do this 2x’s a week, but it’s best to do it am and pm, I just run short on time with everythng else I’ve got going on. the best facial relaxer: sex, don’t laugh, it’s true ; )
caio for now, Zen Lill
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Hi Michelle,
These little snippets of wisdom are painting an ugly picture of how things really are. I don’t think this is information that most of us did not already know, or suspect, but I like the way they are worded and put together.
What we really need is some responsible (honest) news reporting, fat chance of that happening anytime soon. One day maybe.
This one is called
“WHO’s NEXT”
Our economy balances precariously on barrels of oil. Our military, plastics, and automotive industry depend on a constant and inexpensive supply. Our shopping malls, restaurants, factories and office buildings rely on it to transport customers and employees to and fro. The dollar itself depends upon oil. Our currency currently holds favored status in the world. One of the main reasons is that it is the only currency used for the trade of oil. Iraq was about to allow its vast oil reserves to be bought with euros instead of dollars setting a dangerous example for the rest of the oil producing countries. American invasion and occupation quickly saw to that danger. Now, with precedent set the only question is: who’s next?
Al
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:17 am
This was a concern for my mother.
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Q: I take several medications that need to be refrigerated. Should I be concerned about ordering them from Web sites and having them sent in the mail?
A: Order only from sites that carry the VIPPS seal, indicating that they are Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites. Most major national chains, such as CVS and Walgreens, carry this seal. All these sites ship medicines requiring refrigeration on a rush basis, with cold packs to keep them at the right temperature. This is the same way drugs are shipped to pharmacies by wholesalers and manufacturers.
Verified sites also require that someone be home to receive and sign for the refrigerated package — this ensures that the medication will not sit outdoors and get too warm.
If you are in doubt, check the shipping information listed on the Web site or call to confirm the shipping methods.
Our inside source: Maria Marzella Sulli, PharmD, associated clinical professor, St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, Queens, New York.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:29 am
If the insurance companies win, you lose. It’s really that simple.
If Congress passes a bill that denies us the choice of a public insurance plan, Big Insurance wins and you lose. If Congress requires you to buy insurance but doesn’t prevent Big Insurance from denying you care when you get sick or revoking your coverage when you need it, they win and you lose.1
But we can fight back. Today, TrueMajority/USAction members and affiliates are among the thousands of people lined up outside insurance company offices to demand that they stop denying our care and stop using our premiums to lobby against healthcare reform.