What stock exchange firm do you work for? Is it true that you accumulate a big holding of a stock for all of your clients and then write good things about that stock in your newspaper column so that millions of investors will read about the stock? And when all these people who read about the stock think it’s good, they buy the stock and push it up to a much higher price than what your clients paid, and then you sell it at a profit, don’t you?
Is this how you pay for your big, plush office and big staff? Your huge, multi-million-dollar home and your fancy golf club? Your expensive Mercedes and vacations in Europe?
I think this is terrible and illegal and that you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law by the New York Stock Exchange and the Securities Exchange Commission people.
I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but it certainly ain’t the Internal Revenue Service, my barber, my accountant or Kenny Hee, who owns the second best Chinese restaurant in Central Florida. But it’s always a hoot to hear from a reader like you. Even though your questions derive from an enormous superfluity of ignorance and anger, they are fair questions and rightly deserve to be answered.
My 15-by-20-foot office, where I employ 1.5 people, is scrunched between a beauty salon and a travel bureau. It’s located in an older, declining, 31-year-old business center that’s also home to a podiatrist, a chiropractor, a physical therapy center and a Fifth Third branch bank. My office is furnished with second- and third-hand furniture, two IBM wheel-writer typewriters, a couple of computers and an air conditioning unit that’s as old as the original wallpapering and carpets.
I live in a modest house, in a modest neighborhood, in a modest community, and I drive a diesel and an SUV, both of which are American-made. I’m not employed by a brokerage; I don’t play golf, and I’ve not been to Europe in a decade.
I write three columns for weekly publication, and if you objectively read them, common sense will tell you that the brokerage industry and I agree on only one thing: that stocks will go up and that stocks will go down. This column is anathema to the sales practices and products of the brokerage industry.
It’s so anathema, in fact, that on numerous occasions, Merrill Lynch and other brokerages have tried to silence the column through the NYSE, the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
A consultant is a guy with grey hair so he can appear distinguished and hemorrhoids so he can look concerned. And I’m a consultant for several large retirement plans, in which I help the company define and select short-, medium- and long-term investment objectives. Then I help that company to select a money manager or managers who we think may best represent the plan’s objectives. And finally, I monitor the money manager or managers to be sure they’re meeting the plan’s objectives. I do not tell them when to invest or what investments to buy, nor do I tell them where to place their trades.
And if a retiring or retired employee needs to employ a personal money manager, I may be asked to help that person locate a professional he can trust. I do not buy or sell stocks for anybody. I do not have any interest in any brokerage accounts (except family accounts), and I do not participate in any commission arrangements.
I write this column because it gives me enormous satisfaction to know that over the years, it has has helped millions of investors make appropriate decisions and that their lives are much better for it. And I am reminded of this by the emails and letters I receive from folks unlike you.
2012年2月20日星期一
2012年2月19日星期日
Robert Winningham a long way from winning Indiana congressional seat
Maybe less than five minutes into our talk, Lee Hamilton was mentioned. It would happen again and again, in a rather rushed morning conversation.
It must keep happening, with whomever he talks, for Robert Winningham to stand much chance of winning Hamilton’s old congressional seat, from Indiana’s 9th District. That’s my assumption.
The seat is currently held by Todd Young, a Republican, who is defending it for the first time.
Winningham, 50, of Charlestown, is among four Democratic challengers and is a former Hamilton aide. Winningham’s credibility is at least loosely linked to Hamilton’s. As advantages go, that’s a dandy.
“My background with Lee certainly doesn’t hurt,” Winningham said.
Hamilton served 34 years before retiring. He well might still be in office, had he wanted.
Winningham is neither a Hoosier by birth nor by relatively recent residency, however. He moved back here, from his native Texas, and promptly took on the campaign. “I consider this to be home,” Winningham said.
After what he calls his best-ever job review, Winningham gave up an economic developer’s post in the Dallas suburbs to go Quixotic. “I was restless,” he said.
Young is not invincible and, for that matter, has opposition in the GOP primary. Congress tends to be about as popular as hemorrhoids. And in his brief stint, Young has not found much chance to impact Southern Indiana beyond a reasonable doubt.
The district’s boundaries have been dramatically altered, as well. It now is more a north-south district than an east-west one. It is appreciably more Republican. But in some spots, Young is probably little better known than his opponents.
That said, Young will have all the campaign cash he needs and probably an anti-President Barack Obama wind at his back. Republicans could dominate the top of the 2012 ticket in Indiana.
Relentlessly upbeat, Winningham must know all this. He also trusts people’s encouragement and reconnects with everyone he can with whom his ties are not just political.
Winningham coached swimming in Jeffersonville, including at the high school. Bob Bottorff, who swam for Winningham and is now a lawyer, is chairing this campaign.
Bottorff says Winningham’s success in bringing jobs to Texas sets him apart. “That is the key,” he said. “Whether that is successful, it is what our district needs.”
Adam Dickey, a former aide for Young’s predecessor, Baron Hill, is Winningham’s political director. He echoes the idea that Winningham is the best-experienced guy for the troubled economy.
Dickey also said Winningham, despite having been gone more than a decade, remains impressively familiar. “It amazes me, how many people he stayed in contact with and knows,” Dickey said.
Winningham visited Hamilton last summer and the old boss ticked off the challenges Winningham accepts. Hamilton has not endorsed Winningham. If one comes, that’s obviously great, Winningham said.
As director of the Center on Congress, though, Hamilton tries to stay above the fray. But Hamilton predicted Winningham will have fun.
It’s obviously a lot more fun to win.
Winningham’s Democratic foes are Jonathan George of Bedford, John Griffin Miller of Corydon and John Tilford of Bloomington.
It must keep happening, with whomever he talks, for Robert Winningham to stand much chance of winning Hamilton’s old congressional seat, from Indiana’s 9th District. That’s my assumption.
The seat is currently held by Todd Young, a Republican, who is defending it for the first time.
Winningham, 50, of Charlestown, is among four Democratic challengers and is a former Hamilton aide. Winningham’s credibility is at least loosely linked to Hamilton’s. As advantages go, that’s a dandy.
“My background with Lee certainly doesn’t hurt,” Winningham said.
Hamilton served 34 years before retiring. He well might still be in office, had he wanted.
Winningham is neither a Hoosier by birth nor by relatively recent residency, however. He moved back here, from his native Texas, and promptly took on the campaign. “I consider this to be home,” Winningham said.
After what he calls his best-ever job review, Winningham gave up an economic developer’s post in the Dallas suburbs to go Quixotic. “I was restless,” he said.
Young is not invincible and, for that matter, has opposition in the GOP primary. Congress tends to be about as popular as hemorrhoids. And in his brief stint, Young has not found much chance to impact Southern Indiana beyond a reasonable doubt.
The district’s boundaries have been dramatically altered, as well. It now is more a north-south district than an east-west one. It is appreciably more Republican. But in some spots, Young is probably little better known than his opponents.
That said, Young will have all the campaign cash he needs and probably an anti-President Barack Obama wind at his back. Republicans could dominate the top of the 2012 ticket in Indiana.
Relentlessly upbeat, Winningham must know all this. He also trusts people’s encouragement and reconnects with everyone he can with whom his ties are not just political.
Winningham coached swimming in Jeffersonville, including at the high school. Bob Bottorff, who swam for Winningham and is now a lawyer, is chairing this campaign.
Bottorff says Winningham’s success in bringing jobs to Texas sets him apart. “That is the key,” he said. “Whether that is successful, it is what our district needs.”
Adam Dickey, a former aide for Young’s predecessor, Baron Hill, is Winningham’s political director. He echoes the idea that Winningham is the best-experienced guy for the troubled economy.
Dickey also said Winningham, despite having been gone more than a decade, remains impressively familiar. “It amazes me, how many people he stayed in contact with and knows,” Dickey said.
Winningham visited Hamilton last summer and the old boss ticked off the challenges Winningham accepts. Hamilton has not endorsed Winningham. If one comes, that’s obviously great, Winningham said.
As director of the Center on Congress, though, Hamilton tries to stay above the fray. But Hamilton predicted Winningham will have fun.
It’s obviously a lot more fun to win.
Winningham’s Democratic foes are Jonathan George of Bedford, John Griffin Miller of Corydon and John Tilford of Bloomington.
2012年2月16日星期四
Symptoms Of Hemorrhoids And The Way To Spot Them
Hemorrhoids is a condition that many people have to unfortunately live with in pain.
Even though not everyone seems to be knowledgeable about what they are or recognize the signs to know if they have them. In many instances, the signs of hemorrhoids are mixed with other such conditions. Although people don't like to have hemorrhoids, we sometimes have to suffer with them, but there are plenty of methods to treat them. This article will help you to be aware of a few hemorrhoid symptoms.
The severity level of hemorrhoids ranges from first to fourth degree, and doctors differentiate between internal and external. The biggest difference is between the internal and external type, as when you have internal hemorrhoids they are not visible without a medical examination. An anti-inflammatory from the pharmacy should be enough to treat your hemorrhoids if they only happen occasionally and don't cause extreme discomfort.
Hemorroids can be easily diagnosed according to your medical history, symptoms, and an examination. If necessary, your doctor may want to examine you using an anoscopy which is just a means of visible inspection that illuminates the affected area in your anus/rectum. If hemorrhoids are confirmed, then of course there will be some changes in order with regard to diet and other areas. The condition oftens responds very well and is manageable, but sometimes surgery is needed to address more severe cases. In many instances, the symptoms of hemorrhoids can be controlled by natural remedies and medicines you can buy at the pharmacy.
The diet you consume can either be a big help or do alotof harm where your hemorrhoid symptoms are concerned. A lack of fiber in your diet, for example, can make you constipated, which can contribute to hemorrhoids. There are alot of people who believe that spicy foods irritate hemorrhoid symptoms after eaten. If this is the case with you, the best approach is to eat a diet high in fiber while avoiding hot and spicy foods as much as possible. You may also want to avoid unhealthy fats and junk foods as a general rule. Hemorroids and obesity are both caused by these types of foods.
Hemorrhoids is the kind of painful condition nobody wants to have. Yet, so many people in the more "advanced" societies seem to encounter this condition. While most of the time the symptoms do not require medical intervention, if they get bad enough then you could require surgery. The best course of action is to never ignore this condition if you think you have them.
These suggestions can assist you with the hemorrhoids, having said that if you truly desire to enjoy the best results a well-known program to eliminate hemorrhoids is very recommended. Have a look at this website page on H Miracle book and find out about a very popular step by step system to shrink hemorrhoids naturally.
Even though not everyone seems to be knowledgeable about what they are or recognize the signs to know if they have them. In many instances, the signs of hemorrhoids are mixed with other such conditions. Although people don't like to have hemorrhoids, we sometimes have to suffer with them, but there are plenty of methods to treat them. This article will help you to be aware of a few hemorrhoid symptoms.
The severity level of hemorrhoids ranges from first to fourth degree, and doctors differentiate between internal and external. The biggest difference is between the internal and external type, as when you have internal hemorrhoids they are not visible without a medical examination. An anti-inflammatory from the pharmacy should be enough to treat your hemorrhoids if they only happen occasionally and don't cause extreme discomfort.
Hemorroids can be easily diagnosed according to your medical history, symptoms, and an examination. If necessary, your doctor may want to examine you using an anoscopy which is just a means of visible inspection that illuminates the affected area in your anus/rectum. If hemorrhoids are confirmed, then of course there will be some changes in order with regard to diet and other areas. The condition oftens responds very well and is manageable, but sometimes surgery is needed to address more severe cases. In many instances, the symptoms of hemorrhoids can be controlled by natural remedies and medicines you can buy at the pharmacy.
The diet you consume can either be a big help or do alotof harm where your hemorrhoid symptoms are concerned. A lack of fiber in your diet, for example, can make you constipated, which can contribute to hemorrhoids. There are alot of people who believe that spicy foods irritate hemorrhoid symptoms after eaten. If this is the case with you, the best approach is to eat a diet high in fiber while avoiding hot and spicy foods as much as possible. You may also want to avoid unhealthy fats and junk foods as a general rule. Hemorroids and obesity are both caused by these types of foods.
Hemorrhoids is the kind of painful condition nobody wants to have. Yet, so many people in the more "advanced" societies seem to encounter this condition. While most of the time the symptoms do not require medical intervention, if they get bad enough then you could require surgery. The best course of action is to never ignore this condition if you think you have them.
These suggestions can assist you with the hemorrhoids, having said that if you truly desire to enjoy the best results a well-known program to eliminate hemorrhoids is very recommended. Have a look at this website page on H Miracle book and find out about a very popular step by step system to shrink hemorrhoids naturally.
2012年2月15日星期三
Do You Know The Distinct Symptoms Of Hemorrhoids?
There are quite a few symptoms of hemorrhoids, and they will vary depending on what is causing your condition, what kind you have and how severe your particular case is. No matter what the reason for your hemorrhoids, you want to be able to get rid of them as quickly as possible. In order to successfully achieve this goal you need a good understanging of your condition. We will walk you through a few of the symptoms of hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids get categorized by type, internal and external, and level of severity which ranges from first degree to fourth. Internal hemorrhoids are not visible without a medical examination, which is the biggest difference between the two types. If you only have hemorrhoids occasionally, and your symptoms are not causing you extreme discomfort, you probably won't need anything more than anti-inflammatory medication that you buy at the pharmacy or prescribed by your doctor. Skin irritation, mucus discharge, itching or bleeding when having a bowel movement are all symptoms of hemorrhoids. The inflammation of internal hemorrhoids is what generally causes these symptoms. These symptoms, which are usually not very painful, can be treated with over the counter medications, in most cases. If you experience bleeding regularly, you need to see your doctor as this can be a symptom of a more serious condition.
You can try to manage hemorrhoids yourself after first noticing the symptoms. Taking over the counter medication to deal with the pain, you can usually treat hemorrhoids by improving your diet, drinking lots of water, and getting more exercise. If these lifestyle changes are effective at controlling your symptoms, then making them permanent will help prevent the hemorrhoids from recurring in the future. Your doctor may prescribe a stronger medication if these changes aren't enough by themselves. The main symptom of hemorrhoids is extreme pain or discomfort in the anal area. You're in luck however, hemorrhoids do not usually last for a long time. If your symptoms last a long time and are not getting better from any of the treatments above you should see your doctor. It may be that you are one of the unlucky few who require a different treatment method. Your symptoms may vary from what your heard here. Most people, fortunately, are able to control their hemorrhoids, either on their own or with medical help.
These guidelines can help you with your hemorrhoids problem, still if you truly want to get the very best results a complete plan to shrink hemorrhoids is definitely recommended.
Hemorrhoids get categorized by type, internal and external, and level of severity which ranges from first degree to fourth. Internal hemorrhoids are not visible without a medical examination, which is the biggest difference between the two types. If you only have hemorrhoids occasionally, and your symptoms are not causing you extreme discomfort, you probably won't need anything more than anti-inflammatory medication that you buy at the pharmacy or prescribed by your doctor. Skin irritation, mucus discharge, itching or bleeding when having a bowel movement are all symptoms of hemorrhoids. The inflammation of internal hemorrhoids is what generally causes these symptoms. These symptoms, which are usually not very painful, can be treated with over the counter medications, in most cases. If you experience bleeding regularly, you need to see your doctor as this can be a symptom of a more serious condition.
You can try to manage hemorrhoids yourself after first noticing the symptoms. Taking over the counter medication to deal with the pain, you can usually treat hemorrhoids by improving your diet, drinking lots of water, and getting more exercise. If these lifestyle changes are effective at controlling your symptoms, then making them permanent will help prevent the hemorrhoids from recurring in the future. Your doctor may prescribe a stronger medication if these changes aren't enough by themselves. The main symptom of hemorrhoids is extreme pain or discomfort in the anal area. You're in luck however, hemorrhoids do not usually last for a long time. If your symptoms last a long time and are not getting better from any of the treatments above you should see your doctor. It may be that you are one of the unlucky few who require a different treatment method. Your symptoms may vary from what your heard here. Most people, fortunately, are able to control their hemorrhoids, either on their own or with medical help.
These guidelines can help you with your hemorrhoids problem, still if you truly want to get the very best results a complete plan to shrink hemorrhoids is definitely recommended.
2012年2月14日星期二
White corn recipes for a healthier you
WHITE corn was once viewed as a "food for the poor," and hardly occupied the Filipino tables. However, with the healthy lifestyle that includes meticulous diet, corn now is a latest chick in health menus with nutritional benefits.
The corn program of the Department of Agriculture mentions of the most important nutritional value that favors most diabetic folks and those who are weight conscious. Including corn in ones regular diet assures acquisition of necessary calories for daily metabolism of the body. The staple food do not just promise a luscious taste with the butter spread; likewise, it helps in skin care, boosting nervous system, digestion, and maintaining low cholesterol levels.
Athletes who feed on mais-bigas like Manny Pacquiao have high stamina due to mineral contents of corn like manganese, magnesium, copper and zinc.
One who lacks daily exercise does not necessarily get frustrated on the need to burn fats. Compared to rice, a regular diet of corn assures low sugar in the blood. The high fiber content of corn also plays a role in prevention of digestive ailments like constipation and hemorrhoids as well as colorectal cancer.
Pregnant women may also consider corn in their food cravings since it contains folate. A type of vitamin B which helps generates cells for the growing baby in the womb.
Aside from its health benefits, corn are also considered as a "brain food" since it is rich in thiamine or vitamin B1 which stimulates the brain. Its antioxidant contents help fight cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
Check out these three recipes to help you maintain your regular corn diet aside from munching it on its cob.
The corn program of the Department of Agriculture mentions of the most important nutritional value that favors most diabetic folks and those who are weight conscious. Including corn in ones regular diet assures acquisition of necessary calories for daily metabolism of the body. The staple food do not just promise a luscious taste with the butter spread; likewise, it helps in skin care, boosting nervous system, digestion, and maintaining low cholesterol levels.
Athletes who feed on mais-bigas like Manny Pacquiao have high stamina due to mineral contents of corn like manganese, magnesium, copper and zinc.
One who lacks daily exercise does not necessarily get frustrated on the need to burn fats. Compared to rice, a regular diet of corn assures low sugar in the blood. The high fiber content of corn also plays a role in prevention of digestive ailments like constipation and hemorrhoids as well as colorectal cancer.
Pregnant women may also consider corn in their food cravings since it contains folate. A type of vitamin B which helps generates cells for the growing baby in the womb.
Aside from its health benefits, corn are also considered as a "brain food" since it is rich in thiamine or vitamin B1 which stimulates the brain. Its antioxidant contents help fight cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
Check out these three recipes to help you maintain your regular corn diet aside from munching it on its cob.
2012年2月13日星期一
As Facebook IPO nears, the case for dull stocks
Investors thinking of buying a piece of Facebook after it goes public are hoping it will perform like Google, whose stock has risen 500 percent since its debut seven and a half years ago.
But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting - a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.
Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn't get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.
And the staid Johnson & Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too - returning 12 percent with dividends.
Google is up more than most stocks if you pick a different starting point, like 2004. But measured from the market peak, it's down 1.5 percent. In other words, the people who got in then still haven't broken even - four and half years later.
Even Microsoft, the lumbering software company whose best days are widely considered behind it, has done better, returning 12 percent, counting dividends.
The lesson is that when it comes to hot stocks, you can sit on losses for years if you happen to buy at the top and can't make up ground with dividend checks.
"They move like rockets, straight up," says Robert Russell, president of Russell & Co., a wealth management company in Ohio. "But they can fall back to earth, too."
In a filing earlier this month, Facebook said it plans to sell a yet-unknown stake for $5 billion, the largest for an Internet company's initial public offering. The buzz is that the offering could value the whole company at as much as $100 billion - more than Hewlett-Packard, AOL and Yahoo combined.
Whether the newly public stock - ticker symbol FB - will prove profitable for investors is another matter.
For a taste of the dangers of buying stock in companies in the spotlight, check out the performance of Internet IPOs last year. You've done OK if you got in at the offering price, set before the stock starts trading. But that's mostly reserved for the favored customers - pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds and other institutions. The little guy isn't doing nearly as well.
After sharp rises on the first day of trading, most stocks have fallen. That's true for Groupon Inc., the online daily deals site, Pandora Media Inc., an Internet radio operator, and the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc.
Even the online professional network LinkedIn Corp., a stock that surged Friday on news of unexpected big quarterly profits, is down 4.6 percent from its IPO close.
In hindsight, people looking to strike it rich should have stuck with the IPOs of companies more obscure, like fertilizer maker CVR Partners. Since its public debt in April, the company, which sells nitrogen fertilizer to farmers from a factory in Kansas, is up 77 percent.
Its lucky owners also get something those of pie-in-the-sky Internet outfits can only dream about - dividends. CVR is expected to send checks to its shareholders over the next year of $2 per share, or 8 percent of its stock price even after the big run-up.
As it turns out, dividends have played a role in other recent triumphs of the boring over the bedazzling.
During the stock market swoon from Oct. 2007 to March 2009, Johnson & Johnson stock fell only half as much as Google. That's because J&J still has a fat 3.5 percent dividend yield. Google doesn't pay a dividend.
Those checks in the mail helped on the way up, too. Without dividends, J&J would have lost 2 percent since the market peak instead of returning 12 percent. Microsoft would be up just 2 percent instead of 12 percent.
Those companies can pay dividends because they make big profits, another thing lacking at many Internet companies. Internet bulls don't seem to be bothered, preferring to focus on sales. The idea is if you grow them fast, profits will come naturally.
But investors can lose patience waiting.
On Wednesday, Groupon announced that it had tripled revenue last quarter providing deals on restaurant meals, hotel stays, manicures and the like. No matter. The company also said it hadn't turned a profit - not yet at least. Its stock fell 14 percent.
Facebook is already profitable, but not enough to justify that top-end value of $100 billion. At that lofty height, the company would trade at 145 times what it earned in 2011. The S&P 500 is trading at 15 times last year's profits.
So investors are talking about Facebook's almost $3.7 billion in sales last year, which helps justify the value a bit more, maybe. At $100 billion, Facebook stock would be trading at 27 times sales. LinkedIn is trading at 20 times and Google at five.
We'd all be rich, of course, if picking stocks was just a matter of checking sales multiples or dividend yields or any other simple gauge. Apple doesn't pay a dividend, for instance, but that didn't stop it from rising. Facebook could indeed become the next Apple.
But when it comes to investing, you could do worse than avoiding exciting new businesses in the headlines and putting your money instead into tired old ones you never see articles about, and wouldn't care to read if you did.
Like a company hawking deep fryers.
National Presto Industries makes Big Daddy fryers and other kitchen gadgets as well as what's delicately called "incontinence products," better known as adult diapers. It's run out of a cinderblock converted World War II munitions factory in Eau Claire, Wis., by Maryjo Cohen, a woman so frugal she refused for years to fly anything but coach on business trips, upgrade from Microsoft Office 97 on her computer or replace the Eisenhower-era iron desks at headquarters.
Better to save money for dividends, which the company has been paying for 67 years. That's 40 years before the birth of Mark Zuckerberg, the hoodie-wearing Facebook CEO.
Cohen prefers sensible skirts and blouses but somehow has managed to lift Presto stock up 90 percent above where it was trading at the stock market peak. With dividends, it's returned 157 percent.
But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting - a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.
Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn't get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.
And the staid Johnson & Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too - returning 12 percent with dividends.
Google is up more than most stocks if you pick a different starting point, like 2004. But measured from the market peak, it's down 1.5 percent. In other words, the people who got in then still haven't broken even - four and half years later.
Even Microsoft, the lumbering software company whose best days are widely considered behind it, has done better, returning 12 percent, counting dividends.
The lesson is that when it comes to hot stocks, you can sit on losses for years if you happen to buy at the top and can't make up ground with dividend checks.
"They move like rockets, straight up," says Robert Russell, president of Russell & Co., a wealth management company in Ohio. "But they can fall back to earth, too."
In a filing earlier this month, Facebook said it plans to sell a yet-unknown stake for $5 billion, the largest for an Internet company's initial public offering. The buzz is that the offering could value the whole company at as much as $100 billion - more than Hewlett-Packard, AOL and Yahoo combined.
Whether the newly public stock - ticker symbol FB - will prove profitable for investors is another matter.
For a taste of the dangers of buying stock in companies in the spotlight, check out the performance of Internet IPOs last year. You've done OK if you got in at the offering price, set before the stock starts trading. But that's mostly reserved for the favored customers - pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds and other institutions. The little guy isn't doing nearly as well.
After sharp rises on the first day of trading, most stocks have fallen. That's true for Groupon Inc., the online daily deals site, Pandora Media Inc., an Internet radio operator, and the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc.
Even the online professional network LinkedIn Corp., a stock that surged Friday on news of unexpected big quarterly profits, is down 4.6 percent from its IPO close.
In hindsight, people looking to strike it rich should have stuck with the IPOs of companies more obscure, like fertilizer maker CVR Partners. Since its public debt in April, the company, which sells nitrogen fertilizer to farmers from a factory in Kansas, is up 77 percent.
Its lucky owners also get something those of pie-in-the-sky Internet outfits can only dream about - dividends. CVR is expected to send checks to its shareholders over the next year of $2 per share, or 8 percent of its stock price even after the big run-up.
As it turns out, dividends have played a role in other recent triumphs of the boring over the bedazzling.
During the stock market swoon from Oct. 2007 to March 2009, Johnson & Johnson stock fell only half as much as Google. That's because J&J still has a fat 3.5 percent dividend yield. Google doesn't pay a dividend.
Those checks in the mail helped on the way up, too. Without dividends, J&J would have lost 2 percent since the market peak instead of returning 12 percent. Microsoft would be up just 2 percent instead of 12 percent.
Those companies can pay dividends because they make big profits, another thing lacking at many Internet companies. Internet bulls don't seem to be bothered, preferring to focus on sales. The idea is if you grow them fast, profits will come naturally.
But investors can lose patience waiting.
On Wednesday, Groupon announced that it had tripled revenue last quarter providing deals on restaurant meals, hotel stays, manicures and the like. No matter. The company also said it hadn't turned a profit - not yet at least. Its stock fell 14 percent.
Facebook is already profitable, but not enough to justify that top-end value of $100 billion. At that lofty height, the company would trade at 145 times what it earned in 2011. The S&P 500 is trading at 15 times last year's profits.
So investors are talking about Facebook's almost $3.7 billion in sales last year, which helps justify the value a bit more, maybe. At $100 billion, Facebook stock would be trading at 27 times sales. LinkedIn is trading at 20 times and Google at five.
We'd all be rich, of course, if picking stocks was just a matter of checking sales multiples or dividend yields or any other simple gauge. Apple doesn't pay a dividend, for instance, but that didn't stop it from rising. Facebook could indeed become the next Apple.
But when it comes to investing, you could do worse than avoiding exciting new businesses in the headlines and putting your money instead into tired old ones you never see articles about, and wouldn't care to read if you did.
Like a company hawking deep fryers.
National Presto Industries makes Big Daddy fryers and other kitchen gadgets as well as what's delicately called "incontinence products," better known as adult diapers. It's run out of a cinderblock converted World War II munitions factory in Eau Claire, Wis., by Maryjo Cohen, a woman so frugal she refused for years to fly anything but coach on business trips, upgrade from Microsoft Office 97 on her computer or replace the Eisenhower-era iron desks at headquarters.
Better to save money for dividends, which the company has been paying for 67 years. That's 40 years before the birth of Mark Zuckerberg, the hoodie-wearing Facebook CEO.
Cohen prefers sensible skirts and blouses but somehow has managed to lift Presto stock up 90 percent above where it was trading at the stock market peak. With dividends, it's returned 157 percent.
2012年2月12日星期日
As Facebook IPO Nears, the Case for Dull Stocks
Investors thinking of buying a piece of Facebook after it goes public are hoping it will perform like Google, whose stock has risen 500 percent since its debut seven and a half years ago.
But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting — a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.
Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn't get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.
And the staid Johnson & Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too — returning 12 percent with dividends.
Google is up more than most stocks if you pick a different starting point, like 2004. But measured from the market peak, it's down 1.5 percent. In other words, the people who got in then still haven't broken even — four and half years later.
Even Microsoft, the lumbering software company whose best days are widely considered behind it, has done better, returning 12 percent, counting dividends.
The lesson is that when it comes to hot stocks, you can sit on losses for years if you happen to buy at the top and can't make up ground with dividend checks.
"They move like rockets, straight up," says Robert Russell, president of Russell & Co., a wealth management company in Ohio. "But they can fall back to earth, too."
In a filing earlier this month, Facebook said it plans to sell a yet-unknown stake for $5 billion, the largest for an Internet company's initial public offering. The buzz is that the offering could value the whole company at as much as $100 billion — more than Hewlett-Packard, AOL and Yahoo combined.
Whether the newly public stock — ticker symbol FB — will prove profitable for investors is another matter.
For a taste of the dangers of buying stock in companies in the spotlight, check out the performance of Internet IPOs last year. You've done OK if you got in at the offering price, set before the stock starts trading. But that's mostly reserved for the favored customers — pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds and other institutions. The little guy isn't doing nearly as well.
After sharp rises on the first day of trading, most stocks have fallen. That's true for Groupon Inc., the online daily deals site, Pandora Media Inc., an Internet radio operator, and the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc.
Even the online professional network LinkedIn Corp., a stock that surged Friday on news of unexpected big quarterly profits, is down 4.6 percent from its IPO close.
In hindsight, people looking to strike it rich should have stuck with the IPOs of companies more obscure, like fertilizer maker CVR Partners. Since its public debt in April, the company, which sells nitrogen fertilizer to farmers from a factory in Kansas, is up 77 percent.
Its lucky owners also get something those of pie-in-the-sky Internet outfits can only dream about — dividends. CVR is expected to send checks to its shareholders over the next year of $2 per share, or 8 percent of its stock price even after the big run-up.
As it turns out, dividends have played a role in other recent triumphs of the boring over the bedazzling.
During the stock market swoon from Oct. 2007 to March 2009, Johnson & Johnson stock fell only half as much as Google. That's because J&J still has a fat 3.5 percent dividend yield. Google doesn't pay a dividend.
Those checks in the mail helped on the way up, too. Without dividends, J&J would have lost 2 percent since the market peak instead of returning 12 percent. Microsoft would be up just 2 percent instead of 12 percent.
Those companies can pay dividends because they make big profits, another thing lacking at many Internet companies. Internet bulls don't seem to be bothered, preferring to focus on sales. The idea is if you grow them fast, profits will come naturally.
But investors can lose patience waiting.
On Wednesday, Groupon announced that it had tripled revenue last quarter providing deals on restaurant meals, hotel stays, manicures and the like. No matter. The company also said it hadn't turned a profit — not yet at least. Its stock fell 14 percent.
But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting — a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.
Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn't get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.
And the staid Johnson & Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too — returning 12 percent with dividends.
Google is up more than most stocks if you pick a different starting point, like 2004. But measured from the market peak, it's down 1.5 percent. In other words, the people who got in then still haven't broken even — four and half years later.
Even Microsoft, the lumbering software company whose best days are widely considered behind it, has done better, returning 12 percent, counting dividends.
The lesson is that when it comes to hot stocks, you can sit on losses for years if you happen to buy at the top and can't make up ground with dividend checks.
"They move like rockets, straight up," says Robert Russell, president of Russell & Co., a wealth management company in Ohio. "But they can fall back to earth, too."
In a filing earlier this month, Facebook said it plans to sell a yet-unknown stake for $5 billion, the largest for an Internet company's initial public offering. The buzz is that the offering could value the whole company at as much as $100 billion — more than Hewlett-Packard, AOL and Yahoo combined.
Whether the newly public stock — ticker symbol FB — will prove profitable for investors is another matter.
For a taste of the dangers of buying stock in companies in the spotlight, check out the performance of Internet IPOs last year. You've done OK if you got in at the offering price, set before the stock starts trading. But that's mostly reserved for the favored customers — pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds and other institutions. The little guy isn't doing nearly as well.
After sharp rises on the first day of trading, most stocks have fallen. That's true for Groupon Inc., the online daily deals site, Pandora Media Inc., an Internet radio operator, and the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc.
Even the online professional network LinkedIn Corp., a stock that surged Friday on news of unexpected big quarterly profits, is down 4.6 percent from its IPO close.
In hindsight, people looking to strike it rich should have stuck with the IPOs of companies more obscure, like fertilizer maker CVR Partners. Since its public debt in April, the company, which sells nitrogen fertilizer to farmers from a factory in Kansas, is up 77 percent.
Its lucky owners also get something those of pie-in-the-sky Internet outfits can only dream about — dividends. CVR is expected to send checks to its shareholders over the next year of $2 per share, or 8 percent of its stock price even after the big run-up.
As it turns out, dividends have played a role in other recent triumphs of the boring over the bedazzling.
During the stock market swoon from Oct. 2007 to March 2009, Johnson & Johnson stock fell only half as much as Google. That's because J&J still has a fat 3.5 percent dividend yield. Google doesn't pay a dividend.
Those checks in the mail helped on the way up, too. Without dividends, J&J would have lost 2 percent since the market peak instead of returning 12 percent. Microsoft would be up just 2 percent instead of 12 percent.
Those companies can pay dividends because they make big profits, another thing lacking at many Internet companies. Internet bulls don't seem to be bothered, preferring to focus on sales. The idea is if you grow them fast, profits will come naturally.
But investors can lose patience waiting.
On Wednesday, Groupon announced that it had tripled revenue last quarter providing deals on restaurant meals, hotel stays, manicures and the like. No matter. The company also said it hadn't turned a profit — not yet at least. Its stock fell 14 percent.
2012年2月9日星期四
What's Ahead?
It's been a little over a year since Ventrus Biosciences Inc. (VTUS), which is developing drugs that address an unmet need in gastrointestinal diseases, went public at $6 per share. This specialty pharmaceutical company, whose stock now trades around $9, has two catalysts in the coming months.
For readers who are new to Ventrus, here's a brief overview of the company and the pivotal trials to watch out for this year...
Ventrus is focused on developing prescription drugs for gastrointestinal disorders, specifically, hemorrhoids, anal fissures and fecal incontinence. The company was formerly known as South Island BioSciences Inc.
The company's product pipeline includes,
* VEN 309 (Iferanserin ointment), a phase III product, for the topical treatment of hemorrhoids
* VEN 307 (Diltiazem cream), a topical treatment for the relief of pain associated with anal fissures, which is also a phase III product
* VEN 308 (Phenylephrine gel), a phase II product, for the treatment of fecal incontinence associated with ileal pouch anal anastomosis.
VEN 309, the investigational treatment of hemorrhoids, is a new chemical entity that targets a specific serotonin receptor (5HT2A) thought to be important in the disease, and is formulated as an ointment for intra-anal application. Ventrus completed its acquisition of all rights and title to VEN 309 from the licensor, Sam Amer & Co., last November.
Hemorrhoids, often known as piles, refer to a condition where veins in the lower portion of the rectum or anus become swollen, accompanied by primary symptoms of bleeding, itching and pain. It is estimated that about 10 million to 20 million Americans have hemorrhoids.
The first of two pivotal phase III trials of VEN 309 began last August and is currently recruiting participants.
The phase III trial of VEN 309 is designed to enroll about 600 patients at 70 centers in the U.S. who will be randomized into three arms - Iferanserin administered intra-anally twice daily for 7 days followed by placebo for 7 days, Iferanserin administered intra-anally twice daily for 14 days, and placebo for 14 days.
The primary endpoint is the cessation of bleeding by the end of day 7 through day 14 and the secondary endpoints are cessation of itching and pain by day 7 through day 14.
In the German phase IIb study of VEN 309, 57% of Iferanserin-treated patients had cessation of bleeding compared to only 20% of placebo-controlled patients. In the same study, 59% of iferanserin-treated patients had cessation of itching compared to just 32% of placebo-controlled patients , while pain ceased at day 7 and did not return by day 14 in 50% of Iferanserin-treated patients versus 18% of placebo-treated patients.
Enrollment in the ongoing US phase III trial of VEN 309 (Iferanserin) in hemorrhoids is expected to be completed around April, and top line data is anticipated in June of 2012.
There are no FDA approved prescription drugs for treating hemorrhoids. Some of the treatment options for hemorrhoids include, banding, sclerosing agents and even surgery. Only prescription topical steroid containing products, e.g., oral Daflon, are approved in the EU and Japan.
Anusol HC is the most common prescription hemorrhoid medication while Preparation H is a well-known over-the-counter treatment for hemorrhoids.
Yet another arrow in the company's quiver for gastrointestinal medications is VEN 307, a proprietary formulation of Diltiazem hydrochloride, for anal fissures. Ventrus licensed the North American rights to VEN 307 from Switzerland-based S.L.A. Pharma.
Diltiazem hydrochloride is a calcium-channel blocker that has been marketed in oral formulations for the treatment of angina and high blood pressure for over two decades.
Anal fissure, a common anal disorder, refers to a tear in the lining of the anal canal and is characterized by severe anal pain, associated with or after bowel movements. In June of 2011, the FDA approved Scotland-based ProStrakan's - now a subsidiary of Japan'sKyowa Hakko Kirin's, Rectiv (nitroglycerin ointment) to treat pain associated with chronic anal fissures. Rectiv is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2012.
Diltiazem cream, specially mixed for each patient , is prescribed off-label by many gastroenterologists across the U.S. for the treatment of anal fissures. In topical formulation, Diltiazem is only minimally absorbed, at one-tenth the amount of the lowest dose used for cardiovascular treatment.
A phase III study of VEN 307 in patients with anal fissures was initiated in November 2010. Enrollment in this study, which is being conducted in 31 centers in Europe, was completed last December with 465 patients. The clinical trial has 3 arms with patients randomized to receive thrice a day -2% Diltiazem, 4% Diltiazem and placebo for 8 weeks of treatment.
The primary endpoint of the trial is reduction in pain on defecation at week 4 and is measured using a validated scale like Likert and NRS.
VEN 307 has 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway. The 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway allows a company to rely, at least in part, on the FDA's findings of safety and/or effectiveness for a previously approved drug (the "reference drug").
The data from the European phase III trial of VEN 307 for the treatment of anal fissures is expected in May 2012.
The third clinical product of Ventrus is VEN 308 (Phenylephrine gel) for the treatment of fecal incontinence associated with ileal pouch anal anastomosis, or IPAA, an FDA orphan indication. Ventrus licensed the exclusive North American rights to VEN 308 also from S.L.A. Pharma.
Fecal incontinence, which refers to the inability to control bowel movements, is a common consequence of ileal pouch anal anastomosis, or IPAA procedure. The IPAA procedure is a surgical procedure performed after the colon and rectum have been completely removed in patients with ulcerative colitis.
It is estimated that about seven million Americans have fecal incontinence. In May 2011, Solesta, an injectable gel, developed by Oceana Therapeutics, was approved by the FDA through premarket approval process as a Class III medical device to treat fecal incontinence. Solesta is also CE marked and marketed in Europe. Oceana was acquired by Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SLXP) last November for $300 million.
The other treatment options for fecal incontinence include, bulk laxatives, fiber diets, Imodium, which is a treatment for diarrhea, and invasive surgical procedures.
VEN 308 is a gel formulation of Phenylephrine. VEN 308 also will be developed under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway because Phenylephrine has been available since the early 1940s in oral and nasal form for the treatment of nasal congestion.
The company plans to initiate the U.S. phase IIb dose ranging study of VEN 308 for IPAA-related fecal incontinence this year.
A quick look at the company's balance sheet...
Since inception on October 7, 2005, Ventrus has incurred losses, and being a development stage company, it has not derived any revenue from product sales to date.
In the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the company's net loss was about $15.5 million or $1.79 per share. At September 30, 2011, Ventrus had zero debt and $53.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Shares of Ventrus have gained 18 percent in the last three months and trade around $9. With two high value pivotal data expected in the coming months, VTUS may be worth keeping an eye on.
For readers who are new to Ventrus, here's a brief overview of the company and the pivotal trials to watch out for this year...
Ventrus is focused on developing prescription drugs for gastrointestinal disorders, specifically, hemorrhoids, anal fissures and fecal incontinence. The company was formerly known as South Island BioSciences Inc.
The company's product pipeline includes,
* VEN 309 (Iferanserin ointment), a phase III product, for the topical treatment of hemorrhoids
* VEN 307 (Diltiazem cream), a topical treatment for the relief of pain associated with anal fissures, which is also a phase III product
* VEN 308 (Phenylephrine gel), a phase II product, for the treatment of fecal incontinence associated with ileal pouch anal anastomosis.
VEN 309, the investigational treatment of hemorrhoids, is a new chemical entity that targets a specific serotonin receptor (5HT2A) thought to be important in the disease, and is formulated as an ointment for intra-anal application. Ventrus completed its acquisition of all rights and title to VEN 309 from the licensor, Sam Amer & Co., last November.
Hemorrhoids, often known as piles, refer to a condition where veins in the lower portion of the rectum or anus become swollen, accompanied by primary symptoms of bleeding, itching and pain. It is estimated that about 10 million to 20 million Americans have hemorrhoids.
The first of two pivotal phase III trials of VEN 309 began last August and is currently recruiting participants.
The phase III trial of VEN 309 is designed to enroll about 600 patients at 70 centers in the U.S. who will be randomized into three arms - Iferanserin administered intra-anally twice daily for 7 days followed by placebo for 7 days, Iferanserin administered intra-anally twice daily for 14 days, and placebo for 14 days.
The primary endpoint is the cessation of bleeding by the end of day 7 through day 14 and the secondary endpoints are cessation of itching and pain by day 7 through day 14.
In the German phase IIb study of VEN 309, 57% of Iferanserin-treated patients had cessation of bleeding compared to only 20% of placebo-controlled patients. In the same study, 59% of iferanserin-treated patients had cessation of itching compared to just 32% of placebo-controlled patients , while pain ceased at day 7 and did not return by day 14 in 50% of Iferanserin-treated patients versus 18% of placebo-treated patients.
Enrollment in the ongoing US phase III trial of VEN 309 (Iferanserin) in hemorrhoids is expected to be completed around April, and top line data is anticipated in June of 2012.
There are no FDA approved prescription drugs for treating hemorrhoids. Some of the treatment options for hemorrhoids include, banding, sclerosing agents and even surgery. Only prescription topical steroid containing products, e.g., oral Daflon, are approved in the EU and Japan.
Anusol HC is the most common prescription hemorrhoid medication while Preparation H is a well-known over-the-counter treatment for hemorrhoids.
Yet another arrow in the company's quiver for gastrointestinal medications is VEN 307, a proprietary formulation of Diltiazem hydrochloride, for anal fissures. Ventrus licensed the North American rights to VEN 307 from Switzerland-based S.L.A. Pharma.
Diltiazem hydrochloride is a calcium-channel blocker that has been marketed in oral formulations for the treatment of angina and high blood pressure for over two decades.
Anal fissure, a common anal disorder, refers to a tear in the lining of the anal canal and is characterized by severe anal pain, associated with or after bowel movements. In June of 2011, the FDA approved Scotland-based ProStrakan's - now a subsidiary of Japan'sKyowa Hakko Kirin's, Rectiv (nitroglycerin ointment) to treat pain associated with chronic anal fissures. Rectiv is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2012.
Diltiazem cream, specially mixed for each patient , is prescribed off-label by many gastroenterologists across the U.S. for the treatment of anal fissures. In topical formulation, Diltiazem is only minimally absorbed, at one-tenth the amount of the lowest dose used for cardiovascular treatment.
A phase III study of VEN 307 in patients with anal fissures was initiated in November 2010. Enrollment in this study, which is being conducted in 31 centers in Europe, was completed last December with 465 patients. The clinical trial has 3 arms with patients randomized to receive thrice a day -2% Diltiazem, 4% Diltiazem and placebo for 8 weeks of treatment.
The primary endpoint of the trial is reduction in pain on defecation at week 4 and is measured using a validated scale like Likert and NRS.
VEN 307 has 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway. The 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway allows a company to rely, at least in part, on the FDA's findings of safety and/or effectiveness for a previously approved drug (the "reference drug").
The data from the European phase III trial of VEN 307 for the treatment of anal fissures is expected in May 2012.
The third clinical product of Ventrus is VEN 308 (Phenylephrine gel) for the treatment of fecal incontinence associated with ileal pouch anal anastomosis, or IPAA, an FDA orphan indication. Ventrus licensed the exclusive North American rights to VEN 308 also from S.L.A. Pharma.
Fecal incontinence, which refers to the inability to control bowel movements, is a common consequence of ileal pouch anal anastomosis, or IPAA procedure. The IPAA procedure is a surgical procedure performed after the colon and rectum have been completely removed in patients with ulcerative colitis.
It is estimated that about seven million Americans have fecal incontinence. In May 2011, Solesta, an injectable gel, developed by Oceana Therapeutics, was approved by the FDA through premarket approval process as a Class III medical device to treat fecal incontinence. Solesta is also CE marked and marketed in Europe. Oceana was acquired by Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SLXP) last November for $300 million.
The other treatment options for fecal incontinence include, bulk laxatives, fiber diets, Imodium, which is a treatment for diarrhea, and invasive surgical procedures.
VEN 308 is a gel formulation of Phenylephrine. VEN 308 also will be developed under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway because Phenylephrine has been available since the early 1940s in oral and nasal form for the treatment of nasal congestion.
The company plans to initiate the U.S. phase IIb dose ranging study of VEN 308 for IPAA-related fecal incontinence this year.
A quick look at the company's balance sheet...
Since inception on October 7, 2005, Ventrus has incurred losses, and being a development stage company, it has not derived any revenue from product sales to date.
In the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the company's net loss was about $15.5 million or $1.79 per share. At September 30, 2011, Ventrus had zero debt and $53.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Shares of Ventrus have gained 18 percent in the last three months and trade around $9. With two high value pivotal data expected in the coming months, VTUS may be worth keeping an eye on.
2012年2月8日星期三
Begin job ? Article Directory ? Cure Hemorrhoids Without having...
I have regularly read which the greatest way to cure hemorrhoids is hemorrhoid operation. This really is frequently proposed by healthcare practitioners not to mention laypeople alike because the best way to do away with hemorrhoids.
But I wonder: On what basis is actually this particular information provided? Not research. I currently have studied hemorrhoids and in addition other digestive disorders for more than 20 years and even while it?s true that hemorrhoid operation will bring relief for many kinds of piles ? bleeding piles, internal hemorrhoids, external piles ? it really is certainly not without it?s personal potential side effects.
And additionally it really is certainly not without pain. A hemorrhoidectomy is a great extremely painful surgery. We will need pain-killers and additionally time off work to recover. It can be a thirty days or perhaps 2 before aspects begin with feel ?normal? once again.
Sorry to say, hemorrhoid operation can be definitely not always 100% lucrative ? I have consulted alongside several hemorrhoids afflicted individuals who currently have had several surgery, and have not been treated. The key factor a large number of health professionals and additionally surgeons neglect to inform hemorrhoid afflicted individuals is that hemorrhoid surgery is actually not a remedy, so ? it is very removing the actual symptom, that is the particular swollen vein.
In the event that actual reason for the hemorrhoid typically is certainly not addressed, recurrences can, and even often do, happen.
Within my encounter, hemorrhoid operation may be prevented. During the course of my years of using hemorrhoid sufferers, they typically asked when there have been any kind of effective all-natural hemorrhoid treatments they could check out prior to resorting to be able to hemorrhoid operation. The actual physicians constantly told them to not bother alongside these treatments. Yet right now there are lots of natural hemorrhoid solutions which will shrink piles, prevent bleeding piles and even lessen pain. When many of these never really provide a permanent remedy for hemorrhoids, they are doing permit you to get about along with lifetime, while you treat the actual fundamental causes.
There are numerous easy supplements which will assist address the genuine reasons why piles occur. Many of these can certainly support with regard to strengthening the actual veins not to mention improving the particular digestive program ? most piles afflicted individuals get a hold of lots of added health advantages from this particular, apart from a remedy for piles.
These supplements currently have been the topic of scientific studies which have shown extremely effective results. This is the reason I doubt why medical doctors advise hemorrhoid sufferers from the use of purely natural hemorrhoid treatments. Considering a couple of the possible side-effects of prescription and additionally over-the-counter hemorrhoid remedies, particularly all those containing cortis. I have frequently read that How To remedy piles typically is hemorrhoid surgery. This is frequently suggested by healthcare practitioners plus laypeople likewise as the best option to eliminate of hemorrhoids.
Still I wonder: About what basis typically is this particular guidance given? Certainly not research. I currently have studied hemorrhoids and even some other digestive disorders to get more than 20 many years as well as while it?s true which hemorrhoid surgery can easily bring relief for most types of piles ? bleeding piles, internal hemorrhoids, exterior piles ? it happens to be certainly not without it?s personal possible side-effects. And also it is certainly not without pain. A hemorrhoidectomy will likely be a particular extremely painful surgery. Anyone will need pain-killers plus time off function to recover. It can be a thirty days and / or 2 before details begin in order to feel ?normal? again.
Regrettably, hemorrhoid operation is certainly not usually 100% effective ? I have consulted alongside many hemorrhoids sufferers whom have had numerous operations, as well as have not been resolved. The key element a large number of doctors and in addition surgeons neglect to inform hemorrhoid patients is the fact that hemorrhoid surgery is actually certainly not a remedy, as a result ? it is actually removing the actual symptom, that is the particular enlarged vein.
But I wonder: On what basis is actually this particular information provided? Not research. I currently have studied hemorrhoids and in addition other digestive disorders for more than 20 years and even while it?s true that hemorrhoid operation will bring relief for many kinds of piles ? bleeding piles, internal hemorrhoids, external piles ? it really is certainly not without it?s personal potential side effects.
And additionally it really is certainly not without pain. A hemorrhoidectomy is a great extremely painful surgery. We will need pain-killers and additionally time off work to recover. It can be a thirty days or perhaps 2 before aspects begin with feel ?normal? once again.
Sorry to say, hemorrhoid operation can be definitely not always 100% lucrative ? I have consulted alongside several hemorrhoids afflicted individuals who currently have had several surgery, and have not been treated. The key factor a large number of health professionals and additionally surgeons neglect to inform hemorrhoid afflicted individuals is that hemorrhoid surgery is actually not a remedy, so ? it is very removing the actual symptom, that is the particular swollen vein.
In the event that actual reason for the hemorrhoid typically is certainly not addressed, recurrences can, and even often do, happen.
Within my encounter, hemorrhoid operation may be prevented. During the course of my years of using hemorrhoid sufferers, they typically asked when there have been any kind of effective all-natural hemorrhoid treatments they could check out prior to resorting to be able to hemorrhoid operation. The actual physicians constantly told them to not bother alongside these treatments. Yet right now there are lots of natural hemorrhoid solutions which will shrink piles, prevent bleeding piles and even lessen pain. When many of these never really provide a permanent remedy for hemorrhoids, they are doing permit you to get about along with lifetime, while you treat the actual fundamental causes.
There are numerous easy supplements which will assist address the genuine reasons why piles occur. Many of these can certainly support with regard to strengthening the actual veins not to mention improving the particular digestive program ? most piles afflicted individuals get a hold of lots of added health advantages from this particular, apart from a remedy for piles.
These supplements currently have been the topic of scientific studies which have shown extremely effective results. This is the reason I doubt why medical doctors advise hemorrhoid sufferers from the use of purely natural hemorrhoid treatments. Considering a couple of the possible side-effects of prescription and additionally over-the-counter hemorrhoid remedies, particularly all those containing cortis. I have frequently read that How To remedy piles typically is hemorrhoid surgery. This is frequently suggested by healthcare practitioners plus laypeople likewise as the best option to eliminate of hemorrhoids.
Still I wonder: About what basis typically is this particular guidance given? Certainly not research. I currently have studied hemorrhoids and even some other digestive disorders to get more than 20 many years as well as while it?s true which hemorrhoid surgery can easily bring relief for most types of piles ? bleeding piles, internal hemorrhoids, exterior piles ? it happens to be certainly not without it?s personal possible side-effects. And also it is certainly not without pain. A hemorrhoidectomy will likely be a particular extremely painful surgery. Anyone will need pain-killers plus time off function to recover. It can be a thirty days and / or 2 before details begin in order to feel ?normal? again.
Regrettably, hemorrhoid operation is certainly not usually 100% effective ? I have consulted alongside many hemorrhoids sufferers whom have had numerous operations, as well as have not been resolved. The key element a large number of doctors and in addition surgeons neglect to inform hemorrhoid patients is the fact that hemorrhoid surgery is actually certainly not a remedy, as a result ? it is actually removing the actual symptom, that is the particular enlarged vein.
2012年2月7日星期二
What is your poo telling you?
Diet and health are usually put on the back burner for college students lacking grocery money or subject to the whims of Campus Dining. But if we aren’t careful there can be significant side effects to our health if our bodies’ dietary needs aren’t being met. While it isn’t exactly dinner conversation, your poop is an easy way to determine how your body is reacting to your diet.
Human stool consists of about 75 percent water and the rest is bacteria, cellulose, fat and mucus. Normally (as you have probably learned) your poop is brown, but color can be a great indicator of what is going on inside the body.
If your poop is green it means you have been eating a lot of veggies. Because our bodies cannot digest certain types of fiber it passes through with the same color. This is also the reason corn passes through seemingly unchanged.
If your poop is blue then you should probably lay off the Kool-Aid for a while because it is most likely just the result of blue food dyes.
There are more serious issues your poop can address. If your stool is red you are either eating incredible amounts of beets or bleeding in your lower digestive system. If your stool is black you might be bleeding in your upper digestive tract. Both red and black stool can be signs of serious health problems and you should visit a doctor. Yellow poop could signal giardia.
The shape of your poop matters too. Healthy stool is continuous and will curve in the toilet. This is an indicator that you are receiving enough fiber, which acts as glue to hold your stool together. If your stool is in many small pieces you may be missing fiber in your diet. Pencil thin turds can be a sign of narrowing passageways your stool passes through, which is an indicator of rectal cancer.
While nobody’s poop smells like roses, poop that consistently smells unusually foul can be a sign of a more serious infection.
You should also pay attention to floaters and sinkers. Your poop should sink. If it floats your stool has a high fat content, which can reflect high-fat diets or more serious issues like celiac disease or chronic pancreatitis.
It is also important to focus on the task at hand. Studies have shown that pushing too hard or spending too long in the bathroom leads to a higher risk for hemorrhoids.
So next time you find yourself sitting down on the toilet, relax and rest easy knowing that you are now a poop expert. It might be uncomfortable to think or talk about, but remember — it unites us all.
Human stool consists of about 75 percent water and the rest is bacteria, cellulose, fat and mucus. Normally (as you have probably learned) your poop is brown, but color can be a great indicator of what is going on inside the body.
If your poop is green it means you have been eating a lot of veggies. Because our bodies cannot digest certain types of fiber it passes through with the same color. This is also the reason corn passes through seemingly unchanged.
If your poop is blue then you should probably lay off the Kool-Aid for a while because it is most likely just the result of blue food dyes.
There are more serious issues your poop can address. If your stool is red you are either eating incredible amounts of beets or bleeding in your lower digestive system. If your stool is black you might be bleeding in your upper digestive tract. Both red and black stool can be signs of serious health problems and you should visit a doctor. Yellow poop could signal giardia.
The shape of your poop matters too. Healthy stool is continuous and will curve in the toilet. This is an indicator that you are receiving enough fiber, which acts as glue to hold your stool together. If your stool is in many small pieces you may be missing fiber in your diet. Pencil thin turds can be a sign of narrowing passageways your stool passes through, which is an indicator of rectal cancer.
While nobody’s poop smells like roses, poop that consistently smells unusually foul can be a sign of a more serious infection.
You should also pay attention to floaters and sinkers. Your poop should sink. If it floats your stool has a high fat content, which can reflect high-fat diets or more serious issues like celiac disease or chronic pancreatitis.
It is also important to focus on the task at hand. Studies have shown that pushing too hard or spending too long in the bathroom leads to a higher risk for hemorrhoids.
So next time you find yourself sitting down on the toilet, relax and rest easy knowing that you are now a poop expert. It might be uncomfortable to think or talk about, but remember — it unites us all.
2012年2月6日星期一
Excellent Ways To Get Rid Of Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids aren’t exciting whatsoever. If you are suffering from them, you know how unpleasant and not comfortable they are often. In the following paragraphs, you will learn the best techniques to treat and forestall them. Shortly after subsequent these useful information, you will be entirely free of hemorrhoids completely.
If you are anticipating a new baby, rest in your still left aspect. This should help you to avoid placing force for the veins with your anus, and consequently assist you stay away from hemorrhoids. Carrying a child is really a time when you are particularly prone to hemorrhoids, so undertaking everything you can to avoid them is needed.
Stay away from using a doughnut molded cushion if you have hemorrhoids. These cushions are frequently promoted as helpful supports for all those struggling with hemorrhoids, however they can have the opposite effect. On one of these cushions for a long time will place extra anxiety on the blood vessels with your rectum, which will worsen your hemorrhoid signs.
If you have not reviewed stuff by using a medical professional currently than you shouldn’t be using any sort of non-prescription medicine for longer than a single week. This includes the conventional lotions which you discover, and also just about any suppositories. Next length of time, it is far better to go over points along with your medical doctor.
Right after possessing a bowel motion, it is essential to not use dry cells document should you be being affected by hemorrhoids. The dry cells pieces of paper is hard and will scratch the hemorrhoids when cleaning. In the event you damage the hemorrhoids, they might bleed. As opposed to dry up paper, use wet tissues pieces of paper or running water.
Use wet bathroom tissue or non-alcohol consumption wipes when cleanup your self around the toilet. Dry pieces of paper equates to hard document no matter the softness of the tissues. The paper could cause bleeding from the hemorrhoids and ought to be avoided if at all possible. When you have use of a bidet you should use this being an choice for document.
Eat just as much substantial-soluble fiber meals as possible. This will assist to soften your stool and help prevent hemorrhoids from creating. Most fresh fruits, like grapes, watermelon and papaya, has a lot of fiber in it. Any type of roughage will also be useful. It is possible to get soluble fiber tablets, also, to aid in the process.
In order to avoid hemorrhoids, don’t hold out to visit the restroom. Holding out can make your stools dry up up. These are then harder to successfully pass. When your stools are hard to pass you are going to tension the blood vessels all around your anus, and thus trigger hemorrhoids. To avoid this, just listen when nature phone calls.
There are some food that happen to be a little bit more likely to cause you to suffer from hemorrhoids yet others which are more inclined to help you. It is important to know which food items are excellent and that happen to be dangerous so that you are able to reduce your chance to formulate this.
As mentioned earlier, hemorrhoids can be a burdensome component of existence for many of us. When supplied together with the correct information, you could make them come to be just a distant memory space. After utilizing the information provided right here, you can expect to ultimately manage to find some relief and stay a happier, much healthier daily life.
If you are anticipating a new baby, rest in your still left aspect. This should help you to avoid placing force for the veins with your anus, and consequently assist you stay away from hemorrhoids. Carrying a child is really a time when you are particularly prone to hemorrhoids, so undertaking everything you can to avoid them is needed.
Stay away from using a doughnut molded cushion if you have hemorrhoids. These cushions are frequently promoted as helpful supports for all those struggling with hemorrhoids, however they can have the opposite effect. On one of these cushions for a long time will place extra anxiety on the blood vessels with your rectum, which will worsen your hemorrhoid signs.
If you have not reviewed stuff by using a medical professional currently than you shouldn’t be using any sort of non-prescription medicine for longer than a single week. This includes the conventional lotions which you discover, and also just about any suppositories. Next length of time, it is far better to go over points along with your medical doctor.
Right after possessing a bowel motion, it is essential to not use dry cells document should you be being affected by hemorrhoids. The dry cells pieces of paper is hard and will scratch the hemorrhoids when cleaning. In the event you damage the hemorrhoids, they might bleed. As opposed to dry up paper, use wet tissues pieces of paper or running water.
Use wet bathroom tissue or non-alcohol consumption wipes when cleanup your self around the toilet. Dry pieces of paper equates to hard document no matter the softness of the tissues. The paper could cause bleeding from the hemorrhoids and ought to be avoided if at all possible. When you have use of a bidet you should use this being an choice for document.
Eat just as much substantial-soluble fiber meals as possible. This will assist to soften your stool and help prevent hemorrhoids from creating. Most fresh fruits, like grapes, watermelon and papaya, has a lot of fiber in it. Any type of roughage will also be useful. It is possible to get soluble fiber tablets, also, to aid in the process.
In order to avoid hemorrhoids, don’t hold out to visit the restroom. Holding out can make your stools dry up up. These are then harder to successfully pass. When your stools are hard to pass you are going to tension the blood vessels all around your anus, and thus trigger hemorrhoids. To avoid this, just listen when nature phone calls.
There are some food that happen to be a little bit more likely to cause you to suffer from hemorrhoids yet others which are more inclined to help you. It is important to know which food items are excellent and that happen to be dangerous so that you are able to reduce your chance to formulate this.
As mentioned earlier, hemorrhoids can be a burdensome component of existence for many of us. When supplied together with the correct information, you could make them come to be just a distant memory space. After utilizing the information provided right here, you can expect to ultimately manage to find some relief and stay a happier, much healthier daily life.
2012年2月5日星期日
The Lord Worked With Them
Before Jesus returned to His Father, He commissioned His disciples to go out to the entire world and to preach the good news of salvation through faith in Him. As soon as He gave them this commission, Christ was taken up into Heaven and seated at the right hand of God. His disciples, however, lost no time in fulfilling their commission. As soon as they had been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, which would come to them not many days later, they immediately went out and preached everywhere.
The Bible says that when they did this, “the Lord worked with them.” Notice what the Bible does not say; it does not say that the Lord worked for them, but with them.
If we want to take part in Christ’s commission to His Church, we have to give the Lord something to work with. We can’t just expect Jesus to do it all as far as evangelizing and making disciples are concerned.
When the Lord’s disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit in the upper room, what did they do? Did they remain behind locked doors where they could simply pray the Gospel into men’s hearts or pray men into God’s Kingdom? Of course not. They immediately went out and preached to the crowds. As a result, 3,000 came to faith in Christ that day. As the days went by, and the Lord’s disciples continued to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, more and more people came to faith in Him. In fact, the Bible says that “the Lord added to their number daily.”
If you take a look at the way the Church evangelized in her early years, and compare it with the way many are attempting to reach people for Christ today, you will see a vast difference. Most people in today’s church want Jesus to do the reaching out to their children, their co-workers, their neighbors, or their friends. While they busy themselves with prayer meetings, Bible studies, church potlucks, and Sunday morning church attendance, they pray that Jesus will move upon the hearts of their loved ones and “save them.”
If we want our children to serve the Lord, what are we giving God to work with in their lives so that they might come to know Him? Do we teach them the Word of God? Do we sit down with them and teach them the Catechism? Do we take them to Mass? If we want God to “work with us,” just as He worked with His disciples, what are we giving Him to work with? While prayer is one of the most valuable things that we can do for others, we must understand that the Lord is calling His people to do more than just pray. If Christ’s first disciples had simply decided to pray the people into the church, the Gospel never would have spread. If they had just remained behind church doors and prayed, “Oh, Lord, send the sinners in!” I doubt the Gospel would have spread all over the world as it has today.
A lot of us are intimidated when it comes to sharing our faith in Jesus. Some are intimidated because they think that they have to be theologians in order to speak to others about Jesus. Others are intimidated because there is a huge element of Christians out there today who are very offensive and aggressive in the way that they share the Gospel, and they don’t want to be taken for one of them.
When I was living in New Jersey, I used to take the bus into Philadelphia each morning in order to commute to work. One morning, the bus stopped at a street corner in Center City in order to let a man off. The man had his brief case in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other hand. He was ready to start the day. As soon as he stepped off of the bus, a man carrying a huge sign that said JOHN 3:16 stepped out from behind a tree and screamed at him at the top of his lungs: “You are on your way to Hell, sinner! Repent! Repent, heathen, for the Lord is calling!”
I can assure you that that individual made absolutely no positive impact for Christ and His Kingdom that morning. This is not the way in which Christ and His apostles shared the Gospel, and it is not the way that we should share it as well.
One of the first ways in which we are called to share Christ with others is to simply live the Christian life before them. This method of “preaching” goes a lot farther than words, and it is why Saint Francis often said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” In the Book of Titus, Christians are instructed to live in a right way before God “so that in every way we will make the teaching about Christ our Savior attractive.” . Elsewhere, Peter instructed the church as follows: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong [because you want to be a Christian], they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” . A few sentences down in his same letter, Peter instructed wives as follows: “Wives… if any of your husbands do not believe the Word, let them be won over without words by your behavior. Let them see the purity and reverence of your lives.”.
I believe that the number-one reason why the church in the West is making very little impact for Christ and His Kingdom is because of the way in which many who profess to be in Christ are living. Their lives are not making the teaching of Christ attractive; if anything, their lives are bringing great reproach to the name of the Lord. Bookstores are filled with Christian books. Music stores are filled with gospel music. Churches today have become departmentalized and offer a plethora of programs to their communities. Not only this, but modern technology has made it possible to do so much for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And yet, the churches today are not making any real impact in spite of all these things. This is because many are not living as true disciples of Christ have been called to live. Their love for the world has not been crucified, and for the most part, neither has their flesh. When people look at them, they don’t see any difference between them and the rest of the world, and this is the hard truth. We are to be the aroma of Christ to the world, but many still reek of the world and the flesh, and it is an offensive stench that has turned off many to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christians get offended when statements like this are made because they don’t want to take responsibility for the harm that their lives are doing for Christ and His cause. It’s a lot easier to blame others than it is to point at ourselves, isn’t it? It’s a lot easier to drive around with our “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven” bumper stickers, isn’t it? The unbelieving world sees right through those bumper stickers, brothers and sisters, and it’s high time we wake up to this truth and stop trying to hide our unholy living behind them.
We need to take a good, hard look at the lives that we are living before others to see if we are truly the reflection of Christ in this world to others. When people look at you, they should see Jesus, not a church-goer. Whether we want to accept this truth or not, there is a big difference between the two.
The Bible says that when they did this, “the Lord worked with them.” Notice what the Bible does not say; it does not say that the Lord worked for them, but with them.
If we want to take part in Christ’s commission to His Church, we have to give the Lord something to work with. We can’t just expect Jesus to do it all as far as evangelizing and making disciples are concerned.
When the Lord’s disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit in the upper room, what did they do? Did they remain behind locked doors where they could simply pray the Gospel into men’s hearts or pray men into God’s Kingdom? Of course not. They immediately went out and preached to the crowds. As a result, 3,000 came to faith in Christ that day. As the days went by, and the Lord’s disciples continued to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, more and more people came to faith in Him. In fact, the Bible says that “the Lord added to their number daily.”
If you take a look at the way the Church evangelized in her early years, and compare it with the way many are attempting to reach people for Christ today, you will see a vast difference. Most people in today’s church want Jesus to do the reaching out to their children, their co-workers, their neighbors, or their friends. While they busy themselves with prayer meetings, Bible studies, church potlucks, and Sunday morning church attendance, they pray that Jesus will move upon the hearts of their loved ones and “save them.”
If we want our children to serve the Lord, what are we giving God to work with in their lives so that they might come to know Him? Do we teach them the Word of God? Do we sit down with them and teach them the Catechism? Do we take them to Mass? If we want God to “work with us,” just as He worked with His disciples, what are we giving Him to work with? While prayer is one of the most valuable things that we can do for others, we must understand that the Lord is calling His people to do more than just pray. If Christ’s first disciples had simply decided to pray the people into the church, the Gospel never would have spread. If they had just remained behind church doors and prayed, “Oh, Lord, send the sinners in!” I doubt the Gospel would have spread all over the world as it has today.
A lot of us are intimidated when it comes to sharing our faith in Jesus. Some are intimidated because they think that they have to be theologians in order to speak to others about Jesus. Others are intimidated because there is a huge element of Christians out there today who are very offensive and aggressive in the way that they share the Gospel, and they don’t want to be taken for one of them.
When I was living in New Jersey, I used to take the bus into Philadelphia each morning in order to commute to work. One morning, the bus stopped at a street corner in Center City in order to let a man off. The man had his brief case in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other hand. He was ready to start the day. As soon as he stepped off of the bus, a man carrying a huge sign that said JOHN 3:16 stepped out from behind a tree and screamed at him at the top of his lungs: “You are on your way to Hell, sinner! Repent! Repent, heathen, for the Lord is calling!”
I can assure you that that individual made absolutely no positive impact for Christ and His Kingdom that morning. This is not the way in which Christ and His apostles shared the Gospel, and it is not the way that we should share it as well.
One of the first ways in which we are called to share Christ with others is to simply live the Christian life before them. This method of “preaching” goes a lot farther than words, and it is why Saint Francis often said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” In the Book of Titus, Christians are instructed to live in a right way before God “so that in every way we will make the teaching about Christ our Savior attractive.” . Elsewhere, Peter instructed the church as follows: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong [because you want to be a Christian], they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” . A few sentences down in his same letter, Peter instructed wives as follows: “Wives… if any of your husbands do not believe the Word, let them be won over without words by your behavior. Let them see the purity and reverence of your lives.”.
I believe that the number-one reason why the church in the West is making very little impact for Christ and His Kingdom is because of the way in which many who profess to be in Christ are living. Their lives are not making the teaching of Christ attractive; if anything, their lives are bringing great reproach to the name of the Lord. Bookstores are filled with Christian books. Music stores are filled with gospel music. Churches today have become departmentalized and offer a plethora of programs to their communities. Not only this, but modern technology has made it possible to do so much for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And yet, the churches today are not making any real impact in spite of all these things. This is because many are not living as true disciples of Christ have been called to live. Their love for the world has not been crucified, and for the most part, neither has their flesh. When people look at them, they don’t see any difference between them and the rest of the world, and this is the hard truth. We are to be the aroma of Christ to the world, but many still reek of the world and the flesh, and it is an offensive stench that has turned off many to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christians get offended when statements like this are made because they don’t want to take responsibility for the harm that their lives are doing for Christ and His cause. It’s a lot easier to blame others than it is to point at ourselves, isn’t it? It’s a lot easier to drive around with our “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven” bumper stickers, isn’t it? The unbelieving world sees right through those bumper stickers, brothers and sisters, and it’s high time we wake up to this truth and stop trying to hide our unholy living behind them.
We need to take a good, hard look at the lives that we are living before others to see if we are truly the reflection of Christ in this world to others. When people look at you, they should see Jesus, not a church-goer. Whether we want to accept this truth or not, there is a big difference between the two.
2012年2月2日星期四
Humor is healthy
The repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a goal of Nebraska’s Republican Congressmen. Unfortunately, these GOP loyalists have been working so fervently on their own improved, cost efficient, and comprehensive, post repeal health care plans (wink, cough) that they have neglected to enumerate the many compelling reasons for repeal itself. Here are a few that they have failed to pass on to their constituents.
1. Repeal will establish the status quo. Tough minded private insurers can again deny health coverage to people who have been careless, inconsiderate, irresponsible, and neglectful by contracting those disgusting and avoidable medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
2. Some discrimination is good. Take for example the applicant for a health care policy whose medical records show a history of back problems, recurring stomach disorders, and some rascally hemorrhoids. Action taken? Insurer advises applicant to sit up straight, take Prilosec, and start scratching because the policy will not cover these problems–medical exclusions at their very best.
3. Families will be reunited. Faced with a $150,000 student loan, no job, bleeding ulcers and being removed from their parents’ health insurance policy, young people from 18 to 26 years of age will make reservations to move back into mom and pop’s basement.
4. Population control. With over 20,000 Americans dying every year due to lack of health insurance, just imagine how many more will die when the ever-rising uninsured soar past the 50 million mark–a population explosion alarmist’s dream scenario.
5. Scrapping the Care Act is charitable. When the individual mandate requiring all Americans to acquire health care is stricken by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, we can continue to subsidize our enterprising, emergency room visiting, friends who save 20 percent of their earnings by not purchasing health insurance. How satisfying to know that our ever-increasing premium rates are contributing to good will and charity.
6. Be gone dull care! Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies in America are a result of calamitous health care costs. But why fret over catastrophic charges and permanent loss of your credit rating when insurance companies assure us that it is better to lose the farm than to die and pass on the costs to your families. Insurance companies really do prioritize customer benefits over profits–God bless them.
But not all is well. With the annulment of Obamacare (please stand and remove your hats and place them over your heart) comes the realization that many, deserving, caring lobbyists who look after our best interests will lose their jobs when repeal is consummated. It is then that the dreadful domino effect will deprive our beloved Republican Congressmen of thousands of dollars in revenue and campaign funds. And may the wind be always at their back.
1. Repeal will establish the status quo. Tough minded private insurers can again deny health coverage to people who have been careless, inconsiderate, irresponsible, and neglectful by contracting those disgusting and avoidable medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
2. Some discrimination is good. Take for example the applicant for a health care policy whose medical records show a history of back problems, recurring stomach disorders, and some rascally hemorrhoids. Action taken? Insurer advises applicant to sit up straight, take Prilosec, and start scratching because the policy will not cover these problems–medical exclusions at their very best.
3. Families will be reunited. Faced with a $150,000 student loan, no job, bleeding ulcers and being removed from their parents’ health insurance policy, young people from 18 to 26 years of age will make reservations to move back into mom and pop’s basement.
4. Population control. With over 20,000 Americans dying every year due to lack of health insurance, just imagine how many more will die when the ever-rising uninsured soar past the 50 million mark–a population explosion alarmist’s dream scenario.
5. Scrapping the Care Act is charitable. When the individual mandate requiring all Americans to acquire health care is stricken by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, we can continue to subsidize our enterprising, emergency room visiting, friends who save 20 percent of their earnings by not purchasing health insurance. How satisfying to know that our ever-increasing premium rates are contributing to good will and charity.
6. Be gone dull care! Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies in America are a result of calamitous health care costs. But why fret over catastrophic charges and permanent loss of your credit rating when insurance companies assure us that it is better to lose the farm than to die and pass on the costs to your families. Insurance companies really do prioritize customer benefits over profits–God bless them.
But not all is well. With the annulment of Obamacare (please stand and remove your hats and place them over your heart) comes the realization that many, deserving, caring lobbyists who look after our best interests will lose their jobs when repeal is consummated. It is then that the dreadful domino effect will deprive our beloved Republican Congressmen of thousands of dollars in revenue and campaign funds. And may the wind be always at their back.
2012年2月1日星期三
Chicken soup for your health
Long called Jewish penicillin, chicken soup's power to heal has mainly been viewed as folklore but recent scientific studies have proven that it has genuine health benefits, so much so that research doctors in Israel have asked the World Health Organization to add it to the List of Essential Drugs for Infections.
Forget pills, sprays and prescriptions. What you really need is hot chicken soup.
Around the 12th century, healers started to prescribe " the broth of fowl" for their ill patients. Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher Rabbi Moses Maimonides started to write extensively about the benefits of chicken soup. He used this fowl brew to treat such things as constipation, hemorrhoids and even leprosy but he especially praised its healing power for respiratory illnesses.
In the 1990s, Dr. Stephen Renard at the University of Nebraska wanted to test his mother-in-law's theory that chicken soup is good for colds.
He conducted many tests, using a recipe he titled "Grandma's Soup." The results demonstrated that chicken soup is a good anti-inflammatory. Current researchers agree that chicken soup breaks up congestion and eases the flow of nasal secretions. And many say it inhibits the white blood cells that trigger the inflammatory response causing sore throats and the production of phlegm. Chicken soup also contains a sulfur compound called cystine, which protects against infections of the throat, sinuses and chest.
Here are two recipes, one Eastern, and one Western, for this magic elixir.
Remember, no matter its provenance, it must be served hot. Soup from cans, boxes or packets has been proven to be less beneficial. So, if you are starting to feel ill, quickly run out to the market and grab yourself a chicken or call your nearest and dearest, then whine and moan and, hopefully, they'll bring over the soup.
Forget pills, sprays and prescriptions. What you really need is hot chicken soup.
Around the 12th century, healers started to prescribe " the broth of fowl" for their ill patients. Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher Rabbi Moses Maimonides started to write extensively about the benefits of chicken soup. He used this fowl brew to treat such things as constipation, hemorrhoids and even leprosy but he especially praised its healing power for respiratory illnesses.
In the 1990s, Dr. Stephen Renard at the University of Nebraska wanted to test his mother-in-law's theory that chicken soup is good for colds.
He conducted many tests, using a recipe he titled "Grandma's Soup." The results demonstrated that chicken soup is a good anti-inflammatory. Current researchers agree that chicken soup breaks up congestion and eases the flow of nasal secretions. And many say it inhibits the white blood cells that trigger the inflammatory response causing sore throats and the production of phlegm. Chicken soup also contains a sulfur compound called cystine, which protects against infections of the throat, sinuses and chest.
Here are two recipes, one Eastern, and one Western, for this magic elixir.
Remember, no matter its provenance, it must be served hot. Soup from cans, boxes or packets has been proven to be less beneficial. So, if you are starting to feel ill, quickly run out to the market and grab yourself a chicken or call your nearest and dearest, then whine and moan and, hopefully, they'll bring over the soup.
2012年1月31日星期二
Kevin Smith Regales With Tales of "Rectal Adventures"
What's typically billed as a light, stream-of-consciousness rap between two old friends and colleagues strewn with pop culture references took a surprisingly strange focus Sunday night that made us want to leave early -- but it ended on an intimately somber tone that made us glad we didn't. It was Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier recording their weekly SModcast live at Cobb's Comedy Club.
For the first 15 or 20 minutes, the talk moved along at a clip so swift that you might miss the subject if you paused to dip into your nachos. And then, for the next hour or so, the man whose celebrated filmography includes titles such as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the recent Red State joined his buddy and longtime collaborator in fixating on their asses.
Smith was asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight in Oakland in 2010 because of his size, an incident that is not only outrageous, it has seemed to take more than a fair toll on his self-esteem. Even if it was just for schtick, which it probably wasn't, Smith made frequent jabs at his body that got increasingly more uncomfortable.
It got to be shocking how long the two lingered on topics such as enemas, hemorrhoids, and anal fissures, which Smith lumped together under the umbrella of "rectal adventures." Stories were punctuated with laughs here and there, but it was far from punchline-driven -- 20, 30, 40 minutes went by, but the two didn't veer from the rear.
With all the ass talk, we were fiddling with the handle of our purse and really considering cutting the night short. Finally, Smith changed the subject to talk about what he said was the most profound thing he's ever had to go through: caring for Scully, his ailing, 14-year-old dog.
It seems everyone except Smith has given up on Scully, who can no longer walk but still can wag a tail of happiness. After the vet told him that he should think about putting her to sleep because everyone has "things to do," Smith said he doesn't have more to do than write, smoke pot, Tweet, and sleep. And he has taken on the messy and immersive challenge of helping Scully live out the remainder of her days as comfortably as possible.
We appreciated hearing about such a personal travail and feel all the more endeared to Smith that he told it. Though a sad note, it was a better one to close the night.
For the first 15 or 20 minutes, the talk moved along at a clip so swift that you might miss the subject if you paused to dip into your nachos. And then, for the next hour or so, the man whose celebrated filmography includes titles such as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the recent Red State joined his buddy and longtime collaborator in fixating on their asses.
Smith was asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight in Oakland in 2010 because of his size, an incident that is not only outrageous, it has seemed to take more than a fair toll on his self-esteem. Even if it was just for schtick, which it probably wasn't, Smith made frequent jabs at his body that got increasingly more uncomfortable.
It got to be shocking how long the two lingered on topics such as enemas, hemorrhoids, and anal fissures, which Smith lumped together under the umbrella of "rectal adventures." Stories were punctuated with laughs here and there, but it was far from punchline-driven -- 20, 30, 40 minutes went by, but the two didn't veer from the rear.
With all the ass talk, we were fiddling with the handle of our purse and really considering cutting the night short. Finally, Smith changed the subject to talk about what he said was the most profound thing he's ever had to go through: caring for Scully, his ailing, 14-year-old dog.
It seems everyone except Smith has given up on Scully, who can no longer walk but still can wag a tail of happiness. After the vet told him that he should think about putting her to sleep because everyone has "things to do," Smith said he doesn't have more to do than write, smoke pot, Tweet, and sleep. And he has taken on the messy and immersive challenge of helping Scully live out the remainder of her days as comfortably as possible.
We appreciated hearing about such a personal travail and feel all the more endeared to Smith that he told it. Though a sad note, it was a better one to close the night.
2012年1月30日星期一
A brief Remedy To get Hemorrhoids Puffiness
This fix for hemorrhoids is generally very good to lessen the swelling because of the hemorrhoidal inflammation. How can it This is all solid information you are getting here today on the subject of Hemorrhoids Relief. More than anything else, analyze what all the main points are in terms of applicability. It goes without saying that we have no real idea about how this is playing out for you, so we just try to present solid information. If you get too bogged down with the minute details, you can easily get lost in the haze. That is would be the ideal scenario, here, but you will not always have the time to do what is necessary for that to happen. If that describes you, then you know that you need to make the very most of your time. At least until your knowledge is broader, try to determine what directly applies to you if possible. work? The issue that any spinach has across the Hemorrhoids is without a doubt decongestant and really relaxing.
The difficulty with preventing doctors and also self checking out any affliction including a specific thing as innocent as hemorrhoidal inflammation is that you may possibly not are aware that typical pile symptoms could perhaps indicate even more serious health concerns. Not to be able to cause a person concern, but so that you can educate, you ought to know that soreness, swelling and also anal bleeding could perhaps indicate colorectal cancer, polyps, bacterial infections, and fissures. This runs specifically true of anal hemorrhage. All rate of anal bleeding must be immediately discussed using a doctor. While it is actually true in which hemorrhoids could be the most likely root cause of your problems, do not even skip receiving a correct healthcare diagnoses by reason of laziness as well as embarrassment.
Colon many forms of cancer is curable and survivable should caught and also treated throughout its beginning. The in all likelihood exam a medical expert will take advantage of to spot your hemorrhoids is mostly a colonoscopy. This can be used diagnostically for all those conditions on the colon district including hemorrhoidal inflammation and colorectal cancer. It’s one small bendable scope so that your doctor to buy a good view with the overall colon/rectal health and wellbeing. It’s significantly less bad considering that it sounds and the majority of people actually discover preparation before the exam for being much a lot more unpleasant. The groundwork part involves robust laxatives plus a day spent around a bath room.
For the purpose of external models, all you would like is some treatments and you will definitely most almost certainly recover a few weeks. Being rigorous about any hygiene is without a doubt imperative. Use wet toilet report and softly swipe the software off any anus after by eliminating your toxins. Then please take a bath with trouble to rinse out away filth.
For irritated and intensive pain, use ointments that may be snagged which are non-prescription. Also utilize cold compress on the affected area so the veins would definitely somehow dissove and gradually go back to standard.
Heat sitz bath is usually widely known as the hemorrhoidal inflammation home treatment plan. You are capable of doing this means for three times each day and about fifteen minutes per each time. It may get shrinking any inflamed areas.
Thrust it back again: Many families have tried this and for some reason helped. Having said that, you just can’t permanently reduce your hemorrhoid employing this method. After finish supplementing with bath or aided by the toilet, you will use any fingers and attempt to gently touch your hemorrhoid in to where the software belongs. Having said that, don’t touch it which means that hard. Should you be in soreness when this process, then one should stop and also leave the software alone.
The above information was put together with great care because we know the value of accurate and timely material.
The difficulty with preventing doctors and also self checking out any affliction including a specific thing as innocent as hemorrhoidal inflammation is that you may possibly not are aware that typical pile symptoms could perhaps indicate even more serious health concerns. Not to be able to cause a person concern, but so that you can educate, you ought to know that soreness, swelling and also anal bleeding could perhaps indicate colorectal cancer, polyps, bacterial infections, and fissures. This runs specifically true of anal hemorrhage. All rate of anal bleeding must be immediately discussed using a doctor. While it is actually true in which hemorrhoids could be the most likely root cause of your problems, do not even skip receiving a correct healthcare diagnoses by reason of laziness as well as embarrassment.
Colon many forms of cancer is curable and survivable should caught and also treated throughout its beginning. The in all likelihood exam a medical expert will take advantage of to spot your hemorrhoids is mostly a colonoscopy. This can be used diagnostically for all those conditions on the colon district including hemorrhoidal inflammation and colorectal cancer. It’s one small bendable scope so that your doctor to buy a good view with the overall colon/rectal health and wellbeing. It’s significantly less bad considering that it sounds and the majority of people actually discover preparation before the exam for being much a lot more unpleasant. The groundwork part involves robust laxatives plus a day spent around a bath room.
For the purpose of external models, all you would like is some treatments and you will definitely most almost certainly recover a few weeks. Being rigorous about any hygiene is without a doubt imperative. Use wet toilet report and softly swipe the software off any anus after by eliminating your toxins. Then please take a bath with trouble to rinse out away filth.
For irritated and intensive pain, use ointments that may be snagged which are non-prescription. Also utilize cold compress on the affected area so the veins would definitely somehow dissove and gradually go back to standard.
Heat sitz bath is usually widely known as the hemorrhoidal inflammation home treatment plan. You are capable of doing this means for three times each day and about fifteen minutes per each time. It may get shrinking any inflamed areas.
Thrust it back again: Many families have tried this and for some reason helped. Having said that, you just can’t permanently reduce your hemorrhoid employing this method. After finish supplementing with bath or aided by the toilet, you will use any fingers and attempt to gently touch your hemorrhoid in to where the software belongs. Having said that, don’t touch it which means that hard. Should you be in soreness when this process, then one should stop and also leave the software alone.
The above information was put together with great care because we know the value of accurate and timely material.
2012年1月29日星期日
Posts Tagged ‘home remedies for hemorrhoids’
When you experience hemorrhoids can be one of the most distressing experiences you can get due to the irritation, painfulness and often hemorrhage. So is common to search for an effective way to instant solve this sensitive issue. If you want to treat hemorrhoid right away then it would be best to try out natural cures that are easily accessible to anyone because it can be easily done.
To try first the natural remedies is recommended because like all medical treatments can have some side effects in the future. So if you want to try first some natural home remedies for hemorrhoids without worry about side effects in the following paragraph you”ll find some things to try first.
First of all you need to eat more healthy food. Simply changing your diet to one that is high in fiber then it is important that you consider this. One of the main problems that cause hemorrhoids is constipation. And that is because of the pressure that is generated in the rectal area and the blood circulation is affected. Rich fiber food is a good way to overcome the constipation. Another way to fight constipation would be hydration. Is common that when a body does not have enough water the food digestion is not done properly resulting in an irritation of the rectal area.
The use of bioflavonoids is one of the home remedies for hemorrhoids that you can try, witch will reduce the pain and itchiness. These come from citrus fruits, oxerutins and hesperidins. These can be very good in reducing the inflammation of the muscles and hence reducing the discomfort. This is one of the main functions that these components have in healing hemorrhoids.
When you try home remedies for hemorrhoids you should consider to try also herbal treatments. The most popular types of herbal remedies are butcher’s broom and horse chestnut.
This two herbal home remedies for hemorrhoids are for improving the blood circulation of your body. These herbs are coming in capsules or could and sometimes should be applied externally. One thing that people should take note of when using horse chestnut is that it can have some components that people are allergic to so make sure that you’ve read the fine print of these home remedies hemorrhoids before you do anything right away.
Ointments from plants are also good to consider because these have a natural effect on hemorrhoids. These are usually extracted from herbs and are only applied externally on the area that needs to be addressed. The ointments can be very effective in reducing the pain and discomfort almost immediately.
You can make a choice from a wide variety of home remedies and that is why it is important that you do the right research. If you feel that the pain has aggravated then you should consider going to a professional doctor to have them write you a prescription.
To try first the natural remedies is recommended because like all medical treatments can have some side effects in the future. So if you want to try first some natural home remedies for hemorrhoids without worry about side effects in the following paragraph you”ll find some things to try first.
First of all you need to eat more healthy food. Simply changing your diet to one that is high in fiber then it is important that you consider this. One of the main problems that cause hemorrhoids is constipation. And that is because of the pressure that is generated in the rectal area and the blood circulation is affected. Rich fiber food is a good way to overcome the constipation. Another way to fight constipation would be hydration. Is common that when a body does not have enough water the food digestion is not done properly resulting in an irritation of the rectal area.
The use of bioflavonoids is one of the home remedies for hemorrhoids that you can try, witch will reduce the pain and itchiness. These come from citrus fruits, oxerutins and hesperidins. These can be very good in reducing the inflammation of the muscles and hence reducing the discomfort. This is one of the main functions that these components have in healing hemorrhoids.
When you try home remedies for hemorrhoids you should consider to try also herbal treatments. The most popular types of herbal remedies are butcher’s broom and horse chestnut.
This two herbal home remedies for hemorrhoids are for improving the blood circulation of your body. These herbs are coming in capsules or could and sometimes should be applied externally. One thing that people should take note of when using horse chestnut is that it can have some components that people are allergic to so make sure that you’ve read the fine print of these home remedies hemorrhoids before you do anything right away.
Ointments from plants are also good to consider because these have a natural effect on hemorrhoids. These are usually extracted from herbs and are only applied externally on the area that needs to be addressed. The ointments can be very effective in reducing the pain and discomfort almost immediately.
You can make a choice from a wide variety of home remedies and that is why it is important that you do the right research. If you feel that the pain has aggravated then you should consider going to a professional doctor to have them write you a prescription.
2012年1月19日星期四
Their particular Treatment As well as Prevention
Piles, also known as piles, are the dilatation, the particular stretching outside of normal size of radicles of anal veins inside anal channel. In this instance any radicle is the smallest branch of a blood abnormal vein hemorrhoids. Veins are weak compared to arteries because of the thin walls, therefore problematic veins can become drained and turned with any kind of great rear pressure. Veins have one-way valves to avoid back flow. The three anal veins are named appropriately superior, center and substandard rectal problematic veins. Obstructions or perhaps pressure boost in these problematic veins cause piles.
Piles, or perhaps hemorrhoids, appear in two types, bodily and mental. External piles are away from anus and so are skin protected. Their shade may be brown or black. Because anxiety are so loaded in the arschfick area a hemorrhoid is very painful.
The next type, internal hemorrhoids come in the interior from the anal channel, internal to the anus. They may be purple or perhaps red and have a mucous membrane protecting. They are usually uncomplicated. It isn’t uncommon for a person to own both bodily and mental hemorrhoids as well.
Hemorrhoids, any familial ailment, tend to arise among people in a family, may also be blamed on genetics. The only wildlife that get piles are those in which stand on 2 legs. Almost certainly this is as a result of rectal abnormal vein congestion because of the pull of gravity. People who are chronically irregular often have piles problems. Fighting off the urge to move your bowels at your body’s indication can bring about constipation and then piles how to get rid of hemorrhoids.
A high ingestion of beef, chicken, shrimp, hot foods and more lead to piles. The people very least likely to get piles are the types who have an increased percentage of fruit and vegetables and fibrous food within their diet. Some women get hemorrhoids during pregnancy because of the womb compressing the particular rectal problematic veins. Rectal cancer lesions may well bring about piles through preventing blood flow.
With external hemorrhoids any protuberance can be seen and also felt throughout the anus. You will see pain and discomfort inside the anal location. While stressing to discharge a stool the anguish will be even worse.
Early on, internal hemorrhoids cannot be felt. Subsequently, in advancement of the disease, the particular hemorrhoids will certainly protrude being a stool can be expelled and then retreat independently. When the problem worsens the particular protruded hemorrhoids will not likely go back.
Blood loss isn’t uncommon for sometimes type hemorrhoid. However, whenever an internal hemorrhoid is rolled away it could hemorrhage internally, into the rectum. Blood loss occurs in splashes whilst pushing in order to expel a stool. In some cases the particular bleeding may be quite bountiful. With equally types of piles there may be any mucus discharge and it will itch throughout the anus.
Piles, or perhaps hemorrhoids, appear in two types, bodily and mental. External piles are away from anus and so are skin protected. Their shade may be brown or black. Because anxiety are so loaded in the arschfick area a hemorrhoid is very painful.
The next type, internal hemorrhoids come in the interior from the anal channel, internal to the anus. They may be purple or perhaps red and have a mucous membrane protecting. They are usually uncomplicated. It isn’t uncommon for a person to own both bodily and mental hemorrhoids as well.
Hemorrhoids, any familial ailment, tend to arise among people in a family, may also be blamed on genetics. The only wildlife that get piles are those in which stand on 2 legs. Almost certainly this is as a result of rectal abnormal vein congestion because of the pull of gravity. People who are chronically irregular often have piles problems. Fighting off the urge to move your bowels at your body’s indication can bring about constipation and then piles how to get rid of hemorrhoids.
A high ingestion of beef, chicken, shrimp, hot foods and more lead to piles. The people very least likely to get piles are the types who have an increased percentage of fruit and vegetables and fibrous food within their diet. Some women get hemorrhoids during pregnancy because of the womb compressing the particular rectal problematic veins. Rectal cancer lesions may well bring about piles through preventing blood flow.
With external hemorrhoids any protuberance can be seen and also felt throughout the anus. You will see pain and discomfort inside the anal location. While stressing to discharge a stool the anguish will be even worse.
Early on, internal hemorrhoids cannot be felt. Subsequently, in advancement of the disease, the particular hemorrhoids will certainly protrude being a stool can be expelled and then retreat independently. When the problem worsens the particular protruded hemorrhoids will not likely go back.
Blood loss isn’t uncommon for sometimes type hemorrhoid. However, whenever an internal hemorrhoid is rolled away it could hemorrhage internally, into the rectum. Blood loss occurs in splashes whilst pushing in order to expel a stool. In some cases the particular bleeding may be quite bountiful. With equally types of piles there may be any mucus discharge and it will itch throughout the anus.
2012年1月18日星期三
HD Treatment Center Opens in Raleigh
HD Treatment Center which offers a painless and permanent treatment option for patients with hemorrhoidal disease, has opened an office at 4601 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 1D. The center uses direct micro current technology cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to treat internal hemorrhoids and hemorrhoidal disease permanently. The non-surgical, non-invasive procedure is virtually pain-free and requires no anesthesia, no special preparation , no cutting or incision and no downtime – patients may return to their normal activities immediately after it is completed. Patients frequently notice significant relief immediately following treatment and over the next seven to 10 days. Depending on the extent of the hemorrhoidal disease, oftentimes only a single treatment is required. HD Treatment Center’s physicians have more than 50 years combined experience in treating hemorrhoidal disease.
“Treating hemorrhoids and hemorrhoidal disease has historically been a taboo subject for society. We at HD Treatment Center hope to end the silence surrounding this sensitive and private condition, since there is now a quick, virtually painless procedure available to relieve suffering,” said Dr. Larry Fusco, lead physician at HD Treatment Center. “In the past, painful surgery or temporary relief from topical solutions such as wipes, creams, pads and suppositories were among the few treatment options available. The technology available at HD Treatment Center provides a major advance in the way we as doctors treat hemorrhoids, and we can now provide patients immediate relief.”
HD Treatment Center,offers patients with hemorrhoidal disease a permanent and virtually pain-free way to treat their condition by using direct micro current technology cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. The non-surgical, non-invasive procedure requires no anesthesia, no special preparation , no cutting or incision and no downtime – patients may return to their normal activities immediately after it is completed. Patients frequently notice significant relief immediately following treatment and over the next seven to 10 days. Depending on the extent of the hemorrhoidal disease, oftentimes only a single treatment is required. Doctors at HD Treatment Center have more than 50 years combined experience in treating hemorrhoidal disease and provide consultations prior to performing procedures that are covered by insurance.
“Treating hemorrhoids and hemorrhoidal disease has historically been a taboo subject for society. We at HD Treatment Center hope to end the silence surrounding this sensitive and private condition, since there is now a quick, virtually painless procedure available to relieve suffering,” said Dr. Larry Fusco, lead physician at HD Treatment Center. “In the past, painful surgery or temporary relief from topical solutions such as wipes, creams, pads and suppositories were among the few treatment options available. The technology available at HD Treatment Center provides a major advance in the way we as doctors treat hemorrhoids, and we can now provide patients immediate relief.”
HD Treatment Center,offers patients with hemorrhoidal disease a permanent and virtually pain-free way to treat their condition by using direct micro current technology cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. The non-surgical, non-invasive procedure requires no anesthesia, no special preparation , no cutting or incision and no downtime – patients may return to their normal activities immediately after it is completed. Patients frequently notice significant relief immediately following treatment and over the next seven to 10 days. Depending on the extent of the hemorrhoidal disease, oftentimes only a single treatment is required. Doctors at HD Treatment Center have more than 50 years combined experience in treating hemorrhoidal disease and provide consultations prior to performing procedures that are covered by insurance.
2012年1月17日星期二
Local band seeks to win contest, make it to SXSW
Guitarist Duncan Kissinger said that Hotfox is a band that advocates the importance of utilizing the full buffalo when it is hunted.
“Some people just use it for meat, some use it just for the pelt. Use all of it, not some of it,” Kissinger said.
Even though the band wouldn’t fully reveal what the buffalo is, if the buffalo in question is a metaphor for taking advantage of opportunity, the band does just that.
The local indie-rock band is no stranger to success.
After winning Record Store Day High School Battle of the Bands in April 2010, which landed them a front-page spot on NUVO, an alternative newspaper in Indianapolis, the band recorded an album and was named Bloomington’s best local band that same year.
After releasing their debut album “You, Me, and the Monster,” they shared the stage with several nationally known bands, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s.
But they’re not tired yet.
The band is currently among the top five bands competing in a contest for a spot to perform at South by Southwest Interactive Film and Music Festival in Austin, Texas, this March. The band found out about the contest on Sonicbids and submitted their song “Mountain Tiger.” The band members received an email two weeks ago informing them that they were finalists.
The Sonicbids-Jansport Battle of the Bands contest uses an online voting system to decide which 10 acts will be considered for the final round. Fans of the band are able to vote online once a day through Jan. 19. The top 10 acts will then be judged by a panel, which will announce the winner sometime in February.
“We’ve been playing on a local, slightly regional level for years together, and SXSW is the opportunity for us that is very attainable and would be the boost we need to have new people hear our music,” Kissinger said.
Are they nervous?
“You could say we’re a bunch of nervous nematodes,” Kissinger said.
According to Kissinger, their album “You, Me, and the Monster” has to do with hemorrhoids, or in their words, “pains in the ass.”
Examples of pains include skeletons, dirty dishes, women, drugs, money and paparazzi.
Not all of the band’s songs fall under these categories, though.
“Our song ‘Mountain Tiger’ is about a fight between a fierce tiger and a mean machine ... on a mountain,” sophomore bassist Marcus Tedesco said.
Tedesco met singer and guitarist Oliver Hopkins outside Read Center last year and has been part of the band ever since.
Following the success of their debut album, the band is starting to record a new album this month. The album includes tracks such as “Hay, is that My Horse?” and “Gallop Pasture Sister’s Head.”
“The second album will be a concept record based around the times and adventures of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ It’ll be louder and dustier than record number one,” Hopkins said.
The title of the second album and when it will be out is still unknown.
“Maybe in a few months, maybe a year,” Hopkins said.
“Some people just use it for meat, some use it just for the pelt. Use all of it, not some of it,” Kissinger said.
Even though the band wouldn’t fully reveal what the buffalo is, if the buffalo in question is a metaphor for taking advantage of opportunity, the band does just that.
The local indie-rock band is no stranger to success.
After winning Record Store Day High School Battle of the Bands in April 2010, which landed them a front-page spot on NUVO, an alternative newspaper in Indianapolis, the band recorded an album and was named Bloomington’s best local band that same year.
After releasing their debut album “You, Me, and the Monster,” they shared the stage with several nationally known bands, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s.
But they’re not tired yet.
The band is currently among the top five bands competing in a contest for a spot to perform at South by Southwest Interactive Film and Music Festival in Austin, Texas, this March. The band found out about the contest on Sonicbids and submitted their song “Mountain Tiger.” The band members received an email two weeks ago informing them that they were finalists.
The Sonicbids-Jansport Battle of the Bands contest uses an online voting system to decide which 10 acts will be considered for the final round. Fans of the band are able to vote online once a day through Jan. 19. The top 10 acts will then be judged by a panel, which will announce the winner sometime in February.
“We’ve been playing on a local, slightly regional level for years together, and SXSW is the opportunity for us that is very attainable and would be the boost we need to have new people hear our music,” Kissinger said.
Are they nervous?
“You could say we’re a bunch of nervous nematodes,” Kissinger said.
According to Kissinger, their album “You, Me, and the Monster” has to do with hemorrhoids, or in their words, “pains in the ass.”
Examples of pains include skeletons, dirty dishes, women, drugs, money and paparazzi.
Not all of the band’s songs fall under these categories, though.
“Our song ‘Mountain Tiger’ is about a fight between a fierce tiger and a mean machine ... on a mountain,” sophomore bassist Marcus Tedesco said.
Tedesco met singer and guitarist Oliver Hopkins outside Read Center last year and has been part of the band ever since.
Following the success of their debut album, the band is starting to record a new album this month. The album includes tracks such as “Hay, is that My Horse?” and “Gallop Pasture Sister’s Head.”
“The second album will be a concept record based around the times and adventures of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ It’ll be louder and dustier than record number one,” Hopkins said.
The title of the second album and when it will be out is still unknown.
“Maybe in a few months, maybe a year,” Hopkins said.
2012年1月16日星期一
How to Cure Piles and Hemorrhoids at Home Fast
Many people who have never suffered from piles and hemorrhoids do not know how they can support any person suffering from the same. The piles and hemorrhoids bring about so much pain and discomfort. There are different methods on how to cure piles and hemorrhoids at home fast. Actually, different people have diverse approaches in tackling the different symptoms as well. These simple approaches will definitely not cost much of your money. In fact, some ideas do not need any extra input. They are just basic simple daily routines or behaviors to adapt.
It is also very important to understand how the piles and hemorrhoids come about. This will help you in tackling them effectively. Piles and hemorrhoids are normally occasioned by the intense pressure mounted on the veins in the anus and rectal area. In case you are suffering from constipation, it means that you will have a hard time while in the toilet that will make you stay for a while. The pressure leads to the formation of piles and hemorrhoids. During pregnancy, women are encouraged to have plenty of rest so as to reduce the amount of pressure mounted in the anus and rectal areas. This implicates that curing piles and hemorrhoids should start from home fast since they are just developed from there.
Here is a list of the different ideas that can help in curing piles and hemorrhoids at home fast.
Medical practitioners have always encouraged people to consume large amounts of water. Serious consumption of water will always help in the complete digestion of any food taken and hence do away with constipation.
Always watch your feeding habits. You should actually eat healthy and clean foods so as avoid situations such as diarrhea and constipation.
A domestic habit for curing piles and hemorrhoids is the refrain of staying in the toilet for long periods.
You should also eat supplements that contain high amounts of fiber.
It is also very important to understand how the piles and hemorrhoids come about. This will help you in tackling them effectively. Piles and hemorrhoids are normally occasioned by the intense pressure mounted on the veins in the anus and rectal area. In case you are suffering from constipation, it means that you will have a hard time while in the toilet that will make you stay for a while. The pressure leads to the formation of piles and hemorrhoids. During pregnancy, women are encouraged to have plenty of rest so as to reduce the amount of pressure mounted in the anus and rectal areas. This implicates that curing piles and hemorrhoids should start from home fast since they are just developed from there.
Here is a list of the different ideas that can help in curing piles and hemorrhoids at home fast.
Medical practitioners have always encouraged people to consume large amounts of water. Serious consumption of water will always help in the complete digestion of any food taken and hence do away with constipation.
Always watch your feeding habits. You should actually eat healthy and clean foods so as avoid situations such as diarrhea and constipation.
A domestic habit for curing piles and hemorrhoids is the refrain of staying in the toilet for long periods.
You should also eat supplements that contain high amounts of fiber.
2012年1月15日星期日
Surgical centers presenting new options in health care
When Eric Hutchcroft of rural Elburn learned he would need a hernia operation, the surgeon asked where he wanted to do it.
The doctor explained that he is on the staff of three facilities and could do the surgery at any of the three. Where would Hutchcroft feel more comfortable and convenient?
At Delnor Hospital, a large secular medical complex in Geneva?
At Provena Saint Joseph, a large Catholic medical complex in Elgin?
Or at the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center, a one-story, 32,000-square-foot facility that looks more like an insurance office and is tucked almost invisibly into an office park along Randall Road in St. Charles?
“I picked the surgery center,” recalls the 40-year-old software developer. “It seemed closer to home, and it seemed like it might have a more personal aspect. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost in a giant operation.”
When Hutchcroft left the center after the operation, he decided the experience had gone more smoothly than the time he had endured a colonoscopy done by another doctor at a large hospital in the suburbs.
“The waiting time was very minimal,” he said. “The people were very friendly. I would definitely recommend using a surgery center.”
Hutchcroft is one of a growing number of people who have found that getting an operation doesn’t necessarily mean going to a hospital. Nationwide, there are now 5,000 independent surgery centers.
In the Fox Valley, the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center (nicknamed “VASC”) is one of the oldest and largest of these independent, for-profit centers. It opened in 1987 and in 1997 even added a nine-bed Valley Medical Inn, where patients who need to spend a night or two as an in-patient can stay in bed under the supervision of nurses.
VASC contains seven surgery suites and serves 5,500 to 6,000 patients a year — roughly 20 to 25 operations a day. The center is 60 percent owned by some of the doctors who practice there and 40 percent by a corporation named Symbion, which also owns four hospitals and 75 other surgery centers and clinics.
The newest surgery centers in the area are two clinic-style operations in Elgin that offer more than just surgery.
The Elgin SurgiCare opened last August in an 8,000-square-foot office at the corner of North McLean Boulevard and Todd Farm Drive. It’s part of a chain of seven medical centers and nine MRI/CT/X-ray centers across the Chicago area owned by Chicago physician Dr. Naser Rustom.
The 6,900-square-foot Center for Advanced Medicine and Surgery (also known as Centro Medico del Pueblo) has been under construction for a year and a half in the former Hollywood Video Store at 1460 Larkin Ave. but still hasn’t opened. According to its city building permit, the facility will have nine treatment rooms and seven testing rooms, with about 10 employees. Like VASC and Elgin SurgiCare, it will be open Monday through Saturday. Its owner, who reportedly is a Latino physician based in Chicago, could not be reached for this story.
Some centers offer only surgeries in specific specialty areas, such as Elgin’s Endo Center, which does colonoscopies and minimally invasive gastrointestinal operations; and Elgin’s Valley Surgery Center, which does plastic surgery.
Other such facilities in the area include the Tri-Cities Surgery Center, a joint venture of Delnor Hospital and a group of doctors who do mostly gastrointestinal work; the Center for Surgery in Naperville; and the Algonquin Surgery Center.
In almost every case, surgeries are done by doctors who are not full-time employees of the centers but have their own offices somewhere else. In fact, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Professionals requires that surgeons using surgery centers also have admitting privileges to at least one regular hospital. Many of the centers are owned or co-owned by doctors or groups of doctors.
Elgin SurgiCare Manager Robin Fina said patients are attracted to these centers by three things: lower prices, a less-intimidating atmosphere and greater safety from contagious infections.
Hernia patient Hutchcroft said he didn’t really consider the comparative cost of using a hospital versus the cost of using a surgery center. “The way my insurance works, it would have been about the same cost to me either way,” he said.
But Dr. Anthony Giamberdino, the medical director at VASC, said more and more people do pay attention, and “based on my interviews, our prices are lower in 98 percent of the incidences. So for a patient with a significant co-pay, we can save them money.”
“For Medicare patients, we are 38 percent less expensive than a hospital,” said VASC Administrator Deborah Lee Cook. “The government recognizes that we are more efficient and tries to steer Medicare patients toward surgery centers.”
Giamberdino said the lower prices are possible because surgery centers and clinics don’t have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries to top-office administrators, don’t have to run a cafeteria and don’t need to run an emergency room. “We’re efficient because we can focus on one thing — surgery.”
The surgery center people also claim their facilities are also less prone to spreading infections.
“Our infection rate is lower because we don’t take sick (with an infection) patients” the way a regular hospital must, VASC Marketing Director Diane Lauterer said.
The type of operations that can be done vary considerably among facilities. And if you’re planning on a heart bypass or brain-tumor removal, you will need a full-fledged hospital.
VASC does only surgery but can do many types of that. At VASC, “it’s easier to say what we cannot do surgically than what we can do,” Giamberdino said. “We don’t do childbirths. We don’t do any procedure that involves a long hospital stay or requires an intensive-care ward. We don’t operate inside chests or skulls. But that leaves a lot that we can do. We have pretty much every surgical specialty represented by the surgeons on our staff.”
Typical operations at VASC include hernia repairs such as Hutchcroft’s, knee and hip replacements, plastic surgery, gynecological and gastrointestinal work, tonsillectomies, and kidney stone and gall stone removal.
“We have done spinal fusions, thyroid surgeries, joint replacements, hysterectomies,” Giamberdino said.
Elgin SurgiCare can do fewer varieties of surgery but is more of a full-scale medical clinic. A full-time certified physician assistant, Mario Astacio, is on hand to examine and perhaps write prescriptions or order tests for someone who walks in off the street with some ailment. A chiropractor, Dr. Houston Brown, works on pain management and has a large room full of exercise equipment to do physical therapy. Parkside Imaging, a sister business in the same building that is also owned by Rustom, has a million-dollar MRI machine plus CT scan, X-ray and ultrasound equipment. Elgin Pharmacy will open a branch in the SurgiCare building soon.
“We’re pretty much a one-stop shop for everything from a chest cold to an auto accident,” Fina said.
When it comes to the operating room, however, Elgin SurgiCare’s scope is more limited than VASC’s. It doesn’t do surgeries that involve fully opening a body cavity, such as Hutchcroft’s traditional-style hernia repair. But if a hernia can be fixed via laparoscopic surgery, that can be done at the SurgiCare. Fina said that using laparoscopes, colonoscopy and other minimally-invasive techniques, Elgin SurgiCare doctors work on such things as shoulders, knees, hemorrhoids, skin, the reproductive organs and the gastrointestinal tract. Even a bad uterus now can be removed laparoscopically.
Astacio said Elgin SurgiCare especially targets Elgin’s large Hispanic population. He said he and the daily staff members speak Spanish as well as English.
In a time when the opening, closing and even ownership of medical facilities is heavily regulated by the state in an effort to avoid expensive duplication of resources, each surgery center must convince the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to grant it a certificate of need. That board voted last month against allowing new hospitals to be built in Huntley and Crystal Lake, but the panel seems easier to convince about the need for small surgery centers and clinics.
Like most surgery centers, he said, VASC is run by medical professionals.
“The best leadership in a health-care organization is people who have done health care,” Giamberdino said. “Our board of directors is made up of physicians. Our administrator is a registered nurse, and our medical director — me — is a physician. We’re not governed by spreadsheets here. The most important thing to us is our patient outcomes, and the people who provide the care are the ones who make the decisions.”
The doctor explained that he is on the staff of three facilities and could do the surgery at any of the three. Where would Hutchcroft feel more comfortable and convenient?
At Delnor Hospital, a large secular medical complex in Geneva?
At Provena Saint Joseph, a large Catholic medical complex in Elgin?
Or at the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center, a one-story, 32,000-square-foot facility that looks more like an insurance office and is tucked almost invisibly into an office park along Randall Road in St. Charles?
“I picked the surgery center,” recalls the 40-year-old software developer. “It seemed closer to home, and it seemed like it might have a more personal aspect. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost in a giant operation.”
When Hutchcroft left the center after the operation, he decided the experience had gone more smoothly than the time he had endured a colonoscopy done by another doctor at a large hospital in the suburbs.
“The waiting time was very minimal,” he said. “The people were very friendly. I would definitely recommend using a surgery center.”
Hutchcroft is one of a growing number of people who have found that getting an operation doesn’t necessarily mean going to a hospital. Nationwide, there are now 5,000 independent surgery centers.
In the Fox Valley, the Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center (nicknamed “VASC”) is one of the oldest and largest of these independent, for-profit centers. It opened in 1987 and in 1997 even added a nine-bed Valley Medical Inn, where patients who need to spend a night or two as an in-patient can stay in bed under the supervision of nurses.
VASC contains seven surgery suites and serves 5,500 to 6,000 patients a year — roughly 20 to 25 operations a day. The center is 60 percent owned by some of the doctors who practice there and 40 percent by a corporation named Symbion, which also owns four hospitals and 75 other surgery centers and clinics.
The newest surgery centers in the area are two clinic-style operations in Elgin that offer more than just surgery.
The Elgin SurgiCare opened last August in an 8,000-square-foot office at the corner of North McLean Boulevard and Todd Farm Drive. It’s part of a chain of seven medical centers and nine MRI/CT/X-ray centers across the Chicago area owned by Chicago physician Dr. Naser Rustom.
The 6,900-square-foot Center for Advanced Medicine and Surgery (also known as Centro Medico del Pueblo) has been under construction for a year and a half in the former Hollywood Video Store at 1460 Larkin Ave. but still hasn’t opened. According to its city building permit, the facility will have nine treatment rooms and seven testing rooms, with about 10 employees. Like VASC and Elgin SurgiCare, it will be open Monday through Saturday. Its owner, who reportedly is a Latino physician based in Chicago, could not be reached for this story.
Some centers offer only surgeries in specific specialty areas, such as Elgin’s Endo Center, which does colonoscopies and minimally invasive gastrointestinal operations; and Elgin’s Valley Surgery Center, which does plastic surgery.
Other such facilities in the area include the Tri-Cities Surgery Center, a joint venture of Delnor Hospital and a group of doctors who do mostly gastrointestinal work; the Center for Surgery in Naperville; and the Algonquin Surgery Center.
In almost every case, surgeries are done by doctors who are not full-time employees of the centers but have their own offices somewhere else. In fact, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Professionals requires that surgeons using surgery centers also have admitting privileges to at least one regular hospital. Many of the centers are owned or co-owned by doctors or groups of doctors.
Elgin SurgiCare Manager Robin Fina said patients are attracted to these centers by three things: lower prices, a less-intimidating atmosphere and greater safety from contagious infections.
Hernia patient Hutchcroft said he didn’t really consider the comparative cost of using a hospital versus the cost of using a surgery center. “The way my insurance works, it would have been about the same cost to me either way,” he said.
But Dr. Anthony Giamberdino, the medical director at VASC, said more and more people do pay attention, and “based on my interviews, our prices are lower in 98 percent of the incidences. So for a patient with a significant co-pay, we can save them money.”
“For Medicare patients, we are 38 percent less expensive than a hospital,” said VASC Administrator Deborah Lee Cook. “The government recognizes that we are more efficient and tries to steer Medicare patients toward surgery centers.”
Giamberdino said the lower prices are possible because surgery centers and clinics don’t have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries to top-office administrators, don’t have to run a cafeteria and don’t need to run an emergency room. “We’re efficient because we can focus on one thing — surgery.”
The surgery center people also claim their facilities are also less prone to spreading infections.
“Our infection rate is lower because we don’t take sick (with an infection) patients” the way a regular hospital must, VASC Marketing Director Diane Lauterer said.
The type of operations that can be done vary considerably among facilities. And if you’re planning on a heart bypass or brain-tumor removal, you will need a full-fledged hospital.
VASC does only surgery but can do many types of that. At VASC, “it’s easier to say what we cannot do surgically than what we can do,” Giamberdino said. “We don’t do childbirths. We don’t do any procedure that involves a long hospital stay or requires an intensive-care ward. We don’t operate inside chests or skulls. But that leaves a lot that we can do. We have pretty much every surgical specialty represented by the surgeons on our staff.”
Typical operations at VASC include hernia repairs such as Hutchcroft’s, knee and hip replacements, plastic surgery, gynecological and gastrointestinal work, tonsillectomies, and kidney stone and gall stone removal.
“We have done spinal fusions, thyroid surgeries, joint replacements, hysterectomies,” Giamberdino said.
Elgin SurgiCare can do fewer varieties of surgery but is more of a full-scale medical clinic. A full-time certified physician assistant, Mario Astacio, is on hand to examine and perhaps write prescriptions or order tests for someone who walks in off the street with some ailment. A chiropractor, Dr. Houston Brown, works on pain management and has a large room full of exercise equipment to do physical therapy. Parkside Imaging, a sister business in the same building that is also owned by Rustom, has a million-dollar MRI machine plus CT scan, X-ray and ultrasound equipment. Elgin Pharmacy will open a branch in the SurgiCare building soon.
“We’re pretty much a one-stop shop for everything from a chest cold to an auto accident,” Fina said.
When it comes to the operating room, however, Elgin SurgiCare’s scope is more limited than VASC’s. It doesn’t do surgeries that involve fully opening a body cavity, such as Hutchcroft’s traditional-style hernia repair. But if a hernia can be fixed via laparoscopic surgery, that can be done at the SurgiCare. Fina said that using laparoscopes, colonoscopy and other minimally-invasive techniques, Elgin SurgiCare doctors work on such things as shoulders, knees, hemorrhoids, skin, the reproductive organs and the gastrointestinal tract. Even a bad uterus now can be removed laparoscopically.
Astacio said Elgin SurgiCare especially targets Elgin’s large Hispanic population. He said he and the daily staff members speak Spanish as well as English.
In a time when the opening, closing and even ownership of medical facilities is heavily regulated by the state in an effort to avoid expensive duplication of resources, each surgery center must convince the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to grant it a certificate of need. That board voted last month against allowing new hospitals to be built in Huntley and Crystal Lake, but the panel seems easier to convince about the need for small surgery centers and clinics.
Like most surgery centers, he said, VASC is run by medical professionals.
“The best leadership in a health-care organization is people who have done health care,” Giamberdino said. “Our board of directors is made up of physicians. Our administrator is a registered nurse, and our medical director — me — is a physician. We’re not governed by spreadsheets here. The most important thing to us is our patient outcomes, and the people who provide the care are the ones who make the decisions.”
2012年1月12日星期四
Everybody is a healthy somebody when you eat these foods
Protect your heart, prevent constipation, block diarrhea, improve lung capacity and cushion joints.
Combat cancer, control blood pressure, save your eyesight, shield against Alzheimer's disease and slow the aging process.
Aid digestion, lower cholesterol, protect your heart, stabilize blood sugar and guard against liver disease.
Battle diabetes, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes, control blood pressure and help keep skin smooth.
Protect your heart, quiet a cough, strengthen bones, control blood pressure and block diarrhea.
Prevent constipation, help hemorrhoids, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and stabilize blood sugar.
Control blood pressure, combat cancer, strengthen bones, protect your heart and aid weight loss.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, stabilize blood sugar, boost memory and prevent constipation.
Strengthen bones, save eyesight, combat cancer, protect your heart and control blood pressure.
Combat cancer, prevent constipation, promote weight loss, protect your heart and help hemorrhoids.
Save eyesight, control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and support the immune system.
Save eyesight, protect your heart, prevent constipation, combat cancer and promote weight loss.
Protect against prostate cancer, combat breast cancer, strengthen bones, banish bruises and guard against heart disease.
Protect your heart, combat cancer, end insomnia, slow the aging process and shield against Alzheimer's disease.
Promote weight loss, protect your heart, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and control blood pressure.
Aid digestion, soothe sore throats, clear sinuses, combat cancer and boost the immune system.
Promote weight loss, help stop strokes, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and control blood pressure.
Protect your heart, boost memory, combat cancer and support the immune system.
Aid digestion, battle diabetes, protect your heart, improve mental health and boost the immune system.
Lower cholesterol, control blood pressure, combat cancer, kill bacteria and fight fungus.
Protect against heart attacks, promote weight loss, help stop strokes, combat prostate cancer and lower cholesterol.
Save eyesight, conquer kidney stones, combat cancer, enhance blood flow and protect your heart.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, help stop strokes, promote weight loss and kill bacteria.
Heal wounds, aid digestion, guard against ulcers, increase energy and fight allergies.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, control blood pressure, smoothe skin and stop scurvy.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, control blood pressure, smoothe the skin and stop scurvy.
Combat cancer, boost memory, regulate thyroid, aid digestion and shield against Alzheimer's disease.
Control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, kill bacteria, combat cancer and strengthen bones.
Lower cholesterol, combat cancer, battle diabetes, prevent constipation and soothe the skin.
Protect your heart, promote weight loss, combat cancer, battle diabetes and smooth the skin.
Reduce the risk of heart attack, combat cancer, kill bacteria, lower cholesterol and fight fungus.
Support your immune system, combat cancer, protect your heart and aid respiration.
Prevent constipation, combat cancer, help stop strokes, aid digestion and help hemorrhoids.
Protect against heart disease, promote weight loss, combat prostate cancer and lower cholesterol but aggravate diverticulitis.
Strengthen bones, relieve colds, aid digestion, dissolve warts and block diarrhea.
Slow the aging process, prevent constipation, boost memory, lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
Protect your heart, battle diabetes, conquer kidney stones, combat cancer and help stop strokes.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, boost memory and calm stress.
Save your eyesight, lift moods, combat cancer and strengthen bones.
Protect prostates, combat cancer, lower cholesterol and protect your heart.
Lower cholesterol, combat cancer, boost memory, lift moods and protect against heart disease.
Promote weight loss, combat cancer, conquer kidney stones and smooth the skin.
Protect your prostate, promote weight loss, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes and controls blood pressure.
Combat colon cancer, prevent constipation, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes and improve digestion.
Combat cancer, control blood pressure, save your eyesight, shield against Alzheimer's disease and slow the aging process.
Aid digestion, lower cholesterol, protect your heart, stabilize blood sugar and guard against liver disease.
Battle diabetes, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes, control blood pressure and help keep skin smooth.
Protect your heart, quiet a cough, strengthen bones, control blood pressure and block diarrhea.
Prevent constipation, help hemorrhoids, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and stabilize blood sugar.
Control blood pressure, combat cancer, strengthen bones, protect your heart and aid weight loss.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, stabilize blood sugar, boost memory and prevent constipation.
Strengthen bones, save eyesight, combat cancer, protect your heart and control blood pressure.
Combat cancer, prevent constipation, promote weight loss, protect your heart and help hemorrhoids.
Save eyesight, control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and support the immune system.
Save eyesight, protect your heart, prevent constipation, combat cancer and promote weight loss.
Protect against prostate cancer, combat breast cancer, strengthen bones, banish bruises and guard against heart disease.
Protect your heart, combat cancer, end insomnia, slow the aging process and shield against Alzheimer's disease.
Promote weight loss, protect your heart, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and control blood pressure.
Aid digestion, soothe sore throats, clear sinuses, combat cancer and boost the immune system.
Promote weight loss, help stop strokes, lower cholesterol, combat cancer and control blood pressure.
Protect your heart, boost memory, combat cancer and support the immune system.
Aid digestion, battle diabetes, protect your heart, improve mental health and boost the immune system.
Lower cholesterol, control blood pressure, combat cancer, kill bacteria and fight fungus.
Protect against heart attacks, promote weight loss, help stop strokes, combat prostate cancer and lower cholesterol.
Save eyesight, conquer kidney stones, combat cancer, enhance blood flow and protect your heart.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, help stop strokes, promote weight loss and kill bacteria.
Heal wounds, aid digestion, guard against ulcers, increase energy and fight allergies.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, control blood pressure, smoothe skin and stop scurvy.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, control blood pressure, smoothe the skin and stop scurvy.
Combat cancer, boost memory, regulate thyroid, aid digestion and shield against Alzheimer's disease.
Control blood pressure, lower cholesterol, kill bacteria, combat cancer and strengthen bones.
Lower cholesterol, combat cancer, battle diabetes, prevent constipation and soothe the skin.
Protect your heart, promote weight loss, combat cancer, battle diabetes and smooth the skin.
Reduce the risk of heart attack, combat cancer, kill bacteria, lower cholesterol and fight fungus.
Support your immune system, combat cancer, protect your heart and aid respiration.
Prevent constipation, combat cancer, help stop strokes, aid digestion and help hemorrhoids.
Protect against heart disease, promote weight loss, combat prostate cancer and lower cholesterol but aggravate diverticulitis.
Strengthen bones, relieve colds, aid digestion, dissolve warts and block diarrhea.
Slow the aging process, prevent constipation, boost memory, lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
Protect your heart, battle diabetes, conquer kidney stones, combat cancer and help stop strokes.
Combat cancer, protect your heart, boost memory and calm stress.
Save your eyesight, lift moods, combat cancer and strengthen bones.
Protect prostates, combat cancer, lower cholesterol and protect your heart.
Lower cholesterol, combat cancer, boost memory, lift moods and protect against heart disease.
Promote weight loss, combat cancer, conquer kidney stones and smooth the skin.
Protect your prostate, promote weight loss, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes and controls blood pressure.
Combat colon cancer, prevent constipation, lower cholesterol, help stop strokes and improve digestion.
2012年1月11日星期三
Dog meat at Hanukka
A lighthearted fish-out of- water tale in which an innocent abroad finds himself, in turn, puzzling over cultural oddities and being exasperated by them.
One afternoon during an unexpected detour on my way home in Bangkok, I found myself at an open-air market staring at a wire-mesh cage of beige and black cobras in listless heaps. I had been invited along by a friendly shoe repairman who plied his trade at a rickety curbside bench.
He pointed to a fawn-colored specimen. Obligingly, the snakes’ guardian, a mattedhaired young fellow, unlatched the lid, hooked the five-foot reptile with a fire iron, and plucked it out onto a tabletop. Suddenly, he cuffed the snake from behind.
The cobra spluttered, and rearing, spread its collar in warning. He smacked the irate reptile again. He did so, I was later told, to get the snake’s blood up – literally. With adrenalin pumping furiously through its veins, a cobra’s blood is believed to turn its most magically potent.
The fellow then grabbed the hissing animal by the nape and carried it over to an elderly Chinese man, who looped a string of kitchen twine around the snake’s neck and tied the reptile to a vertically mounted aluminum pole. With scalpel in hand, he proceeded to eviscerate the live serpent while carefully collecting its blood in a tumbler.
Adding a drop of honey and two parts whisky, he offered the concoction to me. My friend stood by, smiling benignly.
Snake blood, I learned, is believed to have wondrous curative effects and aphrodisiacal properties. It’s said to heal rheumatism, hemorrhoids, impotence, even lethargy. It’s also lauded as a marvelous pick-me-up, although I wouldn’t recommend it to the faint of heart. I braced myself and gulped it back.
The concoction tasted like certain tonic beverages: part sweet, part piquant. As for the observable curative effects, I cannot much vouch for them, apart from a short adrenalin rush triggered by imbibing the rather unappetizing cocktail.
In Laos, meanwhile, I was offered fried rat. In Vietnam I saw locals slurp turtle meat soup, while downing rice wine from a bottle with a large black scorpion marinating in it. In Cambodia I was present at a wedding feast that included crocodile meat jerky and finely seasoned water beetles.
I’ve sampled a few such treats and turned down most others. But never have I had to invoke religious dietary restrictions as an excuse to pass up on one.
Michael Levy has not been so lucky. One fine day in 2005, the young Jew from Philadelphia arrives in Unicorn Hill Village #3 (so numbered, one presumes, to distinguish it from several other Unicorn Hill villages) in central China for some acclimatization ahead of a two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in a nearby city. Almost immediately he is faced with the prospect of offending his hosts at a welcome feast by declining an invitation to munch on a local delicacy: fried millipedes licked off a sugar-coated stick. Levy begs off by explaining he’s a Jew, or rather wo shi youtairen (which translates as “I am a person who is special, too” in Mandarin).
The foreigner’s dietary peculiarities baffle his hosts, and so begin Levy’s adventures, culinary and otherwise, as an English teacher at Guizhou University in Guiyang, the capital of an underdeveloped, ethnically diverse province in southwestern China. Before long, the erstwhile vegetarian who once kept kosher and studied in a Jerusalem yeshiva succumbs to nibbling on pork dumplings and celebrating Hanukka at a restaurant called Dog Meat King, where he samples the trademark dish.
Clearly, “Kosher Chinese,” Levy’s account of his time in China, is not meant to be a treatise on the challenges of keeping kosher in a land where people will gladly eat “anything with four legs but the table” – as well as creatures with no legs (snakes), with two (birds), and with six or more (insects). Rather, the book serves up a lighthearted fish-out-of-water tale, in which an innocent abroad finds himself, in turn, puzzled and exasperated by cultural oddities.
Right from the start, Levy is faced with such routine yet baffling challenges as squat toilets and the scrambling free-for-all that passes for queuing in China (“a Darwinian survival of the angriest,” in his words).
He gleefully mines local idiosyncrasies for their full comic potential. There’s the neighbor who wakes him every morning by meowing Sichuan Opera tunes while banging a gong. There’s the minor official who is shocked to discover that Americans know nothing of Guiyang, even though the city now boasts its own Walmart (in a warehouse right beneath People’s Park with its obligatory Chairman Mao statue). There’s the student who yells his answers at Levy as per the instructions of a popular local “Crazy English” guru who encourages Chinese learners to shout out sentences by way of gaining conversational confidence in the foreign vernacular.
Yet unlike many travel writers and expat authors, Levy doesn’t just treat locals as two-dimensional caricatures whose defining characteristic is their conformity to popular stereotypes. By befriending several locals, from fellow teachers to girls belonging to an impoverished ethnic minority, the Bouyei people, Levy seeks to see the world through their eyes. Inevitably, he rubs up against the contradictions that underpin life in China, where the phrase “with Chinese characteristics” turns familiar concepts – democracy, socialism, freedom – pretty much into their opposite.
China, he notices, is a country where party dogma condemns the material trappings of “soulless” capitalism even as party policy furthers the cause of rampant capitalism. As the nouveau riche of Beijing and Shanghai unabashedly flaunt their wealth, across the country’s vast hinterland hundreds of millions languish in grinding poverty. Frequently, Levy is confronted by the sad realities of moral ambiguity and intellectual stupor in a culture where the idea of meritocracy is the successful accumulation of guanxi: cultivating relationships with people of influence.
At the same time, rote learning in schools stifles creativity and fills students’ heads with suspect ideas. When Levy is asked to teach a graduate course on postmodern American literature, he wonders how his students with their limited English might handle novels by Nabokov, Pynchon and Heller. A fellow teacher is nonplussed by his doubts. “What is there for [the students] to discuss?” she tells the American. “They don’t know anything. You’re the expert, so you should just tell them what to think.”
“The Jewish People’s Secret for Success” is a bestselling self-help title in China.
Written by a former factory worker, it features snapshots of Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Putin and Bill Gates as paragons of Jewish smarts and business acumen. The book’s success has clearly not suffered from its inclusion of the Russian leader and Microsoft’s chairman (one a Russian Orthodox, the other from a Congregationalist background) as members of the tribe.
The Chinese, Levy discovers, admire Jews for their storied business savvy. Whereas in much of the world Jewish success is merely seen by many as proving their avarice and perfidy, in China it’s endorsed as a virtue worth emulating. If there is anti-Semitism in the country, Levy clearly didn’t encounter any. A local bureaucrat even insists to the American Jew that the ultimate sign of China’s superiority over the US will be “[w]hen the Jews begin to immigrate here. [Then] we will know we have won!”
Shortly after he begins to teach at Guizhou University, Levy finds himself appointed honorary chairman of the ad hoc Jewish Friday Night English and Cooking Corner Club, set up by some local teachers and students. On Shabbat eves they gather in a small apartment, where Levy cooks matza ball soup and bakes challa for them.
On Yom Kippur, one of his Chinese friends even joins Levy in his fast as the plump woman is eager to marry her dieting regimen to a spiritual cause. Yet a Chinese woman fasting on Yom Kippur to lose weight, Levy, a self-described agnostic, points out, is “no more or less odd than a white guy from San Francisco lighting incense in his fancy loft apartment and practicing tai chi.” Or an Israeli backpacker seeking sudden Enlightenment at a Vipassana meditation retreat in Dharamsala in the Indian Himalayas, we might add.
Yet despite the implied premise of Levy’s book, which is played up by the cover design’s prominent skullcap with a Chairman Mao print on it, the Jewish element in “Kosher Chinese” is fairly tenuous. It’s more a conceit than an essential part of the narrative. The author’s Jewishness does lend an added dimension to his experiences in China, but it does not really define them. In fact, locals seem to view him far more as a typical American than as a religious minority, if only because of his primarily secular habits.
Equally, at times the book reads like repolished diary entries and its narrative arc doesn’t exactly make for high adventure: Levy teaches, observes, grapples with culture shock, adjusts, makes friends, and gets on the college’s basketball team as its token foreign star. What enlivens this fairly everyday story is the author’s self-deprecating wit (with liberal doses of scatological humor) and his tolerant humanism.
One afternoon during an unexpected detour on my way home in Bangkok, I found myself at an open-air market staring at a wire-mesh cage of beige and black cobras in listless heaps. I had been invited along by a friendly shoe repairman who plied his trade at a rickety curbside bench.
He pointed to a fawn-colored specimen. Obligingly, the snakes’ guardian, a mattedhaired young fellow, unlatched the lid, hooked the five-foot reptile with a fire iron, and plucked it out onto a tabletop. Suddenly, he cuffed the snake from behind.
The cobra spluttered, and rearing, spread its collar in warning. He smacked the irate reptile again. He did so, I was later told, to get the snake’s blood up – literally. With adrenalin pumping furiously through its veins, a cobra’s blood is believed to turn its most magically potent.
The fellow then grabbed the hissing animal by the nape and carried it over to an elderly Chinese man, who looped a string of kitchen twine around the snake’s neck and tied the reptile to a vertically mounted aluminum pole. With scalpel in hand, he proceeded to eviscerate the live serpent while carefully collecting its blood in a tumbler.
Adding a drop of honey and two parts whisky, he offered the concoction to me. My friend stood by, smiling benignly.
Snake blood, I learned, is believed to have wondrous curative effects and aphrodisiacal properties. It’s said to heal rheumatism, hemorrhoids, impotence, even lethargy. It’s also lauded as a marvelous pick-me-up, although I wouldn’t recommend it to the faint of heart. I braced myself and gulped it back.
The concoction tasted like certain tonic beverages: part sweet, part piquant. As for the observable curative effects, I cannot much vouch for them, apart from a short adrenalin rush triggered by imbibing the rather unappetizing cocktail.
In Laos, meanwhile, I was offered fried rat. In Vietnam I saw locals slurp turtle meat soup, while downing rice wine from a bottle with a large black scorpion marinating in it. In Cambodia I was present at a wedding feast that included crocodile meat jerky and finely seasoned water beetles.
I’ve sampled a few such treats and turned down most others. But never have I had to invoke religious dietary restrictions as an excuse to pass up on one.
Michael Levy has not been so lucky. One fine day in 2005, the young Jew from Philadelphia arrives in Unicorn Hill Village #3 (so numbered, one presumes, to distinguish it from several other Unicorn Hill villages) in central China for some acclimatization ahead of a two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in a nearby city. Almost immediately he is faced with the prospect of offending his hosts at a welcome feast by declining an invitation to munch on a local delicacy: fried millipedes licked off a sugar-coated stick. Levy begs off by explaining he’s a Jew, or rather wo shi youtairen (which translates as “I am a person who is special, too” in Mandarin).
The foreigner’s dietary peculiarities baffle his hosts, and so begin Levy’s adventures, culinary and otherwise, as an English teacher at Guizhou University in Guiyang, the capital of an underdeveloped, ethnically diverse province in southwestern China. Before long, the erstwhile vegetarian who once kept kosher and studied in a Jerusalem yeshiva succumbs to nibbling on pork dumplings and celebrating Hanukka at a restaurant called Dog Meat King, where he samples the trademark dish.
Clearly, “Kosher Chinese,” Levy’s account of his time in China, is not meant to be a treatise on the challenges of keeping kosher in a land where people will gladly eat “anything with four legs but the table” – as well as creatures with no legs (snakes), with two (birds), and with six or more (insects). Rather, the book serves up a lighthearted fish-out-of-water tale, in which an innocent abroad finds himself, in turn, puzzled and exasperated by cultural oddities.
Right from the start, Levy is faced with such routine yet baffling challenges as squat toilets and the scrambling free-for-all that passes for queuing in China (“a Darwinian survival of the angriest,” in his words).
He gleefully mines local idiosyncrasies for their full comic potential. There’s the neighbor who wakes him every morning by meowing Sichuan Opera tunes while banging a gong. There’s the minor official who is shocked to discover that Americans know nothing of Guiyang, even though the city now boasts its own Walmart (in a warehouse right beneath People’s Park with its obligatory Chairman Mao statue). There’s the student who yells his answers at Levy as per the instructions of a popular local “Crazy English” guru who encourages Chinese learners to shout out sentences by way of gaining conversational confidence in the foreign vernacular.
Yet unlike many travel writers and expat authors, Levy doesn’t just treat locals as two-dimensional caricatures whose defining characteristic is their conformity to popular stereotypes. By befriending several locals, from fellow teachers to girls belonging to an impoverished ethnic minority, the Bouyei people, Levy seeks to see the world through their eyes. Inevitably, he rubs up against the contradictions that underpin life in China, where the phrase “with Chinese characteristics” turns familiar concepts – democracy, socialism, freedom – pretty much into their opposite.
China, he notices, is a country where party dogma condemns the material trappings of “soulless” capitalism even as party policy furthers the cause of rampant capitalism. As the nouveau riche of Beijing and Shanghai unabashedly flaunt their wealth, across the country’s vast hinterland hundreds of millions languish in grinding poverty. Frequently, Levy is confronted by the sad realities of moral ambiguity and intellectual stupor in a culture where the idea of meritocracy is the successful accumulation of guanxi: cultivating relationships with people of influence.
At the same time, rote learning in schools stifles creativity and fills students’ heads with suspect ideas. When Levy is asked to teach a graduate course on postmodern American literature, he wonders how his students with their limited English might handle novels by Nabokov, Pynchon and Heller. A fellow teacher is nonplussed by his doubts. “What is there for [the students] to discuss?” she tells the American. “They don’t know anything. You’re the expert, so you should just tell them what to think.”
“The Jewish People’s Secret for Success” is a bestselling self-help title in China.
Written by a former factory worker, it features snapshots of Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Putin and Bill Gates as paragons of Jewish smarts and business acumen. The book’s success has clearly not suffered from its inclusion of the Russian leader and Microsoft’s chairman (one a Russian Orthodox, the other from a Congregationalist background) as members of the tribe.
The Chinese, Levy discovers, admire Jews for their storied business savvy. Whereas in much of the world Jewish success is merely seen by many as proving their avarice and perfidy, in China it’s endorsed as a virtue worth emulating. If there is anti-Semitism in the country, Levy clearly didn’t encounter any. A local bureaucrat even insists to the American Jew that the ultimate sign of China’s superiority over the US will be “[w]hen the Jews begin to immigrate here. [Then] we will know we have won!”
Shortly after he begins to teach at Guizhou University, Levy finds himself appointed honorary chairman of the ad hoc Jewish Friday Night English and Cooking Corner Club, set up by some local teachers and students. On Shabbat eves they gather in a small apartment, where Levy cooks matza ball soup and bakes challa for them.
On Yom Kippur, one of his Chinese friends even joins Levy in his fast as the plump woman is eager to marry her dieting regimen to a spiritual cause. Yet a Chinese woman fasting on Yom Kippur to lose weight, Levy, a self-described agnostic, points out, is “no more or less odd than a white guy from San Francisco lighting incense in his fancy loft apartment and practicing tai chi.” Or an Israeli backpacker seeking sudden Enlightenment at a Vipassana meditation retreat in Dharamsala in the Indian Himalayas, we might add.
Yet despite the implied premise of Levy’s book, which is played up by the cover design’s prominent skullcap with a Chairman Mao print on it, the Jewish element in “Kosher Chinese” is fairly tenuous. It’s more a conceit than an essential part of the narrative. The author’s Jewishness does lend an added dimension to his experiences in China, but it does not really define them. In fact, locals seem to view him far more as a typical American than as a religious minority, if only because of his primarily secular habits.
Equally, at times the book reads like repolished diary entries and its narrative arc doesn’t exactly make for high adventure: Levy teaches, observes, grapples with culture shock, adjusts, makes friends, and gets on the college’s basketball team as its token foreign star. What enlivens this fairly everyday story is the author’s self-deprecating wit (with liberal doses of scatological humor) and his tolerant humanism.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)