mcbboyzz's Blog

Read this article before you consider paying for your drinking water. Wouldn't it be nice to stop poisoning ourselves with polluted or unhealthy drinking water? I, for one, felt that I would love to find a source of safe inexpensive drinking water. (Ideally, I'd love to turn on the tap, and out it would flow!) Whether it's curing cancer with magnets or herbal wonder-remedies or Vioxx, we've all seen the fantastic claims people make about their health products AND about how your whole life will be changed! I can tell you right now that 90% are frauds. You may even have fallen prey to some of these scams, selling you the latest fad. Me too. I've bought so many kinds of drinking water, I can't recall. (If a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes "the truth"). Finally, after many disappointments I got FED UP. I decided to get to the bottom of this desire we all have to make sure that our most basic nutrient -- water -- will keep us healthy, not make us sick. I checked out endless commercial websites and a number of university and government sites; and I was dismayed at what I repeatedly found: --Outdated information or info repeated from other websites --Wild and sensational claims --No research --No refunds, etc. I already knew that we can't trust our tap water because of the presence of up to 2000 contaminants. Specifically, I found: a) Bottled Water: a real mish-mash of quality, often no more than filtered tap water sold at outrageous mark-ups, and at quite an environmental cost. b) Reverse-osmosis and distilled water: completely ignored the medical evidence of the dangers in the ongoing drinking of water that is void of minerals, acid in nature and oxidizing. I quickly realized that these products were either useless, overpriced or potentially harmful long-term. And the companies were smiling all the way to the bank. Nevertheless I was able to find products that were well-researched and legitimate: water ionizers and certain filters. I found two websites providing comparisons of reliable water purifiers: Water Filter Comparisons and Water Purifier 101 (While the first of these sites does not address the problem of acidity in drinking water, it is straightforward in its assessment of what various water filters do.) I hope that you're not misled by false claims, and take a look at objective comparisons, for the sake of your health.

From large hotels in tourist resorts to flower and candy vendors in Mexico City, business owners, already reeling from the global downturn, are further squeezed as Mexicans stay home and foreigners st
By Ken Ellingwood
May 2, 2009
Reporting from Mexico City -- The sudden absence of customers makes Rocio Antonio's flower stand look downright funereal. Neighboring businesses -- a candy stand and a tool seller -- appear equally forlorn.

Antonio said her sales had tumbled since the swine flu outbreak brought this normally thrumming city of 20 million people to a near-standstill a week ago. She is not alone. Across Mexico City, thousands of restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs, coffeehouses and other businesses have temporarily shut their doors or watched the flow of customers slow to a trickle.
www.card190.com
As Mexico grapples with aflu outbreak suspected in the deaths of more than 170 people, it is beginning to tally the damage to an economy already creaking under the pressure of a global financial crisis and a violent drug war that has scared away tourists.

"The timing could not be worse. With the economic environment that we find ourselves in, having one of these diseases becoming such a threat is really bad news," said Enrique Bravo, a Washington-based consultant who specializes in Mexican affairs. "Everything will be a function of how long this lasts as an epidemic."

No one knows the answer to that, of course, making it difficult to gauge the probable economic harm. But President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday urged "nonessential" businesses to close Friday -- the start of a long holiday weekend -- through Tuesday, probably crimping commerce even further.

 

Thousands of types of bacteria are naturally present in our environment. Not all bacteria cause disease in humans (for example, some bacteria are used beneficially in making cheese and yogurt). However, the prime causes of food-borne illness include parasites, viruses, and bacteria such as:

1. E. coli O157:H7

2. Campylobacter jejuni

3. Salmonella

4. Staphylococcus aureus

5. Listeria monocytogenes

6. Clostridium perfringens

7. Vibrio parahaemolyticus

8. Vibrio vulnificus

9. Hepatitis A virus, and

10. Norwalk and Norwalk-like virus

Bacteria that cause disease are called pathogens. These organisms can become unwelcome guests at the dinner table. When certain pathogens enter the food supply, they can cause food-borne illness. They're in a wide range of foods, including meat, milk and other dairy products, spices, chocolate, seafood, and even water. Millions of cases of food-borne illness occur each year.

Most cases of food-borne illness can be prevented. Careless food handling sets the stage for the growth of disease- causing "bugs." For example, hot or cold foods left standing too long at room temperature provide an ideal climate for bacteria to grow. Proper cooking or processing of food destroys bacteria.

Fresh does not always mean safe. The organisms that cause food poisoning aren't the ones that cause spoilage. Wax often coats certain kinds of produce, such as apples and cucumbers, and may trap pesticides. To remove the wax, wash with very diluted dish detergent and a soft scrub brush, or peel (the best nutrients are often in the peel, however).

Foods may be cross contaminated when cutting boards and kitchen tools that have been used to prepare a contaminated food, such as raw chicken, aren't cleaned before being used for another food, such as vegetables.

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets fell for a second day Tuesday as uncertainty over the economic toll of swine flu continued to mount and new doubts emerged about the health of U.S. banks.
The disease, which broke out in Mexico just days ago, has spread to Europe and testing of suspected cases was underway in Asian countries, including South Korea and New Zealand. As governments everywhere toughened their precautions, the World Health Organization raised its global alert level in a move that could lead to more trade and travel restrictions.
While the disease has been relatively contained so far — with all 150 suspected deaths and most of the some 2,000 infections in Mexico — investors seemed loath to take on more risk and pocketed gains from the market's recent rally. Drug makers jumped while airlines and other travel-industry companies took another hit.
"Sentiment has improved a lot since March, but it's still in a fragile state at this point," said Kelvin Lau, regional economist at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. "Many people are still pessimistic, and given the swine flu, sentiment could see another dip."
A potential pandemic wasn't the only distraction for investors, already uneasy about the results of the U.S. government's stress tests to gauge the health of the largest 19 banks.
The reports are set for release Monday, though Bank of America and Citigroup have been told by regulators the two will likely need to raise more capital, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
"The report sparked fresh worry over the U.S. financial sector," said Yutaka Miura, senior strategist at Shinko Securities Co. Ltd. in Tokyo.
Financial stocks lost ground amid the renewed banking worries. Mizuho Financial Group slipped 2.0 percent in Tokyo trade and HSBC retreated 2.5 percent in Hong Kong.
After wavering early on, most Asian markets trended lower.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average, also undermined by a strengthening yen, lost 232.57 points, or 2.7 percent, to 8,493.77 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 269.38 points, or 1.8 percent, to 14,571.04.
Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi retreated 3 percent to 1,300.24. Shanghai's main index was down 0.2 percent, Taiwan's stock measure dropped 1.9 percent and India's Sensex slipped 1.6 percent. Australia's benchmark was down 0.6 percent.
In Tokyo trade, Japan's No. 2 automaker fell 2.4 percent. After the market closed it announced a net loss of 186.16 billion yen ($1.9 billion) for the January-March quarter, more evidence of the global recession's toll on major companies.
Airlines lost altitude for a second day amid concerns the spread of swine flu will dent travel, already reeling from the economic slump. Qantas Airways fell 1.1 percent in Sydney and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways shed 1.4 percent.
Overnight on Wall Street, trade was cautious.
The Dow Jones suffered its first drop in three days, falling 51.29, or 0.6 percent, to 8,025.00. Broader stock indicators also closed lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.72, or 1 percent, to 857.51.
U.S. markets were headed for more losses after Wall Street futures dropped sharply. Dow futures fell 102 points, or 1.3 percent, to 7,900 and S&P 500 futures lost 14.4, or 1.7 percent, to 842.40.
Oil traders, also mulling the fallout from swine flu, sent crude prices lower, with the June contract falling $1.15 to $48.99. Prices shed $1.41 overnight to settle at $50.14.
In currencies, the dollar weakened to 95.93 yen from 96.37. The euro slipped to $1.3018 from $1.3029.
Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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