Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time

http://www.kcra.com/news/4125477/detail.html

 

CHANGE SOME OF THE WORDS AROUND AND IT SEEMS PRETTY STUPID, DOESN'T IT? ...

 

LANSING, Mich. -- A Michigan health care company has fired four of its employees for refusing to take a test to determine whether they eat oreos.

 

The company enacted a new policy this month, allowing workers to be fired if they eat oreos, even if the oreo eating takes place after-hours, or at home.

The founder of Weyco Inc. said the company doesn't want to pay the higher health care costs associated with eating oreos.

An official of the company -- which administers health benefits -- estimated that 18 to 20 of its 200 employees were oreo eaters when the policy was first announced in 2003. As many as 14 of them quit eating oreos before the policy went into effect.

Mmmm ... oreos and milk. What is that black stuff anyway?

10 MORE Tips For Saving Cash On Your Gas

By Pete Lance

 

Learn some of the best tips to get optimum gas mileage. Here we’ve compiled 10 more tips to help you stretch your dollar at the gas station!

 

If you have not seen our previous article (10 Tips For Saving Cash On Your Gas), you might want to do a search for it on our website (http://www.usgastracker.org) or on Google.

 

Alright, on to the tips!

 

Tip 1: Watch Your Gas
You should be aware of the amount of fuel you use. Notice your car's performance, such as the mileage per gallon. When fuel efficiency decreases, your car may need servicing.

 

Tip 2: Buy Gas from a Busy Station
A gas station that is consistently busy has to refill its underground tanks regularly. Slower stations that don't refill as often may have stale contaminated gas in its underground tanks, and this contamination will affect your fuel economy.

 

Tip 3: Turn the Nozzle
After you have finished filling up your tank, you should twist the gas pump nozzle a full 180 degrees. This will drain a bit more gas into your tank, sometimes up to an entire half cup. If you don't do this, the extra gas would just be a bonus to the next gas customer.

 

Tip 4: Tighten the Gas Cap
Tighten your gas cap until it clicks. This will help prevent the gasoline from evaporating and escaping.

 

Tip 5: Check Your Car’s Tire Pressure
You should check your car's tire pressure regularly. Under inflated tires reduce your car's fuel efficiency, and also causes premature tire wear, affecting the life-span of your tires.

 

Tip 6: Remove Excess Weight from Your Car
You should remove excess weight from your car. Some people use the car trunk as a storage space, adding unnecessary weight to the car. This will reduce your car's fuel efficiency.

 

Tip 7: Keep Your Car Tuned-Up
Always keep your car tuned up to ensure optimum performance. Car's that have not been serviced for a long time often have poorer fuel efficiency.

 

Tip 8: Use Your Car Less
You can try to arrange car pools with co-workers to reduce the cost of getting to work. To save even more, you can drive less and walk, bike or run to your intended destination, especially if the place is nearby.

 

Tip 9: Change Your Work Start Time
If it is possible, change your work start and end time to avoid traffic congestions. Stopping and going affects your gas mileage.

 

Tip 10: Don’t Fill Up When the Price is High
Lastly, when the price is high, don't fill up. You should wait for the prices to go down before you fill up, especially if your gas tank is more than half full. Filling up when the price is high tells the gas companies that people are willing to pay ridiculous prices for gasoline.

 

One last tip: Sign up for a free daily email with the lowest gas prices for your zip code.
http://www.usgastracker.org

 

About the Author:
Pete Lance is the founder of http://USGasTracker.org, a premier company which helps the consumer save money on gasoline. Thousands of gas stations across the nation are tracked daily to guarantee the lowest prices on gasoline anywhere in the United States.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Those Damn Fockers

One of the Norwegian fliers who escaped the Nazi invasion went to England, and joined the Air Force there. He was a very good pilot, and shot down so many Nazi planes that the British pulled him to the ground and had him give talks to boost morale.

The first talk that he gave was at the London Garden Society. This was a venerable collection of blue haired ladies who owned most of London and its surroundings, they having had the forethought to outlive their husbands.

The Norwegian pilot got up after the normal introductions, and started talking about the latest battle in the air against the enemy.

Talking with his hands, which is something most pilots do, he described how these "fockers" came out of the sun, and how he dove and gave chase to one, and shot the "focker" down.

At that point the President of the club got up, reacting to the open mouths of the ladies.

She explained, saying that the "Focker" was a German aircraft.

The Norwegian pilot said, "Yah - but deese fockers was flying Messerschmidts."

Aspartame Makers Tell A Whopper, Says Mission Possible

A three year Italian study on Aspartame in rats revealed a connection between the artificial sweetener and leukemia,lymphoma and malignant brain tumors. It conclusively proved that aspartame is a carcinogen, say the study's authors. A neurosurgeon calls to get it out of the schools. These claims rebut those of Aspartame manufacturers.

ATLANTA (PRWEB)July 22, 2005 -- The European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences Cancer Research Centre in Bologna, Italy, just released their three year study confirming the link between aspartame and lymphomas and leukemias.

The report by Morando Soffritti "Aspartame induces lymphomas and leukemias in rats" is in the European Journal of Oncology for July, 2005. Dr. Soffritti and his team carefully set the conditions whereby genetically-uniform test rats were treated equally with the exception of being divided into groups given varying levels of the toxic chemical sweetener.

Rats are deemed appropriate subjects for testing aspartame on humans because both humans and rats metabolize the methyl ester in aspartame into methyl alcohol, then formaldehyde then formic acid - all deadly poisons. The carcinogenicity of substances in rats and mice is a consistent predictor of cancer risk in humans exposed to those substances.

The study commenced with 8 week old rats and continued until the last one died at 159 weeks. Their physical status and behavior were examined three times daily and detailed records of their growth were kept. Every two weeks each of the 3,600 rats were "clinically examined for gross changes." As each rat died, a complete autopsy was performed. Organs, tissues and bones were preserved for further study.

"In our experimental conditions, it has been demonstrated that APM [aspartame] causes a dose-related statistically significant increase in lymphomas and leukemias in females at dose levels very near those to which humans can be exposed," the authors wrote in their conclusion. The number of cancers that developed in rats given zero aspartame was zero.

Increases of lymphomas and leukemias at the lowest exposure level was 62 percent and "an increase in the incidence of these types of neoplasias was also observed in males exposed to the highest dose," as stated in the study.

Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, one of the world's leading authorities on aspartame neurotoxicity, extensively reviewed the Soffritti report. "This study confirmed the previous study by Dr. Trocho and co-workers (1998), which also found the formaldehyde breakdown product of aspartame to be damaging to cellular DNA and that this damage was cumulative. The type of damage was a duplicate of that associated with cancers. These two studies strongly indicate that drinking a single diet cola sweetened with aspartame every day could significantly increase one's risk of developing a lymphoma or leukemia," Blaylock said.

"This study should terrify mothers and all those consuming aspartame sweetened products," he continued. "This was a carefully done study which clearly demonstrated a statistically significant increase in several types of lymphomas and leukemias in rats. Both of these malignancies have increased significantly in this country since the widespread use of aspartame."

"They also found an increased incidence of malignant brain tumors, even though it was not statistically significant. This does not mean there is no association to brain tumors, since ONLY the animals exposed to aspartame developed the tumors. With children and pregnant women drinking the largest amount of diet colas, this puts their children at the greatest risk of developing one of these horrible diseases. Their found that even lower doses of aspartame could cause these malignancies, yet, the higher the dose, the more cancers that were seen," said Blaylock.

"Since aspartame can increase obesity and may even cause the metabolic syndrome that affects 48 million Americans, there is no reason to ever consume this product. At the least, it should be immediately banned from all schools," said Blaylock.

Aspartame was approved for use in dry goods in 1981 under extremely controversial circumstances. The artificial sweetener is currently found in more than 6,000 products-soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, desserts, table sweeteners and even pharmaceutical drugs and is responsible for more than 80 percent of consumer complaints filed with the FDA each year. The FDA itself has published a list of 92 potentially adverse reactions to aspartame that includes weight gain, blindness, chronic headaches, insanity and death.

Soffritti et al conducted this study because they wanted to determine whether or not the ADI for aspartame (50 and 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day in the U.S. and Europe respectively) was an appropriate limit. Their report concludes with these words: "Results of our study call for urgent reexamination of permissible exposure level of aspartame in both food and beverages, especially to protect children."

Here comes the Whopper. Makers and sellers of aspartame tried to rebut this impeccable European research saying: "With billions of man-years of safe use, there is no indication of an association between aspartame and cancer in humans."

For the rest of the story go to: http://www.wnho.net/whopper.htm

For more information http://www.whno.net or http://www.dorway.com

Hydrogen Cars Are Not All Hot Air

By Shaun Mackey

 

Ever hear of hydrogen cars? This new breed of cars being developed far exceeds the current gasoline-electric hybrid cars as far as cleaning up the environment and lessening the U. S. dependence upon foreign oil. Automakers expect to have hydrogen cars in the showrooms in the next 5 – 10 years.

 

So, what’s all the hoopla about hydrogen? Plenty. Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe. With such abundance, there is no change of running out unlike the fossil fuels. If you remember your high school chemistry, you’ll know that water is made up of two parts hydrogen and one part water.

 

That means that hydrogen can be created for hydrogen cars by splitting water via electrolysis. It only means that by using fuel cells to power hydrogen cars, that hydrogen and oxygen can be run through a cell (generating electricity and heat) and joined together at the end of the process to produce its only bi-product, water.

 

This means that hydrogen fuel cell powered cars will only dispense a small amount of steam (water in the air) and no pollutants. This kind of zero pollution vehicle will help with current smog problems, air quality-related health problems, greenhouse gases, global warming and the hole in the ozone. You just can’t get a greener green car that a hydrogen car.

 

The other benefit of hydrogen cars running on “hydrogen highways” (as both President George W. Bush and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are calling them) is that this will lessen the U. S. dependence upon foreign oil. By using hydrogen as an alternative fuel source, no longer will OPEC have the stranglehold upon our economy and subjugating us to ever-increasing gasoline prices.

 

What has to happen to make this a reality? With current technology, the hydrogen cars are still too expensive for the consumer market, so prices will need to come down as new technology is developed. In addition, the infrastructure will have to be in place to support a hydrogen highway network. Fuel stations, such as the 15 currently operating in California, will need to be expanded to a nationwide network. And probably the most important aspect of having the hydrogen highway become a reality is stepping up economical production of hydrogen for use in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

 

Hydrogen does not occur in any significant amounts by itself in nature. Hydrogen can be found in compounds however, such as water or in natural gas and methods can be used to extract the hydrogen from the other compounds. With current technology, the energy needed to extract the hydrogen is nearly the same as the energy gained by the hydrogen itself, so more advanced and economical methods of producing hydrogen from solar, wind, hydro and gas reformation power will be need so that enough hydrogen is available to support the new hydrogen economy.

 

It may be another 5 – 10 years away until the new line of hydrogen cars start rolling off the showroom floors, but h2 vehicles, as they are already known will be the “next big thing” in the automotive industry for this century.

 

©2005 Hydrogen Cars Info. All rights reserved.

 

Hydrogen Cars - Shaun Mackey writes for Hydrogen Cars, a resource site featuring the latest concept autos, hydrogen highway, fuel cell technology, H2 engines, production and infrastructure issues.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

 

iPod - The Ultimate Self-Help Tool

By Bill Marshall

 

Wow, what an outrageous claim!  Why do I say this?  Simple.  I believe that listening to self-help audio books, seminars, and yes--you knew I was going to say it--Power Affirmations (even ones you record yourself), is the most powerful way to learn and recondition your thinking.  And when you improve your thought habits, your life automagically improves.

 

The fact is that we live in a media driven world.  There's television, radio, music, movies, magazines, newspapers, print ads, bill boards, business signs, websites. etc.  There is no end to it.  There is clutter--dare I call it mind spam--everywhere.  All of these businesses interrupting your train of thought constantly in order to get you to spend money.

 

Clutter, Clutter...

 

As the stakes get higher, the clutter is getting worse.  Have you noticed how many movie posters/signs/banners are now starting to appear in your local mall?  I walked through a mall recently and they have now started to hang the posters from the ceiling!  Worse, the posters were all for the same movie and were strung together no more than a few yards apart.  Just down a single hall within the mall, there were at least 20 posters one right after another essentially shouting for your attention.  There was no way you could miss them.  The movie being advertised was MR. & MRS. SMITH.  No wonder it did so well in the opening weekend.  Between these posters (and of course the soap opera being played out on the tabloids between Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Anniston), it's no wonder the movie was a hit.

 

...and More Clutter

 

Here's another example of recently added clutter.  There is a mall near my office (different from the mall mentioned above) that I sometimes go to for lunch.  The mall has a typical foodcourt with a lot of tables.  Up until recently, the tables were very typical--just a plain table top.  About two weeks ago, they replaced every single one of them.  What did they replace them with?  Wooden tables with a plexi-glas table top insert that you could see through--where they could place more ads!  Now you can't even sit down in the mall to have a nice quite meal without being distracted with more ads fighting for a piece of your brain.

 

I'm certainly not against advertising.  All I'm saying is that every ad is designed for this:  to interrupt your train of thought, tell you about their product, and get you to go buy more stuff (whether you need it or not).  It's called interruption marketing for a reason.  Unless they are able to interrupt your current thoughts with their ads, the ads don't work.

 

And this is just advertising.  Add to this all the other forms of media, the voices of your friends and family, and there are a lot of internal representations buzzing around in our minds.

 

There's Power In Your "Internal Representations"

 

What do I mean by internal representations?  They are the internal equivalent to our five senses:  sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.  This is how we think.  And thought is power.  We all have memories of these experiences, internal representations, that are replayed in our thoughts over and over.  If I say, "pink elephant" you automatically form a representation of this phrase within your mind.  Same with any other noun.  If you notice a song stuck in your head, that's the internal representation of sound.  Same with the words of other people.  If you are in love, how many times do you hear the other person saying "I love you" in your mind even though they are no where in sight.

 

Here is a secret:  your internal representations drive your current actions!  They control our pain and pleasure which largely determines the actions you take.  So advertisers work very hard to associate feelings of pleasure to having their product and pain to not having it.

 

If You Don't Think for Yourself, Others Will Do it For You!

 

There is a price we are all paying for all of this mind clutter--or mind spam.  It means that you have to be really disciplined and mentally aware of what is happening so that you can choose your own thoughts.  With so many distractions, you have to have an iron will to stay focused on your own personal goals and beliefs.  If you don't learn to think for yourself, there are a lot of other people who are happy to do your thinking for you.  The exact same thing is true for planning:  if you don't have a plan for your life, others will plan it for you.

 

So with with this ocean of mind spam all around us, it's no wonder that we sometimes feel overwhelmed.  That's because we are!  At least mentally.

 

Take Back Control of Your Thoughts!

 

What are we to do?  How do we take back control?  There are a lot of ways, but the most effective way I have found yet is through audio programs.  A lot of audio programs--but ones that I choose for myself.  Ones where I know I will learn and where I know I will be fed the beliefs and ideas I need to achieve my goals.  Even better, if I can create my own audio content in the form of Power Affirmations, so that pick the beliefs and the goals I want to focus on repeatedly in order to create the right internal representations and habits that will lead me to their fulfillment.

 

Why is the iPod (or any other MP3 player for that matter) the ultimate self-help tool?  Simply because you can pack so much positive audio content in it and take it everywhere you go.

 

A Short History of Self-Help Audio

 

First there were records.  Some people listened to positive material on records, but not many.  I understand that Earl Nightingale had a best selling record, but I haven't heard of any others.  Besides, you can only fit a small amount of material, it isn't portable, and you can't listen in your car.

 

Then there were cassette tapes.  This is when self-help audio really exploded.  They were small, portable (the Walkman was the "original" iPod--how did Sony miss the transition to digital!), and you could listen in your car.  But the amount of content was still limited--it took a lot of tapes for a seminar.  And they have high duplication and shipping costs.  Worse, they wear out or jam your player.

 

Then came CDs.  These brought a vast improvement, but there was still the constraint of space (only about an hour of audio per CD).  So if you wanted to listen to a lot of content without having to manually change CDs all the time, you had to get a juke box.  I had two:  a 100 CD juke box at home and a 20 CD juke box for my car.  Being able to load so many CDs gave me a huge advantage.  Newton's law applies here:  a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  As long as one CD after another could play without my having to do anything, they just kept going.  And that made a huge difference for me.  But the systems were big, bulky, clumsy, and  and CDs could get scratched.

 

The iPod and other MP3 players have changed all of that--forever.  Now I can pack all of my self-help programs on to a single device and listen hour after hour without having to do anything.  And because the files are stored on my computer as well as the iPod, the only way I'd ever lose them is if I delete them or have a simultaneous crash on both systems.  And there is no more searching around for a misplaced CD.  Or having to move the CD from my car, to my portable CD player, or to my home.  I just need to take my iPod--a seamless transition from place to place.  Feeding my mind with Power Affirmations and positive content everywhere I go.  And living in the "afterglow" of listening to it (replaying/rethinking the content in your mind long after you've stopped the iPod).

 

A Call to Action

 

Take action today to start listening to self-help audio programs.  If you don't own an MP3 player yet, then go get one or listen to CDs.  As you consistently feed your mind with positive material, your life will almost certainly improve.  You will earn more money.  You will have better business and job opportunities.  You will have better relationships.  Your health will improve.  You will make progress towards your goals.  Like a seed that blooms into a flower, it will take time for your ideas to take hold and make a difference in your life.  Change may not happen overnight, but I bet you can progress faster than you may currently think is possible.  Just like planting the seed takes only a moment, change can start right now.  Change starts in an instant.  The instant you make the decision and follow through.  Do it now!

 

If you are interested in Power Affirmations on MP3s, then visit http://www.poweraffirmations.com/mp3files.htm.

 

Copyright (c) 2005 Bill Marshall - All rights reserved. Feel free to republish this article provided you include the copyright information and the weblinks where possible.

 

For practical self-improvement tips, visit http://www.poweraffirmations.com.  Get my new free e-book, "Power Affirmations: Power Positive Conditioning for Your Subconscious Mind"

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

 

 

10 Tips For Saving Cash On Your Gas

By Pete Lance

 

Gas prices are getting more and more ridiculous. And it’s going to keep increasing with no limit in sight! For the new car owners out there, do you know that a gallon of unleaded gasoline used to cost only $1.25?

 

Therefore, it is becoming more and more important to maximize your money and save at the gas station.

 

So here we have compiled 10 best tips to help you get the most out of your dollar!

 

Tip 1: Shop Around
This is the advice that you can apply anytime you buy anything. Always shop around. You can get a cheaper price for your favorite brand, and probably a yet cheaper price for a different brand.

 

Tip 2: Use a Gasoline Credit Card
Gasoline credit cards are great! They can save you 5% – 10% off your gasoline purchase.

 

Tip 3: Buy Gasoline When the Weather is Cool
Gasoline is denser in cooler temperatures, such as in the morning or at night. Gas stations measure volume, not density, so you'll be getting more solid fuel than vapors, thus improving your overall gas mileage.

 

Tip 4: Avoid Gas Stations That Just Refilled Their Tanks
When underground tanks are refilled, particles at the bottom of the tank get stirred up, and when these particles get into your gasoline tank, they affect the fuel efficiency of your car.

 

Tip 5: Don’t Top Off
The gas pump needs time to draw out the full amount of gas, so When you purchase a bit of gas the station, you get short bursts of fuel that you'll probably pay extra for. You should refill your tank when you have less than half a talk left or when you find a price that is so low you cannot afford to miss it.

 

Tip 6: Don’t Use High Octane Gas
Most cars nowadays are built to run on regular unleaded gas. Purchasing higher octane gas is simply a waste of money. Octane measures how hard it is to ignite gas, not the quality of the gas, so getting higher octane gas will not improve fuel efficiency. You should only get these more expensive gases when your engine pings, knocks or rattles.

 

Tip 7: Pump Your Own Gas
It's cheaper to pump your own gas at the self-serve stations rather than using the full-serve pumps. Full-serve gasoline naturally costs more.

 

Tip 8: Lessen the Use of Air-Conditioning
This tip is simple enough. Air-conditioning uses electricity, and they can reduce fuel economy by up to 20%. It's advisable to use the air ventilation system instead.

 

Tip 9: Plan Your Trip
You can avoid unnecessary driving by planning your trip before hand, and of course that saves you money on gas consumption.

 

Tip 10: Purchase Vehicles That Get Good Mileage
This is probably one of the best tips anybody can give on saving money at the gas pump. It's always better to purchase vehicles that get good gas mileage. Check with your car dealer about cars that have better fuel economy.

 

One last tip: Sign up for a free daily email with the lowest gas prices for your zip code
http://www.usgastracker.org

 

About the Author:
Pete Lance is the founder of http://www.USGasTracker.org, a premier company which helps the consumer save money on gasoline. Thousands of gas stations across the nation are tracked daily to guarantee the lowest prices on gasoline anywhere in the United States.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/