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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How to Lower Blood Pressure Quickly and Effectively


How to Lower Blood Pressure Quickly and Effectively thumbnail
Lower Blood Pressure Quickly and Effectively
There are ways to lower blood pressure quickly and effectively. High blood pressure, also known as hypotension can be extremely dangerous to ones health, and it's important to find natural ways to lower blood pressure. Poor health in the cardiovascular system can tend to lead an increase in blood pressure. The heart is what pumps blood, so supporting a healthy heart functioning is a start. Have a question? Get an answer from a Medical Professional now!

Instructions

    • 1
      Get daily exercise. Being overweight can lead to an increase in blood pressure. Especially when you are eating foods that aren't particularly healthy at times. It's important to get daily exercise, and that should include running, jogging, treadmills, or swimming. Go to a local gym, and get motivated to lose some weight and get in better shape. Activity helps when lowering blood pressure.
    • 2
      Eat foods that lower blood pressure and change your diet. Avoid that amount of salt in your diet. If you use salt, or need to, then use sea salt instead. Still limit your usage. Avoiding eating a lot of butter, saturated fats, lots of dairy products, and fast food. Avoid drinking alcohol, which increases blood pressure.
      The foods that you need to eat more of are fish, whole grains, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and fruits. You can meats, but start eating lean meats. Don't eat red meat. Skinless turkey, and chicken is good for you. You can make an herb sauce, to ad a bit more flavor. If you are cooking with oils, then use Olive oil. Olive oil will help lower blood pressure as well. Cook with garlic as well.
    • 3
      Take the right supplements. Omega-3 fish oils is what you're looking for. This will lower your blood pressure, and is the proper oil to be taking. Doctors might even recommend that you take them. I wouldn't get medication, use fish oils, unless your doctor strongly advises differently. You can use garlic as well to lower blood pressure, it works great. Drink 8-10 cold glasses of water daily. Drink green tea, claimed to be the healthiest drink in the world. Get about five cups in you daily. Research has said that it lowers blood pressure 65% in middle aged people. You still need a proper diet to follow by, if you're going to lower blood pressure quickly and effectively. Medication won't do it alone, you have to put in the dedication to do it yourself.
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Read more: How to Lower Blood Pressure Quickly and Effectively | eHow http://www.ehow.com/how_5440111_lower-blood-pressure-quickly-effectively.html#ixzz2WftLkE8h

Thursday, June 6, 2013

10 Best Ways To Detox Your Body

Monday, 27 May 2013 19:49 Ipshita Kumar


Best Ways To Detox Your BodyIs lethargy your second name? Does the outburst of acne on your face take you back to teenage years? If yes, then your body needs detox.
Detoxing doesn’t mean eating less, it means eating healthy. Practise these best ways to feel healthier than ever:

1. Say Yes To Anti-Oxidants

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Say Yes To Anti-Oxidants
Image Credit: Shutterstock
There’s a reason why our parents had forced us throughout our childhood years to binge on fresh and colourful fruits and vegetables. The fruits and veggies contain a lot of fiber and anti-oxidants that help clear the liver and produce enzymes that clean your system.

2. Light Is The Way To Go

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Eat Light
Image Credit: Shutterstock
The heavier you eat, the more it distorts your digestive system. Keep your temptations away, be it greasy food or be it alcohol. Eat smaller and various meals through the day instead of gorging on a lot of food in one meal. Eating light will not only lower your weight, your cholesterol and blood sugar, but also keep your energy levels high.

3. Avoid The Sugar Rush

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Avoid The Sugar Rush
Image Credit: Shutterstock
In order to boost your metabolism and clear your body of toxins, start by decreasing the amount of sugar you consume every day. Keep that chocolaty and sugar-filled cold coffee away, even if the scorching summer sun seems to dehydrate you. Drink water instead.

4. Sip Herbal Tea

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Sip Herbal Tea
Image Credit: Shutterstock
To ease all kinds of digestive problems, resort to green or chamomile tea. Herbal tea also helps you sleep better. Avoid milk tea as much as possible and drink herbal tea to clear out toxins.

5. Go Organic

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Go Organic
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Organic food is your best bet if you have to escape from the danger of pesticides or toxins. Though organic food is easily available in every city or town these days, yet if you have difficulty laying your hands on some, then choose fruits or vegetables with a thick outer layer that can be easily peeled-off.

6. Exercise Daily

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Exercise Daily
Image Credit: Thinkstock
An apple a day might not be the only option to keep the shrink away. If you begin your day on a healthy note, starting with walking, jogging or cycling, or even taking your dog for a walk, it will definitely keep your digestive system clear.

7. Be Slow And Steady

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Eat Slowly
Image Credit: Thinkstock
They say a man must hurry with everything but eating. There’s definitely a lot of truth in that adage. Chew your meal thoroughly and eat slowly. That way, you can enjoy your meal as well as prevent digestive trouble.

8. Juice It Up

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Drink lemon juice
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Though water may be the best leveller for every kind of toxins, it’s the lemons that you want life to throw at you. A glass of lemon juice cleanses and alkalises your body, as it is one of the most powerful detox drinks.

9. Say No To Microwave

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Avoid The Microwave
Image Credit: Shutterstock
If you don’t want the protein structure of food to be changed to such an amount that it makes it harmful to your body, then quit the microwave. Research over the years has shown that the radiation emitted from the microwave can be damaging to your body.

10. Don’t Miss The Massage

Best Ways To Detox Your Body-Don’t Miss The Massage
Image Credit: spaoceansands (dot) com
We are very sure you will never say no to a good massage. And hence, we recommend this for your own benefit. A good body massage can eliminate toxins and also help improve blood circulation.
If you can follow these simple yet rules throughout, toxins will be a thing of the past. And you’ll only thank us more with each passing day.
You may also like:
Detox Diets – Things You Must Know
Why Fasting is Bad for You
7 'Healthy' Foods That Are Actually Unhealthy

http://www.mensxp.com/health/live-healthy/8987-10-best-ways-to-detox-your-body.html

Five Myths About Salads - Busted!

Thursday, 06 June 2013 20:10 Ipshita Kumar 
 
Myths About Salads And Bust Those MythsBefore you can claim hands down that you have arrived by eating salads and knowing everything about this green diet, let us help you sift fact from fiction.
Else, salads can give you equal nightmares like junk food does. We present the five busted myths about salads.

Fat-Free Dressing Or No Dressing Is Best

Myths About Salads - Fat-Free Dressing Or No Dressing Is Best
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Well, there are good fats and there are not-so-good fats. Your body does need some of that creamy fats to optimise cell functioning and to help absorb the antioxidants found in leafy veggies, tomatoes and carrots. These compounds actually help in reducing the risk of heart disease too. Moreover, the busted myth about salad is that the sugar present in fat-free dressing does not offer any nutrition.

Lettuce? What’s In A Name?

Myths About Salads - Lettuce
Image Credit: Thinkstock
Not every leaf is lettuce, and not every lettuce is the same. First of all: forget the iceberg and endive, as they come with no nutrition. Instead, your best options would be arugula and watercress, which are loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidant compounds. If you want lettuce high in lutein, an antioxidant that reduces the risk of blindness and cancer, then go for spinach, kale and turnip greens. Romaine, red leaf and mesclun lettuces are high in beta-carotene, and will do you good.

Organic Is More Nutritious

Myths About Salads - Organic Is More Nutritious
Image Credit: Thinkstock
How green is too green? If you have been following the myth that anything organic is the best, then well, let’s bust that myth. Sure, there are reasons to choose organic, but a nutrient bonus isn’t one of them. The fertilizer used in growing organic products has actually no effect on the nutritional content of fruits and veggies.

Salads Are Always Low In Calories

Myths About Salads - Salads Are Always Low In Calories
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Yes perhaps a little better than those hearty servings of butter chicken, but not so much lesser! It’s true that they can be a waistline-friendly choice, but those salads that include a good amount of nuts, seeds, cheese, bacon or mayonnaise are usually loaded with calories and can easily contain more calories than a steak and chips. For your information, a typical chicken Caesar salad contains 780 calories, 60gm fat and 10gm saturates, another salad myth busted.

Celery Has Negative Calories

Myths About Salads - Celery Has Negative Calories
Image Credit: Shutterstock
At six calories per stalk, celery is undoubtedly a weight-friendly food. But doctors and researchers all across the globe have agree that there’s no such thing as a negative calorie! Celery’s low (or almost no) calorie intake makes it highly popular, but you’ll surely need other ingredients to satisfy your hunger and fulfil your nutritional requirements.
You may also like:
Busted: Top 10 Myths About Olive Oil
Busted: Top 10 Myths Related to Heart Problems
10 Most Common Medical Myths—Busted!

http://www.mensxp.com/health/live-healthy/9053-five-myths-about-salads-busted.html

How to Survive a Car Accident

A car accident is one of the most dangerous things the average person will come in contact with during her/his life. This guide is posted in the hope that it will help its readers avoid injury or death. It should be noted that every vehicle is different, and much of the information here (such as airbags) will not apply to those who drive vehicles from 1990 or earlier. The methods of avoiding an accident, and the position one should be in during a crash, however, are effectively universal.

Steps


Be prepared

  1. 1
    Wear your seat belt. Wearing your seatbelt is one of the most important things you can do to survive a car crash. Make sure that your lap belt sits low on your hip bones and that the shoulder belt goes across the center of your chest. Children should be seated in proper child restraints until they are large enough to properly wear a lap and shoulder belt.

  2. 2
    Drive a safe car which is fitted with seat belts and other safety features. You won't have to worry about head support unless you are driving a really old car from the 1980s or under. Older cars, which may just have lap belts and almost never have any additional safety features, are generally less safe than large vehicles. SUVs tend to be more prone to rollover accidents than cars. Try to drive the safest car that suits your needs and budget. The Insurance Institute for highway safety maintains extensive crash test ratings and lists of safe vehicles of different sizes and styles.Cite error <cite_error_ref_too_many_keys>; $2 In Europe, Euro NCAP maintain these ratings. Their website is at: http://euroncap.com

  3. 3
    Store objects such that they will not hit you if the car gets hit. If an object could become a projectile during a crash, either remove it from the car, or stow it in the trunk, or, in the case of a minivan, in the well behind the seat.

  4. 4
    Make sure the safety systems on your car are serviced regularly. Airbags and seat-belts significantly reduce injury and death in automobile accidents.

  5. 5
    Do not lean against the dashboard. If there is a high-speed crash, the car's airbags inflate. They have saved lives, but they inflate with such force that if you are leaning against the dashboard when they inflate you will be thrown backwards and injured. If the car has curtainairbags (also called side airbags) it is also dangerous to lean against the sides of the car.

  6. 6
    Make sure your car's engine, brakes, transmissions, suspension and tires are in good condition. The safest accident is the one you don't get in; having your car in top running condition can help you avoid an accident or minimize harm in case you get in an accident.


Use good driving practices

  1. 1
    Obey traffic laws and be conscious of current conditions. Adjust your driving if in heavy traffic or inclement weather. Sixty mph may be safe when it's dry, but if a sudden rain falls, wetting the roadway and raising oil off the ground, it will probably be safer to drive at a lower speed.

  2. 2
    Focus on what you are doing. While driving, avoid using cell phones, reading maps, eating and other distracting activities. If you are a passenger, sit up straight with your seat-belt fastened. Don't lean your seat too far back, don't put your feet up on the dashboard, and definitely do not distract the driver. Do not place objects on top of the air bag enclosure.

  3. 3
    Anticipate potential problems. Observe the road looking for things that could end up causing an accident.[1]

    • Look ahead for cars or pedestrians that may move into your car's path.
    • Keeping a safe distance behind other vehicles (following the "two second rule" ) can help you have enough time to react when a vehicle in front of you makes an unexpected move.
    • Stay away from distracted drivers (e.g., the guy on his way to work using an electric razor), tailgaters and other drivers engaging in risky behaviors.
    • Keep an eye on parked cars. They may pull out in front of you; people may exit from them or move from between them without much warning.

Avoid or minimize an accident

  1. 1
    Stay calm. If an accident appears imminent, you need to respond quickly but smoothly. Vehicles of all types respond better to smooth steering and braking inputs.

  2. 2
    Choose your course of action. You need to decide what combination of steering, braking and accelerating will best serve to avoid or minimize the harm from an accident.

  3. 3
    Brake with control. Braking practices vary depending upon whether your vehicle has anti-lock brakes.

    • No anti-lock brakes - If your car lack anti-lock brakes, you need to pump the brakes to keep the car under control. If you slam on the brakes, your car will start to skid and you will lose control. You cannot steer a vehicle when the brakes are locked. Press firmly, then release. If you feel the tires start to skid release the brakes before steering.
    • Anti-lock brakes - Do not pump anti-lock brakes. Your car's ABS computer will pulse them much faster than you can (you will feel the pedal vibrate a bit when this occurs). Just hold the brakes firmly and steer normally.
  4. 4
    Steer smoothly. - Very jerky motions of the steering wheel, especially with heavy vehicles or those with light rear ends (e.g., pickup trucks) are likely to lead to skids.

  5. 5
    Accelerate if needed. Although it seems counter-intuitive, sometimes the best way to avoid an accident is to speed up and get out of the way.

  6. 6
    Take steps to recover if you start to skid or lose control. If your car starts to skid or if a tire blows, follow these steps to control the car.Cite error <cite_error_ref_no_input>; $2

    • Don't hit the brakes. This will only make things worse.
    • Keep a firm grip on the wheel.
    • Steer in the direction of the skid. If the back of your car is sliding to the driver's left, turn the wheels to the left.
    • Wait for your tires to regain traction before braking or pressing the accelerator.
  7. 7
    If a crash is unavoidable, try to minimize damage.

    • Avoid head-on collisions into other vehicles or front-end collisions into immovable objects like large trees or concrete barriers.
    • Do as much as you can to control your car's speed. The faster the impact, the more damage it will cause.
    • Avoid side impacts. Serious injury is likely to result if another car strikes your car on the side where it is much weaker structurally and closer to the driver.
  8. 8
    After a crash, switch off your engine, do not smoke, and stop anyone else from smoking. This especially important if one of the vehicles involved in the crash was carrying dangerous goods (e.g. flammable goods such as paraffin or aerosols, or explosive goods), as in such crashes it is important to prevent explosions or fires, as much as you are not in a film and in reality cars can only really explode or catch fire after crashes if the crash involved a vehicle carrying dangerous goods.

  9. 9
    Call emergency services after a crash. Apply first aid if needed. Do not attempt to removed injured people from a vehicle yourself. Explosions are very unlikely, and you could aggravate any neck spinal injuries, even if the victim feels uninjured. Leave removal of injured people to the emergency services.



Edit Tips

  • If you have a cell phone, make any calls you need to make either in the privacy of your car, if you can, or away from any witnesses. Again, do not try to explain what happened to anyone on the phone, e.g. the tow truck driver. Just say, there has been an accident.
  • If you are purchasing a new vehicle, be sure to note the standard and optional safety features, such as where and how many air bags come with the car. Research crash test results, and consider built-in monitoring services such as General Motors' OnStar system. These can notify emergency personnel of an accident.
  • Use your cell phone to take pictures of the accident.
  • Be sure to exchange information with others involved in the accident and get information from eyewitnesses.
  • Remain calm and above all remain silent. You will likely be disoriented and confused after a serious accident, even if think you're uninjured. Many people will arrive at the scene of the accident and ask you "What happened?" You do not have to speak to anyone about what you think may have caused the accident. Above all, avoid saying anything that may incriminate you, such as "I'm sorry" or "I think it may have been speeding" etc. Such comments could end up causing you thousands of dollars.
  • If you aren't the one driving, in most, if not all cases, the middle back seat is the safest place to be, that is, with seatbelts. If the car crashes, you are in the middle seat and you are not wearing a seatbelt, you could be ejected from the vehicle, with fatal results.
  • Write a list to yourself of what to do in case of an accident and keep it in your glove box. Read it and follow the instructions which you wrote to yourself.

Edit Warning

  • Do not bend over or cover your head. In the event of a roll over, any force significant enough to warp in the roof and bend or break the A-beams might hit your head, and possibly knock you unconscious. It is unlikely to do nearly as much damage as that caused to your neck from having your head in front of the air bags when they deploy.

Edit Sources and Citations

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

What you need #1 NY Times & Amazon Bestseller Magnesium or Meet the Most Powerful Relaxation Mineral Available

A DEFICIENCY IN THIS CRITICAL nutrient makes you twice as likely to die as other people, according to a study published in The Journal of Intensive Care Medicine.(i) It also accounts for a long list of symptoms and diseases — which are easily helped and often cured by adding this nutrient. In fact, in my practice, this nutrient is one of my secret weapons against illness. Yet up to half of Americans are deficient in this nutrient and don’t know it.
I’m talking about magnesium.
It is an antidote to stress, the most powerful relaxation mineral available, and it can help improve your sleep.
I find it very funny that more doctors aren’t clued in to the benefits of magnesium, because we use it all the time in conventional medicine. But we never stop to think about why or how important it is to our general health or why it helps our bodies function better.
I remember using magnesium when I worked in the emergency room. It was a critical “medication” on the crash cart. If someone was dying of a life-threatening arrhythmia (or irregular heart beat), we used intravenous magnesium. If someone was constipated or needed to prepare for colonoscopy, we gave them milk of magnesia or a green bottle of liquid magnesium citrate, which emptied their bowels. If pregnant women came in with pre-term labor, or high blood pressure of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia) or seizures, we gave them continuous high doses of intravenous magnesium.
But you don’t have to be in the hospital to benefit from getting more magnesium. You can start taking regular magnesium supplementation today and see results.
The Relaxation Mineral
Think of magnesium as the relaxation mineral. Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff — whether it is a body part or an even a mood — is a sign of magnesium deficiency.
This critical mineral is actually responsible for over 300 enzyme reactions and is found in all of your tissues — but mainly in your bones, muscles, and brain. You must have it for your cells to make energy, for many different chemical pumps to work, to stabilize membranes, and to help muscles relax.
When was the last time you had a good dose of seaweed, nuts, greens, and beans? If you are like most Americans, your nut consumption mostly comes from peanut butter.
That is why the list of conditions that are found related to magnesium deficiency is so long. In fact, there are over 3,500 medical references on magnesium deficiency!
Even so, this mineral is mostly ignored because it is not a drug, even though it is MORE powerful than drugs in many cases. That’s why we use it in the hospital for life-threatening and emergency situations like seizures and heart failure.
You might be magnesium deficient if you have any of the following symptoms:
  • Muscle cramps or twitches
  • Insomnia
  • Irritability
  • Sensitivity to loud noises
  • Anxiety
  • Autism
  • ADD
  • Palpitations
  • Angina
  • Constipation
  • Anal spasms
  • Headaches
  • Migraines
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Asthma
  • Kidney stones
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Osteoporosis
  • High blood pressure
  • PMS
  • Menstrual cramps
  • Irritable bladder
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Reflux
  • Trouble swallowing
Magnesium deficiency has even has been linked to inflammation in the body and higher CRP levels.
In our society, magnesium deficiency is a huge problem. By conservative standards of measurement (blood, or serum, magnesium levels), 65 percent of people admitted to the intensive care unit — and about 15 percent of the general population — have magnesium deficiency.
But this seriously underestimates the problem, because a serum magnesium level is the LEAST sensitive way to detect a drop in your total body magnesium level. So rates of magnesium deficiency could be even higher!
The reason we are so deficient is simple: Many of us eat a diet that contains practically no magnesium — a highly-processed, refined diet that is based mostly on white flour, meat, and dairy (all of which have no magnesium).
When was the last time you had a good dose of sea vegetables (seaweed), nuts, greens, and beans? If you are like most Americans, your nut consumption mostly comes from peanut butter, and mostly in chocolate peanut butter cups.
Much of modern life conspires to help us lose what little magnesium we do get in our diet. Magnesium levels are decreased by excess alcohol, salt, coffee, phosphoric acid in colas, profuse sweating, prolonged or intense stress, chronic diarrhea, excessive menstruation, diuretics (water pills), antibiotics and other drugs, and some intestinal parasites. In fact, in one study in Kosovo, people under chronic war stress lost large amounts of magnesium in their urine.
This is all further complicated by the fact that magnesium is often poorly absorbed and easily lost from our bodies. To properly absorb magnesium we need a lot of it in our diet, plus enough vitamin B6, vitamin D, and selenium to get the job done.
A recent scientific review of magnesium concluded, “It is highly regrettable that the deficiency of such an inexpensive, low-toxicity nutrient results in diseases that cause incalculable suffering and expense throughout the world.” (ii) I couldn’t’ have said it better myself.
It is difficult to measure and hard to study, but magnesium deficiency accounts for untold suffering — and is simple to correct. So if you suffer from any of the symptoms I mentioned or have any of the diseases I noted, don’t worry — it is an easy fix!! Here’s how.
Stop Draining Your Body of Magnesium
  • Limit coffee, colas, salt, sugar, and alcohol
  • Learn how to practice active relaxation
  • Check with your doctor if your medication is causing magnesium loss (many high blood pressure drugs or diuretics cause loss of magnesium)
Eat Foods High in Magnesium
Include the following in your diet as often as you can:
Kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye, tofu, soy beans, brown rice, figs, dates, collard greens, shrimp, avocado, parsley, beans, barley, dandelion greens, and garlic
Take Magnesium Supplements
  • The RDA (the minimum amount needed) for magnesium is about 300 mg a day. Most of us get far less than 200 mg.
  • Some may need much more depending on their condition.
  • Most people benefit from 400 to 1,000 mg a day.
  • The most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, or aspartate, although magnesium bound to Kreb cycle chelates (malate, succinate, fumarate) are also good.
  • Avoid magnesium carbonate, sulfate, gluconate, and oxide. They are poorly absorbed (and the cheapest and most common forms found in supplements).
  • Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhea, which can be avoided if you switch to magnesium glycinate.
  • Most minerals are best taken as a team with other minerals in a multi-mineral formula.
  • Taking a hot bath with Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) is a good way to absorb and get much needed magnesium.
People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor’s supervision.
So if you’re coping with the symptoms here, relax! Magnesium is truly a miracle mineral. It is essential for lifelong vibrant health.
Now I’d like to hear from you…
Do you suffer from any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned?
Do you currently take a magnesium supplement? What results have you noticed?
Which of the tips mentioned above do you plan to try?
Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
References
(i) Tong, GM and RK Rude. 2005. Magnesium deficiency in critical illness. J Intensive Care Med 20 (1):3-17. Review.
(ii) S. Johnson. 2001. The multifaceted and widespread pathology of magnesium deficiency. Med Hypotheses 56(2): 163-70

Sunday, June 2, 2013

10 ways to survive a cruise vacation- updated

Post image for 10 ways to survive a cruise vacation- updatedSafety at Sea is normally a snooze-fest boring topic that few paid a lot of attention to up until now.  The grounding of Costa Concordia and the resulting loss of life alone are good reasons to pay attention during the safety drill held at the beginning of every cruise.  Add in the occasional reports of teen rape, drug dealers on board or suspected murder and we have good reason for a brief checklist that may very well keep you alive.
The facts are clear: cruise vacations are safe.  Of that there is no doubt.  In general.  Looking at the incidents of bad things happening on cruise ships the number is low.  But for those to whom bad things happened, their lives were altered forever as a result.  Still, planes crash from time to time but we pay little attention to the cabin attendants safety instructions at the beginning of a flight.  We assume safety
  1. Pay attention during the safety drill.  This is not the time to be drunk or absent.  Ships commonly close bars a half-hour before safety drills take place.  I don’t know a drunk on the planet that can sober up in 30 minutes enough to receive, process and retain information that may very well save their life later that night…which is exactly the skill needed by many guests on the Costa Concordia. One of the most common comments from passengers on Costa Concordia is that they could not hear or understand the instructions.
  2. Know where to go without instructions- When we hear the ship‘s whistle go off, hear an announcement over a public address system or simply get direction from a crew member, act on it.  Right then.  Do not wait around for others or count on seeing crew members placed strategically in places you can’t miss to guide you.  On Costa Concordia, those heading to muster stations on the side of the ship that was going down had to make other plans or they would not have gotten off the ship.  We often suggest memorizing the deck plans just as a way of efficiently knowing our way around the ship rather than bumping into walls and getting lost the first day or so.  This is one more good reason to memorize deck plans and know where your cabin (and thus the location of your life vests) is in relationship to other common areas of the ship.
  3. Do your own safety drill- Inside every stateroom, as required by maritime law, is information on where to go when it is time to be at muster stations.  Normally, the only time we see this place is for the safety drill.  We think you should find this place and find alternate routes to it.  Imagine where you might be at any given time and find your way there.  If you are on a ship that stores life vests in the cabin,  know several ways to get to your cabin and then from your cabin to the muster station quickly and efficiently.  Again, knowing your way around the ship is essential.
  4. Don’t visit crew areas of the ship- This sounds like a no-brainer, crossing over into the world marked “crew-only”, but here’s one good reason for it: While you are visiting with your new crew friend, you are surely not in your cabin and that would be a great time for some other crew member to get in and take your stuff. If you or someone you know is entering the crew-only world that’s a big red flag that something is wrong. Maybe that person is drinking too much and having an alcohol-induced crush on that handsome bartender with the charming accent.
  5. Minors can and will buy booze and/or drugs ashore. Make no mistake; in most Caribbean ports of call there is no legal drinking age and sellers of everything from beer to hard drugs are as plentiful as the lovely scenery you see from the ship.  Getting it back on the ship is only about half a step harder than buying it too
  6. Your wine added to a Shirley Temple makes for a great kiddie cocktail. There’s something to be said for setting a good example. Smuggling booze on to your cruise for the adults, in and of itself, is enough to open the door for teens to give it a try. Teens can and will sneak a bit of your hard-to-monitor box of wine.  You may recoil at the thought of wine mixed with Coke but they won’t
  7. Keep an eye on the kids, at least a little bit.  The notion of cutting your teens loose on the first day of the cruise then seeing them again on the last day is a bad idea.  A cruise is a very flexible vacation option, offering everyone the opportunity to do just exactly what they want to do (or not do) that makes for a fun time.  Let them sleep in if they want to, hang out with other teens on the ship or even go ashore with others in a safe pack-size group.  That’s important for them to have a good time too.  Equally important is meeting up regularly throughout the sailing.-
  8. Teens need to travel in a pack-I commonly encouraged our teen girls to travel in a pack with other nice kids (or kids who were sufficiently good at appearing to be nice kids)  from the ship.   Still, I remember one call in San Juan when one of them called me come get them from shore after the scene at Carlos and Charlies got uncomfortable.
  9. Bring a Cell Phone- Odds are that in an emergency, either on the ship or ashore,  it will work.  The premium fee you may incur to make that call will be rendered meaningless if it avoids a bad situation.  Check with your cell phone service provider on rates, roaming fees and plans that may be available.   Walkie-talkies are a bad idea; you don’t really need or want to know where they are all the time and the devices themselves are annoying.   Royal Caribbean has phones you can rent on board, Disney is adding them as standard fare fleet-wide soon.
  10. You have no money- Regardless of the truth, don’t talk about, flash, or seem as though you have money.  Going ashore? Leave the designer clothes, handbags and gadgets behind.  Need cash?  Get it from the ATM on the ship, not ashore. This is good advice for adults as well.   Believe me, everyone ashore already knows you are a tourist and probably have cash with you, they just don’t know how much.  Would-be robbers look for the fat, juicy wallets and hunger for more.
Here is just how badly things can go:
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Flickr photo by The Shopping Sherpa

Britain has alien-war weapons, says former government adviser

Britain has a stockpile of aircraft, drones and weapons that could be used to fight aliens in the event of an invasion from space, according to the government's former UFO adviser.
The Taranis could be used to fight aliens
The Taranis could be used to fight aliens
In an interview with MSN, Nick Pope, who worked for the Ministry of Defence for 21 years, said that while Britain doesn't have a war plan, it certainly had sophisticated enough weaponry to defend itself.
Mr Pope, whose job it was to advise on the threat posed by other life forms, said that in the event of an attack he expected that we would "quickly adapt our plans for other more current war scenarios."
At present, he said, there was no special organisation like Torchwood, the alien-hunting team from the BBC science fiction series of the same name, but he said he was sure that in the event of attack an operation could be set up quickly and efficiently. World nations would probably pool their technology together like in films such as Independence Day.
The believers only have to be right once.
Mr Pope said: "We do have several prototype aircraft and drones and other weapons you won't see on the news for another 10-15 years so if we did face a threat from the unknown then even if there is no Torchwood around now, there would be something like it by then and they certainly would have some great kit to help in the fight."
He said: "Look at the Taranis, which is a prototype made by BAE Systems. It looks for all the world like a spaceship in the hanger."
So are aliens a threat?
The official government position is that UFOs offer "no significant defence threat".
However, Mr Pope said what that really means is that "we don't know".
"My colleagues and I said, whatever our official position - the one we gave to the public, media or parliament, - privately, where five per cent of UFO sightings remained unexplained, at the very least there has to be a potential threat."
How would we fight?
A sketch of a UFO sighted at Rendlesham Forest in 1980
Was the Taranis modelled on this UFO spotted at Rendlesham Forest in 1980?
"One possibility would be trying to unite all the nations of the world. For those who think that far-fetched, Ronald Reagan once hinted at it in a speech to the UN. He said 'I occasionally think how quickly we would set aside our difference if we faced some alien threat from the other side.'"
So why is the government looking at UFO sightings?
"Between 1991 and 1994, my job at the MoD was to investigate the 200-300 reported sightings of UFOs in the UK each year to see if there was evidence of a potential threat or something of general defence interest.
"One of the things that was interesting was that when people reported seeing UFOs these things were capable of extraordinary manoeuvres and speeds. They were much faster than our military jets so we wanted to find out about the technology and if we could find it useful.
"Defence scientists were very interested in the fact they might have some kind of exotic propulsion system."
So do aliens really exist?
"I am absolutely convinced that elsewhere in the universe there must be other life and I am also convinced that some of that is going to be intelligent. I am open-minded about the possibility that some of that life is visiting us down here but just as our space programme is reaching out to find out what is out there, it seems other life forms could be motivated by the same thing."
What do aliens look like?
"They come in all shapes and sizes according to the people who have seen these things. There is a vast variety of life."
An alien at the International UFO Museum and Research Center in RoswellPA
Aliens come in all shapes and sizes
"One of the things being discussed at the Royal Society is that we could be dealing with artificial life - a post-biological universe of cyborgs and robots.
"I suspect there are thousands and millions of civilisations out there.
"We all hope it's just going to be ET-style fluffy aliens as opposed to a terrifying alien invasion."
What one event has convinced you of the existence of alien life?
"It's a case in the UK at Rendlesham Forest, in 1980, in Suffolk between two military bases. It was not a sighting of a UFO in the sky but a UFO that actually landed. Some of the witnesses described a smallish craft.
"It came on a second night and when military personnel examined the landing site they found indentations in the ground and defence intelligence staff assessed the radiation levels with a Geiger counter and found radiation levels at eight times normal.
"We told parliament there was 'no defence significance' but did so with tongue firmly in cheek because you cannot have a UFO land between two defence bases without it being of enormous defence significance."
What would you say to sceptics?
"The believers only have to be right once."
Mr Pope was involved in the British government's programme to declassify and release the MoD's UFO files to the National Archives. He left the MoD in 2006 and now lives in California. He lectures around the world and works with television and film companies to develop new ideas.
He carried out the interview ahead of a live webTV show to discuss alien life forms as part of a promotion for the computer game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. For more information watch the webTV show with Nick Pope.

http://news.uk.msn.com/exclusives/britain-has-alien-war-weapons-says-former-government-adviser 

Associates of NASA Warn of Alien Attack Scenario




Tell me if this isn’t a little strange.
NASA via associates at Pennsylvania State University have compiled a list of possible “contact” scenarios. The most compelling of which involves aliens attacking us because we are out of control.
This report named “Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis” was compiled to help us (get this!) prepare for actual contact.
Contract scenarios fall into 3 different categories: beneficial, neutral or harmful.
One very unfriendly scenario has advanced aliens wiping out mankind in order to stop us from destroying the planet. Others involve everything from them eating us to saving us from another alien menace.
If this all sounds a little…a lot out there, I think you may be focusing on the wrong subject. In other words, why? Why is NASA doing this and why now? This isn’t something they are known for and frankly up until now they’ve said and done little to make us think they had any interest at all (not that we believed it).
Are you all thinking what I’m thinking? Is NASA and the Gov already aware of an alien threat? Have they already made contact and been warned or worse, threatened? Are these UFO sightings different alien civilizations monitoring us and waiting for attack orders from the Galactic Federation of Planets? Are we in league with certain alien civilizations already? These have all been on our minds in the past but with this report it seems even more possible.
Is NASA telling us something here?
So many questions! One thing I can say for sure, this certainly can give you the willies if you think about it too much.
Planet earth may be on borrowed time and the clock is ticking. Put on your tinfoil hats STAT!
Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists
Rising greenhouse emissions could tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report
It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.
Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.
This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman of Nasa’s Planetary Science Division and his colleagues compiled a list of plausible outcomes that could unfold in the aftermath of a close encounter, to help humanity “prepare for actual contact”.
In their report, Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis, the researchers divide alien contacts into three broad categories: beneficial, neutral or harmful.
Beneficial encounters ranged from the mere detection of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), for example through the interception of alien broadcasts, to contact with cooperative organisms that help us advance our knowledge and solve global problems such as hunger, poverty and disease.
Another beneficial outcome the authors entertain sees humanity triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor, or even being saved by a second group of ETs. “In these scenarios, humanity benefits not only from the major moral victory of having defeated a daunting rival, but also from the opportunity to reverse-engineer ETI technology,” the authors write.

Other kinds of close encounter may be less rewarding and leave much of human society feeling indifferent towards alien life. The extraterrestrials may be too different from us to communicate with usefully. They might invite humanity to join the “Galactic Club” only for the entry requirements to be too bureaucratic and tedious for humans to bother with. They could even become a nuisance, like the stranded, prawn-like creatures that are kept in a refugee camp in the 2009 South African movie, District 9, the report explains.
The most unappealing outcomes would arise if extraterrestrials caused harm to humanity, even if by accident. While aliens may arrive to eat, enslave or attack us, the report adds that people might also suffer from being physically crushed or by contracting diseases carried by the visitors. In especially unfortunate incidents, humanity could be wiped out when a more advanced civilisation accidentally unleashes an unfriendly artificial intelligence, or performs a catastrophic physics experiment that renders a portion of the galaxy uninhabitable.
To bolster humanity’s chances of survival, the researchers call for caution in sending signals into space, and in particular warn against broadcasting information about our biological make-up, which could be used to manufacture weapons that target humans. Instead, any contact with ETs should be limited to mathematical discourse “until we have a better idea of the type of ETI we are dealing with.”
The authors warn that extraterrestrials may be wary of civilisations that expand very rapidly, as these may be prone to destroy other life as they grow, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth. In the most extreme scenario, aliens might choose to destroy humanity to protect other civilisations.
“A preemptive strike would be particularly likely in the early phases of our expansion because a civilisation may become increasingly difficult to destroy as it continues to expand. Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilisational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions,” the report states.
“Green” aliens might object to the environmental damage humans have caused on Earth and wipe us out to save the planet. “These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets,” the authors write.
Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.
Source: Guardian UK

http://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/08/19/nasa-warns-of-alien-attack-scenario