After studying the tea drinking habits of people from Golestan Province, Iran, researchers have concluded that drinking scalding beverages may lead to cancer of the esophagus.
The area in question is known for having high rates of esophageal cancer, among the highest in the world in fact, despite having low rates of [...]

Diabetes is a disease that can come on you suddenly. You can go for a very long time and never know that you have the disease. Symptoms of diabetes can mimic other health problems.
These can include, going to the bathroom more than usual, losing or gaining weight, and trouble with your [...]

Lingerie market begs to be stimulated with this sexy hot approach…asking price, 89 euros.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a hilarious video of my boyfriend and his friend simultaneously using the EA SPORTS Active product. Being able to work out with a friend in the two-player mode definitely makes things more fun and takes exercising to a whole new level.

My favorite part is the fact that they were both sweating in the end and had only played on medium. The video is a perfect example of how this product is not just for women.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For many people, health insurance is a safety net. It provides financial assistance and adequate medical coverage in times of a medical emergency. Yet, for others, a standard health insurance policy just isn’t enough. According to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society, even people with health insurance can be overwhelmed with large medical debts for cancer care.

“It’s not necessarily not having insurance — it’s not having adequate insurance.” So says John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society in a new story published by NPR’s Morning Edition.

via Cancer’s Hidden Costs - ACS CAN.

Based on various studies, the American Cancer Society feels that most health insurance plans are inadequate in the event of a cancer diagnosis. These days, many forms of cancer are being treated like chronic conditions. Cancer treatments - such as MRIs, bone density scans, ultrasounds, and chemotherapy - are administered through a physician’s office, not through the hospital. So, if you have a “catastrophic” health insurance policy - one that just covers hospitalization and surgery, you will not be covered for these necessary treatments.

Cancer Insurance Policies do exist - their sole purpose is to provide benefits only if the policyholder gets cancer. Cancer policies vary greatly in cost and coverage benefits, and there are several common limitations:

• Some cancer policies only cover hospital care.

• Many cancer policies have fixed dollar limits.

• Many policies agree to increase benefits after a patient has been in the hospital for 90 consecutive days. It sounds good in theory, but the average cancer patient only stays in the hospital for 13 days.

• Cancer insurance policies will not cover cancer-related illnesses. Many times the disease or the cancer treatments will lead to other health conditions, such as infection, diabetes, or pneumonia.

• Several cancer policies have time restrictions. For example, some policies require a 30-day (or longer) waiting period before coverage begins, while other cancer policies will discontinue coverage after a fixed amount of time.

• No cancer policy will cover cancer that was diagnosed before you applied for the policy.

Although Cancer Insurance Policies may sound like an added safety net, they often go unused. And event if you are diagnosed with Cancer and your cancer insurance policy is utilized, its limitations can still be quite devastating. Instead of opting for a Cancer Insurance Policy, it is often suggested that you purchase a comprehensive or major medial policy. While these policies will probably cost more than a cancer policy, they will also provide more coverage - which ends up benefiting you more in the long run.

So, in an effort to ensure that everyone has adequate health insurance coverage, NPR enlisted the help of Dr. John Rowe, a health policy professor at Columbia University, and the former head of Aetna Health Insurance. Dr. Rowe provided a few tips on how you can get the most from your health insurance:

• Contact your insurer and ask whether they have any special programs for people with cancer. Some insurers have special arrangements with doctors or hospital groups for low-cost cancer care.

• Obtain a list from your insurer of all the doctors and hospitals that are included in your coverage network. Carry this list with you to every doctor visit. If your doctor refers you to another doctor or specialist, ask him or her to choose one off your list.

• If your health insurance company refuses to pay for your care, try negotiating with the doctor’s office or hospital. The charges may be lowered, and you should be able to set up a monthly payment plan.

• Choose the right health insurance policy in the first place. Although insurance plans with high co-payments or high deductibles may have lower monthly premiums, these plans can be financially devastating for someone diagnosed with cancer. It may be a better idea to pay a higher monthly premium for better coverage. As always, do your research before you buy, and choose the health insurance plan that best fits your needs.

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist monk

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

The idea of being mindful — being present, being more conscious of life as it happens — seems a bit impossible to many of the super busy.

But not only is it possible, I’d submit that it’s desirable, and that it’ll help the busy (and non-busy) achieve their goals and enjoy life more fully.

One of my favorite web big shots, Digg.com founder Kevin Rose (who is actually heading several companies and multiple other projects), has “be mindful” at the top of his resolutions for 2009. I hope he’s doing well, and I’d love to hear how someone as busy as he is implements a resolution like that.

But in case Mr. Rose, and other super-busy types, are having trouble being mindful and living life to the fullest, this guide will help.

Enjoying Life and Achieving Goals
It seems contradictory to those who are used to sacrificing living for pursuing their goals … but cultivating mindfulness will help you achieve your goals and enjoy life more.

Focusing on one task at a time, putting yourself fully into that task, is much more effective than multi-tasking. Focusing on one real goal at a time is also more effective. I’ve proven it to myself time and again over the last few years (see My Story for more). Focusing on what you’re doing right now is highly effective. You’re more productive when you’re mindful.

But more importantly, being present is undoubtedly the only way to enjoy life to the fullest. By being mindful, you enjoy your food more, you enjoy friends and family more, you enjoy anything you’re doing more. Anything. Even things you might think are drudgery or boring, such as housework, can be amazing if you are truly present. Try it — wash dishes or sweep or cook, and remain fully present. It takes practice, but it’s incredible.

One Month Challenge
The best method I can offer for learning to be present, the best method for practicing, is to focus on it for one month. Make focusing on being present a habit. If you make it your only focus, I guarantee you’ll get better at it, and more importantly, you’ll get into the habit of remembering to focus, of remembering to practice, of being more aware.

Do a one-month challenge. It’s the best method for forming new habits, and it works for being present. A good way to do this is join the monthly challenge on the Zen Habits forums or on The Power of Less Challenge forum. Then do the following:

• Tell people on the forum what your monthly challenge will be (focusing on being present).
• Log in daily to report on your progress. This gives you the accountability and motivation needed.
• Do the tips below every day for a month.

“Do you have patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?” - Lao Tzu

How to Be Mindful

1. Do one thing at a time. Single-task, don’t multi-task. When you’re pouring water, just pour water. When you’re eating, just eat. When you’re bathing, just bathe. Don’t try to knock off a few tasks while eating or bathing or driving. Zen proverb: “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”

2. Do it slowly and deliberately. You can do one task at a time, but also rush that task. Instead, take your time, and move slowly. Make your actions deliberate, not rushed and random. It takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task.

3. Do less. If you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more concentration. If you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do. But you’re busy and you can’t possibly do less, right? You can. I’ve done it, and so have many busy people. It’s a matter of figuring out what’s important, and letting go of what’s not. Read more: The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less.

4. Put space between things. Related to the “Do less” rule, but it’s a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. Don’t schedule things close together — instead, leave room between things on your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned.

5. Spend at least 5 minutes each day doing nothing. Just sit in silence. Become aware of your thoughts. Focus on your breathing. Notice the world around you. Become comfortable with the silence and stillness. It’ll do you a world of good — and just takes 5 minutes!

6. Stop worrying about the future - focus on the present. Become more aware of your thinking — are you constantly worrying about the future? Learn to recognize when you’re doing this, and then practice bringing yourself back to the present. Just focus on what you’re doing, right now. Enjoy the present moment.

7. When you’re talking to someone, be present. How many of us have spent time with someone but have been thinking about what we need to do in the future? Or thinking about what we want to say next, instead of really listening to that person? Instead, focus on being present, on really listening, on really enjoying your time with that person.

8. Eat slowly and savor your food. Food can be crammed down our throats in a rush, but where’s the joy in that? Savor each bite, slowly, and really get the most out of your food. Interestingly, you’ll eat less this way, and digest your food better as well.

9. Live slowly and savor your life. Just as you would savor your food by eating it more slowly, do everything this way — slow down and savor each and every moment. As I type this, for example, I have my 3-year-old daughter, Noelle, on my lap. She’s just sitting here quietly, as the rain pours down in a hush outside. What a lovely moment. In fact, I’m going to take a few minutes off just to be with her now. Be right back.

10. Make cleaning and cooking become meditation. Cooking and cleaning are often seen as drudgery, but actually they are both great ways to practice mindfulness, and can be great rituals performed each day. If cooking and cleaning seem like boring chores to you, try doing them as a form of meditation. Put your entire mind into those tasks, concentrate, and do them slowly and completely. It could change your entire day (as well as leave you with a cleaner house).

11. Keep practicing. When you get frustrated, just take a deep breath. When you ask yourself, “What should I do now, Self?”, the answer is “keep practicing”.

“When you drive around the city and come to a red light or a stop sign, you can just sit back and make use of these twenty or thirty seconds to relax — to breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy arriving in the present moment. There are many things like that we can do.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

I’ll leave you with a video from one of my favorite mindfulness teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh (check out his books, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, and True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart):

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Read more about simple productivity, focus and getting great things done in my book, The Power of Less.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Corey Allan of Simple Marriage.

As you progress through a marriage, or any committed relationship, routine is bound to dictate a lot of what happens. As the glitz and glamour of romance subside, daily schedules, obligations, kids, and chores take over.

Routine becomes such a factor in life that I’d be willing to bet you could accurately predict your spouse’s schedule of interaction with you throughout the week. And they could do the same with you.

Life is often lived predictably because when you get right down to it, you’d rather live life in your comfort zone than step out into the uncertainty of true life and relationship design. Change is scary. I get it. But change should not be debilitating. It pains me to say this, but many people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.

If you’d like to break out of the routine and change a few things in your relationship, it’s easier than you think. Here’s the secret ingredient: a touch of spice.

Start small. Break a few of the patterns and see what happens. I think you’ll be surprised at the results.

1. Change up the seating chart at meal times. If your family has sit down meals together, there is probably assigned seating that has evolved over the years. Dad sits here, mom there, and so on. Try sitting in a different seat.
2. Give up your chair in the living room. This same seating principle applies to TV watching furniture. I have a recliner that is assumed by my family to be mine. Give it up and sit on the couch or some other chair for a while.
3. Sleep on the other side of the bed. Same principle, perhaps a bit more closely guarded however. Try it. See what happens.
4. Assume different household responsibilities. You may be the one who takes out the trash, does the dishes, or laundry, puts toys away, or maybe all of the above. Try doing something you typically don’t do during the week. Mow the yard. Make the bed. Whatever. Just do something your spouse would usually take care of.
5. Ask your spouse out on a date. Actually call them up. Ask them out. Dress for a date. Show up at the front door. Bring flowers. Hold the door for them. Who knows where this idea could lead.
6. Have a good make out session. Not every physical connection must lead to sex. Spend some time making out with your spouse. Kiss each other slowly. Enjoy each other. For added spark, try this during a movie at the theater, or outside under a tree.
7. Talk about your unhappiness. I’m a big advocate for honesty. Too often we expect our spouse to read our mind or sense that there’s something wrong. Speak up. Tell them what’s going on with you. A word of caution however. Tell them what you’re feeling and thinking, not what’s wrong with them. Anyone who feels attacked will respond defensively and be less open to seeking solutions.
8. Initiate sex. Inevitably routine will creep into your sex life. It’s his responsibility to initiate sex. Or hers. It’s brought up the same way. Starts the same. Follows the same routine. Even ends the same. If you are the one who initiates sex the least, initiate more. If you’re the other side of the equation, slow down. More than likely, you both would enjoy better quality sex rather than simply more sex.
9. Try eyes open sex. Sex is the one time we can be closest to another person physically while staying miles apart mentally and emotionally. If you typically keeps your eyes closed while kissing, during foreplay, and during sex, open them up. Engage your lover throughout the encounter. Look them in the eye. Let them see you. Interested in more on this idea? Go here.

Read more about experiencing more in marriage and life in Corey’s new book A Simple Marriage, available today. Or head to Simple Marriage and read more.
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If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us or StumbleUpon. I’d appreciate it.

dating is the stage where people get to know possible romantic prospects and mere friends through meets, conversations, and endearing acts. By going for a date, people get to size up their prospects, seeing what the other brings to the table. It is pretty exciting for many, unless you’re an old fashioned romantic. Today’s dating standards are too harsh, given the values and connotations expected to be exuded by daters. A romantic should learn how to act tremendously fake, otherwise his or her chances of getting a more serious relationship is practically thrown out the window.

People Take Advantage of Romantic Daters

Romantics have a tendency to generate emotional outpours during the timely moments. Of course, from an outpour comes genuine acts of goodwill, fueled by personal volition or the whims of your date. Wily individuals, in turn, take advantage of these acts for their own pleasure. Most of them sucker romantics to dish out presents, compliments, or even sex, until they are fully satisfied. Just like leeches, they will then drop the romantic when they have no use for him or her.

Romance is Expected from the Unromantic

Bad boys and naughty girls are more exciting than sweet talking romantics, who are often viewed as boring. That’s understandable, given the amount of mind games and banter that daters can play. The problem is, some expect genuine romance from the setup after all the games. It can happen at times, but has a pretty low batting average. Romantics, on the other hand, can easily dish out that much needed detail. However, making it further than a few dates is a bigger concern for them.

The One Hundred Percent Perfect Date

Obtuse daters are growing in number, as each day passes. They subject their prospects to their list of standards, which isn’t wrong, but they often ask for nothing less than a hundred percent. If a dater makes an itty-bitty error, despite being okay, he or she is immediately relegated to the showers. Romantics are the immediate losers. The moment they fail to project a very edgy image, they can kiss their chances goodbye. Worst of all, these obtuse daters complain the most about other daters being unfair.

Emotional Attraction is a Formula, Not a Characteristic

If you know how a person’s mind works, given today’s dating standards, you can make anyone fall in love with you, unless you’re not physically attractive in any way. Say the right things, perform the right acts, and give surprises, all with proper timing, and you can break your date’s defenses or even grab a relationship out of the whole thing. Romantics must adhere to the formula, instead of what they truly feel, if they want to get close to a serious prospect. They should know, being romantic is just like shooting yourself on the foot.

Learn to Play It Fair and Fake

Given the current dating standards, romantics have no choice but to adjust. They have to edit their personalities and learn to control their emotions, if they want to stand a chance against the competition. If they add some edge and apply the dating formula to perfection, they can’t fail always. In truth, old fashioned romance gives them an advantage in the long run as long as they learn how to play it fair and fake.

I’m going to divert from my usual ramblings and talk about the staggering (to me, at least) implications of the COBRA premium reduction. First of all, what is COBRA?  From Wikipedia:  “The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985… is a law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Reagan that, among other things, mandates an insurance program giving some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment.”  Basically it means that if your employer gives you access to health insurance coverage and you use it, then you are eligible to continue in that plan after you quit or get laid off.  Usually the employer’s been picking up a chunk of the premium that the employee has to start paying, but it’s still a fairly nice deal for most people as a bridge.

At least it was until the Great Recession hit. Like many other people, I didn’t anticipate being out of work for almost five months now.  I knew from day one I’d need COBRA, because until recently you had a 3o day window to opt in or out.  If you opted out, you were out - you couldn’t come back to COBRA after you left.  Finding independent health insurance is difficult even if you’re healthy; if you are sick, or (like me) you have a family with two small children (i.e. needing lots of medical attention in the form of shots, etc.) it becomes a real struggle to find affordable insurance.

So out of the stimulus act comes the COBRA premium reduction. You are an assistance eligible individual if you are qualified for COBRA and:

1. Your COBRA period began between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.
2. You became eligible for COBRA as a result of a covered employee’s involuntary termination of employment in that time period and
3. You elect COBRA coverage.

Cutting through the legalese, what does that mean? It means that if you qualify for COBRA, the government’s going to pick up 65% of your bill.  65% is a typical employer’s share of the premium payment for current employees, so it likely means that if you’re laid off your medical bills won’t go up much.

Forget politics, and forget whether this is prudent in the long term for America. That’s another post.  What this provides is a huge opportunity, and one worth considering seriously.  I’ve suddenly been told that I can keep my health insurance, which covers the great majority of my medical expenses, for a reasonable amount (about $400 per month) instead of an unreasonable amount ($1400).  The unintended social effect of this may be profound:  people like me who might have been otherwise inclined to scurry as fast as we could back to corporate employment for the sake of health care benefits may instead opt into independent contractor status in the short term.

I have to admit that I was anxious to get a “job” with benefits as quickly as I could once I realized my independent contractor lifestyle included an almost $1500 per month bill for health care (for a family of four). It’s not like that $1500 per month includes 100% of my costs, either - $25 copays, pharmacy copays and 10% (or more) shares of medical treatment add up.  Children’s immunization shots are pricey.  Even minor medical treatment can add hundreds to that premium payment of $1500 per month, but I’m grateful - without insurance the treatments would soar into five figures for even routine medical care.

If health reform becomes a reality, imagine what it would mean if everyone was entitled to $400 per month (or less) health care. Fear of striking out on your own as an entrepreneur would drop drastically.  People wouldn’t need to drop health insurance coverage to pay the rent.  Families would go to the doctor for routine preventative care in order to avoid later, more serious health problems.

I’m not suggesting that this COBRA premium reduction is a cure-all, because it isn’t. I know quite well that the whole doctor-insurance-company-patient triangle is rotten to the core.  Charges are flung about at random in hopes that some will stick and someone will pay them:  the insurance company, the government, the individual.  But it’s refreshing to see a change in the health care paradigm in this country.  As someone who has a (knock on wood) healthy family of four I had started to consider quite seriously dropping health insurance in favor of a catastrophic plan, and I’m glad - for once - that the government is doing something which will hopefully have a long term positive effect.  If people are confident that getting laid off won’t mean they can’t afford health insurance, they may be able to go out on their own or hold out for a decent job before settling for a position just for the sake of benefits.

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Post from: brip blap.

COBRA premium reduction

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.

- Albert Einstein

I love pop culture, as long as it is my pop culture. I love Star Trek and don’t care much for American Idol.  Loving one and not caring for the other won’t make me much better or worse as a person; there is nothing in Star Trek that makes the fans of that show “better” than the fans of American Idol.  Yet I feel that there is some value from the one show not possible from the other.  I feel that liking one over the other makes me more of an individual.

There are many opportunities for the individual to disappear. In a totalitarian society, the disappearance of individual is a survival instinct.  In a command economy, it’s the easiest action.  In a capitalist society, it’s not the way to wealth but it may serve as the avoidance of poverty.

If you stop and think about the ways in which you can live a “life fully lived”, either through commerce or service or self-improvement, the individual is key. I imagine Donald Trump gets the same sense of satisfaction through commerce as a community organizer does through service to others, although I can’t be sure.  But the opportunity for development accorded to the individual makes or breaks a society.

Do you want your neighbors to succeed? Your city?  Your state?  Your country?  Your world?  At each point you’re concentrating less on your own self-development and more on a larger ideal.  As a family man, I concentrate less on my own self-development (reading, contemplation, exercise, etc.) and more on my family’s development.  I think others expand this to concentrate more upon their neighbors’ development, and so on.  It’s not a bad thing, but I think every time you set aside your own self development for society’s, you eventually will suffer.

Boil it down to real life? Killing yourself to guarantee your children’s college education?  Paying exorbitant taxes to support a dying city?  Working to support a corporation?  Destroying your own health to support a family?  All are self-defeating in the long view.  Each will eventually undermine the initial reasoning; working long hours and wrecking your health to support your family will fail to pay off when you die young, for example.

Most people can’t make that difficult choice to concentrate on their own self-development. I’ll be honest:  I can’t. It’s hard to say that you need to work on your own happiness or health or prosperity now to ensure your family (or friends’, or community’s, or whatever) betterment tomorrow.  Sacrifice is tough in the short term.  America hasn’t demonstrated much stomach for that in the last decade or two, and we’ll pay the price in the next couple of decades.  But if you want to help others often the best way is to learn to help yourself first.

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Post from: brip blap.

all that is valuable