A Detox Tune-Up

A Detox Tune-Up for You

Now is the season of awakening. In the flowering trees and noisy birds, we feel spring all around us. Why not feel it inside, too, with a detoxification program — a cleansing for your body and mind.

Your body is not unlike your car — an efficient machine that performs consistently only when it is given proper care. And just like a car needs a regular change of oil and various filters to eliminate the waste products that degrade its performance, the body needs to be cleared of the chemicals and toxins that clog its system.

Many of these toxins are the destructive side effects of our chemical inventions, from the preservatives and additives found in foods or the contaminants in the water supply to the formaldehyde in carpets and furniture. Your body can process and eliminate some of the hordes of chemicals that enter, but the overflow gets stored in the liver, lungs, kidneys, fat cells, intestines, blood stream, and skin — which can result in chronic illnesses down the road.

Feel Fresh with a Daily Detox
Here is a full day of practices to gently detoxify your body:

1. Begin your day with gentle stretches that warm up your body and awaken your mind.

2. Make yourself some cleansing lemon tea. Simply heat up filtered water and squeeze half of a lemon in it. This will cleanse your digestive system.

3. For your detox diet, choose high fiber and organic foods, and eat more beans, brown rice, oat bran, vegetables, fruits, and chicken or turkey. This Super Cleanse Broth will spring you into good health. To make, simply prepare a broth from: collards, Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, cabbage, dandelion, Brussels sprouts, daikon radish, watercress, seaweed, shitake mushrooms, cilantro, garlic, leeks, fennel, anise, ginger, and turmeric.

4. Drink your veggies in juice form! Try a terrific detox juice made with Aloe vera juice, apples, asparagus, beet greens, cabbage, carrot greens, celery, cucumbers, and parsley.

5. Soak for 20 minutes in a revitalizing herbal bath. To help draw out toxins, infuse your bath water with eucalyptus, wintergreen, peppermint, fennel, cinnamon, and epsom salts.

Herbal Therapy
Whether steeped into tea or added to your cooking, you can use these potent cleansing herbs to remove toxic build up and wastes from your body:

• Chrysanthemum flower: Traditionally used to cleanse the liver, brighten vision, and neutralize toxins – and studies show that chrysanthemum lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and balances blood sugar.

• Dandelion: Research shows that dandelion root enhances the flow of bile, improving liver conditions such as hepatitis, gallstones, and jaundice.

• Milk thistle: Extensive research has found that the major component of milk thistle extract, silymarin, has a protective and a restorative effect on the liver, stimulating the growth of new liver cells to replace old damaged cells.

• Hawthorn berry: A famous cardiovascular tonic that is chock full of antioxidants, hawthorn is used to cleanse the blood of plaque and other toxins; according to studies, it helps the body maintain healthy cholesterol and blood pressure.

• Turmeric: A common spice, turmeric speeds up the detoxification process in the whole body by increasing bile production and release, eliminating toxins like heavy metals and other chemicals.

• Seaweed: The algin in seaweed absorbs toxins from the digestive system and has been thought to absorb and remove drugs, chemicals, heavy metals, and radioactive strontium from the body. Some experts claim that seaweed’s active ingredient, sodium alginate, binds these toxins in the gastrointestinal tract, preventing their absorption into the body.

Among my patients, a popular herbal formula is Internal Cleanse, a special combination of natural herbs to detoxify, calm nerves, clear the mind, promote emotional balance, and ease digestion. For more information, click here.

I hope you find the ways to detoxify your whole being! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you stay healthy, live long, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao

A Detox Tune-Up for You on Yahoo! Health.

Black Antismoking Group Drops Backing for Tobacco Bill Over Menthol Exception

Black Group Turns Away From Bill on Smoking

By STEPHANIE SAUL
Published: May 30, 2008

A bill to regulate tobacco products has lost the support of a black antismoking group, which said Thursday that the legislation failed to adequately protect the health of African-Americans because it would not ban menthol flavorings from cigarettes.

Black Antismoking Group Drops Backing for Tobacco Bill Over Menthol Exception – NYTimes.com.

Racial Justice: Still Awaiting Justice in Jena

Still Awaiting Justice in Jena

Posted by Jeff Chang at 1:44PM

(Cross-posted from Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop)

Eight months after 40,000 people converged on Jena, Louisiana, justice still awaits the six young men whose cases inspired one of the biggest civil rights marches in recent history.

This Friday, special judge Thomas Yeager will consider a motion made on behalf of the Jena 6 to remove Judge J.P. Mauffray from their cases. Mauffray had previously denied motions by 5 of the defendants to recuse him from their cases. But last week, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals appointed Yeager to preside over this unusual hearing in Mauffray’s own courtroom.

Supporters of the Jena 6 say that the motion to recuse Mauffray is part of an effort to give them a fair trial. “Judge Mauffray is the man at the center of Jena’s broken justice system and now he is forced to justify his bias in a court of law with the entire nation watching,” said James Rucker, Executive Director of Color of Change, the 400,000 member group that served as the key organizing body of last September’s protests.

Flashpoint For Racial Justice

Last summer, the Jena 6 cases became a flashpoint in the national discussion over racial justice, and more disturbingly, a catalyst for further hate incidents.

On August 31, 2006, two nooses were found on an oak tree at Jena High School, an event that polarized the student body along racial lines. The school principal recommended that the three white noose-hangers be expelled. But the LaSalle Parish School Board—advised by attorney J. Reed Walters, who as District Attorney would later prosecute the Jena 6—voted 7-1 instead to suspend the students. The only African American board member offered the dissenting vote.

After months of racial tensions, including incidents in which white Jena High student Justin Barker and others made racial insults at African American students, Barker was beaten by the boys who would become known as the “Jena 6″. (CORRECTION 5/27 : Of the Jena 6 defendants, only Mychal Bell has admitted to being involved in the beating of Justin Barker.) Barker went home hours after the fight and participated in an evening public ceremony.

But DA Walters charged the 6 African Americans with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit attempted second-degree murder. The disparity in the sentencing spurred calls for a massive September march in Jena.

In the two months following the demonstrations, at least 50 noose incidents were reported nationally, including one found on the door of a Black professor’s office at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University. New York Governor David Patterson recently signed a law making displaying a noose a felony crime.

Judicial Bias

In the first Jena 6 case to come to trial, an all-white jury convicted one of the Jena 6 defendants, Mychal Bell, in adult court. After Bell spent 10 months behind bars, an appeals court threw out the conviction saying Bell could not be tried as an adult and remanded the case to juvenile court. Bell was freed on $45,000 bail.

But just two weeks later, Judge Mauffray agreed with DA Walters’ motion to send Bell back to jail, on the grounds that Bell’s involvement in the beating of Justin Barker had violated his probation for prior convictions. Mauffray then sentenced Bell to 18 months in a juvenile facility.

Supporters of the Jena 6 say this was only one of the ways Mauffray demonstrated bias against the young Black men.

In his motion to recuse Mauffray, David Utter of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana and attorney for Jena defendant Jesse Ray Beard, outlined a pattern of judicial bias.

Before Utter took Beard’s case, he writes in his motion, Mauffray told him that white beating victim Justin Barker was lucky that he did not “bleed to death”. Mauffray also called the Jena 6 “real troublemakers”, and discussed alleged incidents involving the defendants. Utter and others later investigated the rumored incidents and found them to be false.

In March, Mauffray told Beard’s lawyers, “Does anyone know when [Jesse Ray Beard] started his career? His first participation in a crime of violence? It was December 25, 2005.” Utter writes that, in response to a discussion about potential alternatives to incarceration, Mauffray scoffed and said, “Jesse Ray needs severe consequences, short term.”

A similar motion to recuse District Attorney Reed Walters, on the grounds of racial bias and conflict of interest, is pending.

WireTap Magazine – Racial Justice: Still Awaiting Justice in Jena.

SOME ‘TOOTH’ TO OLD WIVES’ TALE – New York Post

SOME ‘TOOTH’ TO OLD WIVES’ TALE
Reuters

May 30, 2008 — A German folk saying that “every child costs the mother one tooth” holds a lot of truth, a study published yesterday shows.

Women who gave birth to more children tend to lose more teeth during their lives, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, researchers at NYU and Yale found.

Women are more prone to gingivitis during pregnancy, when the response of oral tissues to bacteria in the mouth is altered, said NYU dental professor Dr. Stefanie Russell, who led the research published in the American Journal of Public Health.

SOME ‘TOOTH’ TO OLD WIVES’ TALE – New York Post.

How To Find The Best African American Reborn Dolls -Article…

How To Find The Best African American Reborn Dolls -Article

* By Ray Baker

Ray Baker

My website was founded because of the lack of information and availability of ethnic Reborn Dolls. I started the site to help fellow reborn enthusiasts track down the best African American Reborn Dolls available on the Internet today.
View all articles by Ray Baker

Not everyone understands reborning, to the uninitiated it’s a world of strange obsession, to the folks that do understand, it provides endless hours of irreplaceable pleasure. That pleasure is derived from beauty, artistry, and uniqueness of each doll, because just like human babies, reborn dolls come in every conceivable shape size and color – nowadays there are Caucasian, Asian, and African American Reborn Dolls.

The African American Reborn Dolls are particularly difficult to find, as the majority of artist that make the dolls concentrate on Caucasian babies. I started my website dedicated to finding new African American Reborn Dolls because even now, with the vast power of the Internet, African American Reborn Dolls are very difficult to track down as there are only a very limited number of artists who specialize in these African American Reborn Dolls.

Reborn dolls are exactly as they sound, they are dolls that have been stripped of their factory finishes and been “reborn” and transformed in to realistic looking babies. After having undergone a number of processes including repainting, re weighting, and the addition of realistic hair, special effects such as tears, a heartbeat, and tiny imperfections are created to make them appear even more lifelike. While this may not sound particularly difficult to do, it is a very challenging art form and the most respected artists can command several thousand Dollars for each doll.

Reborn doll artists use very careful processes to make an ordinary cloth and vinyl doll look
exactly like a real baby. The dolls are custom colored using multiple layers of specialist paints to give the ‘babies’ their skin tone to make them appear as closely related to their own ethnic groups as is possible, like the African American Reborn Dolls for example. Whilst all kinds of different dolls can be used to make reborns – these dolls are not made for play, they are collector dolls made to be cherished and admired.

The demand for the dolls at the high-end of the market is always extremely strong, but probably the fastest growing category is with the African American Reborn Dolls, albeit from a much smaller base. This is partly due to the fact there are fewer artist making African American Reborn Dolls, but also because the rarity makes them a very good investment – having said that, I must stress that the vast majority of collectors collect for the love of their hobby (many would never consider selling any of their dolls) and have little interest in making profits.

Collectors and enthusiasts from all over the world are constantly adding to their assortment of beautiful babies. The world of reborns is a friendly close-knit community and you will always find helpful and friendly advice – you’ll just need to ask. I have been collecting unique dolls all my life, and I have always enjoyed artistic and creative pursuits, but when I first discovered reborn babies my passion was truly ignited. These delightful little babies are so beautiful which is testament in large part to the talented artists who share their art with the reborning community. You may have already guessed, that my particular passion at the moment are the African American Reborn Dolls.!

SOURCE : How To Find The Best African American Reborn Dolls -Article….

WNYC – News – State Reaches Settlement with Bodies Exhibit

State Reaches Settlement with Bodies Exhibit
by Marianne McCune

NEW YORK, NY May 29, 2008 —If you went to see the South Street Seaport exhibit about human bodies and regretted it, you can get a refund for the price of the tickets.

That’s the result of a settlement with New York’s Attorney General, who’s been investigating allegations that the cadavers used in the exhibit belonged originally to executed Chinese prisoners.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found no proof that the bodies were prisoners, but the group that mounted the exhibit couldn’t provide documentation showing the origin of the bodies.

Premier Exhibitions says they obtained unidentified and unclaimed bodies from the Chinese Bureau of Police.

The show will remain open, but its curators are required to provide documentation of origin and consent for any additional bodies or parts it displays. They also have to post warnings that some bodies may have come from executed Chinese prisoners.

WNYC – News – State Reaches Settlement with Bodies Exhibit.

CD 10: Cricket Bowls Over Schools

CD 10: Cricket Bowls Over Schools

Dressed in white with their long, paddle-shaped bats in hand, Aviation High School’s inaugural cricket team prepares for a match against DeWitt Clinton High in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Jamaican Patois, and Guyanese Creole fill the air as warm-ups begin.

These are the sounds of cricket in New York City, which last April became the first school district in the United States to introduce cricket as a varsity sport. The game is one of the most enduring legacies of the British Empire – and it’s found new life in 16 city high schools made up primarily of students of South Asian and Caribbean descent. The young athletes see the game as a continuation of the cultural traditions their parents instilled in them.

Share This : CD 10: Cricket Bowls Over Schools.

Bang on a Can Marathon

Date: Saturday, May 31st
Time: 6:00pm – 4:00am+
Location: Marcus Garvey Park (E 120th St & 5th Ave)
Cost: Free

As artistically inclusive as it is audience-friendly, Bang on a Can’s annual 12-hour Marathon has become one of the most diverse, most open and most exciting music events in the world. “Imagine Lollapalooza advised by the ghost of John Cage,” Vanity Fair wrote. “There are other places to hear new contemporary music, but it is seldom offered with such a potent blend of intensity, authority, and abandon.” Last year’s clocked in at a non-stop 27+ hrs of free avant guard music from the likes of Karsh Kale, Dan Deacon, Crash Ensemble, and more. Full details here. All Ages.

Mafrika Music Festival

Date: Sunday, June 1st
Time: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Location: Marcus Garvey Park (E 120th St & 5th Ave)
Cost: Free

“In the dead of winter, when your neighbor is blasting reggae as if the puke-colored slush on the ground were just irie with him, no one would blink if you kicked down his door and put a boot through his subwoofer. But at the third annual Mafrika Music Festival, the multi-culti grooves and riddims just mean that summer is finally here. This year’s lineup features Israeli art-rock band Pink Noise, Burkina Fasoan vocalist Mai Lingani, Nigerian ensemble Zozo Afrobeat, Afro-soul Bostonians the Superpowers, hip-hop/rock weirdos Apollo Heights, and many others. There’s something for everyone, so kick the season off proper with an all-day bashment in Marcus Garvey Park.” All Ages. [via flavorpill]