Posted: 28 May 2010 02:07 PM PDT
The HSUS provides more direct care for animals than any group in the country—including an annual spend of $20 million or so on our owned and operated animal care centers, veterinary field programs, humane wildlife services operations, international dog and cat sterilization, support services for animal shelters, and a wide array of other programs. I have always been particularly proud of our emergency response efforts. Just yesterday, our traveling team of animal rescuers and handlers and veterinarians came to the rescue of 49 emaciated horses and other equines, not long after local authorities had pulled 50 or so dogs from the same landowner just weeks before.
When rescuers arrived on the property, they found many Tennessee Walking Horses and Saddle horse crosses, mules, and donkeys who were skin and bones. They had a variety of medical ailments including overgrown, infected hooves, parasite infestation, and untreated wounds. Concerned citizens complained to the Cabell-Wayne Animal Shelter and the Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and it was those agencies that appealed to The HSUS to come in and lead the rescue. The HSUS then called in United Animal Nations to assist in the operation.
Our rescue team is still in the process of removing the horses from the site and shuttling them to a temporary shelter. We’ll work with our partners to care for the horses until custody is settled.
Equine issues are important to us at The HSUS—not just the hands-on care, but also the public policy and public education. We are leading the fight to stop the export and slaughter of America’s horses, working to end government round-ups of healthy wild horses from public lands in the West, pushing for proper enforcement of the federal law to stop the abuse of Tennessee Walking Horses at horse shows, and educating citizens about caring for horses. As with all animal issues, we hit the subjects from many angles, and work to prevent cruelty before it occurs.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Power of Resilience
When times get tough, do you break down or break through? After losing her father, Dr. Joan Borysenko channeled her grief in ways that transformed her life. Find out where you are now and what you can do to be more resilient. Take her quiz!
Are you resilient when things fall apart, or do you go down for the count? In a world changing as quickly as ours, resilience is a skill that we all need to cultivate. Fortunately, it's not a trait limited to the genetically gifted few. Anyone can learn how to survive and thrive in changing times.
Let me tell you a story from my own life. When I was in my 20s, my beloved father was diagnosed with cancer. After two years, he chose to end his life rather continue with a treatment that caused unbearable emotional side effects. I was a cancer researcher at Tufts Medical School at the time, and although I knew a lot about cells in petri dishes, I knew almost nothing about human beings with cancer.
All that changed after Dad's death. I needed to make meaning out of our family's tragedy and channel my grief and anger in a positive way. I left the laboratory and retrained as a clinical psychologist. In the early 1980s, I co-founded a mind-body clinic at a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. We offered programs for people with cancer, AIDS and stress-related disorders. The pain of Dad's illness and death was eventually transformed into both a new career for me and new hope for people who were ill. That's the power of resilience.
Are you resilient? The only way to tell is to analyze how you respond to stressful situations. When the ocean is calm, after all, every boat can stay afloat. But in a storm, you see what they're really made of.
Do you have what it takes to be resilient? Take the quiz!
New York Times best-selling author Dr. Joan Borysenko is a world-renowned expert in stress management and mind-body medicine. Her gracious presence, sense of humor and ability to combine the latest scientific research with personal stories and riveting anecdotes make her a popular speaker in venues ranging from hospitals and corporations to conferences and retreat centers. Her most recent book, It's Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change (Hay House), is available now.
Are you resilient when things fall apart, or do you go down for the count? In a world changing as quickly as ours, resilience is a skill that we all need to cultivate. Fortunately, it's not a trait limited to the genetically gifted few. Anyone can learn how to survive and thrive in changing times.
Let me tell you a story from my own life. When I was in my 20s, my beloved father was diagnosed with cancer. After two years, he chose to end his life rather continue with a treatment that caused unbearable emotional side effects. I was a cancer researcher at Tufts Medical School at the time, and although I knew a lot about cells in petri dishes, I knew almost nothing about human beings with cancer.
All that changed after Dad's death. I needed to make meaning out of our family's tragedy and channel my grief and anger in a positive way. I left the laboratory and retrained as a clinical psychologist. In the early 1980s, I co-founded a mind-body clinic at a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. We offered programs for people with cancer, AIDS and stress-related disorders. The pain of Dad's illness and death was eventually transformed into both a new career for me and new hope for people who were ill. That's the power of resilience.
Are you resilient? The only way to tell is to analyze how you respond to stressful situations. When the ocean is calm, after all, every boat can stay afloat. But in a storm, you see what they're really made of.
Do you have what it takes to be resilient? Take the quiz!
New York Times best-selling author Dr. Joan Borysenko is a world-renowned expert in stress management and mind-body medicine. Her gracious presence, sense of humor and ability to combine the latest scientific research with personal stories and riveting anecdotes make her a popular speaker in venues ranging from hospitals and corporations to conferences and retreat centers. Her most recent book, It's Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change (Hay House), is available now.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
I've learned to rely on the strength I inherited from all those who came before me—the grandmothers, sisters, aunts and brothers whose spirits were tested with unimaginable hardships yet survived. When I walk into a boardroom or stand before an audience or just move through the world, I bring all my history with me—all the people who paved the way for me are part of who I am. I take my greatest strength from their strength."
— Oprah
— Oprah
The No-Hunger Way to Lose
Let's face it, one of the worst parts about trying to lose weight is the hunger that leads to cravings that lead to abandoning the plan altogether. Here's a new strategy—leave the last 5 bites of every meal behind.
Chances are your taste buds are satisfied and your belly is full (but not uncomfortably so) by then anyway. And check out the upside of this tiny little change: You could pretty painlessly shave 500 calories off your daily total intake, which could add up to one pound of weight loss per week. In 10 weeks you could be 10 pounds slimmer; in a year (if you have it to lose) you could be 52 pounds lighter with this simple little change.
Another perk of this strategy is it's not an all-or-nothing approach that you can endure only for a short time. It's a manageable lifetime strategy for losing weight slowly and steadily, and then keeping it off for good.
Fighting old feelings of guilt about wasting food or not cleaning your plate? Compost what's left or use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate (eliminating the last five bites from the start) and do good without doing in your waistline!
Chances are your taste buds are satisfied and your belly is full (but not uncomfortably so) by then anyway. And check out the upside of this tiny little change: You could pretty painlessly shave 500 calories off your daily total intake, which could add up to one pound of weight loss per week. In 10 weeks you could be 10 pounds slimmer; in a year (if you have it to lose) you could be 52 pounds lighter with this simple little change.
Another perk of this strategy is it's not an all-or-nothing approach that you can endure only for a short time. It's a manageable lifetime strategy for losing weight slowly and steadily, and then keeping it off for good.
Fighting old feelings of guilt about wasting food or not cleaning your plate? Compost what's left or use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate (eliminating the last five bites from the start) and do good without doing in your waistline!
Herbs, supplements often sold deceptively: US report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sellers of ginseng, echinacea and other herbal and dietary supplements often cross the line in marketing their products, going as far as telling consumers the pills can cure cancer or replace prescription medications, a U.S. government probe found.
In an undercover probe, investigators at the Government Accountability Office also found that labels for some supplements claim to prevent or cure ailments like diabetes or heart disease - a clear violation of U.S. law.
GAO staff targeted supplements most popular with older consumers and posed as elderly buyers in stores or over the telephone.
"The most egregious practices included suspect marketing claims that a dietary supplement prevented or cured extremely serious diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease," the GAO said in a report released on Wednesday at a Senate hearing.
For example, one shopper at a supplement specialty store was told that a garlic supplement could be taken instead of prescribed blood pressure drugs. Another staffer posing as a forgetful, elderly consumer was told by a salesperson that he could take aspirin and ginkgo biloba together with no harm. The Food and Drug Administration has said that combination can cause internal bleeding.
The GAO, which conducts investigations for Congress, also said it found trace amounts of potentially harmful contaminants such as lead and arsenic, but at levels that do not exceed federal guidelines.
Findings of pesticides, however, did exceed the FDA's advisory levels, the GAO said, and 16 of 40 supplements tested would violate the FDA's tolerance.
Manufacturers told the GAO that they were concerned about the contamination findings but "that the levels identified were too low to raise any issues" during their own testing.
"Given the expected generally small consumption of the supplements, we do not believe these levels represent a significant risk to health," FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said in remarks prepared for the Senate Committee on Aging.
Unlike prescription drugs, the FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they can be sold. The Federal Trade Commission regulates the marketing of herbal supplements, which are not allowed to claim that they treat medical conditions.
But calls for stronger oversight have been growing.
Experts at the Institute of Medicine have said the FDA needs to use the same strict standards to regulate supplements as it uses for medications, and earlier this week the GAO said the FDA should ask Congress for more power to regulate supplements.
Some lawmakers, including Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, have proposed legislation to beef up the agency's oversight of supplements.
Sharfstein said the FDA is obliged to look for problems only after a product is sold by reviewing medical literature and analyzing complaints. The agency has taken action to help recall dozens of tainted supplements and alert consumers to hazardous products, he said.
SOURCE: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10662t.pdf
In an undercover probe, investigators at the Government Accountability Office also found that labels for some supplements claim to prevent or cure ailments like diabetes or heart disease - a clear violation of U.S. law.
GAO staff targeted supplements most popular with older consumers and posed as elderly buyers in stores or over the telephone.
"The most egregious practices included suspect marketing claims that a dietary supplement prevented or cured extremely serious diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease," the GAO said in a report released on Wednesday at a Senate hearing.
For example, one shopper at a supplement specialty store was told that a garlic supplement could be taken instead of prescribed blood pressure drugs. Another staffer posing as a forgetful, elderly consumer was told by a salesperson that he could take aspirin and ginkgo biloba together with no harm. The Food and Drug Administration has said that combination can cause internal bleeding.
The GAO, which conducts investigations for Congress, also said it found trace amounts of potentially harmful contaminants such as lead and arsenic, but at levels that do not exceed federal guidelines.
Findings of pesticides, however, did exceed the FDA's advisory levels, the GAO said, and 16 of 40 supplements tested would violate the FDA's tolerance.
Manufacturers told the GAO that they were concerned about the contamination findings but "that the levels identified were too low to raise any issues" during their own testing.
"Given the expected generally small consumption of the supplements, we do not believe these levels represent a significant risk to health," FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said in remarks prepared for the Senate Committee on Aging.
Unlike prescription drugs, the FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they can be sold. The Federal Trade Commission regulates the marketing of herbal supplements, which are not allowed to claim that they treat medical conditions.
But calls for stronger oversight have been growing.
Experts at the Institute of Medicine have said the FDA needs to use the same strict standards to regulate supplements as it uses for medications, and earlier this week the GAO said the FDA should ask Congress for more power to regulate supplements.
Some lawmakers, including Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, have proposed legislation to beef up the agency's oversight of supplements.
Sharfstein said the FDA is obliged to look for problems only after a product is sold by reviewing medical literature and analyzing complaints. The agency has taken action to help recall dozens of tainted supplements and alert consumers to hazardous products, he said.
SOURCE: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10662t.pdf
UN Report Says Iran Has Fuel for 2 Nuclear Weapons
UN Report Says Iran Has Fuel for 2 Nuclear Weapons
Monday, 31 May 2010 09:06 PM Article Font Size
Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that could be enriched to produce two nuclear weapons, international nuclear inspectors concluded in a report delivered Monday to the United Nations Security Council.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency appears likely to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran, according to The New York Times. That would further diminish its interest in a deal, recently revived by Turkey and Brazil, in which Iran would send a portion of its nuclear stockpile out of the country.
Iran tentatively agreed eight months ago to get rid of some of its nuclear material, and the Obama administration concluded that would push back Iran’s timetable for making a single nuclear weapon.
But Iran has delayed for months and that has enabled it to stockpile enough material to build two weapons, the inspectors’ report said. Even if Iran now shipped the agreed-upon amount of nuclear material out of the country, it would retain enough for a single weapon, undercutting the American rationale for the deal.
The toughly worded report says that Iran has expanded work at one of its nuclear sites. It also describes, step by step, how inspectors have been denied access to a series of facilities, and how Iran has refused to answer inspectors’ questions on a variety of activities, including what the agency called the “possible existence” of “activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile,” the Times reported.
Monday, 31 May 2010 09:06 PM Article Font Size
Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that could be enriched to produce two nuclear weapons, international nuclear inspectors concluded in a report delivered Monday to the United Nations Security Council.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency appears likely to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran, according to The New York Times. That would further diminish its interest in a deal, recently revived by Turkey and Brazil, in which Iran would send a portion of its nuclear stockpile out of the country.
Iran tentatively agreed eight months ago to get rid of some of its nuclear material, and the Obama administration concluded that would push back Iran’s timetable for making a single nuclear weapon.
But Iran has delayed for months and that has enabled it to stockpile enough material to build two weapons, the inspectors’ report said. Even if Iran now shipped the agreed-upon amount of nuclear material out of the country, it would retain enough for a single weapon, undercutting the American rationale for the deal.
The toughly worded report says that Iran has expanded work at one of its nuclear sites. It also describes, step by step, how inspectors have been denied access to a series of facilities, and how Iran has refused to answer inspectors’ questions on a variety of activities, including what the agency called the “possible existence” of “activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile,” the Times reported.
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