Beat the Credit Crunch This Christmas With High Quality American Peanuts!

As the economic downturn bites and food costs continue to rise, it's
reassuring to know that there is no need to compromise the festive spirit on quality, taste, convenience or health. While cautious consumers purposefully seek out good value holiday nibbles, peanuts - recently overshadowed by more
exotic, expensive alternatives - are set to make a comeback as a natural, tasty, energy powerhouse snack.

Health education consultant for the American Peanut Council Dr. Andrew Craig said, "Research tells us that all nuts are extremely beneficial for health. The more exotic nuts may be great - but they are expensive, whereas peanuts offer all the health benefits at an affordable everyday price."

Scientific consensus on the role of nuts and health, recently published in The Journal of Nutrition, stresses that eating a portion of nuts or peanuts daily is a more effective step to improve dietary health and reduce
risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and gallbladder disease, without leading to weight gain. Previous studies have shown that inclusion of nuts and peanuts in moderate fat weight loss diets improves compliance and leads to greater weight loss compared to traditional low fat diets. Dr Janet King,
Professor Emeritus of Nutrition at University of California, USA and co-chair of the International Nuts Symposium confirmed in the Journal of Nutrition symposium proceedings that nuts are an excellent source of protective phytochemicals (such as antioxidants) and that replacing snacks high in refined carbohydrates with nuts could have a positive impact on nutrient density and risk of chronic disease.

A divorce calulator?

If you think America's divorce rate is 50 percent, you're not alone. But you are wrong, according to Betsey Stevenson, assistant professor of business and public policy at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
The good news is that the divorce rate has been falling in the United States since 1979 and couples marrying today are less likely to divorce compared to their parents' generation.
"The ubiquitous 50 percent divorce rate is unlikely to ever be true for those who married in the past few decades," Stevenson said.
"For many of these folks, their divorce rates so far have fallen substantially compared with previous generations." But Stevenson notes that these broad facts hide as much as they reveal.
"Different types of people face different divorce rates historically." Your chances of divorce lessen the more education you have. And the younger you marry, the greater your likelihood of divorcing.

To help people understand how divorce differs based on factors like education, age of marriage, and the era in which you married, Stevenson -- in partnership with divorce360.com -- developed The Marriage Calculator
www.divorce360.com/content/divorcecalculator.aspx to show these differences to the public. Moreover, this calculator lets people see how the incidence of divorce evolves throughout the life of a marriage.

The calculator uses data from the U.S. Census bureau to allow users to compare themselves to others who married about the same time period, have a similar education and have been married as long as you. With the marriage calculator, you can find out how many people with similar backgrounds have divorced. In addition, it estimates how many people like you are likely to get divorced in the next five years.

Brookhaven Retreat issues holiday advisory on women's mental health

Although children and teens think of the holidays as a time for joy and togetherness, for many Americans, women especially, the season can be an emotionally trying time.
(Tell me about it!)
The buildup of the pressure to create the ideal holiday experience can trigger social and emotional stressors that have negative consequences, such as depression, anxiety and substance dependency.

"During the holidays we start to see more women looking for treatment," said Jacqueline Dawes, founder and owner Brookhaven Retreat, a premier holistic women-only treatment facility for emotional trauma and addiction.

"These women are looking for an escape. They are often so exhausted from the pressure of the season that all areas of their health, both physical and mental, begin to breakdown," she said through a released statement.

The three main triggers of holiday depression include relationships, finances and physical demands, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Women may be more vulnerable to these triggers due to the fact they have been socialized from birth to be caretakers.
(Let some stuff go, girls!)
A survey by the National Women's Health Resource Center states that two-thirds of women report depression during the holidays. The added pressure of creating the perfect Thanksgiving dinner or holiday outing, combined with the everyday stress of balancing a job, family, education and finances can limit the amount of time women have to relax and avoid these painful holiday triggers.

Here are a few suggestions to help combat the holiday depression that many will experience this season:

-- Seek support from friends or family members.

-- Plan ahead -- Set aside specific days for shopping, visiting with friends, baking, and other activities.

-- Stick to a budget -- Before going shopping, decide how much you can afford to spend on gifts and other items. Depression can also set in if one cannot afford to buy all the gifts you would like, and can lead to financial strain. (But please, be ready for the fallout!)

-- Keep your expectations for the season manageable -- Set realistic goals, pace yourself, and know that it is okay to say, "No."

-- Don't go overboard -- Although we all enjoy the wonderful foods this time of year, be mindful of your body's wants and needs. Enjoy the special foods of the season, but know that overeating will leave you feeling lethargic.

-- Remember to take time for yourself -- Let others share the responsibilities of the holiday tasks. Know that you are not a bad person if you didn't get everything done.

"Women need to ensure that they attend to their emotional needs during this holiday season," said Dawes. "Those who depend on women need to be sensitive to the added demands the holidays will bring. Ultimately, it should be a happy and memorable time of the year for everyone."

Brookhaven Retreat is a unique, voluntary residential treatment facility specially designed to help women overcome emotional trauma or addiction challenges. The fully accredited and certified dual-diagnosis center is America's premier treatment center for emotional trauma and addiction and offers female-specific treatment. Located on 48 beautiful acres in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, it offers modern, holistic care with compassion and respect from a highly trained expert staff of licensed therapists, physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses.

Visit http://www.brookhavenretreat.com/ for more information.

Microsoft Corp. late last week announced participation in the following upcoming events with the financial community in mind. Webcasts of this event on Microsoft's Investor Relations Web site are available at http://www.microsoft.com/msft.


NASDAQ Annual Investor Program
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
8:00 a.m. GMT / 12:00 a.m. PT
Neil Holloway, vice president, Business Strategy, Microsoft International

Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
9:00 a.m. MT / 8:00 a.m. PT
Bill Veghte, senior vice president, Windows Business

Barclays Capital Technology Conference
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
12:45 p.m. PT
Bob Kelly, corporate vice president, Infrastructure Server Marketing

New energy saving idea in lighting

Looking for a unique, eco-friendly gift for your loved ones this holiday season? Look no further, the Pharox LED bulb is here.

The Pharox is a lightbulb based on LED technology that looks like a stylish update to the traditional incandescent bulb, yet uses 90% less energy (based on a 40Watt incandescent). That means you can save up to $270 in usage costs over its lifetime!

"LED bulbs are on the rise as the green bulbs of the future and the replacement for incandescent and CFLs. Lighting consumes 20% of the world's electricity. If every American household switched four 40Watt light bulbs to Pharox lights, America would save $113 billion in energy costs over the lifetime of the Pharox bulbs, a company spokesman said.

Recycling works and makes money!

Company maintains highest level of certified recycled content for fiberglass insulation in North America; Drives initiatives to keep glass out of landfills

At the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston, Mass., Owens Corning announced it has increased the certified recycled content in its flagship PINK Fiberglas insulation to a minimum of 40 percent.

At this level of recycled content, the amount of waste glass diverted from landfills could form a two-lane glass highway that extends 1.3 times around the world.

The certification, supplied by leading, independent third-party certifier Scientific Certification Systems, demonstrates a five percent increase over its prior level and maintains the product line's status as the fiberglass insulation with the highest level of certified recycled content in North America.

Cut-it-Out and Beatabully auction

To mark the final stage of CUT-it-Out, a Vodafone and
Beatbullying anti-bullying campaign, members of the public have the unique opportunity to bid for an anti-bullying inspired dreamcoat worn on stage by Lee Mead in the hit West End musical, Joseph and Technicolor Dreamcoat. The eBay auction will open at 9am on Monday, 17th November to coincide with
anti-bullying week and run until 9am on Monday, 27th November 2008. To bid for a piece of musical history, log onto http://www.ebay.co.uk/beatbullying
The campaign challenges schoolchildren across the UK to re-design the famous Technicolor Dreamcoat,
illustrating their feelings about bullying and how to combat it. The seven best designs (now available to the highest bidder on Ebay!) were then brought to life by talented graduates from The London College of Fashion. All funds raised from the Ebay auction will go directly to helping Beatbullying deliver
their bullying prevention workshops in schools and youth groups across the UK.

Flip This House decision was "hard to prove"

Richard C. Davis, creator-writer-co-producer and star of "Flip This House," a reality program about real estate and one of cable network A&E's most successful series, was awarded $4 Million in damages by a federal jury yesterday.
Davis had claimed that the network had a "50/50" revenue sharing agreement with him and his company, Trademark Properties, Inc., and although it was an oral agreement, the jury returned the landmark decision after only five hours of deliberation.

"I feel personally vindicated by the jury's verdict finding that I have always had an agreement with A&E. This victory is much bigger than me. This verdict makes it clear that if a network uses and profits from someone's concept for a television show, they need to pay for it. I am thankful that we were able to win one for the little guy," Davis said.

The Oxford College of Marketing, one of the UK's leading private
colleges for Marketing professionals, has today supported and endorsed the launch of Jargon Public Relations, a business-to-business technology PR agency, lead by former student and lecturer Simon Corbett.

Corbett studied at the Oxford College of Marketing from 2005 - 2006 and completed the Charted Institute of Marketing (CIM) Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing - the highest level awarded by the CIM. Jargon Public Relations launches with several clients including, the UK Oracle User Group, the world's leading Oracle User Group, Pentura, the UK's first Risk Management Service Provider and FINCAD, a global leader in financial analytics.

How to stop heart attacks

Despite substantial progress in the diagnosis and treatment of heart attack patients, prevention of recurrent heart attacks continues to be a major clinical challenge.

A new study showed that patients who suffered a non-fatal heart attack within the first three months of hospitalization for chest pain had a significantly higher risk for dying or having another heart attack (in the following three months to four years) compared with patients who did not experience a heart attack during the same initial period.

The findings from the more-than-15,000- patient study were presented today at the annual meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research conference. The conference will go this week until the 11th.

The increased rate of heart attack and death among patients who had a heart attack remained similar even when the monitoring was extended from a three-to-six month period.

Local businesses get help on Web

Yelp.com, announced the launch of "About This Business" biz.yelp.com-- a free feature that allows small business owners to describe their business to prospective customers in their own words.

About This Business helps consumers learn even more about a business before spending their hard-earned money, which translates into more satisfied customers.

PetChat has launched!

DogTime announced the release of PetChat, an instant online chat application that connects pet enthusiasts and builds community interaction across multiple publisher sites.

PetChat is provided at no cost to DogTime Media's vertical network of more than 180 publisher sites and will soon be available to the more than 130 members of the DogTime Blog Network

PetChat is the newest addition to a suite of tools and services that DogTime provides it's network partners to help them grow their businesses.

Don't Know Don't Tell Can Harm

Nearly half of all Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases, many of which are manageable and preventable. Data released today show that many people, despite knowing that they have a chronic disease, such as diabetes or asthma, may not understand the extent or seriousness of their health problems.
And you people know who (we) are. That is right, I do it too.
Sometimes, I just don't want to know.
The data were collected at local health screening events sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline to educate people on the impact of chronic diseases and encourage them to take better control of their health.

Data collected from nation-wide health screenings of 65,000 people found that many with chronic diseases reported that they were in good health. However, results showed that this is often not the case. In a large percentage of those living with chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma, screening results revealed that many of these chronic diseases were not in healthy ranges.
There is private help for us.
A new offering, available at big5healthcheck.webmd.com, will enable WebMD visitors to assess their own health risks and will provide a personalized self-assessment, with recommendations and an action plan/ doctor's report for the five biggest health risks.