Supplements - A Couple that May be Worth Looking Into and Why I ...

I?m hoping this post serves as a good reminder that most supplements are a complete waste of money and even worse, can be dangerous! More often than not, the product?s claims are inaccurate. For example, boron has been touted as a ?steroid alternative? has actually been shown to decrease testosterone levels. Original studies were performed not on athletes but postmenopausal women! Keep in mind that supplements do not have to be effective to be sold and the celebrity athlete on the cover is getting paid big bucks to back the product. Also, ?natural? means very little. There are poisonous substances that are ?natural.? With that said, perhaps 1% of them are worth taking a closer look.

Creatine

Creatine has been around long enough with enough people taking it that if there were negative side effects they would have probably been exposed by now. Creatine has been shown over and over to increase strength and performance in repeated bouts of intense effort. Absorption is increased by up to 50% when taken with carbohydrates.

Caffeine

Caffeine supplementation has been shown to improve performance. This is especially true when it comes to endurance. Caffeine seems to have a ?glycogen sparing? effect which increases availability of fats for fuel.

Why I gave up Coffee

With that said, I quit drinking coffee earlier this week. I know there are some reported health benefits to drinking coffee but these are the main reasons I decided to give it up?

?

• Health and Physical ? For me, I believe it?s healthier to get my energy from the right lifestyle, not coffee.
• No Dependence ? I started becoming less and less comfortable with depending on an external substance (coffee).
• My Personality? I like to challenge myself sometimes and take the hard road (e.g. quitting coffee).

Initially, I had difficulty concentrating after quitting coffee. This almost caused me to grab a cup. However, after more thought, this very reason motivated me more than ever to quit.

One of my favorite professors of all time (What?s up Prof. Lamonda!) once said, ?Nothing burns fat like physical exercise.? This was coming from someone who had a better understanding of the physical body than most. While we?d all welcome an extra boost to our training, 9 times out of ten you?d be better off saving your money and focusing your energy on your training and nutrition. With all that said, let me know which supplements you take and find beneficial?And let me know if you have any experience giving up coffee. I need help!

Source: http://trainingformmafitness.com/supplements-a-couple-that-may-be-worth-looking-into-and-why-im-giving-up-one-of-them.html

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Fireworks cause deadly highway collapse in China

BEIJING (AP) ? A truckload of fireworks intended for Lunar New Year celebrations went off Friday in a massive, deadly explosion that destroyed part of an elevated highway in central China, sending vehicles plummeting 30 meters (about 100 feet) to the ground.

State TV broadcaster CCTV said eight people were confirmed dead and 11 injured, after seven vehicles were recovered from the wreckage. The death toll appeared likely to rise: The official Xinhua News Agency said the collapse smashed and buried at least 25 vehicles.

Earlier reports by China National Radio and some other outlets of 26 people killed were later removed from websites, without explanation.

An 80-meter (260-foot) stretch of a major east-west highway collapsed in Mianchi county in Henan province. It scattered blackened chunks of debris and shattered the windows of a nearby truck stop.

A truck driver interviewed on CCTV said he was only 20 meters (yards) away from the explosion.

"I heard a huge bang and immediately braked. I saw small fireballs falling down one by one," said the unidentified truck driver, whose truck windshield was smashed from the impact of the blast.

"I then heard the sounds of clanking and exploding for five to six minutes," the driver said. "My face was covered in dust."

Photos posted online by Xinhua showed a stretch of elevated highway gone, with one truck's back wheels perched at the edge of a shorn-off section of the highway. Other photos showed firefighters below spraying water on scorched hunks of concrete, wrecked trucks and flattened shipping containers.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion. It occurred about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Luoyang, an ancient capital of China known for grottoes of Buddhist statues carved from limestone cliffs.

Fireworks are an enormously popular part of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. To meet the demand, fireworks are made, shipped and stored in large quantities, sometimes in unsafe conditions.

A result is periodic catastrophe: In 2006, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a storeroom of fireworks exploded at a temple fair in Henan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens more. In 2000, an unlicensed fireworks factory in southern China exploded, killing 33 people, including 13 primary and secondary school students working there.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fireworks-cause-deadly-highway-collapse-china-065131273.html

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Hillary Slyly Slams Lindsay Graham: He Can't Handle the Truth ...

via Texts from Hillary [Tumblr]

IN AN interview with the Associated Press, former Secretary Hillary Clinton not only shrugged off her Benghazi critics, but eviscerated politicians like Senator Lindsay Graham, without naming him, for refusing to accept the facts.

Senator Graham was not content in asking questions on Benghazi, but said Clinton ?got away with murder,? in one of the lowest moments and most scurrilous accusations of the entire Benghazi witch hunt.

From the Clinton interview:

?I was so unhappy with the way that some people refused to accept the facts, refused to accept the findings of an independent Accountability Review Board, politicized everything about this terrible attack,? she said. ?My job is to admit that we have to make improvements and we?re going to.?

[...] ?There are some people in politics and in the press who can?t be confused by the facts,? she said. ?They just will not live in an evidence-based world. And that?s regrettable. It?s regrettable for our political system and for the people who serve our government in very dangerous, difficult circumstances.?

On 2016, her former ?nos? are nowhere in sight.

?I am making no decisions, but I would never give that advice to someone that I wouldn?t take myself,? she said. ?If you believe you can make a difference, not just in politics, in public service, in advocacy around all these important issues, then you have to be prepared to accept that you are not going to get 100 percent approval.?

Asked if she still thought she could make a difference, Clinton replied, ?Absolutely,? but added quickly that she hadn?t yet decided how.

?I have deliberately cabined it off,? she said. ?I am going to be secretary of state until the very last minute when I walk out the door. And then I am going to take the weekend off and then I may start thinking about all the various offers and requests and ideas that have come my way.

?I have made no decisions and I just can?t until I have time to think it through and see how I am going to put it all together. I will certainly write something. I will certainly speak. Those are givens, but the rest of it I don?t have in mind. And I hope through my writing and speaking to continue making a difference as well.?

About Taylor Marsh

Veteran political analyst and author of "The Hillary Effect." Former Miss Missouri, Broadway performer, & relationship consultant at the LA Weekly, produced a one-woman show titled "Weeping for JFK," media flak extraordinaire.

Source: http://www.taylormarsh.com/blog/2013/02/hillary-slyly-slams-lindsay-graham-he-cant-handle-the-truth/

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Legg Mason reports quarterly loss on asset writedowns

(Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc reported a quarterly loss on Friday on charges for impaired assets and continued outflows from its equity and bond funds, and the asset manager said it should name a permanent CEO soon.

The company's board is "nearing completion" of its search for a new chief executive officer and should name someone to that position "in the not-too-distant future," interim CEO Joseph Sullivan told investors in a conference call.

Legg Mason reported a net loss of $453.9 million, or $3.45 per share, for the third quarter ended on December 31, compared with year-earlier net income of $28.1 million, or 20 cents per share.

As Legg Mason had forecast, the results included pretax charges of $734 million, or $508 million after taxes, to account for writing down the value of assets like fund management contracts and uncertainties such as the ongoing search for a new CEO.

Excluding a tax expense of 7 cents per share, the loss was $3.38 per share, deeper than the $3.23 that analysts on average had expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Assets under management fell to $648.9 billion from $650.7 billion at September 30. The decline was due to net client withdrawals of $7.5 billion, which was partly offset by market gains and other income of $5.7 billion.

During the quarter, equity outflows were $8.3 billion, and bond outflows were $6.8 billion, while clients added $7.6 billion to liquidity products like money funds.

Sullivan called the results disappointing but said the company had "made good progress during the quarter on a number of strategic fronts," such as the purchase of London hedge fund firm Fauchier Partners.

In a note to investors, Sandler O'Neill analyst Michael Kim also said the results were disappointing and suggested the risk of further withdrawals remained high across the company's affiliates.

"Uncertainty around the strategic direction of the firm pending the appointment of a new CEO likely remains an overhang for the stock," Kim said.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/legg-mason-swings-loss-asset-writedowns-131612200--sector.html

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Dwight Howard out vs Wolves with shoulder injury

L.A. Lakers Dwight Howard falls to the court and grabs his right shoulder in pain in the 4th quarter of the game against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. The Lakers, who had won three straight _ all at home, lost Dwight Howard when he reinjured his right shoulder with 6:57 to play. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher)

L.A. Lakers Dwight Howard falls to the court and grabs his right shoulder in pain in the 4th quarter of the game against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. The Lakers, who had won three straight _ all at home, lost Dwight Howard when he reinjured his right shoulder with 6:57 to play. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher)

Los Angeles Lakers' Dwight Howard dunks against the Phoenix Suns during the first half on an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Lakers' Steve Nash, right, Kobe Bryant (24) and Pau Gasol, of Spain, talk during a timeout against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Phoenix. The Suns won 92-86. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol (16), of Spain, celebrates with center Dwight Howard as forward Metta World Peace, left, guard Steve Nash, second from left, and guard Kobe Bryant head down the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? Dwight Howard is sidelined again with an ailing shoulder and disgruntled Pau Gasol is back in the Los Angeles Lakers' starting lineup, where he believes he should have been all along.

Howard was scratched from Friday night's game at Minnesota with a sore right shoulder, and he returned to Los Angeles to receive platelet-rich plasma treatments. This is the same injury that kept Howard out of three games in January.

The All-Star center planned to rejoin the team in Detroit on Sunday, but a timetable for his return was not immediately known.

"He'll play when there is no pain and that will be day-to-day, so we'll have to see," coach Mike D'Antoni said after the team's morning shootaround.

Howard's arrival from Orlando before the season was hailed as a return to championship contention for a Lakers team that was aging with Kobe Bryant and Gasol still the focal points. But Howard hasn't been his overpowering self for much the season. He was slowed early on while recovering from a back injury that happened last season and is now hampered by a shoulder injury that isn't going away anytime soon.

"It's always going to be there," D'Antoni said. "Even if we shut him down for two months, it's still going to be there. Once he gets hit, it's going to hurt. It's a pain thing."

He's still averaging 16.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, but his level of intimidation and athleticism in the paint is not the same.

And the Lakers haven't been the same, either. They entered the game at 20-26, 10th in the Western Conference, and fresh off a loss to the lowly Suns.

The air of invincibility is not there, and Gasol's waning production is a big part of that. One of the most gifted post players of the last decade has been marginalized since D'Antoni replaced the fired Brown, a process that culminated with reduced to a reserve role for the first time in his career last month.

Usually measured and level-headed in his public remarks, Gasol has not hidden his disappointment with D'Antoni's decision.

"Mike's been trying to get his philosophy through us and try to get our team to do it," Gasol said Friday. "At the same time our personnel is a little different than probably what would fit best for that kind of system. It's a work in progress. We're all trying to get a feel for each other. We're all trying to figure things out. We're all trying to win. At the same time, it's been a struggle."

Gasol is averaging a career-low 12.8 points and is shooting a career-low 44.8 percent. He's been bothered by tendinitis in his knees, bursitis in his elbow and a concussion.

D'Antoni has been trying to diffuse the situation with his trademark tongue-in-cheek humor.

"I know he wants to start. I've just kind of got to coach the team the way I think is better," D'Antoni said. "It's not a personality conflict. It's not a dance contest. I like him. My dance card's open."

D'Antoni has been using Earl Clark as the starting power forward alongside Howard. He said he likes how the Lakers start with a smaller lineup.

"I still consider myself one of the best out there," Gasol said. "It's a game that you can't be too self-centered and selfish. You have to put team first and have to make it work somehow. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to make it work and I try not to be a negative influence at all."

Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio defended his fellow Spaniard on Thursday, joking that if the Lakers don't want him, the Wolves would take him. D'Antoni fired back, saying when Rubio coaches a team he can make those decisions. And Bryant took it a step further when asked about some of the criticism Wolves All-Star Kevin Love has received this year.

"You can send him our way," he said.

Asked what he can do to keep Gasol from letting the disappointment affect his play, D'Antoni cracked: "Pay him $19 million. Y'all figure it out. That should help. I think it's fine. He wants to play. I've got it. And he's going to play. He's always going to be in there in the end of big games."

For one night at least, it shouldn't be an issue. Gasol is in the starting lineup and Bryant said it is imperative the Lakers figure out a way to get him back to being a featured part of the offense.

"We haven't used him to his full potential, everybody knows that," Bryant said. "That's something we're trying to figure out and something we'll have to do a much better job at if we want to reach our full potential as a team. We have to use him more."

___

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-01-BKN-Lakers-Howard/id-251b06f3ddb44227a88577e6f23a39c1

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Forming Attachments. Sometimes Attachments Become Addictions.

By John Samsen

Forming attachments is one of the most natural things we do. Animals bond with family groups, and become attached to their habitats, their kinds of foods, and their territories.

Babies bond with their caregivers, and quickly become attached to their thumbs, their blankets, and their toys.

All through our lives, we form attachments to people, our bodies, our minds, our ?looks?, our religious and political groups, and many other things.

Sometimes attachments become addictions. In extreme forms, they can become our masters, our prisons.

Through the ages, the teachers of transformation have told us that the way to freedom from the fear and suffering of the Egoworld is through surrendering our attachments. The very old Vedas and Upanishads taught the principle of non-attachment. As did the Chinese Taoists.

Jesus of Nazareth told his disciples to relinquish all they had, and leave their loved ones behind; ?let the dead bury the dead?. ?It would be easier to pull a camel through the eye of a needle, than to get a rich man into the Kingdom of Heaven?.

I am amazed that Jesus could find twelve people who were willing to give up everything. This also includes attachments to ideologies, and concepts of divinity (idols). Above all, one must surrender one?s self ? one?s ego consciousness.

Very few people are willing to make such a sacrifice; it?s no wonder that so few individuals have reached liberation despite the millions who have strived for it through the many disciplines designed for that purpose.

It is easy to become attached to particular gurus, schools, or methods. Jiddu Krishnamurti, a 20th. Century teacher, warned about becoming attached to a particular guru, technique of meditation, or belief. I think that most people who reached liberation were forced to surrender by circumstances.

It is almost too much to expect that the ego will willingly abdicate its place of (imagined) power. It may think that it will acquire powers, admiration, etc., from enlightenment, but the reality is that enlightenment is only realized when the ego is not.

The Author
John Samsen
johnsamsen.blog.com/

Related Posts:

Source: http://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/spiritual-growth/attachment/

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Weekly US jobless aid applications rise to 368K

In this Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, photo, perspective job seekers talk with employers during a job fair in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid jumped last week, though the increase mostly reflected difficulties the government has seasonally adjusting its numbers. Applications are still at levels signaling modest hiring. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, photo, perspective job seekers talk with employers during a job fair in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid jumped last week, though the increase mostly reflected difficulties the government has seasonally adjusting its numbers. Applications are still at levels signaling modest hiring. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2012, photo, Norma Urbario, left, and America Rodriguez stand in line, holding their resumes, during the job fair that the Miami Marlins hosted at Marlins Park in Miami. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid jumped last week, though the increase mostly reflected difficulties the government has seasonally adjusting its numbers. Applications are still at levels signaling modest hiring. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose sharply last week but remained at a level consistent with moderate hiring.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits leapt 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 368,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The increase comes after applications plummeted in the previous two weeks to five-year lows. Applications fell by a combined 45,000 in the second and third weeks of January.

The volatility reflects the government's difficulty adjusting the data to account for layoffs after the holiday shopping season. Job cuts typically spike in the second week in January as retailers dismiss temporary employees hired for the winter holidays. Layoffs then fall in the second half of the month.

The department attempts to adjust for such fluctuations but the January figures can still be volatile. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, ticked up to 352,000, just above a four-year low.

Most economists weren't concerned by the increase.

"This just reverses some of the previous sharp falls without altering the gradual downward trend," said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics.

On Friday, the government is scheduled to issue its January jobs report. Analysts forecast that it will show employers added 155,000 jobs, the same as in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 7.8 percent for the third straight month.

That's consistent with the number of people seeking unemployment aid. Applications fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 for most of last year. At the same time, employers added an average of 153,000 jobs a month.

That's just been enough to slowly push down the unemployment rate, which fell 0.7 percentage points last year to 7.8 percent.

The number of people continuing to claim benefits also rose. More than 5.9 million people received benefits in the week ended Jan. 12, the latest data available. That's 250,000 more than the previous week.

Steady hiring is needed to resume economic growth. The government said Wednesday that the economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter, hurt by a sharp cut in defense spending, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles.

The contraction points to what is likely to be the biggest headwind for the economy this year: sharp government spending cuts and ongoing budget fights.

The economy will likely expand in the current quarter and is forecast to grow around 2 percent this year as strength in areas like housing and auto sales could partly offset government cutbacks. But looming, across-the-board spending cuts, set to take effect March 1, would weaken a still-precarious recovery.

Two key drivers of growth improved last quarter. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, increased at a faster pace and businesses invested more in equipment and software.

Homebuilders, meanwhile, are stepping up construction to meet rising demand. That could create more construction jobs.

Home prices are rising steadily. That tends to make Americans feel wealthier and more likely to spend. Housing could add as much as 1 percentage point to economic growth this year, some economists estimate.

And auto sales reached their highest level in five years in 2012. That's boosting production and hiring at U.S. automakers and their suppliers.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-31-Unemployment%20Benefits/id-36db2187fd594e49b3884ddff328c7c5

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