Sisters...a good thing

It's good to hear that my life was blessed by having sisters. At least their good for something. ;)

Sisters give siblings better mental health, study shows

New research also shows loving siblings promote good deeds more than loving parents

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Something about having a sister – even a little sister – makes 10- to 14-year-olds a bit less likely to feel down in the dumps.

That’s one of several intriguing findings from a new study on the impact siblings have on one another. Brigham Young University professor Laura Padilla-Walker is the lead author on the research, which also sorts out the influence of siblings and the influence of parents within families.

“Even after you account for parents’ influence, siblings do matter in unique ways,” said Padilla-Walker, who teaches in BYU’s School of Family Life. “They give kids something that parents don’t.”

Padilla-Walker’s research stems from BYU’s Flourishing Families Projectand will appear in the August issue of the Journal of Family Psychology.The study included 395 families with more than one child, at least one of whom was an adolescent between 10 and 14 years old. The researchers gathered a wealth of information about each family’s dynamic, then followed up one year later. Statistical analyses showed that having a sister protected adolescents from feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful. It didn’t matter whether the sister was younger or older, or how far apart the siblings were agewise.

Brothers mattered, too. The study found that having a loving sibling of either gender promoted good deeds, such as helping a neighbor or watching out for other kids at school. In fact, loving siblings fostered charitable attitudes more than loving parents did. The relationship between sibling affection and good deeds was twice as strong as that between parenting and good deeds.

“For parents of younger kids, the message is to encourage sibling affection,” said Padilla-Walker. “Once they get to adolescence, it’s going to be a big protective factor.”

Many parents justifiably worry about the seemingly endless fighting between siblings. The study found hostility was indeed associated with greater risk of delinquency. Yet Padilla-Walker also sees a silver lining in the data: The fights give children a chance to learn how to make up and to regain control of their emotions, skills that come in handy down the road.

“An absence of affection seems to be a bigger problem than high levels of conflict,” Padilla-Walker said.

BYU professor James Harper and BYU graduate Alex Jensen are co-authors on the new study. Jensen, now a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue, also co-authored the 2009 study showing a link between video games and poor relationships.

About the Flourishing Families Project

The Flourishing Families Project is a longitudinal, multi-informant, multi-method look at the inner-family life of families with an adolescent child. The project began in 2007 and to date includes four waves of data (including questionnaire and video data) on nearly 700 families from two locations. The project involves dozens of BYU students every year in data collection and provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate student involvement, which will continue next year as the project seeks to follow the families for a fifth year. Scholarly articles by Flourishing Families researchers have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Early Adolescence, Journal of Research on Adolescence, and Aggressive Behavior.

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Brothers Give Siblings Benefits Too 9/2/2010 9:51 AM by Joel

In a sister study (no pun intended) about the effect of brothers in families, it was found that having a brother--even a younger brother--makes girls less annoying to their boyfriends.

"Turns out girls with brothers are less whiney, and don't giggle as much as girls with only sisters," another professor observed.

The boyfriends of girls with only sisters reported much higher levels of annoyance with their girlfriends than did the boyfriends of girls with a brother.

One boyfriend commented, "My ex-girlfriend, who had no sisters, freaked out when I gave her noogies, but my current girlfriend has five older brothers and she loves it!"

Besides being more tolerant of noogies, girls with brothers also are less disgusted by flatuence and burping. Consequently, boyfriends dating girls with brothers report fewer stomachaches.

Levels of "cattiness" and time spent in the bathroom were also significantly lower in girls who had brothers.

"The scripture might say neither is the brother without the sister, neither the sister without the brother in the Lord," says the professor in charge of the study.

In yet a third study, siblings whose parents work either in accounting or insurance have boring personalities.

The Quran anyone?

Exposing the 'real' Quran

Chris Woodward - OneNewsNow - 9/1/2010 4:10:00 AM

A minister wants to help Americans learn the "real" Quran and bring Muslims to Christ.

Usama Dakdok, founder of The Straight Way of Grace Ministry, was born in Egypt and raised in a Christian home as the son of a Baptist pastor, where he accepted Jesus at the age of 11. But despite his background, he was forced to learn the Quran in school. After becoming a U.S. citizen in the 1990s, Dakdok felt called to bring Muslims to Christ and teach Americans the truth about the Quran. But he shares that every English translation he purchased at that time was misleading. "They have sugar-coated the Quran so badly -- taking words out, twisting words, and putting them in wrong places," he laments. As a result, Dakdok and several others have come up with what they feel is the most accurate English translation of the Quran, which includes the true meaning of jihad. "[Sadly] some people in our media say...'Jihad does not really mean to fight a holy war. Jihad is [the] struggle to do what's right,'" the minister recognizes. But he points out that "there are 37 verses in the Quran [where] the word 'jihad' is mentioned," and he quotes "chapter 9, verse 73: 'All you prophets, perform jihad against the infidel and the hypocrite and be harsh with them.'" Dakdok warns that unless the U.S. acts now, America will follow Europe in seeing a much bigger Islamic presence. "They will build mosques anywhere and everywhere they choose to, and they are using our Constitution to say 'freedom of religion.' But Islam is not a religion that will give freedom of religion," he contends.

Tick Paralysis

Okay, MD consult forgive me for spreading the news of this, but being from colorado, I am putting the power of knowledge in the hands of the people who read this unbiassed :) blog.

Tick paralysis is easily treated but often missed

August 23, 2010

By Bruce Jancin

	A dorsal view of a male Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni: This tick species is a North American carrier of Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. (Photo Courtesy of James Gathany/CDC)

VAIL, Colo. (EGMN) – Tick paralysis is often misdiagnosed – with potentially dire consequences – as one of the other diseases that cause an acute ascending paralysis with preserved mental status.

The arthropod-inflicted paralysis is most often confused with Guillain-Barré syndrome. Other causes of an acute ascending paralysis with preserved mental status include spinal cord tumors and acute poliomyelitis. Botulism, in contrast, causes a descending paralysis with preserved mental status, Dr. Sean O’Leary said at the annual conference on pediatric infectious diseases, which was sponsored by the Children’s Hospital, Denver.

Conducting a thorough search for an embedded tick is essential in a patient with an acute ascending paralysis with preserved sensorium, particularly when there is a history consistent with potential tick exposure. Treatment of tick paralysis is simple: remove the tick. Clinical improvement will follow within hours.

In unrecognized and untreated cases of tick paralysis, however, the fatality rate is about 10%, with death typically occurring just 18-30 hours after symptom onset, according to Dr. O’Leary of the Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado, both in Denver.

Tick paralysis is more common in children than adults. The highest-risk group is young girls with long hair that can readily hide an engorged tick that’s had a blood meal. At 3 days after attachment, the tick (usually a female) begins secreting the neurotoxin that causes the paralysis. Symptoms appear 4-7 days after attachment. The peak time for tick paralysis is tick mating season: April through June.

The clinical scenario typically begins with loss of appetite and voice, followed by gait instability, ascending flaccid paralysis, excessive salivation, eye irritation, pupil asymmetry, and vomiting. Death usually is from respiratory failure. For more than half a century, there have been postmortem reports of ticks being found embedded in the skin of people who died suddenly of unexplained paralytic illnesses.

About 8% of the 870 named tick species have been associated with intoxication syndromes. The species that cause the most cases of human, dog, and livestock paralysis in North America are Dermacentor andersoni and D. variabilis, both of which are vectors for the rickettsial diseaseRocky Mountain spotted fever. In the United States, tick paralysis occurs most often in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states.

	Dr Sean O'Leary

The tick toxin’s pathogenic mechanism isn’t fully understood. Australian investigators have reported that the toxin inhibits acetylcholine release at the neuromuscular synapse, but tick paralysis there is caused by Ixodes species, and it’s not clear that the same mechanism is at work in the paralysis caused by Dermacentor species, Dr. O’Leary said.

How to Remove a Tick The proper way to remove a tick is to grab it with blunt forceps as close to the skin as possible and pull it straight out with steady pressure, according to Dr. O’Leary. Don’t apply a hot nail or blown-out match to the critter’s backside. Don’t use tweezers or sharp forceps. Avoid using a twisting or corkscrew motion in removing the tick. Don’t crush or squeeze the tick’s body, as that can cause the tick to release more of the infectious organism or toxin. Don’t handle the tick barehanded. “There have been documented cases of disease transmission” in people who did that, said Dr. O’Leary. And although in bygone days it was a popular practice to apply gasoline, lidocaine, petroleum jelly, or other substances to the embedded tick to encourage it to back out, the current thinking is, don’t do it. “There are horror stories about the use of those things,” he said. Dr. O’Leary declared having no relevant financial relationships.

Bumper stickers I wouldn't mind putting on my car.

Sent to me from a friend...

More Boortz: Bumper Stickers Seen On Military Bases - Part 1

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine" "Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!" "Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume" "Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything." " U.S. Marines - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club." " U.S. Air Force - Travel Agents To Allah" "Stop Global Whining" Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don't Testify. "The Marine Corps - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight" "Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back" "What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil" "Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775" "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

Zicam and zinc related nasal gels

So, if your dancin' with your honey, and your nose is kind o' runny. You think it's kind of funny, but it-Snot. If you want the skinny on this, DONT USE Zinc related products for the common cold.

First of all: Know the difference between bacteria and virus.

Bacteria (and many types of fungi) love wet, warm, dark places. Some of them stink (anerobic), like your stool. And yes, football players, movie stars, and NBA players' poop still stinks all the same. Then there are the bacteria that don't stink but get gobbled up by your immune system (white blood cells) then die. The result is whitish gunk or pus. Next time you pop a zit, remember this.

Viruses are different. They infect your cells, irritate the heck out of your cells especially the ones in your nose (since this is the most common rout of infection). Your body secrets a bunch of clear mucus (rhinorrhea) and fevers can bound. Your whole body takes a hit though and you feel like you were hit by a ton of bricks. The good part, it only lasts about 5 to 7 days. The bad part is you can get so run down that a bacterial infection can arise due to wet, warm dark place, and a compromised immune system.

Second of all: They don't work

The companies will fund research to prove or disprove whether their product works or not. Can you guess how accurate these "funded research" projects are? Yeah, tell that lab rat with wife and kids that if he doesn't make it "look good", he'll be out on the street with closed doors for future work anywhere he goes. However, recently unbiased research has determined that Zicam or other zinc nasal gels don't shorten or stop the cold (virus).

Thirdly: You could lose your smell

In 2009 and now reported this year, reports of settled lawsuits have arisen due to people losing their smell from these products. Can you lose your smell from viruses? Oh yes! But do you want to complicate things with taking a "homeopathic medicine" that is thought to cause anosmia while trying to combat a virus which has the chance of causing the same side affect? You decide.

Fourth-ly: FDA can not legally do anything against Zicam

The FDA can only regulate homeopathic medications for "serious illnesses". So, the common cold and it's remedies get kicked to the curb. Caveat emptor!

In summary, my advice is to load up on your tylenol, ibuprofen, favorite non alcoholic beverage. Make a blockbuster run and take a week to recover. Unless you are a mother of 4 young children. You can't afford to be sick, so just don't get sick. :)

Drawings of the kids

Marriage :Narcissism, histrionic behavior, signs ...

Signs and behaviors of such psychiatrically debilitating behavior need to be observed, evaluated, then beaten out of such people. That is why there is marriage.

As pointed out in a marriage and family class recently attended, a healthy relationship (not one always at peace mind you) is one that keeps both parties in check of impending mental illness. I believe in part that this is why single men tend to be so dang quirky the older they become. If they are not in a good social network (church group, work network, etc), they become vagabonds. Less I digress, I must continue my thought...

If your marriage is not difficult, it is because you are either way too quirky and just leave each other alone, or you and your wife are above the age of 75. Or, you're lying.

Here are two personality disorders that come to mind that make family (including spousal and in-law's) intermingling very much difficult and prone to break-down.

Narcissism and Histrionic behavior

As per Wikipedia...

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness, usually beginning in early adulthood. These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious.

They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others. Associated features may include egocentrism, self-indulgence, continuous longing for appreciation, feelings that are easily hurt, and persistent manipulative behavior to achieve their own needs.

Characteristics:

People with this disorder are usually able to function at a high level and can be successful socially and professionally. People with histrionic personality disorder usually have good social skills, but they tend to use these skills to manipulate other people and become the center of attention.^[1]Furthermore, histrionic personality disorder may affect a person's social or romantic relationships or their ability to cope with losses or failures.

People with this disorder lack genuine empathy. They start relationships well but tend to falter when depth and durability are needed, alternating between extremes ofidealization and devaluation. They may seek treatment for depression when romantic relationships end, although this is by no means a feature exclusive to this disorder.

They often fail to see their own personal situation realistically, instead tending to dramatize and exaggerate their difficulties. They may go through frequent job changes, as they become easily bored and have trouble dealing with frustration. Because they tend to crave novelty and excitement, they may place themselves in risky situations. All of these factors may lead to greater risk of developing depression.

Mnemonic

A mnemonic that can be used to remember the criteria for histrionic personality disorder is PRAISE ME:^[9][10]

• P - provocative (or seductive) behavior
• R - relationships, considered more intimate than they are
• A - attention, must be at center of
• I - influenced easily
• S - speech (style) - wants to impress, lacks detail
• E - emotional lability, shallowness

• M - make-up - physical appearance used to draw attention to self
• E - exaggerated emotions - theatrical

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization's ICD-10 lists histrionic personality disorder as (F60.4) Histrionic personality disorder.^[6]

It is characterized by at least 3 of the following:

1. self-dramatization, theatricality, exaggerated expression of emotions;
2. suggestibility, easily influenced by others or by circumstances;
3. shallow and labile affectivity;
4. continual seeking for excitement and activities in which the patient is the centre of attention;
5. inappropriate seductiveness in appearance or behaviour;
6. over-concern with physical attractiveness.

All I'm saying is that I am very thankful to be married to such a wonderful woman. I would otherwise be living in some alley and sleeping in some gutter every night.

Our child proofed world

Have you ever wondered how we ever survived as a child? I mean, look at the regulations for everything now. Crib bars have to be a certain width so a childs head can't fit between the bars and cause the unthinkable. Believe me, I took a forensics pathology course and saw the horrific pictures. This is a good thing. Then we have the extremity of this regulation warning by putting choking hazard words on hot dog packages. Anyone else find some crazy warnings? Please add to the mix...

great values coming from the Buffett's

So, As I was perusing through Yahoo, a very pertinent to our day article popped up. The value of wealth. I especially liked the silver spoon to dagger in back comparison. I think I was extremely lucky to have parents who taught the value of hard work. Compared to the rest of the world, I definitely think I had a silver spoon placed in my mouth with all of the educational opportunities offered me growing up spiritually and scholastically. I had some of the best leaders in the world teach me the moral values based in gospel principles. This was both done in the home and twice a week Wednesdays and Sundays, then daily during high school with seminary. I had the worlds best friends to keep me on the straight and narrow during all those times where temptations could easily have led me astray. Then I was given the opportunity to go to college, then medical school. I'm surprised that I haven't choked to death on the silver spoon. I guess the benefit of silver is that it does have some antibacterial properties, so the infection rate has been kept low. :) I guess I'm just feeling like one lucky son of a gun. When I graduate, medical missions to foreign countries are going to keep me and my family grounded in that which is most important... Service to our fellow beings. Anyone want to join? T minus one or so years.

Warren Buffett's son preaches values as wealth

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AP – FILE - This June 2, 2004 file photo shows musician Peter Buffett with his father, Warren Buffett, right, …

• Slideshow:Warren Buffett

By Christine Kearney – Mon May 10, 8:36 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The son of billionaire investor Warren Buffetthas an old-world spiritual message for today's money-rich parents: teach your children values and do not give them everything they want.

Musician and now author Peter Buffett preaches the message in his new book "Life is What You Make it: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment". Recently released in the United States, it describes how he wound up a "normal, happy" person instead of a spoiled child to one of the world's richest people.

Buffett, 52, teaches the rewards of self-respect and pursuing one's own passions and accomplishments rather than buying into society's concepts of material wealth.

"I am my own person and I know what I have accomplished in my life," he said. "This isn't about wealth or fame or money or any of that stuff, it is actually about values and what you enjoy and finding something you love doing."

People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can fall victim to what Buffett said his father has called a "silver dagger in your back," which leads to a sense of entitlement and a lack of personal achievement.

"Entitlement is the worst thing ever and I see entitlement coming in many guises," he said. "Anybody who acts like they deserve something 'just because,', is a disaster."

But Buffett wasn't always this wise. His own family gave him $90,000 in stock when he was 19, a small sum from such immense financial wealth. After studying at Stanford University, he moved to San Francisco and lived in a studio apartment with just enough room for his musical instruments.

"I was really searching," he said, adding that he began his musical career by working for free writing music for a local television station.

"I was kind of lost, but trying to find myself. It was definitely this strange period where I didn't really know where I was going," he said.

LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE

As well his musical passions, the values taught to him growing up and a sense of a bigger picture in life stayed with him during those trying times, he said.

"I was not only not handed everything as a kid, I was shown that there are lots of other people out there with very different circumstances," he said.

Although many people he encounters assume that his father wanted him to go into finance, he said his father accepted his choice to become a musician beginning with commercials then his own albums and composing for television shows and films.

"It was encouraged for a moment when I was open to the idea," he said about pursuing finance. But he added that as he grew older, it became clear the financial world "was not speaking to my heart."

Along with the book, Buffett has embarked on a "Concert & Conversation" tour in which he plays the piano, talks about his life and warns against consumerist culture and damaging the environment.

He said he eventually inherited more money after his mother died in 2004, but by then he had learned his lessons. Now he works on giving back to the world -- another of his life philosophies -- which includes through working for his father's NoVo charitable foundation.

"Economic prosperity may come and go; that's just how it is," he writes in the book. "But values are the steady currency that earn us the all-important rewards."

(editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Obama's suit?

What in the world is going on in Washington? Absolutely nothing. Yes, I repeat, NOTHING! That is, nothing involving common sense. I mean, when there is a law already on the books that preserves Arizona's economy by preventing illegal aliens from jumping in line in front of others. The foreigners trying to get citizenship are disgusted and rightly so!

Lets do a comparison...If you are in the grocery store (Walmart for me), and it's saturday night and the line is 10 people long. All of a sudden, someone runs in the store, takes as much as humanly possible to fit in the grocery cart, cuts in line, and expects it all for free.

Same difference with the illegal influx. Not only are they cutting in line and getting free Emergency care, free or discounted housing, food stamps, free education for their children with their special language tutors and etc., but they bring the good with the bad. MS13 gangs are bloody and horrific gangs, just call my federally employed brother.

Sure, the good ones are great, they take the jobs that nobody else wants, they are hard workers and we would all parish if they we're not here. Balogna! Those jobs would be filled by our lazy generation "Y" kids. Those jobs would teach them good work ethic! That is another disgust I have...for another time. True they are hard workers and those that do work are great to have, but do they pay taxes? Ya know, the stuff that funds all the programs like food stamps etc. NO! They send the money they make back to their country creating a multimillion dollar contribution to countries such as Mexico. Yes, even Mexico actually has a manuel on how to cross the boarder and live in the United States illegally. What's wrong with that?!? Gee, if I went to Mexico the same way, I wouldn't last a week even though I DO speak spanish.

So, our ever so trusted man of Hope and Change has failed the American people once again. Surprise surprise! He and his nut job assistants in Washington are suing, yes SUING the Arizona government for actually enforcing federal and state laws on illegal immigration. WOW! Please come quickly November, and God bless the people of this country to grow some brain cells and vote in some people of power that will help put a stop to the mad rampage of idiocracy!