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　Visitors to Britain may find the best place to sample local culture is in a traditional pub. But these friendly hostelries can be minefields of potential gaffes for the uninitiated.

　　An anthropologist and a team of researchers have unveiled some of the arcane rituals of British pubs–starting with the gucci shoes difficulty of getting a drink. Most pubs have no waiters–you have to go to the bar to buy drinks. A group of Italian youths waiting 45 minutes before they realized they would have to fetch their own. This may sound inconvenient, but there is a hidden purpose.

　　Pub culture is designed to promote sociability in a society known for its reserve. Standing at the bar for service allows you to chat with others waiting to be served. The bar counter is possibly the only site in the British Isles in which friendly conversation with strangers is considered entirely appropriate and rea1ly quite normal behaviour. “If you haven’t been to a pub, you haven’t been to Britain.” This tip can be found in a booklet, Passport to the Pub: The Tourists’ Guide to Pub Etiquette, a customers’ code of conduct for those wanting to sample “a central part of British life and culture”. The trouble is that if you do not follow the local rules, the experience may fall flat. For example, if you are in a big group, it is best if only one or two people go to buy the drinks. Nothing irritates the regular customers and bar staff more than a gang of strangers blocking all access to the bar while they chat and dither about what to order. One of our great symbols is the American flag,13 red and white stripes corresponding to the number of original stats on a rectangular piece of color, one corner blue with 50 white stars for 50 states.
　　You see the flag everywhere now, “what so proudly we hail.” It means the World Trade Center happened to all of us. “We’re proud to be Americans, “say flags on front porches in small towns across the country. Some homes seem to have been built to fly the flag. This wouldn’t be complete without it; just perfect. “We’re American too” say the flags inelegant glued to the city apartment windows. The declaration of patriotic intent is everywhere, the simplest as persuasive as the displays where one was considered not enough. Rockefeller Center with 150 beauties is in show business, a stirring sight although it’s unlikely that management there loves our country more than the owner of the smallest small business, displaying just one.
　　The Annin flag company makes most American flags. They have more business than they can do now. You don’t have to go to Annin to buy a flag though. Flag sales are a street corner cottage industry. Furtive operatives set up shops, to them the buck means more than the banner. 
　　The color of our flag and the numbers of stars and stripes are ordained, but there is no rule regarding dimension. There are tiny flags on sticks made in China. This grand flag is so big on a building in New York that it had to be continued around the corner. This beauty hangs from the side wall of a fire house. And you wouldn’t want a dirty flag so they wash them.
　　Everyone wants to be associated with the flag. America and Yale, America and Episcopalians, America and J.P.Morgan, America and Maxell, America and the Ritz Tower. 
　　There are inevitably people who are more anxious to appear patriotic than to be patriotic. They treat a fine line between patriotism and commerce. The flag is everywhere in close proximity to a business interest. It sells shoes and shoe repair, women’s dresses. The American flag invites diners to foreign restaurants, Japanese, Italian, even Afghan. 
　　There is an official flag code but it is routinely ignored. It is not to be used as a awning or a canopy or plastered to the hood of a car. The code says the American flag is not to be used as decorative clothing. Some find it irresistibly fashionable though and we are more amused than they. 
　　This is how the star spangled banner was meant to be flown on the end of a pole of its own, free to wave majestically in our own free air.
At a local supermarket, two women push half-filled grocery carts. The ladies are good friends, but they couldn’t be more different. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create culinary masterpieces from scratch. The other is a training supervisor at a prestigious advertising agency. Household chores, particularly those in the kitchen, are not her idea of fun. The two ladies stop for a moment in the frozen foods section. “I’m so tired,” sighs the professional woman. “I don’t know what to do about supper.” Her friend suggests, “What about a microwave dinner?” The weary professional sighs, “No, I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”
　　If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it’s true that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners. From busy homemakers to professional people, many Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be ready to serve in 10 minutes or less. On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Parents-especially mothers-see the importance of training their children-especially daughters-in the culinary arts. Most Americans will admit that there’s nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. But with cooking, as with any other skill, good results don’t happen by accident.
　　Probably every cook has his or her own cooking style. But there are some basic techniques and principles that most people follow. For example, baking is a primary method of preparing food in America. gucci bags The dinner menu often has casseroles, roast meats and other baked goods. For that reason, Americans would find it next to impossible to live without an oven. American cooks give special attention to the balance of foods, too. In planning a big meal they try to include a meat, a few vegetables, some bread or pasta and often a dessert. They also like to make sure the meal is colorful. Having several different colors of food on the plate usually makes for a healthy meal.
　　For those who need guidance in their cooking, or for those who have just run out of ideas, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish (generally in the order used), the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Finding recipes in America is as easy as pie. Most good cooks have a shelf full of cookbooks ranging from locally published recipe collections to national bestsellers like the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Magazines devoted to home management, such as Good Housekeeping and Family Circle, are chock-full of scrumptious selections. Friends often augment their recipe collection by passing around their favorites written on cards.
 
　　For experienced cooks, true artists that they are, recipes are merely reference points. They often make adjustments as they go along, depending on the quantity of people they need to serve, the ingredients they have available and their personal taste. Some cooks use recipes very little, preferring instead to depend on their intuition as they add a pinch of this and a dash of that to create just the right flavors.
　　Of course, Americans don’t have a corner on the market when it comes to good cooking. Wherever you go in the world, people love to eat. As a result, every culture and nationality has its own share of mouth-watering delicacies. And America, as a “land of immigrants,” has imported practically all varieties of cooking. Most good cooks in America are “fluent” in several cooking “dialects”: Mexican, Italian, Chinese and good old American style, just to name a few. But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands. For many Westerners, the Chinese dinner table is terra incognita . There are no forks or knives for the Westerners to use. The Chinese host makes great, sweeping arm movements that go over large sections of the table passing over both food and friends alike. The scene is fantastic , but it leaves many foreigners at a loss for what to do. In most Western restaurants and homes there are rules about how to talk, eat and sit that are highly restrictive , and they create an atmosphere that is completely different from what we find here in China. In my childhood home, dinner was enjoyed with hushed voices, and the topics open for discussion were very much restricted. We were not allowed to bring up anything that was potentially unappetizing ; body functions , bugs, murder and mayhem in general were all strictly forbidden topics. If I had to leave the table to use the toilet, I had to verbally excuse myself without mentioning what it was that I was going to do. “May I be excused, please? I need to wash my hands.” I would say.

　　My mother would say, “Sure.” My father would often play a joke on us by saying, “Your hands don’t look dirty to me!”
　　As for eating, we did it quietly. No eating noises were allowed.

　　Everything must be done as quietly as possible. Therefore, we had to eat with our mouths closed. To make a “smacking” noise was, perhaps, the worst offence possible. While drinking soup or coffee or wine “slurping” was also forbidden. If any sound whatever was created by our intake of food or beverage , it constituted bad manners! With that in mind, it was, of course, unthinkable to speak with one’s mouth full of food, so speaking only occurred before or after one had taken in food and swallowed it.

　　How one sits at the table is also prescribed . One is to sit up straight with the recessive hand (usually the left) in one’s lap holding a napkin while the dominant hand (usually the right) holds the fork or spoon. The only time one is allowed to have both hands on the table is when one is using a knife to cut something, but as soon as the cutting is done, the recessive hand goes back to the lap. Also, elbows are not allowed on the table. Therefore, one props the arm against the edge of the table just below the elbow. One should never reach for any food on the table; one should ask someone sitting near it to give it to you. “Would you please pass the potatoes?” “May I trouble you for the salt?” These are phrases that you are likely to hear on any given night of the week at a family dinner.

　　When a guest comes from the West to enjoy a meal with you, it would be a good idea for you to explain to your guest what will happen at dinner and to find out if a fork would be easier to use than Gucci handbags chopsticks . In my time in China, I have come to enjoy Chinese table manners far more than those prescribed by my own culture, but for many it is impossible to adjust . The best policy is to ask your guest questions to find out what he or she is comfortable with.

Once a man had a dream.He dreamed of a land of peace and harmony.He dreamed of a place where people were not ugg boots uk judged by their skin color.He dreamed of a country where children of different races could play together.He dreamed of a nation where all people were equal.Some people didn’t like his dream.They said it would never happen.Some people applauded his dream.They wanted to make it happen.This noble vision has come true for some.For others,it’s still just a fantasy.
In 1963,this man,Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.,expressed his vision in the famous speech,”I Have a Dream.”But the dream-rooted in the American Dream-wasn’t really new.From the beginning,this nation of immigrants welcomed people desiring freedom and a new start.However,the coming together of different races and ethnic groups created some tensions.The early Americans (except for the native “Indians”)were almost all white Europeans.As more immigrants arrived,European groups fit into society easily.Others found it more difficult.
Black people were the only “immigrants”who didn’t choose to come to America.For hundreds of years,Africans were taken from their homes to be slaves in the New World.Even George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had slaves.The phrase “all men are created equal”didn’t apply to blacks in their day.The end of the Civil War finally brought freedom to the slaves in 1865,but blacks still had a lower position in society.Many Southern states practiced segregation to “keep blacks in their place.”Blacks and whites went to different schools,ate at different restaurants,even drank from different water fountains.

Fast-food chains，American-style，are currently on the increase all over the world．Most of these places work on a similar principle．There is a long counter ，above which is displayed a list（often with pictures）of the items available，and behind which several people（often students working for the minimum wage）are serving．Individual queues form in front of each assistant ．You receive what you order more or less immediately and take it on a tray to a table，picking up thing like straws ，peper，salt，ketchup ，pickles and napkins（usually paper napkins）on the way．If yo can’t see any knives and forks ，this means you are supposed to eat with your hands．If you can’t see any straws，that’s because they are hiding in the straw dispenser that you have to fiddle with the bottom of it to get a straw（one at a time）to emerge．When you’ve finished，you yourself throw away everything except the tray．Many fast-food places have drive-in facilities．You place your order from your car via a microphone and then drive round to a special window to pay and pick it up ．You may even encounter places where a waitress bring your meal out，and you sit and eat it in the car from a tray hooked over the door through the open window．You may be asked if your order is “for here”or “to go ”（i．e．to take away）．In some states there is no sales tax on food consumed．

Types of Fast Food Restaurants  The most widespread type of fast-food restaurant is that serving hamburgers，such as the chains of MacDonald．All the different chains have their own specialties ．Arby’s restaurants serve large roast beef，ham and cheese，and turkey “sandwidhes”．Some restaurant chians specialize in serving steaks quickly and cheaply．And then there’s Kntucky Fried Chicken．

Chips 
Chips in Amercis are called “French fries”or “fries ”for short．（Note that in the USA “chips”mean crisps）．“French fries”are normally thinner than chips．Amercians generally put ketchup on their chips ，and you will not normally find vigegar

Pizzas There are many specialty pizza restaurants in America，and many of them take telephone orders and deliver pizzas to your home，which can often be convenient．They come in different sizes，and a large one can be big enought for a party of four people．If you want ot share a pizza but can’t agree on the ingredients ，it is possible to order two different sets of toppings ，one set on each half．

Ice-Cream Shops selling large number of different flavors of ice-cream are very common in America．If you are not sure what flavor you want ，generaly you can sample a small spoonful of a particular flavor to see if you like it．You can either have your ice-cream in a “plain cone” or in a “sugar cone”
Soft Drinks Fast-food restaurants do not serve alcohol．The soft drinks most often sold are Coca-Cola and Pepsi——Cola，plus fizzy drinks （which are like leminade）and root beer（which is like cough medicine）．Fizzy drinks are known as “carbonated beverages” or ，more colloquially，“soda”，“pop”，“soda pop”，and “soft drinks”．All these drinks come wiht lost of ice．In fact，yu will probably find as much ice as drink in your drink．If you ask fo a soft drink without ice，they will think yu are funny but will probably oblige．（They may charge yu a bit extra，fo ice is cheaper than Coke．）
 Cocktail 
It is quite usual to drink cocktails before lunch and dinner in America and somewhat less usual,except in California,to drink wine with a meal.You can either have a cocktail in the bar,if there is one,while you wait for a table or for friends,or you can have one served before your dinner comes.At some restaurants the waiter/waitress will come to your table as soon as you sit down to ask if you want a cocktail,and you can then drink this while deciding what to order to eat.At others,there may be a separate cocktail waiter or waitress.In this case,you do not normally order wine from him or her but from the normal waiter-or the wine waiter is there is one.

Do not hesitate to order Californian wines.They can be excellent and in many parts of the country are cheap.

Salad　
It is usual to have a salad with your meal,and a separate plate is provided for this purpose.The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course.A wonderful American invention is the salad bar.In restaurants that have these salad bars the waiter does not bring your salad.You go to the salad bar and help yourself,usually to as much as you want.This is normally done after you have ordered your meal;you eat the salad while the main course is being cooked.

Choosing from the Menu American menus can look rather confusing at first sight,for they may use some terms which are unfamiliar to most vistors.Here are some points which may be useful.

Fried mushrooms,fried onion rings and fried zucchini are sometimes served as starters .

Potatoes most often come “French-fried”or baked.If you order a baked potato,the waiter will ask you what you want on it.The choice is butter and/or sour cream and sometimes chives

Very often vegetables do not come automatically with the meal,and you have to pay extra for them.

“Scrod” ,”red snapper” and “mahi hahi”are all name of fish.”Seafood”means lobster  ,shellfish and fish,including,funnily enough,freshwater fish!Prawns are known as “shrimp”.

American beef is usually good and often wonderful.

American salt and pepper pots are confusing until you realize that the salt pot may look like a pepper pot except that the salt pot’s holes are bigger.Pepper is normally black rather than white.American ugg boots sale mustard is mild and normally eaten with hot dogs or hamburgers rather than meat.

And that stuff in a dish that looks ice cream is actually whipped butter.

Leftovers You have probably heard that in American restaurants,if you can’t finish your meal,you can put the remains in a “doggy bag”and take them home.This is quite true.If you leave some meat,in particular,your waiter may ask you if you’d like him to put it into “a little bag”,or you can ask him to do this. Eating Custom and Practice
American eating is funny.They eat almost everything with a fork,and it appears that holding a knife in one’s right hand longer than a few seconds is considered to be against good table manners.

The system is that if it is absolutely necessary to use a knife,people take the fork in their left hand,and cut off a piece of meat or whatever it is in the normal manner.Then they put the knife down,transfer the fork to their right hand,and only then do they transport the food to their mouth.This is clearly ludicrous ,but it is considered good manners.

There are several results of this system.First,if it is not absolutely necessary to use a knife,Americans don’t use one,because obviously this greatly complicates things,and you will therefore see them trying to cut things like potatoes,fish and even bacon with a fork.Second,towards the end of a course,since only one implement is being used,food has to bo chased around the plate with the fork —and for the last mouthful the thumb has to be used to keep the food in place,although one is not supposed to do this.

Third,tables are generally laid with one knife and two forks,the outside fork being for the salad.There is no need for foreign visitors to follow the American system and try to eat the salad with only a fork,but if you do use your knife,remerber to save it for the meat course.Even desserts (except ice cream)are eaten with a fork if at all possible,and the spoon you see by your dessert is meant to be for coffee (but if you use it for your dessert no one will say anything).

Some Breakfast Dishes Breakfast in a restaurant is a very enjoyable experience.If you order eggs in a restaurant,the waiter/waitress will ask you how you want them .You can reply that you want them “scrambled “or “boiled”.It is not sufficient,however,to ask for them “fried”you will have to specify whether you would prefer them “sunny-side-up” ,”over” ,”over-easy/easy-over”

American sausage comes in slices and is quite spicy.But you can also have link sausage.

American bacon comes in small strips,can be rather fat,and is served crispy.It is usually very tasty,and you can eat it with your fingers.

“Hash brows” are shredded and fried potatoes.They are wonderful,especially with fried eggs and ketchup

“Pancakes”,sometimes called “hot cakes”,are made with baking power.They are normally served in a pile,and you are supposed to put butter and syrup on them.

“Jelly” is jam and includes grape jelly,which is very tasty.

Toast is often served already buttered.

“English muffins “are like small crumpets without the holes and are served toasted.You put jam on them.
A “biscuit” is a snall,scone-like bread roll,often served hot.
Orange juice and coffer are often serced with breakfast.
 Eating out is one of the joy of being in the USA.The food is usually good and often excellent;the prices are reasonable ;and the service is mostly fine.

Choosing a Restaurant ome restaurants are open for breakfast;others are open twenty-four hours a day.A number of restaurants call themselves “family restaurants”.Many of these serve no alcohol and have fairly restricted menus which include steaks,hamburgers,omelettes and sandwiches,and all are at very reasonable prices.They may also serve smaller and cheaper children’s portios .Note that many American restaurants are “speciatly”restaurants .They may serve only,or mainly ,steaks ,seafood,etc.

When to Eat  Many restaurants,especially the more expensive ones,open at about 11：30a.m.(midday,rather than 1p.m.,is the most normal time for lunch in the USA),and some remain open until the evening,so it is possible to order a meal throughout the afternoon.

In many areas it is usual for people to leave work and go out for an evening meal at 5p.m.or 6p.m.,than waiting until later.

Reserving a Table Eating out is rather popular in the USA.And it is often necessary to make a reservation.You will sometimes see short queues of people waiting for tables at restaurants-it’s more pleasant to wait in the bar ,of course,if there is one-but there queues more quickly.

Arriving at Restaurant When you arrive at most restaurant,you should not just go in and sit down-unless you see a sign saying “Please seat yourself”.Usually you will have to wait for a “hostess”or “captain” to escort you to a table .Often there will be a sign that reads “Please wait to be seated”.

Do not expect to share a table with other parties,even if the restaurant is crowed .It just isn’t done.
Many restaurant have a no-smoking section,in some place by lows.
One excellent American custom is that after you have sat down your waiter or waitress will often bring you a glass or water(with ice naturally)and will keep on refilling it throughout the meal.(Most American are incapable of eating a meal without drinking something at the same time.)When your waiter or waitress takes your order,it is not very normal for one person to order for the whole table.Each person orders separately ,except in the most expensive restaurants.

Summoning a waiter You may find your waiter unusually friendly.He may ask you how you are (You’re supposed just to say “Fine”),inquire whether you have a good day and ,later on say that he hopes you will enjoy your meal.

To summon a waiter in a American restaurant you may call “Bill”,or “Mary”,or “Claude”,or whatever.Waiters and waitresses often actually introduce themselves when they first come to your table or wear name tags,you are permitted to use their first names.

Paying the Bill The bill (often called the “check”)comes usually with tax added but no service chare-though some restaurant do now add a service charge.The etiquette books say that you should leave a ten per cent tip for lunch,fifteen per cent for dinner.The tip ugg boots should be calculated on the basis of the total before the addition of tax.
At many restaurant you can ask the waiter to bring the bill and than pay at a cash desk on the way out.

Fireworks weren’t just invented all of a sudden; they were
gradually produced, with the inventions Ugg boots of other substances,
such as gunpowder. Although many nations claim the
invention of gunpowder, it was actually invented by the
Chinese in the 9th Century.

A Chinese cook happened to mix together three ingredients
commonly found in the kitchen – potassium nitrate (salt
substitute), sulfur (flammable solid), and charcoal. The cook
noticed that, when ignited, the three ingredients burned viciously with a considerable force. The cook apparently also discovered that if these same ingredients were enclosed and then ignited, the combination exploded rather than burned, producing a loud bang. The chemical gunpowder spread throughout the world. There are many uses of gunpowder, in Europe were mainly used for canons during war. While the Europeans were using gunpowder for war, the Chinese used it for firecrackers and fireworks
“You are what you eat.”Nutrition experts often use this saying to promote better eating habits.What we put in our mouths does become a part of us.But we can look at this statement another way.What we eat reflects who we are–as people and as a culture.Do you want to understand another culture?Then you ought to find out about its food.Learning about American food can give us a real taste of American culture.
What is “American food”?At first you might think the answer is easy as pie.To many people,American food means hamburgers,hot dogs,fried chicken and pizza.If you have a “sweet tooth,”you might even think of apple pie or chocolate chip cookies.It’s true that Americans do eat those things.But are those the only kind of vittles you can find in America?
Except for Thanksgiving turkey,it’s hard to find a typically “American”food.The United States is a land of immigrants.So Americans eat food from many different countries.When people move to America,they bring their cooking styles with them.That’s why you can find almost every kind of ethnic food in America.In some cases,Americans have adopted foods from other countries as favorites.Americans love Italian pizza,Mexican tacos and Chinese egg rolls.But the American version doesn’t taste quite like the original!
As with any large country,the U.S.A has several distinct regions.Each region boasts its own special style of food.Visit the South and enjoy country-style cooking.Journey through Louisiana for some spicy Cajun cuisine.Take a trip to New England and sample savory seafood dishes.Travel through the Midwest,”the breadbasket of the nation,”for delicious baked goods.Cruise over to the Southwest and try some tasty Tex-Mex treats.Finish your food tour in the Pacific Northwest with some gourmet coffee.

Americans living at a fast pace often just “grab a quick bite.”Fast food restaurants offer people on the run everything from fried chicken to fried rice.Microwave dinners and instant foods make cooking at home a snap.Of course,one of the most common quick American meals is a sandwich.If it can fit between two slices of bread,Americans probably make a sandwich out of it.Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time American favorite.
Americans on the go also tend to eat a lot of “junk food.”Potato chips,candy bars,soft drinks and other goodies are popular treats.Many people eat too many of these unhealthy snacks.But others opt for more healthy eating habits.Some even go “all natural.”They refuse to eat any food prepared with chemicals or additives.
American culture is a good illustration of the saying “you are what you eat.”Americans represent a wide range of backgrounds and ways of thinking.The variety of foods enjoyed in the U.S.reflects the diversity of personal tastes.The food may be international or regional.Sometimes it’s fast,and sometimes it’s not so fast.It might be junk food,or maybe it’s natural food.In any case,the style is all-American. People in many places of the world usually give their lovers a finger ring or a bundle of flowers as a gift of engagement.But in some areas of Denmark,it is still considered lucky for a young man to present his financee with the wooden clappers graved with love-poems,because the clappers ensured fortune and happiness.

To our surprise,preparations for the wedding lasted for many days but were made secretly,because to show happiness openly would arouse the anger and jealousy of evil spirits.

At the conclusion of the ceremony a large jar of the beer was taken to the courtyard.The hands of the betrothed were joined over the jar and it was smashed into fragments.These pieces were Classic Ugg Boots picked up by girls of marriageable age who were present,the girl with the largest fragment being destined to marry first,the girl with the smallest being fated to remain a spinster. Do Americans have any morals?That’s a good question.Many people insist that ideas about right and wrong are merely personal opinions.Some voices,though,are calling Americans back to traditional moral values.William J.Bennett,former U.S.Secretary of Education,edited The Book of Virtues in 1993to do just that.Bennett suggests that great moral stories can build character.The success of Bennett’s book shows that many Americans still believe in moral values.But what are they?

To begin with,moral values in America are like those in any culture.In fact,many aspects of morality are universal.But the stories and traditions that teach them are unique to each culture.Not only that,but culture influences how people show these virtues.
One of the most basic moral values for Americans is honesty.The well-known legend about George Washington and the cherry tree teaches this value clearly.Little George cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree while trying out his new hatchet.When his father asked him about it,George said,”I cannot tell a lie.I did it with my hatchet.”Instead of punishment,George received praise for telling the truth.Sometimes American honesty-being open and direct-can offend people.But Americans still believe that “honesty is the best policy.”
Another virtue Americans respect is perseverance.Remember Aesop’s fable about the turtle and the rabbit that had a race?The rabbit thought he could win easily,so he took a nap.But the turtle finally won because he did not give up.Another story tells of a little train that had to climb a steep hill.The hill was so steep that the little train had a hard time trying to get over it.But the train just kept pulling,all the while saying,”I think I can,I think I can.”At last,the train was over the top of the hill.”I thought I could,I thought I could,”chugged the happy little train.
Compassion may be the queen of American virtues.The story of “The Good Samaritan”from the Bible describes a man who showed compassion.On his way to a certain city,a Samaritan man found a poor traveler lying on the road.The traveler had been beaten and robbed.The kind Samaritan,instead of just passing by,stopped to help this person in need.Compassion can even turn into a positive cycle.In fall 1992,people in Iowa sent truckloads of water to help Floridians hit by a hurricane.The next summer,during the Midwest flooding,Florida returned the favor.In less dramatic ways,millions of Americans are quietly passing along the kindnesses shown to them.
In no way can this brief description cover all the moral values honored by Americans.Courage,responsibility,loyalty uggs Classic,gratitude and many others could be discussed.In fact,Bennett’s bestseller-over 800pages-highlights just 10virtues.Even Bennett admits that he has only scratched the surface.But no matter how long or short the list,moral values are invaluable.They are the foundation of American culture-and any culture.

　Indians are the world’s biggest bookworms, reading on average 10.7 hours a week, twice as long as Americans,ugg boots sale according to a new survey.

　　The NOP World Culture Score index surveyed 30,000 people in 30 countries from December 2004 to February 2005.

　　Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India’s high figures.

　　Time spent on reading meant fewer hours watching TV and listening to the radio – India came fourth last in both.

　　The NOP survey of 30,000 consumers aged over 13 saw China and the Philippines take second and third place respectively in average hours a week spent reading books, newspapers and magazines.

　　Britons and Americans scored about half the Indians’ hours and Japanese and Koreans were even lower – at 4.1 and 3.1 hours respectively.

　　R Sriram, chief executive officer of Crosswords Bookstores, a chain of 26 book shops around India, says Indians are extremely entrepreneurial and reading “is a fundamental part of their being”.

　　”They place a great deal of emphasis on reading. That’s the reason why they do well in education and universities abroad,” he said.

　　”People educate themselves and deal with change throughout their lives. And the way to do that is to update themselves with books.”

　　Mr Sriram says social changes have also made a difference: “Earlier people could turn to their parents and grandparents for advice. Now they turn to books.” Even though the climax of the Chinese New Year, Nian, lasts only two or three days including the New Year’s Eve, the New Year season extends from the mid-twelfth month of the previous year to the middle of the first month of the new year. A month from the New Year, it is a good time for business. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration material, food and clothing. Transportation department, railroad in particular, is nervously waiting for the onslaught of swarms of travellers who take their days off around the New Year to rush back home for a family renunion from all parts of the country.

Days before the New Year, every family is busy giving its house a thorough cleaning, hoping to sweep away all the ill-fortune there may have been in the family to make way for the wishful in-coming good luck. People also give their doors and window-panes a new paint, usually in red color. They decorate the doors and windows with paper-cuts and couplets with the very popular theme of “happiness”, “wealth”, “logevity” and “satisfactory marriage with more children”. Paintings of the same theme are put up in the house on top of the newly mounted wall paper. In the old days, various kinds of food are tributed at the alta of ancestors.

The Eve of the New Year is very carefully observed. Supper is a feast, with all members coming together. One of the most popular course is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. “Jiaozi” in Chinese literally mean “sleep together and have sons”, a long-lost good wish for a family. After dinner, it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night while having fun playing cards or board games or watching TV programs dedicated to the ocassion. Every light is supposed to be kept on the whole night. At midnight, the whole sky will be lit up by fireworks and firecrackers make everywhere seem like a war zone. People’s excitement reach its zenith.

Very early the next morning, children greet ugg boots their parents and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red paper packages from them. Then, the family start out to say greetings from door to door, first their relatives and then their neighbors. It is a great time for reconciliation. Old grudges are very easily cast away during the greetings. The air is permeated with warmth and friendliness. During and several days following the New Year’s day, people are visiting each other, with a great deal of exchange of gifs. The New Year atmosphere is brought to an anti-climax fifteen days away where the Festival of Lanterns sets in. It is an occasion of lantern shows and folk dances everywhere. One typical food is the Tang Yuan, another kind of dumplings made of sweet rice rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy fillings.

The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year season and afterwards life becomes daily routines once again. This description is based upon the recollection of my own experience. Customs of observing the New Year vary from place to place, considering that China is a big country not only geographically, but also demographically and ethnically. Yet, the spirit underlying the diverse celebrations of the Chinese New Year is the same: a sincere wish of peace and happiness for the family members and friends.
Do’s:

Wish everyone you meet a happy New Year by saying
“gong xi fa cai”, which translates to: “Have a happy and
prosperous New Year!”
Wear articles of red clothing because red symbolizes luck.
Eat vegetarian food because it’s not good to see blood.
Buy new trousers because the Chinese word for trousers
is “fu”, (Chinese homonym for wealth)
Children should stay up as late as possible on New Year’s Eve for it is believed that the later they stay up, the longer their parents will live.
Visit family (especially those older than yourself) and friends to pass on your wishes on good fortune for the New Year. (plus kids and single people will receive lai-see lucky red packets full of money.
Give two lai see to each child. Because happiness comes in two’s, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lai see to employees and associates.
Don’ts:
Don’t wear white or black clothing, since they are the traditional colours of mourning.
Don’t buy new shoes for the first months of the New Year, because the sound of shoe in Chinese is “hai”. “Hai” is similar to the sound of sighing, which Chinese believe is not a good way to start the year.
Don’t wash your hair for the first three days of the New Year, because the Chinese word for hair is a homonym for the Chinese word for wealth. Therefore, Chinese believe it isn’t a good thing to ‘wash away your wealth’ right at the start of the New Year.
Floors may not be swept and garbage may not be disposed of on the first day of the New Year for fear of casting riches out the door.
Don’t swear or quarrel.
Don’t break any dishes, otherwise you may incur more misfortune for the New Year. In the event of breaking a dish, quickly say “Peace for all time”, and the bad luck will be warded away.
Don’t greet people who are in mourning.
Don’t drop your chopsticks.
Don’t say the number ‘four’ (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death.
Don’t borrow or lend money.
Lions play an important role in Chinese mythology, and
represent joy and happiness. Lion dances are performed
to bring luck and to get rid of the devil. This tradition can be
traced back to a story that took place long ago.

During the rule of the legendary “Yellow Emperor”, a
monster called “Nien” appeared in China, attacking the
men and the animals. It was so fast and fierce that neither the fox nor the tiger could beat it. In despair, the people asked the lion for help. The lion bravely rushed towards the monster and wounded it. The “Nien” fled, but declared to come back to take revenge.

A year later, the “Nien” returned. Without the lion’s protection this time, the people produced a “lion” out of bamboo and cloth. Two men crawled inside and approached the “Nien”. The “lion” pranced Ugg shoes and roared, driving the monster away again.

From then on, lion dances have become a yearly tradition to frighten evil away during the Chinese New Year.

India may be the land of the Kamasutra, the ancient treatise on sex, but public displays of affection remain strictly taboo in ugg uk the country’s hinterlands, as an Israeli couple found out.

They were fined 500 Indian rupees ($11) each for embracing and kissing after getting married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the northwestern Indian town Pushkar, the Asian Age newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Israeli Embassy in New Delhi confirmed the incident and identified the couple as Alon Orpaz and Tehila Salev, who decided to get married while visiting India. The embassy did not provide additional details.

The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu marriage while visiting Pushkar town earlier this month in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan.

But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns.

The priest, along with other Hindu holy men, complained to police, who filed charges against the couple. The court in Pushkar gave its verdict Tuesday.

The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were outraged.

“We will not tolerate any cultural pollution of this sort,” Ladoo Ram Sharma, president of an organization of Hindu priests in Pushkar, said.

Pushkar has a famous temple dedicated to Brahma and is popular with foreign tourists who come for its desert ambience, camel safaris and annual camel fair.

India has tough obscenity laws and kissing in public is frowned upon in the largely conservative country. Last October, local residents in the western state complained to authorities that a group of Israeli women had danced naked near Pushkar.  The wedding tradition of “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” has been around for hundreds of years. Many brides have been asked on their respective wedding days if they have gathered something old, new, borrowed and blue to carry with them as they walk down the aisle. The tradition of carrying or wearing one of each item is said to bring luck and fortune to the newly married couple. Have you ever stopped to think what the saying really means﹖ What is its origin and what does each item represent﹖

　　The original saying dates back to the Victoria times and states, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in your shoe.”

　　Something old…

　　A bride may wear or carry something old to represent her continued ties to her family and her old life. Many brides wear a piece of family jewelry as their old item. Some brides wear the wedding dress worn by their mother or grandmother. In many cases, something old may also be something borrowed.

　　Something new…

　　Wearing something new is supposed to represent success and hope in the bride’s new life and in her marriage. If the bride purchased her wedding dress new, it may represent her new item, but any item that is new may be used. Something “new” is usually the easiest category1 to fill.

　　Something borrowed…

　　The borrowed item should be something ugg boots uk borrowed from a friend that is happily married. It is suggested that their happiness will rub off on2 you and bring lasting happiness to your marriage. Some brides borrow an item of clothing, a piece of jewelry, a handkerchief or perhaps a beaded purse.

　　Something blue… 　　Wearing something blue dates back to biblical3 times when a blue wedding dress was worn to represent purity, fidelity4 and love. Over time this has changed from wearing a blue dress to wearing just a blue band around the bottom of the bride’s wedding dress to modern times  where it is commonplace for the bride to wear a blue garter5.

　　Silver sixpence…

　　Placing a silver sixpence in the bride’s left shoe is said to be a symbol of wealth. This not only refers to financial wealth, but also a wealth of happiness and joy throughout her married life. Since most brides probably don’t even know what a sixpence is, this part of the tradition is not used very often in modern times. However, if a bride would like to include it in her wedding, she can purchase a silver sixpence from many companies that sell bridal supplies such as garters and invitations.

　　Some brides are more traditional than other and may take a great deal of care in selecting one item for each category. It may be traditional for the women in their families to wear the same piece of jewelry.

　　Other brides aren’t bound by tradition but still may choose to carry out the custom at someone else’s request. If they don’t want to carry numerous items, they may simply carry two handkerchiefs in a small beaded bag–hey may choose to buy a new, white handkerchief and borrow a blue one from a family member. That would provide them with something new–the white handkerchief, as well as something that is old, borrowed and blue–the blue handkerchief. The handkerchief just may come in handy6 during the wedding for drying their joyful tears. China is casting such a huge shadow on the United States that many Americans are scrambling to learn the Chinese language in a bid to retain their competitive edge.

    “Interest in learning Chinese among American youth and their parents has grown dramatically in the past five years,” said Vivien Stewart, vice president at the Asia Society, a US group trying to bridge the gap between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific.

    China’s dramatic rise to near superpower status and its telling effects politically, economically and culturally are driving the interest to learn the language, experts say.

    From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a “rapid rise” in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language.

    “The Chinese rich cultural traditions and blossoming economy mean that is now essential for all of our students to be better prepared to engage them and seize opportunities together,” said Michael Levine, Asia Society’s executive director of education.

    A 2004 College Board survey found that 2,400 high schools — an incredibly high number — would be interested in offering the Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Chinese language and culture when the courses become available in 2006.

    China, the world’s most populous nation, is critical to the United States because it is a leading trader, consumer and investor. Its political influence is also rising across the globe.

    It has replaced the United States as the world’s largest consumer and could become the second largest economy in the world, after the United States, in the next two to three decades.

    America’s huge budget deficit, economists say, is being bankrolled by China to the tune of one billion dollars per day through its purchase of US Treasury bills — 200 billion dollars last year and possibly as much as 300 billion dollars already this year.

    Even though the US State Department has designated the Chinese language “critical” to national prosperity and security, the “current infrastructure to support recruitment of students and teachers as well as the growth of high quality programs is woefully inadequate,” an Asia Society study says.

    The Society has set a target of having at least five percent of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015.

    “Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese,” said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco-based Chinese American International School, the oldest Mandarin “immersion” program in the country.

    The most popular languages after English in Cheap ugg boots US schools at present are Spanish and French. Japanese is the most-sought-after Asian language.

Good news for chocoholics. The treat favoured by millions not only tastes delicious but is healthy for you, American nike air force researchers said on Monday.
Chocolate contains compounds called flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting. The researchers found not only an increase in antioxidant capacity after chocolate consumption, but also modulation of certain compounds which affect blood vessels.

The researchers measured the impact of chocolate on platelets in the blood. Platelet activation is thought to be an important risk factor in blood clotting.

Volunteers who consumed the chocolate had lower levels of platelet activity, while the scientists found no change in the group that ate the bread. The results of the study support earlier research which showed that cocoa acts like low-dose aspirin which helps to reduce blood clotting.

These results lead us to believe that chocolate may contribute to a healthy, well-balanced diet. Hearing soothing music and encouraging words while under anesthesia may ease patients’ recovery after surgery, results of a Swedish study suggest.
Women undergoing hysterectomies who listened to relaxing music and sounds of ocean waves while under general anesthesia experienced less pain, were less fatigued when released from the hospital, and were able to sit up sooner after their operation than patients who did not listen to music, researchers report.

And women who listened to music and encouraging words during the operation needed less pain medication immediately after surgery according to findings published in a recent issue of the journal Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica.

Even though people are unconscious when under general anesthesia, research suggests that the brain may be more aware of what happens during surgery than previously thought. Because of this so-called intra-operative awareness, patients may overhear the remarks of doctors and nurses, which could lead to anxiety and dissatisfaction after surgery, Dr. Ulrica Nilsson at Orebro Medical Center Hospital in Sweden and colleagues report.

To protect patients from inappropriate or misinterpreted comments overheard during surgery, “taped soothing music or music in combination with therapeutic suggestions could be provided to all patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia,” Nilsson suggested.

“It is a noninvasive and inexpensive intervention that can improve some postoperative outcomes such as pain and fatigue,” she said.

Nilsson’s team based their conclusions on a study of 90 women who were randomly assigned to listen to music, a combination of music and therapeutic words or ordinary sounds of the operating room during a hysterectomy.

Although music and therapeutic suggestions provided benefits to patients, it did not have any effect on several other factors, including nausea, length of hospital stay and bowel function after surgery. The findings need to be confirmed in additional studies, the authors note. Full face transplants are no longer science fiction fantasy, a leading surgeon has said, adding that they are technically feasible but ethically complex. Peter Butler from London’s Royal Free Hospital called for a debate on the ethics of such an operation made possible by new drugs which stop the body’s immune system rejecting a transplanted face. “It is not ‘can we do it?’ but ’should we do it?’,” he told the BBC. “The technical part is not complex, but air force 1 shoes I don’t think that’s going to be the very great difficulty… The ethical and moral debate is obviously going to have to take place before the first facial transplantation.” The British Association of Plastic Surgeons will discuss the microsurgical procedure, which could give new skin, bone, nose, chin, lips and ears from deceased donors to patients disfigured by accidents, burns or cancer. But surgeons could have trouble finding enough willing donors. Butler said his survey of doctors, nurses and members of the public showed most would accept a face transplant but few were willing to donate their own after dying. Despite a number of ethical concerns, Christine Piff, who founded the charity Let’s Face It after suffering a rare facial cancer 25 years ago, welcomed the possibility of face transplants. She rejected the idea that the procedure would mean people would end up living with a dead person’s face. “There are so many people without faces, I have half a face… but we are all so much more than just a face… you don’t take on their personality. You are still you,” she told reporters. “If we can donate other organs of the body then why not the face. I can’t see anything wrong with it.”
Married couples share more than their homes, cars and finances – they are also likely to have some of the same diseases, experts say. If a spouse suffers from asthma, depression, peptic ulcers, high blood pressure or raised cholesterol levels, the chances are their partner will be afflicted with the same illness. “Partners of people with specific diseases are at increased risk of the disease themselves – at least 70 percent increased risk for asthma, depression and peptic ulcer disease,” Julia Hippisley Cox of the University of Nottingham in northern England said. Cox and her team said the most likely reason for the shared diseases was environment. Married couples usually eat the same foods, are exposed to the same allergens and often have similar exercise patterns, all of which contribute to ailments such as allergies, high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. The scientists studied the medical history of 8,000 married couples, aged 30 to 74. “The findings could have implications for targeting screening or disease prevention measures at partners of participants with one of these diseases,” Cox added.  People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist. Using census data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. “A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer,” said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. “When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it’s in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone to infections of the digestive system.” In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn – the European spring – lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said.  Israel Haimowitz made a deal with his doctor 15 years ago – get me to 100 and I’ll buy you a European vacation. On Sept 5, 2002, Haimowitz is celebrating his 100th birthday. And Dr. Robert Drimmer and his wife are looking forward to a trip to London next summer. “I hate to take his money,” Drimmer said, but Haimowitz “would be mad if I didn’t go.” Haimowitz, a retired furniture salesman, said it’s the least he can do. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., is in good health, complaining only occasionally of fatigue. He moved to Florida 16 years ago. “To get a doctor down here that’s considerate of his patients is difficult,” Haimowitz said. He credits his longevity and health to drinking two ounces of cognac daily, along with eating five Danish butter cookies. Haimowitz, who just renewed his driver’s license, said he plans to stick around awhile. “When I don’t feel good, I don’t want to be here. But when I feel as I do now, I want to live to 120,” he said.
　In the end, it seems it was just another dumb blond joke ? The World Health Organisation, the Geneva-based health arm of the United Nations, has insisted that despite the many media reports to the contrary, it had never conducted a study predicting the extinction of the natural blond hair gene. Before this, there were many stories around the world citing WHO research stating that natural blondes would become extinct by 2202. Reports to that effect had appeared in recent days on CNN and ABC News and in the Daily Mail, among others. But WHO said it has never conducted research on the topic. WHO “has no knowledge of how these news reports originated but would like to stress that we have no opinion on the future existence of blondes,” it said in a statement released at United Nations headquarters in New York. According to the published reports, the supposed WHO study had predicted that the last blond on earth would be in Finland, which today has the world’s highest concentration of true blondes. The air force one shoes reports said blond hair was caused by a recessive gene, so both sides of the family have to have it to extend the shade \into\ the next generation. But too few people carry the gene to assure its long-term survival.

Nothing is off limits at the “Grossology” exhibition in Singapore which gets up close and personal with the slimy, smelly timberland shoes science of the human body.
“People don’t talk about burps and farts and go into detail of how they work,” said 18-year-old student Pamela Yap as she made a beeline for the interactive displays. “They don’t teach us this at school.”

The squeaky-clean city state, which has long barred spitting and enforced fines for not flushing toilets, is the first foreign country to put on the show apart from Canada, where it was created five years ago.

The show was brought in to help people understand and perhaps better manage their bodily functions, said Chew Tuan Tiong, chief executive of the Singapore Science Centre, which is hosting it.

“Visitors will go away with this idea that all of these gross functions are actually very important and have a purpose in their bodies,” Chew said.

Children can climb up a rubbery wall of simulated skin to explore warts and pimples. A cave-like walk-through nose sniffs and sneezes on the unfortunate passerby.

Visitors can challenge their sense of smell and learn about odor-causing bacteria by sniffing unmarked bottles containing mouth, foot, anus and armpit scents.

The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. To up the grossness factor, visitors can pump on levers at the vomit and burp machines for maximum effect.

Children squealed in delight at the exhibits but adults long taught to regard the intimate workings of the body as impolite seemed to get the most out of the show.

“Grossology” heads for Taipei, Seoul and Hong Kong after it wraps up in Singapore on March
Havens for the Heavy– Which Are America’s Fattest Cities? (2002）

The residents of Houston just won a dubious distinction that will hit them right at their waistlines.

Among “fat cities,” Houston ranks No. 1, followed by Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Dallas, according to results released on Good Morning America on January 3.
The survey looks at 16 different categories, such as how well city residents fare in nutrition, exercise and sports participation, and to what extent they embrace poor health choices, such as smoking, drinking and excessive TV watching.

To figure out each city’s fat content, researchers tallied the number of fast food joints per city, checked out the average length of commutes (the longer the ride, the higher the chance of excess fat), examined air and water quality and explored parks and recreational facilities.

Medical experts say that America’s rising obesity stems from a society that has grown increasingly automated, where fast food is cheap and easy.

But if you live in a “fat city,” that doesn’t mean your own destiny is high-density. In modern society, obesity is partially related to not having a lot of money, one doctor said.

“Part of it is that fatty food is cheap,” said Paul Thompson, a cardiologist at Hartford Hospital, in Hartford, Conn. A couple of slices of pizza is cheaper and easier than what you’ll find at the health food store.

Plus, for many of us, a natural exercise such as – walking to work – just isn’t feasible.

Some experts have pointed out that while food has grown increasingly cheap, getting exercise can be costly.

“The whole concept of getting folks lean is to reverse the process,” Thompson suggested. “Make exercise cheap and food more expensive.”

Experts offer some simple weight loss tips to get the fattest city dwellers started on a healthier lifestyle.

Cut out one soft drink a day, instead drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water a day

Walk at least one block a day

Getting 30 minutes of exercise a day , walk up steps instead of taking the elevator.

Eat more vegetables and fruits

Sleeping 8 hours a night Academy Award nominees who go home empty-handed may not have a shiny Oscar to show off, timberland boots but they may turn out to be the bigger winners in the game of life.

According to a study published in British Medical Journal on December 21, Oscar-winning screenwriters are more successful, more productive, and more respected than losing nominees; however, they die sooner by about four years.

Because success is usually linked to better health, “this is the first occupation ever that success is not associated with improved longevity,” says Donald Redelmeier, lead author of the study.

Researchers tracked down information about every person who was ever nominated for an Oscar since the awards were first handed out 73 years ago.

To explain the puzzling findings, he offers two theories. The first is the “work-to-death hypothesis.”

According to Redelmeier, screenwriters are more apt to lead unhealthy lifestyles, meaning they smoke more, exercise less, and work a lot of late-night hours, which translates into not enough sleep.

Screenwriters don’t have a boss to report to, which brings into account Redelmeier’s second explanation, the “party-hearty hypothesis.”

“When you become a successful screenwriter, you gain status without daily accountability, and as a consequence your success may lead you to more alcohol, more parties, and more obesity,” he says.

Redelmeier hopes his study will stress how important it is to lead a healthy lifestyle.

“The bottom line,” he says, “is that greater success may sometimes lead to worse health if people fail to look after themselves.” Two of the eight euro coins due to come into circulation in January release so much nickel that people allergic to the metal could develop hand eczema, according to a study by a Swedish dermatologist and British laboratory scientist.
Just five minutes of contact with one-euro (88 U.S. cents) and two-euro coins containing nickel alloy could trigger symptoms, including skin inflammation or itching, the study said.

Earlier studies which tested French, British and Swedish coins containing nickel were also found to have the potential to cause nickel allergies, it said.

Fifteen percent of all women and two to five percent of men in the industrialized world are prone to nickel allergy.

In the study, two-euro coins were bathed for a week in a solution resembling human sweat to imitate the effects of people handling coins.

The amount of nickel released from the euro coins was up to 30 times above a level regarded by scientists as the concentration threshold for reactivity to a single exposure.

Contamination of hands with nickel was shown to occur by handling cupro-nickel coins for five minutes, the study said.

Whilst ordinary consumers handle coins infrequently for short periods of time, many shop assistants and cashiers in shops, banks and post offices handle coins during large parts of their workday. Between 30 and 40 percent of nickel-sensitive people tended to develop hand eczema, an inflammation of the skin which could lead to sick leave or change of jobs.

EU scientists, environmentalists, dermatologists and the nickel industry considered nickel allergy potential when the composition of the euro coins were decided, the study said.

Coins are exempt from the EU’s nickel directive, which limits the amount of nickel in products such as jewelry or watches that come into direct contact with the skin.
 Anthrax is a colorless, odorless, tasteless bacterium that protects itself from sunlight, heat and disinfectant by forming a protective coat. With this coat, the bacterium is called a “spore.” The spores are so small that even an infectious dose – between 8,000 and 10,000 spores – is smaller than a speck of dust.

If inhaled, anthrax spores can germinate and lead to infection within one to 60 days. This is pulmonary anthrax, which usually causes death.

Less lethal forms include cutaneous infections, which occur if anthrax spores come in contact with a cut or other opening in the skin.

Another form of anthrax develops in the intestine of those who eat improperly cooked meat of animals that have been infected with anthrax.

Is anthrax contagious?

Anthrax does not spread from person to person. It is a “one-time agent” – to catch it a person must come directly in contact with the bacterium.

What are the symptoms of anthrax?

Symptoms of pulmonary anthrax are very similar to the flu, which can make an initial diagnosis somewhat difficult. However, in light of recent events many doctors have a heightened awareness of the possibility, and are therefore more likely to diagnose it.

Symptoms of the disease vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but usually occur within seven days. The Centers for Disease Control list the following:

Cutaneous: Most (about 95 percent) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that is dark in color and resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 centimeters in diameter, with a characteristic black area in the center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20 percent of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death. Deaths are rare with appropriate therapy.

Inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Inhalation anthrax is usually fatal.

Intestinal: The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized timberland by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Intestinal anthrax results in death in 25 percent to 60 percent of cases.

Feeling tired and stressed out? A new study provides evidence that a bowl of ice cream or mashed potatoes ghd uk can lift your spirits.
Researchers from the University of Surrey in the UK investigated the effects of eating on mood in 40 women who were either non-emotional or emotional eaters. Emotional eaters tend to eat in response to negative feelings rather than hunger. All women recorded their moods over one day and described how they felt after eating.

Eating was found to lift the spirits of all the women, according to the study, which was presented last month at a meeting of the British Psychological Society in Blackpool, UK. Although emotional eaters reported feeling more hurried, irritated, tired, tense, angry and fearful than non-emotional eaters, there was no difference in the overall effect of food on a person’s mood once they had eaten, to the surprise of the study authors.

“We were expecting eating to have a greater effect on mood in the emotional eaters, (which would explain) a means by which people become emotional eaters,” Dr. Katherine Appleton said. An estimated 1,400 college students are killed every year in alcohol-related accidents, according to a study released Tuesday that researchers call the most comprehensive look ever at the consequences of student drinking.
“Half the World Trade Center casualties are happening every year in our colleges,” said one researcher, Mark Goldman, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida.

The researchers say the figures show that college drinking needs to be seen as a major health concern.

The study supported by the federally estimated that drinking by college students contributes to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape. Also, 400,000 students between 18 and 24 years old reported having had unprotected sex as a result of drinking.

The study does not say whether the problems are increasing or decreasing. A Harvard School of Public Health survey released last month reported that more students are abstaining from alcohol, but levels of binge drinking having at least four or five drinks at a sitting are the same as in the early 1990s.

Motor vehicle fatalities were the most common form of alcohol-related deaths. The statistics included college students killed in car accidents if the students had alcohol in their blood, even if the level was below the legal limit.

Students who died in other alcohol-related accidents, such as falls and drownings, were included. Those who died as a result of homicides or suicides were not.

Goldman said general messages warning of the dangers of alcohol do not appear to be effective with college students, at least by themselves. What’s more effective is teaching students how to resist peer pressure.

“Many of the students don’t want to do it, but they don’t know how to say no,” he said.

Communities and colleges need to work together as well to prevent underage drinking and limit the number of stores that sell alcohol, he said.

“The university can’t do them by themselves because even if they did effective things, it might just squeeze it off into the community,” Goldman said.

Cherie Blair and Laura Bush come from opposite ends of modern womanhood.
While Cherie is a leading barrister with a six-figure salary, the president’s wife was a shy former librarian who loves cooking.

But when they met at Camp David in February, they quickly found they shared a crusade – battling breast cancer.

Cherie lost an aunt and a best friend to the disease and Laura’s mother was a victim.

As Tony and Dubya got ready to plot the ghd straighteners world’s future in Crawford, Texas, the First Ladies joined forces to help women with the disease.

They kicked off their weekend together by attending a fund-raising event for breast cancer awareness and research.

Cherie, who arrived in Texas before her husband, told the audience in Dallas on Thursday: “We associate our breasts with our nurturing, our sexuality. To find a lump and to think of having that femininity removed is agonising.

“But there is still life after breast cancer. You can still feel alive and sexy.”

Laura added: “Many of us know and love someone who has had breast cancer and it is very important we work together to find a cure.

“Cherie thought it would be fun if we worked together to increase awareness in breast cancer care and support.”

Each year 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the US and 40,000 in Britain.

A survey published on Monday shows Zurich as the world’s most desirable city in which to live, knocking last year’s winner Vancouver into a second place-tie with Vienna.
Swiss cities dominated the list of 215 centres ranked according to quality of life, with Geneva tying Sydney for fourth place and Bern finishing 10th, in the annual survey by human resources consultancy William M. Mercer. Retaining the unwelcome distinction of the world’s worst city in which to live was Brazzaville, Congo.

Thirty-nine key criteria were used to judge cities’ desirability, including the political, economic, natural and socio-cultural environments, healthcare, education, housing, transport, shopping and recreation.

New York was used as the baseline for comparison. The Big Apple finished 41st, equal with London, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Madrid.

“Though the world’s living standards have risen slightly since last year, the gap between cities at the top and the bottom of the table is still large,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer.

“The basic comforts of life, hygiene and personal safety are the main differentiators, and these are often lacking in developing countries. The gap is magnified by economic and political instability,” he said.

Rounding out the top 10 were Frankfurt, Helsinki, Auckland and Copenhagen, while scraping bottom were Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at 209, and Baghdad at 211.

In the environmental stakes, Calgary, Canada, finished top while pollution-choked Mexico City ranked last. Fewer Americans are smoking these days, but a new study finds that in the movies, many of which are R-rated, more characters are smoking than ever before.
Emily Watson lounges and smokes in Gosford Park, Gene Hackman and Gwyneth Paltrow light up in The Royal Tenenbaums. Billy Bob Thornton’s co-star in The Man Who Wasn’t There said all Thornton’s character does on screen is smoke and breathe.

Stan Glantz, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco, who studied movie smoking from the 1960s to 2000, said the lead characters in films are four times more likely to smoke than real people.

“If you look at the imagery of smoking in the movies as it’s presented, it really looks much more like a cigarette advertisement,” he said.

Glantz’s campaign for smoke-free movies tried to place an advertisement in Daily Variety objecting to Sissy Spacek’s smoking and a prominent pack of Marlboros in the film, In the Bedroom.

Variety rejected the ad, saying it unfairly singled out one movie. And the director said smoking was necessary for Spacek’s character.

“She smokes four cigarettes in the film that are very specific moments, and they’re for very specific reasons,” said the film’s director and co-writer, Todd Field.

These days, Rob Reiner, for one, keeps smoking out of his own movies, because he said it sends a bad message.

“I do notice every time somebody lights up a cigarette in the movies, I’m always aware of it,” Reiner said. “And I will say as it happens, ‘Why did they need to do that?’”

“That it has become a cliche-that a certain kind of character smokes,” said Lindsay Doran, a Hollywood producer. “And when people think of it that way, sometimes they’re challenged to do something else.”

In Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks was given a nervous twitch in his hand, instead of a cigarette.

But in the current film Monster’s Ball, ghd hair straighteners one of the writers says smoking is a creative choice. Maybe the guy would smoke, but some say every time an actor lights up a cigarette on screen, it seems to spark an argument.

Three million American teens have thought seriously about or even attempted suicide, a government survey released gucci bags on Sunday showed.
More than 13% of young Americans between 14 and 17 years of age considered suicide in 2000, according to the report from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Only 36% of them had received mental health treatment or counseling, SAMHSA noted.

Depression is the main cause of suicide, SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie explained in a statement.

“We need to help teens make the link between untreated depression and the risk for suicide, and help them identify serious depression or suicide risk in a friend,” Curie said. “We must encourage teens to tell a responsible adult when a friend is at risk for suicide.”

More than one third of the 3 million teens aged 12 to 17 who said they thought about suicide in the past 12 months actually tried it, the survey done by SAMHSA found.

Girls were twice as likely as boys to say they thought about suicide, but race and areas did not seem to make a difference, the report indicates. The highest rate was noted in the western part of the country, where 13.5% of children aged 12 to 17 reported having had thoughts of suicide.
It’s exhausting, time consuming and although it counts as physical activity, housework does not improve health or help to shed those excess pounds, British researchers said Wednesday.
Brisk walking is a much healthier option and a better way to keep fit than mopping floors, dusting and cleaning windows, particularly for older women between the ages of 60-79.

“Older women need to be doing more physical activity. Housework probably does cut the mustard,” said Dr. Shah Ebrahim, an epidemiologist and expert on aging at the University of Bristol, in southwestern England.

But Ebrahim and his colleagues said although housework requires physical activity it does not seem to have any health benefits.

In a survey of more than 2,300 elderly women in Britain, 10 percent said they enjoyed brisk walking, one percent did more than 2.5 hours of gardening a week and more than half reported doing heavy housework.

“When we look at things that we think would go along with being physically active and fit, like pulse rate and obesity levels, they don’t show any relationship with housework,” Ebrahim, whose research is reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, explained.

Women in the survey who walked vigorously for 2.5 hours a week or did an equal amount of gardening were less likely to be obese and had a lower resting heart rate, which is a sign of physical fitness.

Although housework requires effort, Ebrahim said more research needs to be done on its long-term benefits before it can be included as a health-promoting activity.

A caring mother is the single most important factor in preventing teenagers from abusing drugs and alcohol, researchers said on Friday.
An international study showed that teenagers living with both parents are less likely to suffer from alcohol and drug problems but a strong maternal bond is the most effective barrier to substance abuse.

“These findings suggest that living with both parents may inhibit drug use but only if availability through peer networks is not very high,” said Dr. Paul McArdle, of Newcastle University in northern England, who led the study.

“They also suggest that attachment, particularly to mothers, is a more potent inhibitor and that this is truly across cultures and substances.”

The report, which is published in the journal Addiction, involved nearly 4,000 teenagers in England, Ireland, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. They were questioned about their use of cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy, LSD, tranquilizers and alcohol.

The teenagers also filled in questionnaires gucci sunglasses about their relationship with their parents and grandparents, how well they were supervised after school and whether they were allowed to meet friends at home.

“Both the quality of family relationships and the structure of families appear to be significant influences on youth drug use,” McArdle said in a statement.

But he added a strong maternal bond offered the greatest protection against developing drug habits.

The rate of drug abuse among teenagers living with both parents and who had a good relationship with their mother was 16.6 percent. If either factor was missing the drug abuse rate rose to 32 percent.

More than 42 percent of teenagers living in one parent families who did not have a strong bond with their mother used drugs.

Drug prevention campaigns in British schools and on television warn teenagers about the danger of drugs and alcohol but McArdle said no one is tackling the issue of parental responsibility.

Anti-smoking activists enlisted Buddhist monks from Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka Wednesday to help fight the tobacco habit, but said one of their main challenges was persuading monks themselves to quit.
The monks — attending a three-day workshop on “Buddhism and tobacco control” in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh — aim to become role models for anti-smoking efforts in Asia.

“Buddhist monks are key men in society and are well respected. We need them to educate people not to smoke,” said Seng Somony, deputy director of the National Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh.

“But we have to get monks to quit smoking.”

About 36 percent of Cambodia’s 59,000 Buddhist monks smoke cigarettes, workshop organizers said.

The habit is so prevalent that packets of cigarettes are a common offering at Cambodian Buddhist ceremonies.

Dr. Suchat Chinoraso, a Buddhist abbot from Thailand, said about 25 percent of his fellow monks smoke. However, those caught taking a puff face a stiff fine, he said.

Buddhist tenets forbid smoking cigarettes as well as using drugs, drinking alcohol, violence, exploiting other human beings and eating meat, a Sri Lankan monk told the workshop. So-called lifestyle drugs for baldness, erectile dysfunction are big business for pharmaceutical companies, but some doctors believe they are being coerced into treating a growing number of “non-diseases.”
The British Medical Journal said on Friday a poll of its readers had identified almost 200 conditions that are not real sicknesses — ranging from allergies to jet lag — as more and more ordinary life conditions are redefined as medical problems.

The findings are controversial, with a number of doctors questioning whether debilitating conditions such as obesity and chronic fatigue syndrome — also known as ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) — are true illnesses.

British and Australian medics writing in the influential journal said some drug companies were “disease-mongering” by widening the boundaries of treatable diseases in order to boost their markets.

BMJ editor Richard Smith said it was easy to create new diseases out of many of life’s normal processes, such as aging and sexuality. The challenge was to get the balance right between the under-treatment of some conditions and the over-treatment of others.

” The concept of what is and what is not a disease is extremely slippery.” he wrote in an edition of the influential journal devoted to the subject.

In the past 10 years, lifestyle drugs — which improve the quality of life or alleviate the symptoms of old age — have grown into a multibillion dollar business for pharmaceutical companies.

Advances in genetics may gucci shoes aggravate matters, since genomic science may soon define us all as patients, in need of correction for genetic “defects,” which predispose us to certain diseases.

A review of cell phone studies commissioned by the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority has found no “consistent evidence” of an increased risk of cancer from usage, the agency ugg shoes said.
Studies have differed on whether the use of mobile phones increases the risk of cancer as the handsets have become increasingly popular and efficient.

The governmental agency asked Dr. John D. Boice Jr. and Dr. Joseph K. McLaughlin of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md., to evaluate published epidemiological research on the subject.

The review looked at nine studies since 1996 that included factors such as type of phone, duration and frequency of use and brain tumor location.

“No consistent evidence was observed for increased risk of brain cancer (or other forms),” the scientists said in the review, released Wednesday.

The agency acknowledged public concern about the issue and said many studies were still being performed and continued follow-up was needed on any possible carcinogenic effect linked to mobile phone usage.

“You can never say that something is without risk, but at least we can say that there is no scientific evidence for a causal association between the use of cellular phones and cancer,” said Lars-Erik Paulsson, a radiation expert with the agency.
The review singled out research by Swedish oncologist Lennart Hardell, which said that long-term users of old-fashioned analog cell phones were at least 30% more likely than nonusers to develop brain tumors. Newer digital phones emit less radiation than older analog models of the sort studied.

Hardell, whose study was published recently in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, studied 1,617 patients with brain tumors and compared them with a similar-size group of people without tumors.

The review said Hardell’s study and some U.S. research with similar findings were “non-informative, either because the follow-up was too short and numbers of cancers too small, or because of serious methodological limitations.”

It contrasted those with three studies in the United States, and studies in Finland and Denmark, which Paulsson said used more reliable sampling methods and were based on medical reports rather than interviews with patients.

Those studies found “a consistent picture … that appears to rule out, with a reasonable degree of certainty, a causal association between cellular telephones and cancer to date,” the agency said. Children are getting so fat they may be the first generation to die before their parents, an expert claimed yesterday.

Today’s youngsters are already falling prey to potential killers such as diabetes because of their weight.
Fatty fast-food diets combined with sedentary lifestyles dominated by televisions and computers could mean kids will die tragically young, says Professor Andrew Prentice, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

At the the same time, the shape of the human body is going through a huge evolutionary shift because adults are getting so fat.

Here in Britain, latest research shows that the average waist size for a man is 36-38in and may be 42-44in by 2032. This compares with only 32.6in in 1972.

Women’s waists have grown from an average of 22in in 1920 to 24 ins in the Fifties and 30in now.

One of the major reasons why children now are at greater risk is that we are getting fatter younger.

In the UK alone, more than one million ugg australia under-16s are classed as overweight or obese – double the number in the mid-Eighties. One in ten four-year-olds are also medically classified as obese.

The obesity pandemic – an extensive epidemic – which started in the US, has now spread to Europe, Australasia, Central America and the Middle East.

Many nations now record more than 20 per cent of their population as clinically obese and well over half the population as overweight.

Prof Prentice said the change in our shape has been caused by a glut of easily available high-energy foods combined with a dramatic drop in the energy we use as a result of technology developments.

He is not alone in his concern. Only last week one medical journal revealed how obesity was fuelling a rise in cancer cases.

Obesity also increases the risk factor for strokes and heart disease as well as a diabetes.

An averagely obese person’s lifespan is shortened by around nine years while a severely obese person by many more.

Prof Prentice said: “So will parents outlive their children, as claimed recently by an American obesity specialist?

“The answer is yes – and no. Yes, when the offspring become grossly obese. This is now becoming an alarmingly common occurrence in the US.

“Such children and adolescents have a greatly reduced quality of life in terms of both their physical and psychosocial health.”

So say No to that doughnut and burger . One-year-old Guatemalan twins joined at the head were separated in a marathon operation that ended early Tuesday, but one sister was returned to surgery a few hours later because of bleeding on her brain.
Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez and her sister, Maria de Jesus, were in critical but stable condition Tuesday night at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center, but doctors were optimistic about their recovery. They were expected to remain sedated and using breathing tubes for days.

“I’m absolutely positive they will do OK. I’m absolutely positive if you go and visit them in five years they will be leading a normal life,” said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the lead neurosurgeon.

The doctors’ sense was that the girls fared well, but it remained to be determined whether they suffered any brain damage, said Dr. John Frazee, another neurosurgeon.

“They’re moving, which is a good sign. There’s no way of knowing what the state of affairs is for another week,” Frazee said.

After the 22-hour risky separation surgery, Maria Teresa was wheeled back into the operating room for nearly five more hours because of a buildup of blood on her brain, Lazareff said.

The girls were born attached at the top of the skull and faced opposite directions. While the two shared bone and blood vessels, they had separate brains. Cases like theirs occur in fewer than one in 2.5 million live births.

In the riskiest part of the surgery, doctors had to separate blood vessels the two girls shared and decide which belonged to each child. That was followed by plastic surgery to extend each girl’s scalp to cover the area where they had been attached.

The two face still more operations to reconstruct their skulls.

Surgeons around the world have performed cranial separations only five other times in the past decade, and not all twins have survived. Kimberly Neiland and her dog,”Bear,” are both fighting the battle of the bulge.
Bear is 30 pounds overweight, and when the vet examined the dog, he felt an extra layer of jiggle where he should have felt ribs. Meanwhile, Neiland wants to drop 50 pounds.

“I tried Weight Watchers, I was doing some online thing and was able to stick to it for about two weeks and then just kind of fell off the wagon,” Neiland said.

They’re not the only pet and pet owner who have edged into a heavy zone.

Over 60 percent of adult Americans are now overweight or obese, and an estimated 60 million cats and dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. That is 50 percent of the pet population.

To try to combat the trend, the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Hill’s Pet Nutrition have teamed up for a new research study, a 12-month weight management program for people and their pets. The nutrition and exercise program aimed at satisfying pet owners, their heavy hounds, and their chunky cats will be run in the Chicago area, and is called People and Pets Exercising Together (PPET).

Under the program, people and their pets eat together, exercise together, and weight in together, based on the theory that the buddy system will help pets and their owners lose weight. It calls for counting calories, and having pets and their owners exercise together for 30 minutes daily.

Now Neiland and Bear will work on achieving ugg boots their weight loss goals as a pair.

“It will be something to entice me to get out and walk with him, and it’s good for both him and myself,” Neiland said.