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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Currently, seven federal regulatory agencies are charged with protecting consumers in the financial services marketplace. Five of these agencies also oversee the soundness of financial institutions.

President Obama is proposing that a new federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency be created to ensure the safety and fairness of credit.

The agency would have the authority to ensure that credit and payment products don’t have predatory or deceptive features that can harm consumers or lock them into unaffordable loans.

The president’s proposal would consolidate most federal financial consumer protection efforts into a single agency.

The new agency would oversee all credit and payment products, no matter what kind of financial institution offers them. It would be charged with setting high federal minimum standards, which would allow the states to impose tougher requirements if warranted.

Consumer groups support the creation of the agency and made these statements about its value:

Travis Plunkett, legislative director, Consumer Federation of America. The international economic crisis was triggered by the failure of federal regulators to stop abusive lending, particularly in the housing sector. If the president’s proposal had been in place five years ago, this agency would have been able to better protect consumers, financial institutions, and the entire economy.

Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director, U.S. PIRG. Too often, captive federal banking regulators have treated consumer protection as less important or even in conflict with their supposed primary mission to ensure the safety and soundness of financial institutions. The president’s proposal would streamline and dramatically improve the current splintered, ineffective federal financial regulatory system because the new agency would be required to make consumer credit protection its top priority.

Pamela Banks, senior policy counsel, Consumers Union. The days of allowing financial institutions to shop around for the weakest form of regulation are over. Under the president’s proposal, the only regulatory competition that would exist would be to increase consumer protections.

Linda Sherry, Consumer Action. The economic crisis has caused a painful loss of confidence in financial products and institutions. It appears that no one was minding the store. We support the creation of a new agency with powers to cut through the web of financial regulations and strengthen consumer protections. We need a watchdog to restore consumer confidence and increase the availability of innovative financial products to promote wealth building and access to capital for all communities.

Lauren K. Saunders, managing attorney, National Consumer Law Center. We need to get back to old-fashioned values like safe, affordable products that the good old Main Street banker used to offer. Consumers should not have to fear that the fine print of their mortgage or credit card is loaded with hidden tricks and traps that will explode on them.

Kathleen Keest, Center for Responsible Lending. This plan represents a leap forward in addressing regulatory failures that led to today’s financial crisis. By having a strong agency with the explicit mission of preventing abusive lending, we’ll ultimately build a stronger economy and restore confidence in the credit markets.

David Arkush, director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watchdivision. We urge Congress to act quickly on the president’s proposal so a strong, independent agency is in place to protect consumers in the financial services marketplace by next year.

Urge your members of Congress in the House and Senate to support this worthwhile consumer protection proposal today.

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The world is in shock and mourning Michael Jackson’s sudden death reportedly due to cardiac arrest. As people are posting tributes to him everywhere, he is being remembered as “The King of Pop”, “Icon”, “Legend”, but there is one thing that we all need to remember is that he was human just like all of us.

Michael’s unexpected passing away at just 50 leaves behind a good lesson for us. We need to stop and think seriously. Yes, this is a catastrophic tragedy, and all of us are perplexed thinking how could someone like Michael, who was not obese, had a thin stature, physically active as a dancer, very athletic die of cardiac arrest. It is not very uncommon for healthy looking people to have heart disease; and cardiac arrest is the first sign of heart disease.

Someone asked me a question this morning “Dr. Kapur, given that the initial explanation of the sudden death of Michael Jackson was cardiac arrest  – can you explain the relevance or relationship of that event to Cardiometabolic Syndrome?”

Cardiac arrest occurs when there is disruption of electrical signals in heart muscles, which therefore prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively, causing a heart attack. There are more chances of getting a cardiac arrest when there has been previous heart damage due to a heart attack (blockage of arteries). This does not mean that someone who has not had any previous event cannot have a cardiac arrest. It has been reported by several studies that people with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and/or with family history of heart disease or diabetes are at risk of dying of heart disease even when they appear thin and healthy. Stress, smoking and drug abuse have been shown to have an added risk. So, even when we are athletic, thin looking with no family history of heart disease, we need to be aware of our cholesterol and triglycerides at all times.

“What steps should those who might be reflecting upon their own ‘heart health’ take to insure that they are being smart about preventative steps?”

Healthy eating, active lifestyle and monitor your health regularly without waiting for your doctor to tell you what to do is the key. Check cholesterol levels and In addition to cholesterol levels, it is important to check glucose and inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, which is emerging as an independent risk factor for heart disease. It is recommended that people care for their own health and wellness by monitoring their cardiometabolic markers like cholesterols, triglycerides, hemoglobin A1c and C-reactive protein and not wait for their doctor to suggest these tests. This is because even doctors will not suggest these tests until they see any symptoms; so why wait until any symptoms appear. Heart disease and diabetes are like an iceberg  that is hundred times larger than what is seen on top. These diseases start way before the actual symptoms appear. It is smart to be proactive and take steps to prevent such diseases.  

As we all say “Adieu” to Michael, let us learn a lesson that he leaves behind for us…

Popularity: 1% [?]

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Recently I blogged about the difficulty I had after I’d hastily decided to make a raised bed garden out of heavy cinder blocks. I didn’t know how to arrange the two-layer sides or level the ground and the blocks were very heavy to lift.

Than I wrote a post about how a fellow blogger Deane Rimerman, editor of Forestry Policy Research, helped me with the project, making it a success after all.

I’m happy to report that I planted bean and Swiss chard seeds along with tomato, crookneck squash, and cucumber seedlings.

It was thrilling to see the beans and Swiss chard come up a week later. I haven’t planted seeds in years. I’ve only planted seedlings in container gardens, with varying degrees of success.

Finally catching up on my gardening and yard work, I went for a walk in my neighborhood along my usual route.

I was surprised to see a new raised bed garden. The plants were about the same size as mine, so I’m assuming that the gardeners constructed it recently, like me.

I analyzed the construction: tall sides and nicely finished tops. I saw that they’d also planted squash plants on the ground between their raised bed and at the sides. I’d been thinking about using the space next to my raised bed garden for more vegetables. I’ll be planting again soon.

It will be fun to watch this raised bed garden and see how it does.

Then I walked a block or two farther and saw a home with several raised bed gardens. The corn was so high I couldn’t believe it. I wonder if the planted it in May, if they raised corn seedlings, or if they bought corn seedlings.

My neighbors, too, started early. They’re already eating lettuce from their garden and the peas are getting taller daily.

When I went to West Olympia recently, I spotted these fabulous raised bed gardens. What a tremendous idea. Turn your front yard into garden beds. It’s a fantastic way to grow your own food.

What are your gardening stories this year? Are you making an attempt, like I am, to grow food?

Leave me a comment about your challenges and successes.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Last week I wrote about the difficulty I had planning a raised bed garden. I obtained advise from the local organic gardening store, then bought 40 cinder blocks without doing consumer research on other options.

It was stressful. The project was too much for me. I didn’t know how to go about making the garden level, and the cinderblocks were heavy to lift. In addition, I’d purchased seedlings that couldn’t wait a long time for planting while I was figuring out what to do.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. I asked Deane Rimerman, a fellow blogger who is editor of Forestry Policy Research, to help me. Luckily, he was available two days after I wrote the hand-wringing post.

Deane hadn’t build a cinder block raised bed garden before, but he’s worked as a landscaper. He had many good ideas for constructing it.

Here’s how we did it:

A trench is dug to put the cinder blocks in.

Sand is added to the trench to make it easier to adjust the blocks so they’d be level.

The cinder blocks are laid out so we can get an idea of how to organize them.

The first row of blocks is complete.

The raised bed garden is filled with dirt and special soil.

Deane is happy the job is done.

I plant tomato, yellow crookneck squash, and cucumber seedlings. A row each of beans and Swiss chard seeds is planted.

I’m pleased with how the raised bed garden turned out. I’ll need to look for half or quarter cinder blocks for two of the ends because we ended up having block hangover there.

I’m looking forward to having many wonderful vegetable gardens. As Colleen Vanderlinden, who blogs at About.com: Organic Gardening, said in a comment to my last week’s post, “On the upside, your concrete block raised bed will be completely indestructible once it’s finished.”

I’m going to do consumer research on planting a winter garden. I’ve never had one before, so it will be interesting to see what you can grow here in the Pacific Northwest during the winter.

The surprising thing is that a 4-feet-by-8-feet garden isn’t very big. Planting it was like planting a container garden.

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It really depends upon how much we like soft drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks or any other type of sweetened caloric beverages before we can make a choice between our cravings and our cardiometabolic risk. Scientific research has shown a number of times in the past how much we have to be watchful of our caloric consumption, not just from the food we consume but also from the beverages we enjoy. Nurses’ Health Study has shown about 49% increase in the risk of coronary heart disease in women due to regular soft drink consumption. Nurses’ Health Study II has also shown a direct link between sweetened drinks and increased risk of diabetes, irrespective of total body weight. Framingham study has suggested a strong association between metabolic syndrome and soft drink intake. Another recent research study reported about 44% increased chances of getting diagnosed with metabolic syndrome if someone consumed one soft drink every day as compared to those who did not drink such sweetened caloric beverages frequently.

Unfortunately, there is a rising trend in the consumption of flavored and sweetened energy drinks, fruit drinks, vitamin water especially in United States and the intake of these beverages has tripled in last few years, which is now emerging as a major cause of obesity in children and also conditions like weight gain, insulin resistance and other cardiovascular risk factors in adults.

We have definitely seen some direct or indirect effects of the sweetened caloric drinks on our overall health and wellness. Several articles have been published in this direction, both scientific and in lay press; many research studies have identified statistically significant associations between soft drink consumption and increased body weight, diabetes and heart disease. There is no doubt about adverse and unhealthy effects of most of the sugar and fizzy drinks and I think there is no need for us to wait for further evidence to prove it again. It is time to do something about correcting the mistakes we have made so far.

All along we have been saying “We are what we eat”, but now it is all about “We are what we eat…and drink”. It is not very difficult to watch what we choose to drink when we think of healthy weight loss or just when we are thirsty. I remember my grandma sharing with me benefits of drinking water, green tea, pomegranate juice for several health reasons she could outline (all appearing non-scientific at the time) as she never went to school, but now when I think of those, I feel she knew much more science than most of us scientific pundits of today.

What are we waiting for? What more proofs do we need before we do something about this problem? Why are we debating on this subject for so long? We are becoming aware of what we eat, but should we also not be concerned about what we are drinking or what we are making our children drink? Let us create a better “Healthy Tomorrow” for our generations to follow.

Let us stop and make some intelligent choices about “drinking healthy” and let us appeal to manufacturers to make healthy drinks free of any harmful effects. At the same time, let us practice and educate ourselves about picking up the right drinks in order to prevent and manage any chronic diseases like metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease and other related conditions. Let us all work together.

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