We've probably all heard something like this -- during a BBQ, Jane stumbled and took a little fall.  The hosts offered to call the paramedics, but Jane assured everyone she was fine, she had just tripped because of her new shoes.  She was dusted off, given a new plate of food, and while she appeared a little shaken up, she went on to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital shortly after the barbecue ended, and at 6:00 pm that evening, she had died.

Jane has suffered a stroke at the BBQ.

Had someone at the party known how identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would still be alive. 

Some stroke victims don't die, as Jane did, but are paralyzed or otherwise left in a hopeless condition from a stroke.

But it doesn't have to happen.

That's because neurologists know that if they can treat a stroke victim within three hours, they can often totally reverse the effects of the stroke. The technology is there to completely prevent damage from a stroke.

The trick is getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within three hours, which can be tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Always remember the '3' steps... S T R  -- Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.  Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.  The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage within hours, when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

But a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE. Is their smile balanced and equal?

T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE   (Coherently -- i.e. It is sunny out today.)  Can they repeat a simple sentence clearly?

R* Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.  Do both arms go up equally?

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

Here's another, additional test for stroke:  "Stick out Your Tongue!"

Ask the person to 'stick' out her tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that can also be an indicator that the person has suffered a stroke.

Of course the very best way to avoid a stroke is prevention: adopt and adhere to a low-fat, plant-strong diet, protecting your arteries and veins from being damaged and clogged, which is why a stroke occurs.

But it's important to know how to spot symptoms of a silent stroke: it can mean the difference between life and death.

Why?  Because a yahoo hunter group loaded up their pickups with bullets and beer, filled their gas tanks, and sped off for a day or two to see what they could shoot, and then dumped it at a homeless mission to make bear meat tacos.

Was it a publicity stunt?  According to this LA Times article:

Welsh's son, Eric, who helped solicit donations on his website, DIYBowhunter.com, said he picked up most of the donations himself, crisscrossing California and Arizona in his 1996 Tacoma pickup.

He hoped the event would change people's perceptions of hunters

"We don't just mow a whole bunch of animals down and then drink 20 beers on the way home," he said. Hunters, he said, care about animals and don't want any meat to go to waste.

Oh yeah, they care about animals so much, that they kill and then eat them, and drop off carcasses for the po' folk.

It seems a little shameful to me that the Mission would go along with this. Who is benefitting? The people they feed this terrible food to? Or the beer guzzling killers seeking PR for their sick hobby?

You want to support the needy and get them healtheir at the same time? 

It's easy. Support Meals For Health.

Meals For Health provides free food and gets people healthy with plants.

GLEE is running a nationwide search for a new cast member, inviting kids age 16 and up to submit a 1-minute interview followed by the performance of a song on a list GLEE provides.

So scroll down to check out my twin daughter's submission!

For those of you with Netflix, you know what a pleasure it is to discover hidden treasures you may have missed.

Recently we started watching old episodes of Stargate SG-1.  This is a sci-fi show about humans who travel to other planets through a "star gate" system. 

The bad guys in this series are a race called the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld are a parasitic creature that requires a host in order to live.

The Goa'uld feel they are superior to everyone else in the galaxy and have no problem using humans for their purposes.

Who does this sound like?

It was rather interesting to find some deep, ethical, philosophical issues being discussed on an old science fiction TV show.

Watch the segment below, which is a trial where the Goa'uld representatives gives the argument why it's acceptable for the Goa'uld to use humans as they do. The human host victim is answering questions, and two humans are defending him, and trying to answer the Goa'uld's argument.

I don't want to give too much away. Watch this clip and tell us what you think.

We bought a bunch from a furniture store nearby, and ordered several items online. And we've been doing the CraigsList thing. 

CraigsList.org is pretty much in every city -- you log on, find ads for whatever you may be looking for, someone in your area is probably selling it.  Contact the seller, drive over, meet the person and see the thing in person, if you love it and the price is right, it's yours!

We've found some really incredible deals on some beautiful pieces, and have been lucky getting a great table for the family room, a dresser for Willie, chairs, a desk, lotta good stuff.

But in a sign of troubling times we've been meeting sellers who've lost their jobs, who are losing their homes, who are selling all of their possessions because they have to move and need to liquidate. One charming couple we met lost their jobs and house -- and are moving to Uganda to help AIDS patients. 

Here was a couple somewhere in their 40s, and they were deciding to make lemons out of lemonade, and make something positive out of a situation that others would see as hopeless or disastrous.

Once we look at something, Sabrina and I go outside and talk about whether we want to buy it or move on.  We wanted this table, for the girls to do their work on in one corner of the family room, since they're now homeschooling -- here's the table, sitting at one end of our family room (can you find the cat in the photo?):

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR ENLARGEMENT

and we got this buffet to go in our dining room from the same couple:

Normally we would try to negotiate the price down when we buy from a private party. But because we felt like this couple had already lost everything, and they were going off on an adventure to do good work, we just paid what they were asking.  We wanted to support what they were doing.

We also saw pieces that looked good in the Craigslist photo, but when you got there the thing was absolutely horrific. So it's hit and miss, naturally.

Craigslist is an odd way to buy furniture, but it can also be oddly satisfying. Normally you buy from a salesperson in a store, but with Craigslist, the furniture can have a story and a history, and a chance to make contact with interesting people.

= = = = =

And here are the girls tonight, sitting at their new table with their friend, Briana:

Walk into any commercial supplement store and you'll find shelves of product aimed specifically at body-builders and other athletes.Among them: antioxidant supplements that promise to neutralize the free radicals generated by strenuous exercise.Unfortunately, if you swallow such pills -- and claims -- new research suggests you're not only squandering money, you're forgoing specific exercise benefits such supplements block.

In a recent German study, 40 young male volunteers engaged in about an hour and a half of intense exercise -- running, cycling, weight-lifting -- five days a week. As expected, the regimen yielded various health benefits, including improved ability to control blood sugar, thus reducing diabetes risk. But when the men took antioxidant supplements -- 400 IU of vitamin E and 1,000 mg of vitamin C -- there was NO improvement in insulin sensitivity.

Why?

The pills seem to displace the body's own natural antioxidant systems, which otherwise neutralize the oxidative damage caused by increased oxygen intake during exercise.

These findings add to the mountain of evidence that reliance on supplements either offers no benefits or even poses specific health risks. For example, athletes and others take glucosamine to relieve joint pain, but research shows most commercial supplements are ineffective, while the safety of large doses remains uncertain. Bromelain is another supplement aimed at joint health -- but lab work at the Dole Nutrition Institute found that fresh and frozen pineapple offer a superior source of the enzyme.