Tip: Sweets can be deadly. Take it moderately & Incorporate Whole Foods to Increase Stamina & Improve Moods

Look at this: Typical Family Eating Set-up: "Wynes and her husband Ken were balancing busy careers with the demands of raising a family. Nothing was off the menu; hotdogs, Kraft Dinner and drivethroughs all made regular appearances. The turning point came five years ago when their youngest son Chase, in Grade 3 at the time, was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). As a social worker, Wynes was familiar with the trial-and-error method of prescribing medication to children, but she decided to pursue a different approach for Chase.

"I heard kids talking about the negative side effects, saying things like 'I feel like everything's slowing down,' or 'I feel like I'm stuck in mud,'" she says.

Her maternal instinct kicked in and Wynes aggressively researched the effects of food on behaviour and moods. She discovered that certain foods can be harmful to emotions and thought processes. She eliminated foods containing simple sugars from her family's diet and incorporated whole foods proven to increase mental stamina and improve moods.

"The foods now are so manipulated that's there are not a lot of nutrients or actual food in them - it's all chemicals and fillers," she says."

'via Blog this'Treena Wynes fixes dinner:

Update: World Bank Provides Critical Support for Hydro Project Development (Alternative Energy)

The World Bank's projects and operations are designed to support low-income and middle-income countries' poverty reduction strategies. Countries develop strategies around a range of reforms and investments likely to improve people's lives, and the bank strives to align its assistance with each country's priorities and harmonize its aid program with other agencies to boost aid effectiveness.

The World Bank is engaged in hydro projects in all its regions, with efforts divided into: construction of new projects, rehabilitation of existing projects, other lending and capacity building, and analytical work. As demand grows for clean, reliable and affordable energy, the role of hydropower has increased over the past decade as developing nations move to harness their resources, according to the World Bank website. This critical renewable energy resource could be instrumental in bringing light and heat to 1.6 billion people who currently lack access, the World Bank says."

'via Blog this'Banks Provide Critical Support for Hydro Project Development: "One of its most recent hydro commitments, made in June 2011, is a $648 million loan through its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to THDC India Ltd. for development of the 444 MW Vishnugad Pipalkoti project in Urrarakhand, India. The objectives of this project are to increase the supply of electricity to India's national grid through the addition of renewable, low-carbon energy and to strengthen the institutional capacity of THDC India with respect to the preparation and implementation of economically, environmentally and socially sustainable hydro projects.

With this loan, the project achieved full financial closure. Total project cost is expected to be $922 million, and it is to be completed by 2016. THDC India has a portfolio of hydro projects in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Bhutan with aggregate capacity of 8,868 MW.

In May 2011, The World Bank provided a $640 million loan to assist with development of the 1,040 MW Upper Cisokan pumped-storage project on the Upper Cisokan River in West Java, Indonesia. The objectives of this project are to increase the peaking capacity of the power generation system in an environmentally and socially sustainable way and to strengthen the institutional capacity of developer Perusahaan Listrik Negara in hydropower planning, development and operation. Total project cost is expected to be $800 million, with PLN providing the remaining $160 million. Work on the Upper Cisokan project is to be completed in 2016.

In addition, a $15 million World Bank loan announced in March 2011 is being used to aid work being performed by Jamaica's Ministry of Energy and Mining under its Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project. This work includes strengthening Jamaica's energy sector regulatory and institutional framework, mobilizing investment financing, developing energy efficiency and renewable energy potential, preparing studies, recruiting a small hydro engineer, preparing a promotion package for three hydro plants, and conducting a performance review of existing hydroelectric projects.

Update: Africa: Demands Probe into Possible Human Rights Abuses wrought by Carbon Credit Market

"Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe is pushing for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses committed abroad by companies looking to tap into the emerging carbon credit market.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week, Inhofe demanded an investigation into crimes allegedly committed Africa and Latin America in the name of mitigating climate change — as sanctioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Inhofe’s concern stems in part from a September Oxfam International report that detailed how The New Forest Company, a firm that grows tree plantations in order to sell carbon credits, violently evicted more than 20,000 people from their homes and land in Uganda to make way for one of their forests.

“Thousands of people are suffering because they have been evicted without meaningful consultation or compensation,” wrote Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs."

'via Blog this'James Inhofe | Human Rights Abuse | Carbon Credit Market | The Daily Caller:

Update: Europe Bans X-Ray Full-Body Scanners Over Health Concerns

The Europeans, for whom data privacy is kind of a capital-T thing and has been for a very long time, had been slow to deploy full-body scanners across the continent in part exactly because of privacy concerns. The new policy introduces a number of safeguards that will be very familiar to US travelers: no storing of the images, no looking at the images except from a different room, and no forcing passengers to walk through the machines without offering an opt-out.

And then there's the part that's glaringly different from the US. Airports that use full-body scanners will not be allowed to use x-ray devices, only millimeter-wave devices. Europe has decided that the health effects of x-ray scanners haven't been studied enough, and that they could pose "health and safety" risks to passengers."

'via Blog this'Europe Bans X-Ray Full-Body Scanners Over Health Concerns || Jaunted:

Update: China Development Bank Provide Critical Support for Hydro Project (Alternative Energy for Climate Change)

"China Development Bank focuses on such areas as infrastructure development, industrial upgrading, regional coordination, and development and improvement of public welfare. Its mission is to strengthen China's competitiveness and improve the living standards of its people. In 2010, the bank issued debt securities totaling RMB850 billion (US$133.6 billion) and provided electric sector loans totaling RMB509.6 billion ($80.1 billion).

The bank has provided financial support to many power generation and transmission/distribution projects in China, including the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba hydro projects on the Jinshajiang River."

'via Blog this'Banks Provide Critical Support for Hydro Project Development: In July 2011, the bank signed a $2 billion credit with Ecuador's government to support irrigation and hydro projects. Of this total, $680 million will be used for four hydro plants, including 21 MW Mazar-Dudas, 276 MW Minas San Francisco, 50 MW Quijos and 15 MW Villonaco. The eight-year loan has a 6.9% interest rate and two-year grace period.

And in October 2010, the bank agreed to lend more than $11 billion to China Three Gorges Corp., developer of the 22,400 MW Three Gorges project. The credit lines will come as $7.2 billion and another $4 billion over five years and will be used to develop other hydro projects, as well as to build wind farms and undertake power projects in overseas markets. As of the time of this announcement, China Development Bank had loaned CNY47.8 billion ($7.5 billion) to China Three Gorges Corp. and its affiliates.

Wellness in Education: To Improve Performance of 63,000 plus Undernourished School Children, DepEd to Pursue Feeding Program

According to Education Secretary Armin Luistro, the feeding program aims to address under-nutrition and short-term hunger syndrome among public schoolchildren who do not eat breakfast and walk long distance to reach school. “This is the most vulnerable group who finds it hard to pay attention to the lessons in class because of hunger and are in danger of dropping out if no intervention is made,” Luistro explained.

The DepEd chief added that the program — which was initially implemented in Pangasinan, Bohol and Lanao del Norte — will be expanded to 15 more divisions during the school year. Based on the prevalence of under-nutrition in these divisions and the capability of school heads to manage and administer the program, the new beneficiaries are schools from the divisions of Quirino, Zambales, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Sorsogon, Kabankalan City, Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao Oriental, Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Norte, Kalinga, Maguindanao, and Quezon City."

'via Blog this'DepEd to pursue feeding program | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "

Health Tip: Help Your Child Create a Healthy Body Image

Discuss with your child the fact that weight gain, especially during puberty, can be a normal and healthy part of development; Don't speak negatively about weight, food, body shape and size; Encourage your child to make personal decisions about food, but offer a variety of healthy options.
Praise and compliment your child for things he or she has accomplished; Limit your child's television time, and when it is on, watch together to encourage discussion about images in the media; Be active in your child's school, promoting policies that protect against discrimination, bullying and a healthy approach toward weight; Communicate openly with your child."

'via Blog this'Health Tip: Help Your Child Create a Healthy Body Image - US News and World Report: "