‘Every day is an improvisation’ when caring for aging relatives

January 23, 2012 – 5:51 pm

How many of us have seen problems with older relatives that weve looked away from, not wanting to acknowledge their seriousness or fully face the consequences?

Theres a word for this: denial. And theres a good example of how it can affect family decision making in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. [

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Tags: Aging Relatives, Relatives

Organic Idealism Fuels Feud

January 23, 2012 – 2:39 pm

Its easy to pick on the New York Times. Theyre the big guys. Without fail, however, every time the big guys pick on one of the little guys, in this case organic food, someones gonna get a proverbial wedgie. The New York Times recently published an article entitled, Organic Agriculture Might Be Outgrowing Its Ideals, calling into question the sustainability of the sustainable food movement. Interesting. Specifically called out was the growing of organic tomatoes in the Baja Peninsula, and of course, the blogosphere went wild.

The we want organic and we want it now mentality has led to an upswing of Mexican workers making use of their deserts to provide us with the crops we demand. Vot

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Tags: Organic, Organic Idealism

Beauty is not being poisoned

January 21, 2012 – 5:51 am

 

Could sodium laureth sulfate be to cosmetics what BPA was to plastic water bottles?

The public interest group Environmental Defence is hoping so, launching the latest phase of its Just Beautiful campaign with a new ad warning consumers about chemicals in makeup and beauty products.

The 60-second commercial from the Toronto-based agency Open, entitled “How To Look Pretty Without Poisoning Yourself,” depicts a game show contestant who has to find one among an array of a cosmetic products that does not contain toxins or cancer-causing chemicals.

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Netflix and Disney and Family, Oh My!

January 18, 2012 – 6:42 am

Netflix took a lot of flack last summer after announcing it was raising its prices and splitting its streaming and DVD plans. Still, my husband and I had been customers for quite a while and we loved the ease and value of the service, so we decided to stick with them. Not only do we enjoy having access to thousands of movie selections between the two options, but our kids love it, too.

All of my boys know how to choose streaming movies on our computers and XBOX, including our 2-year-old. We keep an eye on what theyre watching and make sure theyre only choosing from the childrens menu, but they love the freedom of being able to watch an episode of Backyardigans or Power Rangers Samurai on a whim.

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Tags: Netflix, Netflix Disney