THE 2008 CHUMP CHANGE CHALLENGE

What can you buy with a quarter?
Not much but together our small change can make big change!

We all have piles of loose change in a jar, dish or drawer. Maybe it's the classic - change under the sofa cushions.

Well brothers & sisters, I ask you, "What good is it doing under your sofa?"  Your small change can make a big change in someone's life. It can house the homeless, feed the hungry, rescue animals.

Our goal is to collect 44,000 quarters by year end, so please send in a few quarters.
Join the Chump Change Challenge today!

How much do should you donate?

Note the name of this campaign. We're just looking to collect some dusty change. Whatever you can give is perfect - a nickel, a dime a couple of quarters.

Where's the money going, you ask?

How come that spare change didn't mean much when it was sitting in a jar, but now that I ask you for some, you're getting all possessive?

98% of all monies collected will be donated to the area which you choose within the 4 categories:

Animals:  World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)

Why did we choose to support WSPA?
By supporting WSPA, you are given a unique chance to help animals around the world.  Many of our members see the importance of helping animals in other countries & want to support animals outside of their own community, since the US and Europe are making efforts to protect animals but animals in developing countries are in great need; many countries don't have any legal protection for animals. The WSPA programs allow them to do this is a very effective manner.  We are finding increasingly that US supporters see the importance of helping animals in other countries. WSPA is the only animal welfare group to hold consultative status with the United Nations and the Council of Europe.  READ MORE and DONATE (please?)

Children:  Save the Children

Why did we choose them?
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating real and lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. It is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, comprising 28 national Save the Children organizations working in more than 110 countries to ensure the well-being of children.  READ MORE and DONATE, (por favor?)

Environment:   The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Why NRDC?
"NRDC is, by many accounts, the most effective lobbying and litigating group on environmental issues." — The Wall Street Journal.  They use law, science and the support of 1.2 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things. 
We chose NRDC because their mission is quite clear - To safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends
READ MORE and DONATE, (s'il vous plait?)

Health:TBA

Where's the remaining 2% going?

Well, we're hoping to upgrade from gov't cheese to Krafts.

How will donations be collected?

1. Securely and easily through PayPal.
2. Or for those who enjoy making my life just a little bit more difficult, you can tape your change to an index card, state your charity preference and mail to:
StyleStationNYC PO Box 286865 New York, NY 10128

In an attempt to fight dirty hands syndrome, many hospitals have launched campaigns encouraging patients to take an active role in improving hospital safety, but many patients aren’t comfortable asking doctors if they washed their hands.  Patients are worried about insulting their doctors . 

It's not the question but how you ask it. You've heard the expression, " Were you raised in a barn?" Well, some people are rude and disrespectful, period.  Be it the staff or the patient.  Many staff members and patients (I'm an RN) are respectful and polite and therefore rarely have difficulty communicating with each other.  Those who are rude, sloppy and disrespectful treat everyone around them that way and will have no regard for a patients' or staff members concerns or well being.

Maybe your mama never told you but, it makes no difference if you're speaking to the doctor, nurse or Chinese food delivery boy.  Be polite and respectful.

There is also something else at play here.  Everyone assumes that hospital employees are altruistic and of higher moral fiber.  Some yes, some no.

There are 4 types of hospital workers. 

2- Experienced and skilled Robot.  They are on automatic pilot.  They have a job to do.  They plan on getting it done as efficiently (for them not you) and with as little interaction as possible.  They are super organized and know what's expected of them but don't care about the theory behind the rules.  For example, they may wear 3 pairs of gloves at once in order to just peel a layer off in between patients.  If you enjoy watching someone squirm, throw a monkey wrench into their day and ask these robots a question while they're working!

3- Angry, Hostile BookSmart.  Intelligent and chock full of information but condescending, arrogant and narcissistic.  This person is a live encyclopedia.  They can't have a conversation, they only lecture.  Sit there be quiet, nod your head and pretend you understand.  They did not go into medicine to "help people."  They did it for the prestige and the money (ha, the jokes on them there).  You won't catch anything from these people because they have no intention of touching you.

4-The Inexperienced.  Very easy to spot.  All clean and pressed.  Wide, shell-shocked expression.  Very polite and eager to help but can never actually do anything.  "Every conversation ends with, "Let me find out for you."  In time, they merge into one of the other 3 categories.

 I think it's because it's good for you.  People have this animosity towards doing what's good for them.  Exercise, vegetables, hand washing - all annoying healthy habits. Or maybe because people are basically selfish and they think that washing their hands is good for others so why do it?  They don't care about spreading their germs to others. 

Well guess what?  Payback is a bitch.  Study after study shows that many people don't wash after using the bathroom.  For every germ you left behind on that doorknob going out the bathroom, someone left you a nice 'right back at ya' microbial message on the doorknob going in.  Hepatitis A is primarily spread via feces.  So every restaurant which had a Hep A outbreak had an infected kitchen worker who wiped his a** and then touched your salad.

Other studies show that hospital staff (people who should know better) don't wash their hands in between patients.  Don't they get it?  If they don't care about protecting the patients, don't they realize that they themselves are at risk if they don't wash the germs away?  I find that hospital workers (MDs especially) think they're immune to catching something from their environment.  Maybe they spend so much time in the hospital they become jaded about the dangers that lurk on every light switch.

This raises another issue.  The germs are everywhere.  Every surface in the room, the nurse bell, the remote, your IV pole, ekg monitor etc. has pathogens and when touched transfers pathogens to the patient, staff or visitor.   Cost cutting has done away with the sanitizing of the patient environment.  Used to be, back in the old days, someone would clean off everything from bed rails to lamp switch before a new admission entered the room.  It's much easier (aka cheaper) to get the staff to wash their hands a zillion times a day but the same should be instructed to all visitors.

Wash Your Hands Poster by anhdres

As you guys know, I have not given up on my New Year's resolution to get back in shape.  I am so disciplined!  I watch other people exercise all the time.  I read healthy recipes and those exercise posters at the gym make for fasinating reading.

My theory is that through subliminal suggestion, my nerve endings and metabolism will be fooled into thinking that it was me exercising and the fat will melt off without me having to lift one pudgy, little finger.

NBC's, 'The Biggest Loser' has been interesting this season.  If you've ever watched the show you know it's got that annoying reality TV format where the "contestants" compete at challenges, in this case it all has to do with weight control and weigh-ins.  Who ever loses is placed up for elimination from the show/game.

Turns out the trainers, Jillian and Bob are somewhat competing also.  The powers that be kept switching things around to the point that Bob got to choose which contestants he wanted on his team, soooo...he picked all the big, ex sports guys leaving Jillian with all the short, slow metabolism initially wussy women. (I think Bob was gunning for this since most if not all past winners of this show have been a Jillian team member.)   

No matter what Jillian puts these women through, fierce aerobics, weight lifting, kickboxing they only lose small amounts of weight (adds up to a significant amount though) at the weigh-ins which constantly puts one or more of them up for elimination.

Jillian did not get to where she is today in her career or in the physical condition she's in by accepting second best so when Ally, the host zeroes in on a particular contestant who has had an extremely hard time losing weight even though she's given it 110%, Jillian doesn't hold back her frustration - watch the clip above.

People with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor, according to new research.

A team of scientists has tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. The mutation occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. Before then, there were no blue eyes.

"Originally, we all had brown eyes," said Hans Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen.

The mutation affected the so-called OCA2 gene, which is involved in the production of melanin, the pigment that gives color to our hair, eyes and skin.  read more

I was never attracted to fatty foods as a kid.  'Real food' as I used to call it grossed me out.  Fried chicken, hamburgers, butter, yuck!  I survived on sugar.  Candy and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - breakfast of champions.  Pineapple cheesecake - food of the Gods. 

In high school, after much nagging from 'concerned adults', I made an effort to eat a tunafish sandwich for lunch instead of my usual gourmet delectables, french fries and a bag of peanut M&Ms. 

One afternoon, my concern that 'real food' and 'concerned adults' could kill you was realized.  The abdominal pain that tormented me throughout the evening and night till the next morning would have made a gunshot wound welcome.  My moans of agony kept the whole house up but back in those days, parents weren't bubbling over with nurturing comfort and compassion.  "Take an Alka Seltzer and go back to bed." Long story short, my appendix was a swollen, red sausage at the verge of rupturing and poisoning my entire system.  Surgery stat! 

That'll learn me!  What you eat definitely affects how you feel.  I stayed active and ate low fat, unprocessed foods.  I felt great, looked pretty good too for years, until...One day, you realize that you have become one of those 'concerned adults' you feared in the past.  Family obligations and chasing that elusive dollar sent me down the path of hard work and bad eating.  Too tired/lazy to prepare healthy meals, I started roaming through the cafeteria.  If my high school buddies could see me.  Eww... fried chicken! (Sniff, sniff)  Who eats this garbage? (Chomp, chomp)

 How does it work? 

Alli Weight Loss Aid blocks about 25% of the fat you eat.  Because undigested fat can't be absorbed, it passes out of your body instead of turning into calories. 

The main side effect occurs when you eat a meal with too much fat when taking Alli. If so much fat is blocked that your stool can't absorb it, you might have side effects. Because they are not harmful, we call them "treatment effects." These include loose or more frequent stools, an urgent need to go to the bathroom, or gas with an oily discharge. The excess fat that passes out of your body is in no way harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like oil on top of a pizza. And these treatment effects can be lessened if you stick to reduced-calorie, low-fat meals that average 15 grams of fat per meal.

This is a nice way of saying, "If you overeat, you will poop yourself.  Until your body rids itself of the extra fat that you put in there, you may have oily poop stains on your clothing."  Many people complain about gas pains and having soiled themselves.  They seem really shocked that this would happen after eating just 1 extra cheese slice of pizza.  Just 1 bucket of lard is still bad for you. 

This a committment that will have embarrassing consequences if you cheat.  Keeping the fat content of a meal down to 15 grams is no easy feat.  It will take some planning and a whole lot of detox.  No longer can you say, "I just had one taco" when you really had the Double Taco Supreme. 

A blood test could be used to diagnose and assess the severity of certain mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, as per Dr. Alexander Niculescu, III, a psychiatrist at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, who led the research published by the journal Molecular Psychiatry. 

Currently, bipolar disorder and other conditions such as depression are diagnosed based on the patient's description of their symptoms and the physician's judgment, sometimes making it difficult to get an accurate diagnosis or determine the severity of a patient's condition.

Researchers have shown that 10 genes that can be detected in the blood could provide a better way to assess a patient.

“Patients aren’t sure how ill they really are, and neither is the clinician — sometimes dismissing their symptoms, sometimes overestimating them,” said  Dr. Niculescu“Having an objective test for disease state, disease severity, and especially to measure response to treatment, would be a big step forward.”

Beyond the stigma
Dr. Carlos Pato, chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles, thinks a test for mental illness should be viewed no differently than a test for other medical conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease risk.

“We should look beyond the stigma of a mental illness because the most important thing is to have a very clear diagnosis to get the best treatment for the patient,” Pato said.

So, if you're taking Prozac or other such meds as an easy fix rather than work on your behavior and making better albeit harder choices you're about to be found out.  Now go to your room and think about what you did or didn't do.

Read more on this subject:
Supersize that Prescription? Yes Sir, May I Have Another?
Awww...Did You Have a Lousy Childhood? Get Over It!

The red carpet definitely sizzled when Heidi Klum arrived in a red Galliano dress.

The fit was perfect, the train was long but not ridiculous and the dramatic collar framed her face and collarbone beautifully.

The Project Runway host accessorized her dress with earrings, rings and a cuff that featured rubies, kunzites and pink diamonds set in 18k rose gold all from the Heidi Klum Collection for Mouawad.

Heidi Klum is not only beautiful but funny too.  When PEOPLE as her about her oversized bun hairstyle she said," I have snacks stored up here."

It turns out that she's generous as well. 

Her dress will be auctioned off to raise funds for the Red Dress Campaign for Heart Truth, an initiative between Diet Coke and the National Institutes of Health to raise awareness of heart disease in women.

The dress will be made available as part of a contest at www.mycokerewards.com, and for every sweepstakes entry, Diet Coke will donate $1 (up to a total of $250,000) in support of women’s heart health research and awareness.

There really isn't an Oscar gift basket anymore, but there was still plenty of traffic at the Belvedere Vodka Lounge in The Four Seasons hotel. Stars were checking out the lounge’s offerings while sipping on one of Belvedere’s signature drinks, a non-alcoholic “Juno Virgin Fizz.”

Some picked up Ray-Bans from the Ilori Luxury Lounge and Freeze 24-7 skin-care products, a favorite of the Hollywood crowd thanks to it having an effect similar to Botox.

There was a twist to it this year.  Celebs were not only getting freebies but were giving as well.  Working Wardrobes, a non-profit organization that helps outfit adults in need with business attire was also there to accept donated items for auction.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found overall awareness of heart attack signs and a person taking action for emergency assistance for someone experiencing a heart attack or stroke was alarmingly low," lead author Dr. Jing Fang said in a statement.  Hispanic adults were the least likely to know the major signs of a heart attack.

Only twenty-seven percent of all people who know all five major signs of a heart attack say they would also call 911 or otherwise seek emergency assistance if an individual appeared to be having a heart attack.

The warning signs of heart attack are pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck or back; feeling weak, lightheaded, or faint; chest pain or discomfort; pain or discomfort in the arms or shoulder; and shortness of breath.

The problem is these symptoms can be vague and possibly due to other causes like the most popular, indigestion but do NOT take any chances.  Get it checked out!