bryanpalmernovogen.com

Story By: by Jasmine Garsd

Like everything Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux does, the video for “Sacar La Voz” is simple but poignant, poetic but unpretentious, graceful yet furious.

The most memorable nights of my life, the ones I will remember when I am an old hermit in the jungle of northeastern Argentina (yes, this is my retirement dream) have all been unplanned, fortuitous mistakes. Nights when I’ve ended up at unexpected parties, met unusual and delightful people or stumbled across a fantastic hidden dance club and salsa danced the night away.

In a lot of ways this week’s show sounds like a serendipitous, memorable night. We think we’ve created the perfect dance show, a true international feast, with irresistible tracks from Portugal, Angola, Argentina, Colombia and New York.

Some of my fondest nocturnal memories involve having incredibly stimulating conversation about politics, society and life at a random bar with a group of strangers. Which is why we also included some fantastic, thought-provoking music from Oaxacan rapper Mare and Chilean rapper extraordinaire Ana Tijoux. This week we premiere Tijoux’s new video for the song “Sacar La Voz” (Raise Your Voice), from her deeply political recent album La Bala. Like everything Tijoux does, the video is simple but poignant, poetic but unpretentious, graceful yet furious. There is always a serene quality even to Tijoux’s most irate songs, proving that tranquility of the mind doesn’t negate passion and desire; Tijoux is just very clear and confident about telling it like it is.

So whether you are in the mood to wander into an obscure bar and have a life-changing conversation or infiltrate an excellent party you weren’t invited to, we’ve got your soundtrack.

———————————————————————————————————————-

Las noches más memorables de mi vida, las cuales recordaré cuando soy una anciana ermitaña en la selva misionera en el noreste argentino (si, ese es mi sueño) han sido noches sin plan, llenas de errores fortuitos. Noches en las cuales he ido a una fiesta a la cual no fui invitada, conocido gente extraña y fascinante, o me he topado con un maravilloso club recónditoy bailado salsa hasta la madrugada.

El show de esta semana me recuerda mucho a una noche llena de aventura, un verdadero festín internacional, con irresistibles canciones de Portugal, Angola, Argentina, Nueva York y Colombia.

Claro que algunos de mis más gratos recuerdos nocturnos tienen que ver con estimulantes conversaciones sobre la vida con extraños en algun bar de malamuerte. Por eso esta semana también tenemos canciones provocativas por artistas conmovedoras, como la rapera Mare de Oaxaca y la chilena Ana Tijoux. Es mas, esta semana estrenamos el nuevo video de Tijoux, “Sacar La Voz.” Esa canción figura en su más reciente álbum La Bala y como todo lo que hace Tijoux, es un video simple pero chocante, lleno de poesía pero libre de pretención, repleto de gracia pero también de furia. Los trabajos de Tijoux siempre tienen una onda serena, demostrando que la tranquilidad mental no quita la pasión. Tijoux simplemente es una persona clara, sabe lo que quiere y dice las cosas como son.

Si estás de humor para meterte en un obscuro bar y tener una conversación que cambiará tu vida, o simplemente infiltrarte en una fiesta, aquí tenemos música para acompañar todas tus aventuras.

Commitment is important — in fact, it’s essential — but it’s only the beginning. The key to successful dieting is bridging the gap between what you want to do and actually doing it. The desire is there; you just need a plan.

The scientifically proven tactics on these two pages will help you do just that. I say that with confidence — not only as a social psychologist who studies motivation, but also as someone who has benefited from these tricks firsthand.

Each one — especially #2 — helped me lose almost 50 pounds after my son was born three years ago.

Strategy #1: Be very specific

When we make goals that are vague, like “I want to lose weight,” we set ourselves up to fail.

Motivation happens when your brain detects a difference between where you are and where you want to be. When you are specific about your goal (I want to lose 10 pounds), that difference is clear, and your brain starts throwing resources (attention, memory, effort, willpower) at the problem.

A clear target looks something like this: “I want to weigh 135 pounds. I weigh 155 now, so that’s a difference of 20 pounds.”

Being specific gives you clarity because you’ve spelled out exactly what success looks like. That means more motivation — and better odds of success.

Health.com: “I did it!” Weight-loss success stories

Strategy #2: Create an OK-to-eat plan

Faced with unexpected temptations — the dessert menu, the catered work lunch — we end up eating things that sabotage our weight-loss goals. The best way to guarantee you make the right choices is to create an “if-then” plan:

“If the dessert menu arrives, I’ll order coffee.”

“If I am at a business lunch, I’ll have a salad.”

Studies suggest that coming up with safe-to-eat plans makes you two to three times more likely to reach your diet goals.

Health.com: Willpower secrets from the pros

Strategy #3: Track your success

To stay clear about that gap between where you want to go and where you are now, monitor your progress. Keep getting on that scale; mark the days you exercise on a calendar.

Another thing: When you think about the progress you’ve made, stay focused on how far you have to go, rather than how far you’ve come. If you want to drop 20 pounds, and you’ve lost 5 so far, keep your thoughts on the 15 that remain.

When we dwell too much on how much progress we’ve made, it’s easy to feel a premature sense of accomplishment and start to slack off.

Health.com: 25 ways to cut 500 calories a day

Strategy #4: Be a realistic optimist

As much as we want to believe otherwise, losing weight isn’t easy. It turns out that it’s important to accept this.

Believing you will succeed is key, but believing you will succeed easily (what I call “unrealistic optimism”) is a recipe for failure. Take it from the women, all obese, who enrolled in a weight-loss program in one study.

Those who thought they could lose weight easily lost 24 pounds less than those who knew it would be hard. The successful dieters put in more effort, planned in advance how to deal with problems, and persisted when it became difficult.

So don’t try to tamp down your worries — they can help prepare you for shape-up challenges.

Health.com: Best superfoods for weight loss

Strategy #5: Strengthen your willpower

The capacity for self-control is like a muscle: It varies in strength from person to person and moment to moment. Just as your biceps can feel like jelly after a workout, your willpower “muscle” gets tired when you overtax it.

To strengthen it, pick any activity that requires you to override an impulse (such as sitting up straight when your impulse is to slouch), and add that to your daily routine. And take baby steps. Instead of going junk-free overnight, begin by eliminating, say, those chips you eat by the bag, and substitute them with a fruit or vegetable.

Hang in there, and sticking to your diet will become easier because your capacity for self-control will grow.

Copyright Health Magazine 2011

Release Date: 04/17/2012Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – April 17, 2012) – The owner and operator of a hazardous waste management facility in Providence, R.I. face an EPA penalty for violating federal and state hazardous waste laws.
According to the recent complaint filed by EPA’s New England office, Northland Environmental and PSC Environmental Services (operator and owner of the facility, respectively) violated state and federal hazardous waste laws, as well as their state issued permit to operate a commercial hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste treatment, storage and transfer facility located on Allens Avenue in Providence.
The facility is located in a densely populated Environmental Justice (EJ) area of Providence.  EPA considers it an EJ area due to the high proportion of minority and low-income population, which historically has had higher exposure to pollutants than other segments of the population.
In its complaint, EPA details 16 counts of hazardous waste management violations at the facility.  The most significant violations were that the companies failed to properly determine that some of the wastes managed and shipped off site as non-hazardous wastes, were in fact, hazardous. This resulted in hazardous wastes being disposed of at facilities not designed or permitted to handle hazardous wastes. In addition, Northland Environmental and PSC Environmental Services failed to properly list all hazardous waste constituents on required notification and shipping documents. These violations could result in hazardous wastes not being properly managed and treated by the final disposal facilities. Moreover, many incompatible hazardous wastes were stored next to one another without adequate means of separation or protection, potentially resulting in fires or explosions.
PSC Environmental Services owns and Northland Environmental operates the facility, which accepts and handles a variety of wastes, including acids, alkalis, flammable wastes, water reactive wastes, cyanides, sulfides, oxidizers, toxic wastes, oily wastes, photochemical wastes and laboratory packs. Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes are received at the facility, stored and or consolidated and then shipped off site for treatment and/or disposal. The affiliated companies face a penalty of up to $37,500 per violation per day.
More information:
- EPA enforcement of hazardous waste laws (http://www.epa.gov/region1/enforcement/waste/index.html)
- Addressing Environmental Justice in New England: (http://www.epa.gov/region1/ej/index.html)
#   #  #
Learn More about the Latest EPA News & Events in New England (http://www.epa.gov/region1/newsevents/index.html)
Follow EPA New England on Twitter (http://twitter.com/epanewengland)
More info on EPA’s Environmental Results in New England (http://www.epa.gov/region1/results/index.html)

Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email

Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases

Get email when we issue news releases

View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.

Story By: Talk of the Nation

Last May, German investigators found secret files embedded in a pornographic video on memory cards being carried by a suspected al Qaeda operative. Peter Wayner describes the history and technology of the technique for hiding information, known as steganography.

The popular US-based campaign site Change.org is opening a UK branch as part of a global roll-out.

Such charities are then charged on a cost-per-action model based on how many people take part in their campaigns.

Mr Rattray says he expects Change.org to raise about $15m (£9.3m) in revenues this year. He says he will spend the cash expanding the business.

Although some users may feel squeamish about their support being used to raise money, he says everyone involved benefits.

"The business model we are disrupting is that non-profits spend extraordinary amounts of money on face-to-face and direct mail fundraising," said Mr Rattray.

"It's much more efficient to build membership and donors online.

"The campaigns are marked as being 'sponsored' and it's not dramatically different than what you get if you search Google for charities and see sponsored links."

Although it may end up competing with campaign site 38 Degrees for attention, the British organisation welcomed Change.org entry into the UK.

"The Change.org petition site has made a valuable contribution to helping more people get their voices heard online in the USA, and it would be great news if they managed to do that here too," said David Babb, 38 Degree's executive director.

Beyond the UK Mr Rattray aims to have local offices in between 20 and 25 countries by the end of the year including Germany, Thailand, India, Egypt and Argentina.

Longer term he also has his eyes on China. Although there are plans to expand into Taiwan and Hong Kong, the site is blocked at present from the mainland and its 500 million internet users.

"I think we could have a huge influence there in ways that the central government would like – there's a lot of corruption in local politics and it's hard for them to root out – citizen mobilisation would be effective" said Mr Rattray.

"The challenge is that we can't control campaigns and inevitably these sorts of things involved are very sensitive – we would have to find a way to accommodate that.

"Our goal is not to be indelibly antagonistic to governments or companies, it's to broker a relationship."

Story By: by Allison Aubrey

California teens are getting fewer calories because of restrictions on school snacks, a study says

The California sunshine can’t hurt. It may help keep teens outdoors where they’re less likely to snack, and more likely to move around.

But this isn’t the explanation for why teens in the Golden State eat 158 fewer calories a day than kids in other states.

California teens, it turns out, are eating less at school, according to a new study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. And that little bit less per kid can add up to big calorie savings over time, nutrition experts say.

So what gives? The authors credit the state’s laws that set strict limits on the sale of snack foods in schools. Also, in 2009, the state banned the sale of soda and other sweetened beverages (think sports drinks) in high schools.

“The evidence is entirely consistent with what the laws were designed to do,” says University of Illinois researcher Dan Taber.

So, can 158 fewer calories a day have any meaningful impact on the complex obesity problem?

The daily swing of a 158 calories may sound trivial, but over the course of the year this can really add up, explains Dave Grotto, RD, president and founder of Chicago nutritional counseling firm, Nutrition Housecall LLC. “That can mean 15 pounds a year – gained or lost- depending on which side of the calorie equation you are on.”

Yep, it sounds shocking. But here’s how the math works: 100 calories x 365 days = 36,500 calories. There are 3,500 calories are in a pound of fat. So that would be 10 pounds. 150 calories extra or less than what is needed to maintain weight will produce a 15 pound weight swing.

Of course, every person’s calorie needs are different, and metabolisms vary too, but for those who are battling weight, keeping the calories in check is critical.

“Yes, it’s significant,” nutrition guru Marion Nestle tells The Salt. Her recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle blames politics for the difficulties in taking sugary foods out of schools.

Also, 150 calories is about the amount found in a sugary 12 ounce beverage.

“So, swapping that out for a flavored low-cal water or diet soda would still provide the same experience and hydration without the caloric consequence,” Grotto says.

As for any long-term effects of California’s restrictions on snacks and soda, Dan Taber says he hopes to keep collecting data. He points out that this study provides just a snapshot.

“Our study was limited to a relatively small sample that provided intake data at one point in time.” But, for now, he calls the results “very encouraging.”