It doesn’t have anything to do with what kind of Utah health insurance or North Carolina health insurance you have – it has to do with social connections.

The study “found that those with poor social connections had on average 50% higher odds of death in the study’s follow-up period (an average of 7.5 years) than people with more robust social ties.”

It makes sense, when we have family members and friends who care about us and treat us well we are happier and less stressed which can boost our immune system.

Be kind to your friends, family members and those around you – let them feel like they can turn to you for help – you just might be helping someone live longer and in turn expanding your life expectancy.

Utah has the lowest smoking rate in the US so when we travel some where else, cigarette fumes can be very over whelming. While I believe that restaurants who have no smoking policies would attract more business without any regulation than restaurants who do not. I still think smoking bans are beneficial to the health of restaurant workers and visitors who do not the area well enough to know which restaurants are smoke free.  I wish smoking would be banned at public parks during large holiday celebrations and festivals. I guess we don’t need to go to those celebrations but it is nice to enjoy community events with the family. Going to a park to watch fireworks and having the people next to you start smoking is not fun and especially not polite to do in front of children and pregnant women. They could at least smoke an electronic cigarette.

I find it interesting that while cigarette taxes are increasing, less of that money is going towards anti-smoking programs. I also find it interesting that the states (like California and New York) who are doing the most to reduce their smoking rates also have the most support for legalizing marijuana which is worse than cigarettes as it impairs the smokers cognitive abilities which could lead to a higher crime rate.

The event was held at our local city library and as we were waiting to check in at the ballroom door I was reading about upcoming events at the library and one of them sure made me laugh. It was help with filling out your census form. Who needs help filling the census form out? It took me 5 minutes to do.

The way the ballroom was set up was very classy. modern furniture with floral, candle and stone centerpieces.

We started with a salad which was delicious. It had mandarin oranges and avocado, the basil and foccacia bread was also wonderful. The entree was roasted chicken stuffed with spinach, artichoke and ricotta cheese. It was topped with a cheese sauce and asparagus. The best part – dessert was amazing! JJ had a triple layer Belgian chocolate torte so I don’t know how that was but I had the Bavarian cream filled fruit torte.

After the meal Lord Monckton spoke. The main thing he spoke about was public policy regarding climate change. I think I would have rather listened about the science of climate change rather than politics. He spoke well and was entertaining but it did go on too long. It was supposed to be over at 9pm and we left at 9:30 pm before the discussion was over. We had our kids at a friends house and didn’t want them to be preventing our friends kids from sleeping.

One thing that Lord Monckton did say was that in 2012 the US will have new president but I’m not going to say who she will be. While I currently don’t think Obama will be re-elected if Lord Monckton is suggesting Sarah Palin will be president I don’t think that will happen either.

I think public policies regarding recycling and measures to reduce pollution are great as they will provide cleaner air, water and less waste. However plans to “reduce temperatures” and “lower sea levels” will be a waste of time and resources. In my opinion it is not something that man can control.

I just love Albertsons coupon deals, it is only the Supervalue stores who have sales like this Kraft Sale. So this leaves me wondering if I will be able to get as much out of my family’s $150 grocery budget as I currently am. Now Albertson’s being bought out is not going to cause us to become cross country movers so we can move to an area that have grocery stores owned by Supervalue inc.

Associated foods own a lot of Utah’s grocery stores Maceys, Reams and they also supply food for Harmon’s and Buy Lows. I think it is funny that people are confused that Associated Foods will buy Albertson’s when they already own grocery stores on the same street – That is exactly what companies want – two of their stores competing against each other.

I will wait and see what happens this fall with the new store before I let my self be disappointed by the move. Associated Foods is a local company and with LDS owners many of their stores are closed on sundays which have some people who shop on Sundays worried but it is something I’m sure the employee’s appreciate.

“Our entire policy on asbestos needs to be changed. We must stop being the junkyard of the world”.

CBC reports that the province of Quebec has 9 asbestos mines and one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. Ontario also mines asbestos, one Ontario health clinic says that they register a new Mesothelioma patient each day. Ontario’s and Quebec’s provincial governments are working hard to protect the Asbestos industry and have claimed that the Asbestos used today (chrysotile) is not deadly however researchers hired by Health Canada says that chrysotile abestos has a strong link to lung cancer.

I find it difficult to understand how the provincial governments can be okay with exporting this material to developing countries yet they have been ridding their building of Asbestos for the last 20 years. Sounds like greed to me.