Volcanos, Tornados and Quakes! Oh, my!

With last nights tornado warning for New York it makes you think how wacky and crazy the weather has been lately. Here are a few instances of some wacky city weather that makes you go "Whaaa?"

Miami - Tornado

This photo was taken on May 12 in 1997 at downtown Miami. USA Today reported that
the tornado swept past the station and Miami's high-rise condominiums, smashing windows and damaging roofs and cars in a two-mile path as people scrambled for cover.

No one was killed and only five injured, including a woman who suffered a heart attack.





Chicago - Earthquake


I was witness to the earthquake of April 2008.  As per Associated Press A 5.2-magnitude earthquake centered in southern Illinois rocked people awake across the Midwest early Friday, surprising residents unaccustomed to such a powerful tremble. This quake is the strongest one ever recorded in IL.

As recently at June of this year an earthquake was felt in Chicago.



Milwaukee - Flooding

There have been severe flash flooding instances over the last week.CNN says flash flooding occurred Thursday evening as severe thunderstorms developed and moved over the area, dumping up to 8 inches of rain in some locations, according to weather service officials.





New York - Tornado

Apparently this is not the first time New York has had a tornado warning recently.

The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for portions of Staten Island and Brooklyn at 6:28 am. Tornado warnings were also briefly issued for Manhattan, Queens and  Nassau County on Long but no tornadoes were reported in those areas.







 Iceland - Volcano

Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull (not a misspelling) volcano erupted twice in April this year causing huge floodwaters and much panic among locals. The ash cloud from the volcano was so extreme that it delayed approximately 300 flights in Europe for many days.

What could be next??? Maybe a little bit of this....

Daa- da- dum- dummm.......(courtesy of The Day After Tomorrow..horrible movie, btw)

Anthropology of the Due Date - Guest Blog by Shawn Tassone

 

So much mysticism and mythology surrounds the pregnancy due date.  Much of the mysticism is held by physicians who hold on to the old ways of  determining when a pregnant woman will deliver.  Believe me, most physicians would love a way to determine the due date so we could plan our lives around the deliveries of our patients, but the truth is only 1-2% of women will actually deliver on their due date.  So what determines a due date, and what is the difference between EDC (estimated date of confinement) and EDD (estimated date of delivery) and what the heck is Naegele’s Rule.  This post will help show the origins of the due date and how we are currently using a system that is about 250 years old.

Franz Karl Naegele (1778-1851) was the German obstetrician who initially came up with the rule to determine a woman’s due date based on her last menstrual period (LMP).  There are many ways to calculate Naegele’s Rule.  I use the system where you take the LMP, add 7 days, and subtract three months.  So if your LMP was April 1, 2009 then your due date would be January 8, 2010.  You can impress your friends at parties with this maneuver.  There are problems with Naegele’s Rule and many people have pointed out that this 250 year old method is no longer appropriate for our advanced age.  What are some of the potential errors with calculating the EDC in this method?

• It assumes that you are having a regular period and that you ovulate on day 14 of your cycle.  I am a gynecologist and there are many women out there that have irregular cycles that ovulate on day 20, 25, 12, 15….you get my point.  This obviously would add potential error to the EDC determination and could change things by days to weeks.  
• There is another assumption that the routine pregnancy is 280 days long and that is based on our current calendar system.  The problem with this is that there are many months that contain 30 days or 31 days and what happens in a leap year, or if you are not pregnant over the shorter month of February.  The point is that there is a movement out there that is trying to say that the number should be 288 days and that we are inducing women that have premature babies.  A study done in 1990 stated that the proper method for determining a due date was to take the LMP, count back three months and add fifteen days for a primiparous (first pregnancy) woman or 10 days for a multiparous (subsequent births) woman.  This was published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. 
• There are many that argue this method of calculating the EDC is as archaic as the term EDC itself.  Lending to the agrarian societies from whence it came, the EDC literally came from the fact that a woman was confined to her bed for the last part of her pregnancy to prevent preterm labor.  While we still prescribe bed rest today as a possible therapy for preterm labor it does seem odd that the medical establishment uses terminology from the 1700’s.

The due date is as individual as the pregnant mother.  While the EDC is currently calculated by Naegele’s Rule this does seem a bit archaic and inefficient; especially if we are using this dating method to determine inductions and postdatism.  There have been other methods with increased accuracy but they require a woman to measure body temperatures and be move involved in her own self-care.  Many reading this article are very involved with birth and feel as though self-care is very important, but there are many women out there that simply choose not to be observant of their own cycle.  So, what do we “do” with the “due”.  Unfortunately, I think we will keep going with the current system and back it up with ultrasounds which are accurate within 5 days if done in the first trimester.

Approximately 3% of so-called term births (occurring after 37 weeks) are completed with fetal lung immaturity and this could be because the baby may have been between 35-37 weeks and not term.

Are we too involved in the birthing process?  Are there better ways to determine the pregnant due date or should we not worry about and just let man/woman  be born in his own time.  The Latin word natura gives rise to the word natural and means “to be born”.  Maybe we should just leave well enough alone.

http://www.handsoffmybellyguide.com
Hands Off My Belly! The Pregnant Woman’s Survival Guide to Myths, Mothers, and Moods is for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and at most brick and mortar stores.

Shawn A. Tassone, M.D. author of “Hands Off My Belly! The Pregnant Woman’s Guide to Surviving Myths, Mothers, and Moods” – Mom’s Choice Gold Recipient and Arizona Book Publisher’s Glyph Award Winner.

Seven Easy Ways to Ignite the Flame in Your Relationship!

Here's a great article from one of our featured authors, Melody Brooke. Melody is a Professional, Marriage and Family Counselor and InterPlay leader. Her approach uses body, mind, and spirit to help her clients heal themselves with her gentle and compassionate guidance.

This article (from Blogcritics) provides practical steps to ignite, or keep that spark, in your relationship. This is a must-read article that is guaranteed to improve your relationship (assuming you are willing to take action).

Here are the tips:
1. Love is an action: Show your partner how you feel about them every day, at least once a day. 
2. We are all kids at heart: Recognize that no matter how grown up your partner seems, they are really a little kid inside.

3. Bedtime sharing: If you live together, go to bed at the same time, together, every night. This is huge.

4. Don’t let things slide: When your partner says or does something you don’t agree with or that upsets you, tell them. Don’t just let it slide

5. You are not enemies: When you are in a conflict with your partner, stop your arguing for a moment.Breathe deeply.

6. Touch well, touch often: Touch your partner as often as possible, and get them to touch you as often as possible.

7. Play together. Be playful in your interactions. Have a sense of humor in times of stress.

To read the entire article go here.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/seven-easy-ways-to-ignite-the/page-2/#ixzz0uMl8Ei7g

Then + Now = Wow!

While watching the movie Annie with my sister yesterday I couldn't help but wonder what cute little Annie looked like now. Once I found her I couldn't believe how different she looked! It made me wonder, what do the young stars from the 80's look like today?

Aileen Quinn aka Annie

Where is she now?
While she was a hit in Annie, she did some acting jobs after Annie she currently does a few acting jobs but is also currently a Spanish, Drama and Dance teacher at a high school in New

Travis Tedford -Spanky from Little Rascals

Where is he now? 

Once a child actor in a few commercials and then in Our Gang now has retired acting.Apparently Travis is now 19 and working at WalMart in Texas. 

Ross Bagley - aka Nicky Banks from Fresh Prince

Where is he now?

Aww remember little Nicky? Not only was he in Fresh Prince but played Buckwheat in Our Gang and was Will Smiths son in Independence Day! He still does a few acting jobs but is currently attending college. Good for him.

Bryton McClure - aka Little Richie from Family Matters

Where is he now?

Oh Little Nicky how you've grown! Now 23 he is an actor and a singer and has worked with charities to help young kids. He currently acts on the daytime show The Young and the Restless.

Update: UFO in China news

The July 7th UFO sighing in China has gained a lot of press all around the world. Having been featured on all the major networks such as CNN, ABC and many photos and videos are starting to surface from that nights events.

Most recently is this video claimed to be shot by a viewer that night. Considering that no government officials have yet to fully debunk the UFO and what actually caused the delay that night, it's hard not to think that this might be the real thing!




Hopefully they will look like this: