MS Maze

This piece in the New York Times shows what happens when the health care argument gets personal:

Justice Antonin Scalia subsequently expressed skepticism about forcing the young to buy insurance: “When they think they have a substantial risk of incurring high medical bills, they’ll buy insurance, like the rest of us.”

May the justices please meet my sister-in-law. On Feb. 8, she was a healthy 32-year-old, who was seven and a half months pregnant with her first baby. On Feb. 9, she was a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down by a car accident… – Andrea Louise Campbell, New York Times

Read it: Down the Insurance Rabbit Hole

The psychological consequences of social rejection, exclusion, and discrimination can be similar to those of physical assault. Teaching students of all ages about the value of diversity and the serious mental health impacts of bias and stereotyping will help end widespread discrimination in the United States, according to an American Psychological Association task force report.

Read it: Discrimination Hurts Everyone

As gardening season beckons, many gardeners focus on the work of producing healthy food for their families. For others, the garden represents fresh air, a little exercise, or a pleasant pastime. But is it possible that gardening can serve a higher purpose…can the act of gardening heal a troubled mind, lessen feelings of depression, or promote spiritual growth?

“Gardening is hope put into action and miracles made tangible.” -Pablo Solomon

Read it: Gardening for Body, Mind & Spirit

At age 25, Katherine Jenkins was searching for inner peace and a sense of purpose. That search led her, on a bit of a whim, to South Korea where she was hired to teach English. Nothing was quite as she anticipated. At first, even the art of meditation seemed impossibly out of reach.

Ms. Jenkins shares her spiritual journey — from meeting a bowling monk to a mysterious photo to learning to listen to the inner voice we each possess — in her book, Lessons from the Monk I Married.

Read it: Lessons from the Monk I Married

Happy Shirts, of Honolulu, Hawaii, in cooperation with The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced a voluntary recall of Toy truck gifts with boy’s t-shirts. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately

Read it: Child Toy Truck/T-Shirt Gift Set Recalled Due to Fire Hazard

More Recent Recalls

• 7 Hazardous Children’s Products Sold After Recall
• Child Safety Lock Recall: Young Children at Risk
• Ceiling Fans Recalled Due to Shock and Fire Hazards
• Solar Roof Tiles Recalled for Fire Hazard

My strange Google+ odyssey appears to be over. It ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

It all started about a month ago when I attempted to log in to my Google+ account and found it had been suspended. No reason was given and trying to get an answer from Google is like…well, trying to get an answer from Google. Yikes!

Read it: Google+ Odyssey Ends with a Whimper

Popcorn just got a boost to its already good reputation as a healthy snack food and is higher in antioxidants than fruits and vegetables, say scientists. The researchers report that popcorn contains more of the healthful antioxidant substances called “polyphenols” than fruits and vegetables.

Read it: Popcorn May be the Perfect Snack Food say researchers

How many times in your life have you considered seriously shaking things up? Laura Roppé was already making some moves in that direction when diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2008. So the timing was right to put the legal career aside in favor of pursuing her music career full time. After beating back that cancer, of course.

Evidence of how that all went can be found in her music and in her book, Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer.

Read it: Rocking the Pink

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) Inc., of Columbus, Ind., announced a voluntary recall of Push ‘N Snap Cabinet Locks. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Read it: Child Safety Lock Recall: Young Children at Risk

Poisoning kills more than 35,000 people in the United States each year, and most of these deaths are the result of accidental poisoning with common household products. Poisoning kills more people than car crashes, making it the number one cause of injury death.

Read it: Top 5 Causes of Poisoning and How to Avoid Them

“Emergency physicians see poisonings every day in the ER, which is why we urge people to learn about the potential dangers lurking right in their homes,” says the president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), David Seaberg, M.D., FACEP.  “Parents in particular should be alert to those items that might entice a child to put something in their mouth. Children act fast and so do poisons.”

Read it: 10 Tips to Prevent Accidental Poisoning of Children

I won’t be giving your content the old thumbs up on Google+ because the Google gods have deemed me quite unworthy. Why? Beats the heck out of me. I’m not a spammer, a scammer, or a porn pusher, although plenty of those folks have come through my Google+ stream…

Read it: Why I won’t Google+ your Content

Using a stand-up wheelchair that allowed him to build, calibrate, and tune at the highest places of this tall symphonic instrument, George Flores created a one-of-a-kind 47-string harp called The Healing Harp.

“I thought about the fact that harps are known around the world as being a healing instrument. I thought this would be a great opportunity to bring that same healing power to the world and all people with disabilities, including people with spinal cord injuries and disorders,” said Flores, who was paralyzed is a motorcycle accident in 2004.

Photo: United Spinal Starts Auction of Grand Concert Harp Built by Master Harp Artisan With Spinal Cord Injury: A World Class Harp Built From a Wheelchair. (PRNewsFoto/United Spinal Association, Richard Oles)

Read it: Healing Harp Built from Stand-up Wheelchair

“It’s not about giving in, it’s about discovering ways to remain active and productive.”

Read more from Quotations Diary: Top Quotes from “No More Secs!”

More than 3.6 million kids smoke, according to a new report released by Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin.

Read it: More than 3.6 Million Kids Smoking their Health Away