Parents are being asked to volunteer their babies for a major investigation into the causes of peanut allergy.The £5 million seven-year study will aim to find out whether exposing infants to peanuts lessens or increases the risk of an allergy developing.

Peanut allergies may be caused by anxious mothers | the Daily Mail

This article pretty much says that worried mothers who keep their babies away from peanuts will increase  the possibility of being allergic to them. Also, on the other side of the story, the researchers also say the opposite. They say that early exposure to peanuts will increase to possibility of an allergy to them. I think that children who are predisposed to a food will not increase the change of an allergy to that food. If anything, it should increase their tolerance for it. I look at an allergy the same way I do alcohol. If you have a lot of alcohol at one time you will either die or get very sick. If you eat a lot of food that you are allergic food you will either die or get very sick. Also, the proof of the alcohol also determines the amounts you can have. If someone is not severely allergic to something, they can still have it, but it in moderation. Finally, the more you drink, the more your tolerance for alcohol becomes. For my allergies, this seems to be the case. As I gradually increase my intake of wheat (which I am allergic to) the more my body seems to tolerate it. If you really think about it, what is a flu shot made out of? The flu virus! Yet, we all have it injected into our bodies so that we can produce antibodies. Well, if we ingest a little bit at a time, maybe we can develop the same sort of process for food allergies!

False bid sinks eBay auction for rare acetateUpdated Tue. Dec. 12 2006 7:50 AM ETCanadian PressMONTREAL — A disappointed Warren Hill says he’s going to try again to sell his fabled acetate of the Velvet Underground’s famous first recording, despite being thwarted by a prankster eBay bidder.Hill, a soft-spoken 30-year-old who started his own tiny vintage record store six months ago, sounded downcast about the results of the Internet auction that concluded Friday with the highest of 253 bids clicking in at C$178,431.51.The bid was too good to be true.”It seems like the highest bidder was faked,” Hill said in a telephone interview Monday.But asked if he would try and sell it again, Hill replied: “Yep.”He’s not sure if he’s going the Internet auction route again and was cautious about speculating on his plans.

CTV.ca | False bid sinks eBay auction for rare acetate

I guess we all have our problems with ebay. This man bidded on something on ebay, but then it seemed like there was a fake bidder who bidded higher than him. I recently had an incident with a BAD ebay experience. I won a French horn online. I only bidded 12.50 euros. After agreeing to pay the money I ended up spending over $300. First, the money was in euros that needed to be converted. So, I knew it was going to be more expensive, but not $300!!!! Then, the shipping and handling was ridiculous. It was 110 euros for express shipping and 30 euros for insurance purposes. About a week later I received a package in the mail. It wasn’t my French horn. Instead, it was a pair of binoculars that was sent to the wrong place. I’m still trying to figure out what went wrong. The binoculars belong to someone in Ireland. Someone else has my french horn. Someone’s saxophone was misplaced. For all ebay users out there… be careful AND DONT ORDER ANYTHING FROM BEJING!

Another way to ensure an “A+” finals week is to make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep.Psychology Today’s Web site says that when we cheat sleeping, we’re actually, “short-changing the brain of learning potential.”In other words, don’t pull all-nighters.Listen to your body.If you’re tired, then you need to go to bed. Yeah, you might cram a ton of studying in during that sleep time, but it’s going to be harder for your brain to retain it.You’ll be better off if you’re well rested.There’s a ton of things you can do these next few days that will help you relieve stress. Pray, jump up and down, run around the block, give your friends hugs, rock out to Mariah Carey’s Christmas CD, bake a cake.If you’re a guy, you might consider throwing a football around, practice break dancing, or attempt to write your own Chuck Norris joke.The possibilities are endless.

Tips to ensure a less stressful finals week – Opinion

This is a GOOD article. Since it is finals week, most students are stressing. I am stressing. My roommate it stressing. My boyfriend is irritable. The last week of the semester is never a pretty one. I might have a lot to do, but I have everything planned out accordingly so that I won’t lose my head completely. I agree with everything this article has to say. I especially agree with the part about sleep. Yes, I know. Every year our parents tell us to get enough sleep and it will help our grades. Sadly, I know this is true, but I can never sleep! I get so worked up over my finals that there is no way for me to get any more than 3 hours of sleep. I end up going to bed around 3:30am and wake up at 6:30am. It doesn’t matter if I have an 8AM exam or a 4PM exam. The sleep schedule never changes. I wonder why that is. My boyfriend has this theory about sleep. He thinks we sleep in intervals of 3 hours. In the middle of those 3 hours is when we are in the deepest sleep. Has this ever happened to you?… You wake up in the morning a little earlier than expected. You look at the clock and realize that you can probably sleep for another hour. Then, when the time comes for you to get out of bed it is twice as hard to wake yourself up. — For those of us at The College of St. Rose, I haven’t heard a response from anyone saying differently. I like the suggestions in this article. Chances are that I’ll put some of the suggestions to good use! Good Luck on finals this week!

Hunger As Ideology

Most of us probably related to this story. For those of us who do not strive to be the skinniest girl on earth or look like that girl on the runway, this story just proved our point. Being ridiculously skinny is gross. Some people are just naturally thin, but you can tell the difference between these people with small frames compared to “Annies.” While I was looking at some photos online I saw a few disturbing things. I saw a few pictures where the girls were photoshopped to look bigger. These models were so thin that in order to be “perfect” they actually needed photoshopped fat! Now, why in the world would anyone want to be skin and bones? Studies have shown that these people who are 5′9 and only weigh about 100 pounds are completely malnurished. Yes, the media plays a huge role in the way we perceive ourself, but if we all had good self esteem why would we be worrying about such a thing. The media is filled with drama and false advertising. Nothing is ever what it seems in the media. It’s not the old crowd of women who we really have to worry about. It is more or less the young teenage girls that crave to be thin. Most of us know someone who doesn’t eat or eats in really small portions.  I have a cousin who ate a little less than a scoop of mashed potatoes and a carrot stick for Thanksgiving. She’s 22 years old. I would have thought that she knew better than to practically starve herself. Sadly, her self-image has nothing to do with the media. She wants to be thin so that her boyfriend will stay with her. Its a shame that she thinks that way. He would love her in a size 1 or 14. Thats the thing though… people do not realize that it doesn’t matter how big or small you are. Who cares if you LOOK good? If you think you look good, but you feel like crap it shouldn’t be worth it. Some people might think that the pain and hunger of not eating is worth its pay in beauty, but I beg to differ.

So pretty much I’m playing catch-up on everything…After finally getting through Nickeled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich I could finally understand why most people were angry after reading this book. As we all know, this book was about how people can’t really live on minimum wage jobs. She started off in Key West as a waitress. She then moved to Maine where she worked as a maid for a cleaning agency. Lastly, she worked retail in a Wal-Mart in Minnesota. She did a great job at doing her work, but didn’t make enough money to actually live in society today.

For a world that is supposed to be filled with glorious things and be so prosperous, why is it so hard to live in this country? People use to flock here from other countries to be able to live. It seems like these people who came to America are more trapped here. Its so hard to live on minimum wage jobs. I think that the only way to live on low-wage jobs would be to work about four jobs at a time and work 24/7. No one wants to do that! I sat at a desk and made $8.50 an hour. It wasn’t a job that required much skill, but I got the job through connections. The way I look at it is that its all about “who ya know.” In this world that is really how people make it through today. Some people might get jobs because they have the actual requirements. When it really comes down to it, the people who have the high paying jobs probably worked their way up through the social chain.

I feel bad for these people who try to live on low paying, minimum wage, jobs. Its nearly impossible! I just wish there was something we could do about it.

After the barnstorming success of Super Girls, the Chinese version of the poplular U.S. TV show “American Idol”, another U.S. reality show — “I Want a Famous Face” — has arrived in living rooms across the land and is generating even more controversy.

Plastic surgery reality show sparks debate

This article talks about the new TV show that has been released in China. MTV China has a new show out called “I Want a Famous Face.” After reading the article, it seems like this TV show is a lot like NipTuck, except its not fake at all. These people are real. The show shows the pain that people go through after being under the knife. It makes people think twice about whether or not they really want to have plastic surgery. I don’t understand why anyone would want to have plastic surgery (unless they are getting reconstructive surgery after an accident). This show is good because it doesn’t only show the success stories. It also shows the sugery disasters. It showed how people could lose their girlfriend/boyfriend after having the surgery. People were shown losing their jobs because of the plastic surgery. It shows the truth about what happens.

I understand that some people want to look like someone famous. Girls want to have the same butt as one famous woman and have the lips of another. This shows a lack of self esteem on person has. If a person is unhappy and thinks they are unhappy because of the way they look, the problem probably goes much deeper than just looks.

The story that Rodriguez tells seems to be unbelievable, but at the same time it is easy to relate to. It seems unbelievable because no one would think that a young boy would be that driven to do so well at that age. The story talks about him as a boy and being the “scholarship boy” and how his education detached him from his family. He was so into being educated that he started reading advanced books at a young age. It tells about how he eventually felt superior to his parents because his knowledge about the American culture grew so fast that he nearly forgot about where his roots are. His parents were not uneducated, they were very smart in their own culture. As Rodriguez grew, he grew without an accent like his parents. He was ashamed of them at parent-teacher meetings. The fact that everyone told him that his parents must be so proud of him seemed almost like an insult. It was an insult because he felt smarter than his parents. He did not let them know of all of his achievements. He didn’t share anything with his family anymore. He became completely detached. Eventually, though, as time went on, he finally came to realize that his parents were not stupid. They just didn’t have the same cultural knowledge as he did.

This piece seemed to be easy to relate to because we all want to do our best. Its just nice to see someone actually strive to do well in their life. It gives the rest of us motivation to do well. In this story he makes it seem like being the “scholarship boy” is a really bad thing. He made his life out to be miserable when it really didn’t have to be. He just made it that way.

At 12Am today many St. Rose students gathered around the big tree located in the quad. I was there to join in on the fun. Apparently this is a tradition at St. Rose. Students gather around this treat and wait. Finally a countdown begins! “Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” Tons of toilet paper rolls are thrown at this tree. The tree when from being naked without leaves to being completely covered in white toilet paper.

People were running underneath the tree to gather up more rolls that had already been thrown. It was like dodging bullets while running under the tree. The students grabbed as many rolls as they could and ran back to throw them again. The same rolls must have been thrown about five or more times. People stood in awe of the tree. It looked like it had snowed, but it really didn’t.

After the tree was mostly covered, the two groups of people that were at either side of the tree began a TP war. Fortunately there was a safe spot in between these groups off too the side. Each side would gather as much toilet paper as they could. Then, when someone said the word, they would throw it at their rivals. Then, the other side would do the same. It was like an old fashion war, except it was with toilet paper.

Security was there to keep everyone in line and to make sure no fights broke out.

Security was probably unprepared for this battle!

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A Brazilian doctor and his wife have been indicted on manslaughter charges stemming from the death of a 24-year-old woman during a liposuction surgery in a condominium basement.

3 indicted in basement liposuction death – Yahoo! News

As people get older they age. They develop wrinkles and fine lines. Ours bodies become older. Every year more and more people are going under the knife. Its surprising to think that with liposuction being so expensive that so many people come out with ugly results. One reason for this is because people do not take care of themselves after they get the procedure. Another reason is because of the doctor.

This article talks about how a couple got arrested for manslaughter. The couple practiced medicine in their basement and neither of them have a license!

Why do people do this? How could people do such a thing? It would gross me out to even think about doing something like that. Where did these people get the tools to do this procedure? Why did this person trust them? People have such easy access to things that they should have… like medical tools used in hospitals.

There are a few things to think about before going under the knife. Some of these things would be to do a background check on your surgeon, find out price, look at finished results (good and bad)

The EPA ratings on this luxury car are phenomenal: 26 miles per gallon in city driving and 37 on the highway. There are plenty of gasoline-powered subcompacts that don’t get anywhere near that kind of highway mileage. The regular gasoline E350 is rated 19 and 26, just for comparison purposes. That 3-liter turbo-diesel in the E320 is also amazing, in terms of torque. It produces nearly 400 pounds-feet, which is more than most gasoline V-8s. Talk about eating your cake.

Go Blue with new Mercedes – 10/25/06 – The Detroit News Online

This article is about a new Mercedes that is coming around. These two people tell of their experiences riding in it and how much they love it. It gives detail about the car. I’ve never really been a huge fan in the car business, but I can show you a nice car when I see one. If you consider the price of a car compared to its overall built, this is probably one of the few cars that I would consider “worth it.” Although I am a poor college student, its nice to dream about owning one of these cars some day. According to this article, this new mercedes can get up to 37 miles to the gallon on the high way. This is amazing! My little old car only got about 32 miles to the gallon. Its amazing what technology has come up with. The fuel efficient car is also going to be a great benefit in the long run when it comes to the demand of gas. We cannot all affort these cars. People with small cars are always complaining about people with their fancy cars and how much gas they guzzle up. Well, now these rich people and their gas guzzling cars have a new option. If they so chose to do so, they can buy a fuel efficient car. Amazing, right?