Muscle Wars; Nov 25, 2010
Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated G
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Diet & Fitness:
- Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today? Get it done!
- Did you do any physical activity? If not, make a point of it by tomorrow! Own a bike? Ride it to lunch, work, park, lake!
- It is our hope that our male fittness photos shall inspire you!
Today's Health - Wellness / Exercise / Reflections:The New Airport Scanners: Are They Safe?
As the Thanksgiving travel season moved into full swing this week, many airline passengers got their first experience of the Transportation Security Administration's new security measures – scanners that display an image of their nude figure.
These scanners, which are currently installed at about 70 large and midsize airports, have caused an uproar.
While some fliers are upset about the loss of privacy these X-ray images represent, others worry about being exposed to radiation when passing through security.
The health concerns are backed by some scientists, who say the scanners could potentially raise our cancer risk, especially for frequent fliers, pilots and flight attendants.
"In the radiation world, we all subscribe to the doctrine of ALARA – As Low As Reasonably Achievable," says biophysicist David Brenner, Ph.D., head of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research in New York City. "We know the radiation dose is very low, but there are different views of just how low."
Are these machines really dangerous? And how does the radiation risk compare to medical X-rays? We asked the experts.
How Scanners Work
There are two kinds of full-body imaging devices currently in use at various airports. They both create an image of the body and any potential hidden objects.
- Backscatter scanners work by shooting low-density X-rays that barely penetrate the clothes, then measuring what bounces back.
- Millimeter-wave (mmw) machines emit beams of radio-frequency energy that pass through the clothes and bounce off surfaces underneath.
Of the two, backscatter radiation is considered more dangerous. That's because it's ionizing, meaning the X-ray has enough energy to strip away electrons from atoms or break some chemical bonds, leading to an increased risk of cancer.
But it's the amount - not the kind - of radiation, that's important. The levels emitted by backscatter machines are "minuscule," according to a report just released by the Food and Drug Administration.
In fact, radiation from a backscatter scan is 100 times less than you'd get from a chest X-ray (about 8 to 10 millirems, the unit used to measure radiation), says James Hevezi, Ph.D., chair of the American College of Radiology's Medical Physics Division.
And it would take 330 scans to equal the radiation exposure of a single dental X-ray, adds medical physicist Robert Barish, Ph.D., author of The Invisible Passenger: Radiation Risks for People Who Fly (Advanced Medical Publishing).
Some researchers, however, are concerned that scanner malfunctions could increase exposure. In a 2010 journal article, Arizona State University physicists Peter Rez, Ph.D., and Kenneth Mossman, Ph.D., wrote that "serious consideration should be given to the possibility of unintended and unnecessary doses to passengers due to malfunctioning equipment."
But they also say that, with normal use, "calculated doses are well below doses associated with health effects." Is a Little Still Too Much?
Other scientists counter that the potential risk from radiation increases with every exposure, and even small amounts should be avoided whenever possible.
That's why Brenner recommends that pregnant women and young children avoid the device.
And even tiny amounts lead to real risk when magnified over large populations, Brenner says.
"Suppose some activity involves a very, very small cancer risk, but a billion people are each exposed to [it]," he says. "Chances are that some of them would get cancer as a result, even though the individual risk is extremely small."
That's potentially the case with airport scanners, given that 700 million people travel through U.S. airports every year, Brenner says.
The risk could be higher still for frequent fliers, he adds.
When you multiply the risk by 200 or 300 commercial airline crew members or frequent fliers, "the estimated individual risks are still small, but perhaps no longer 'miniscule,'" he says.
Pilots' unions have echoed the concerns about the cumulative effects of multiple screenings, and some have urged their members to refuse being scanned.
Some scientists have expressed concern that even small doses of radiation can become more dangerous when concentrated in a particular area - in this case, the skin.In fact, a group from the University of California at San Francisco sent a letter to the White House in April asking for an evaluation of the scanning devices by an impartial panel of experts.
"While the dose would be safe if it were distributed throughout the volume of the entire body, the dose to the skin may be dangerously high," they wrote.
UCSF biochemist John Sedat, Ph.D., one of the participants, said it was difficult to gauge the actual risk because the device is classified, so scientists don't know the beam intensity and other details.
More Radiation from Flying Itself
Many people don't realize that flying itself exposes them to radiation, about 1,000 times the dose received from a backscatter scanner.
That's because traveling above Earth's protective atmosphere exposes you to higher levels of natural cosmic rays from outer space, the sun and other stars. The higher you fly, the greater the exposure. In fact, a single cross-country trip, equals half the exposure of a routine chest X-ray.
Levels are higher during "solar flares," bursts of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the sun's atmosphere. But those are both brief and rare.
If you're concerned about this extra exposure, check for solar-radiation alerts on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website. Frequent flyers - those who log up to 85,000 miles per year – have as much exposure as the maximum recommended for radiation workers, according to Barish and Stephan Dilchert, Ph.D., a business management professor at New York;s Baruch College.
They're calling for businesses to educate their frequent-traveling employees about radiation risks and have them keep track of their annual in-flight time, as well as offer regular health screenings for workers who fly a lot.
The Bottom Line
Despite privacy and safety concerns, recent polls show that most Americans accept the full-body scans. And according to TSA chief John Pistole, they're here to stay.
If you prefer not to go through a scanner - despite the relatively low radiation risk - you'll probably receive an even more unpleasant full-body pat-down.
But the public outcry is having an effect. In a Nov. 21 interview on CNN, Pistole said the agency is working to make screening as "minimally invasive as possible," adding that "there's a continual process of refinement and adjustment to ensure that best practices are applied."
If nothing else, you may no longer face the embarrassment of having your naked body displayed to a TSA screener.
In an interview with the online magazine Slate, an executive for scanner manufacturer Rapiscan said the company is working on software that will display only the image of a "plain, test-dummy-type body" while the machine flags any foreign objects.
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Take Action:
- Boycott advertisers of Glenn Beck on Fox News as well as all of FOX NEWS! Glenn has lied about Health-care, called our President a racist, and is anti-gay rights.
- We demand immediate end of DADT. It is out-right discrimination.
- Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers. Bill discussed a French commerical by McDonalds that was meant to show that McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to get be Al-Qaida friendly as well? Further, Bill said that McDonalds would never show a gay friendly commercial in the USA. Imagine, Bill is comparing Gays to Al-Qaida!
- Boycott Arizona the home of senile - Sen. John McCain: because of their Hateful anti-Immigration Law that encourages racial profiling and increases hatred towards minorities. A remedy: Demand Republicans to support Immigration Reform. Further, Their Senator McCain voted against ending DADT and blocked Immigration reform! We shall hold the voters of Arizona responsible!
- NEW: Boycott Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations.
- NEW: Boycott Gold's Gym for donating loads of money to anti-gay candidates.
And Now, Our War of the Fittest!
This group is called "Peckers PICS." The English - slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues. In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!" Whereas, you should select the guy that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit!" Warning: This may stoke you!
Remember your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
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21John Robert Kesler
22Ryan Phillippe
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You Decide!
Taiwan Gay Pride; Oct 30, 2010
Stoked?
Taiwan Gay Pride; Oct 30, 2010
Apple-Approved 'Anti-Gay' iPhone App Sparks Outrage
Huffington Post; Nov 24, 2010; Bianca BoskerThere's been no shortage of controversy over apps Apple has see fit to ban from its App Store.Now the Cupertino company has sparked outrage over an app it did approve, Manhattan Declaration, that is a "call of Christian conscience" inviting users to take a stand against gay marriage by signing a 4,700-word "declaration" penned by Christian clergy, scholars, and others.The Manhattan Declaration, the text of which is included in the app, "speaks in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty," according to its creators. The app "issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere firmly to their convictions in these three areas," and allows users to add their signatures to the declaration.Users can also take a short, 4-question survey that includes questions such as "Do you support same sex relationships?" or "Do you support the right of choice regarding abortion?" Answer "yes" to either of the above and you'll be told you replied incorrectly.Apple awarded the app a rating of "4+," which means the App Store found the app to contain "no objectionable material."On the other hand, apps like "Obama Trampoline," the Bush-lampooning "My Shoe," or iBoobs, which shows pixelated jiggling breasts, have previously been banned, in some cases for poking fun at political figures, and in others, for their sexually suggestive content.Bloggers have fired back at Apple--and the app's creators.The app fosters "homophobia and extreme anti-choice views," writes Change.org, which blasts the principles spelled out in the declaration for "[boiling] LGBT people down to little more than deviant cretins." PinkNews calls the app "anti-gay." One website created a petition asking Apple to remove the app.The creators of the Manhattan Declaration responded to the "radical liberals" with its own blog post, saying, "These radicals often pollute the debate with ranting. They rant about 'equal rights,' without explaining how homosexuality deserves it, 'women's rights,' without explaining how women have a right to kill their child, and even 'hateful Christians,' without showing instances where we hate."Apple's App Store approval policies are notoriously murky and infamous for being inconsistently applied. For example, the App Store recently rejected political cartoonist Mark Fiore's work on the grounds that it ridiculed public figures, then later decided to accept his work. Thousands of "suggestive" apps were also removed, without warning, from the App Store earlier this year.
"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."
URGENT: Boycott Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations and to Proposition 8 (California) to prevent gay marriage. I would not purchase "Blood Diamonds," nor should a person / organization be contributing funds to both Hitler / Nazi's and the Jews at the same time! Obviously giving money to the Jews and not Hitler/Nazi's was the right thing to do. Hence, these companies violated my trust and well-being. They gave money to my enemy who would terminate me from my job, deny me housing and send me to a Internment camp. Therefore, goodbye Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy! The CEO's of these companies have been insensitive to our reaction and do not even comprehend their actions! What takes so long to "fire" these Neanderthals?
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