Free Republic

New Way to Help Chickens Cross to Other SideBy WILLIAM NEUMAN Published: October 21, 2010 Shoppers in the supermarket today can buy chicken free of nearly everything but adjectives. It comes free-range, cage-free, antibiotic-free, raised on vegetarian feed, organic, even air-chilled. The chicken producers are planning to use systems like this one to render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit. Coming soon: stress-free? Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider...

Overcoming post-election stress traumaWednesday, 02 June 2010 12:00 AM Ma. Andrea S. Tirazona When the early results of the recently concluded elections started trickling in, I felt a rush of excitement as I saw the numbers tipping in Noynoy’s direction. On the other hand, I was shocked at Binay’s early lead. Before anything else, let me point out that this is not an article as to whether or not Noynoy was the right choice for president, nor is this a debate as to whether or not the election was a clean and honest one. This is about seeing things from...

I believe there is a new anxiety disorder that many of us are experiencing now. It's Obama-Traumatic Stress Disorder - OTSD. OverviewObama-traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the loss of a job, lowed standard of living, or just constant nonstop threat of government intrusion into your life as a direct result of the Obama regime's policies and actions. Symptoms Symptoms of OTSD fall into three main categories: 1. Repeated "reliving" of the event, which disturbs day-to-day activity * Flashback episodes, where the election seems...

Forget the age-old remedies of yoga, meditation or popping pills. Relieving chronic stress could soon be as simple as having an injection, according to scientists. Academics say they are close to developing the first vaccine for stress - a single jab that would help us relax without slowing down. After 30 years of research into cures for stress, Dr Robert Sapolsky, professor of neuroscience at Stanford University in California, believes it is possible to alter brain chemistry to create a state of 'focused calm'. [snip] 'To be honest, I'm still amazed that it works,' Professor Sapolsky told Wired magazine recently.

LOS ANGELES (July 6) -- ... While government statistics on suicides often lag by two or three years, experts say the easier-to-track calls to hot lines have grown significantly. ... There are indicators the U.S. suicide rate has climbed. An informal tally of 19 states by the Wall Street Journal in November found an increase of 2.3 percent in the 2008 suicide rate over the 2007 rate. Other news outlets around the nation have recently reported a troubling flow of suicides and murder-suicides by people facing crippling financial troubles, including: An armed man facing foreclosure in Chattanooga, Tenn., who called...

If you think your boss is the biggest cause of stress at work, you may be wrong, for a new study has claimed that spouses cause more anxiety at home than superiors in office. According to the study, based on a survey of 3,000 people in Britain, there may be no place like home, but if one wants to relax then one might be better off at work.

Charlotte Church today showed signs of her strain at being a single mother bringing up two little ones. Charlotte, 24, struggled with a host of bags, toys and bottles as she took her two children out for the day. Meanwhile her estranged fiancé, peramatanned Gavin Henson, has been out living it up, looking relaxed and care-free.

Spain Now Showing Very Serious Signs Of Systemic Stress Gregory White Jun. 9, 2010, 10:52 AM The situation in Spain is getting worse by the minute as international banks are now unwilling to lend to many Spanish regional banks, or cajas, in the interbank markets. What is of more serious concern is why banks have halted lending. It is not just because they are worried about issues of banking solvency, now lenders are concerned about the viability of Spanish sovereign debt, according to Cinco Dias via FT Alphaville. If banks are no longer willing to take Spanish sovereign debt as...

PROVO, Utah -- The over-scheduled, over-involved and over-whelmed Mormon woman needs to do two things to de-stress, said two speakers at the recent Women's Conference at BYU: simply life and ask for God's help. "God placed us here to succeed," Sarah Westerberg said. "But mortality will cause stress. It's a natural byproduct." SNIP Her advice included...letting go of what cannot be controlled and ridding life of perfectionism. She suggested adding two words to a working vocabulary: "Who cares?" SNIP

Swede stress lowest in the world: study Published: 3 May 10 08:30 CET Swedish business leaders suffer the lowest levels of stress in the world, far behind their Chinese and Mexican counterparts, according to a new survey published by US consultancy firm Grant Thornton. Only 23 percent of Swedish business leaders experienced themselves to be more stressed in November 2009 in comparison to a year before, in contrast to 76 percent in mainland China, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR). The report surveyed 7,400 privately-owned businesses in 36 countries in November 2009 and found that Chinese (76),...

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to work. I haven't seen these before, evidently they are a hit in the UK. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGBwiQeh71c

PAKTIA PROVINCE, Afghanistan, April 7, 2010 – Air Force Maj. Kim Floyd and Air Force Senior Airman Jessica E. Delgado just want to talk. Air Force Maj. Kim Floyd speaks with Army Spc. Autumn L. Gregg at Forward Operating Base Lightning in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, April 1, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Andrew A. Reagan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Floyd, a psychologist deployed from the 92nd Medical Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., and Delgado, a mental health technician deployed from the 5th Medical Group at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., make up the Combat Stress...

Snacking under stress can contribute to weight gain, and new research shows the snacking doesn't stop for women when the pressure slacks off. Jennifer Waugh, a clinical nutrition manager at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, said stress is a common trigger for snacking, especially eating comfort foods, including sweets, pastries, soft drinks or chips. "It seems like people either want sweet, bland, salty, chocolate, high-fat things that are not healthy and are very much considered junk food," Waugh said. "You can have a bottled water, that's always good, or yogurt or milk because it has protein that can make you feel...

Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday that he will manage his stress better after undergoing a procedure to unclog a blocked artery, but emphasized that he has no intention of slowing down. It would be a mistake to stop working, Clinton said at an event focusing on childhood obesity. "I've been given this gift of life by my surgery five years ago, the medicine I take, the lifestyle changes I've made," he said. "I don't want to throw it away by being a vegetable. I want to do things with it every day." Clinton said he would make changes...

Risk: Stressed people are twice as likely to have furred arteries Getting stressed really is bad for your heart, according to new research. For years, stress has been linked to heart attacks and other heart complaints but with very little medical evidence to back it up. Now a major trial by doctors at University College London has proved for the first time that people who get stressed are also likely to have heart disease. The study involved 514 men and women, with an average age of 62. None had signs of heart disease...

Worries about the economy and healthcare are pushing people into middle age earlier, making 35 the new 40, according to a new report. While 40 was once widely considered the milestone that defined middle age, this has been lowered to 35, according to research by the Philips Center for Health and Well-Being. "Thirty five is the new 40 as Americans feel the pressures of middle age earlier than ever," the Amsterdam-based centre said in a statement. Katy Hartley, the director of the centre, which aims to improve quality of life, said stress about the economy and healthcare that you would...

Feeling a little stressed over the Christmas holiday season? While it may be the official season to be merry, for many, the holidays are a time of stress, loneliness, anxiety and dysfunction according to ThirdAge.com. Family tensions, financial stress and physical demands are three areas that can trigger holiday stress or depression. So what does one do when it's the season to be jolly, but you're feeling anything but jolly?

Japan's Crown Princess Masako has said she will keep working to fight her stress problems. The 46-year-old royal - who is married to Crown Prince Naruhito - said she has been working with medical professionals to solve her illness.

Enlarge ImageHigh anxiety. Rats "addicted" to sugary food spent less time on the open parts of this maze. Credit: Pietro Cottone If you're constantly starting new diets, then breaking them, you may have more in common with a drug addict than you know. A new study suggests that yo-yo dieters experience the same stressful pangs of withdrawal when they go on a diet that addicts experience when they go cold turkey. The idea that bad food can be addictive is not new. But previous studies have tended to focus on the positive reinforcement side of the equation--for example, the...

No, I'm not referring to marriages between blacks and whites, or Christians and Jews. I'm talking about marriages where one person is liberal and the other is conservative. To be more specific, I'm writing about my own marriage and I invite my esteemed AT readers to offer their advice. My husband and I were liberal Democrats for most of our lives. On occasion we used to talk about couples who were not politically aligned and wondered how they dealt with that in their relationship. Did they argue? Did they just not talk politics? Were they able to have interesting discussions...