Easy substitute for dryer sheets.   OOPS! You  forgot to add fabric softener sheets to your shopping list, and you have a washer full of wet clothes. They'll smell moldy if you let them sit until you can get to the store, but if you dry them without a sheet, they'll be staticky and stiff. Instead, squeeze a few drops of hair conditioner onto a clean washcloth, throw it in the dryer with your clothes and run the machine as usual. The conditioner will soften your clothes just like a dryer sheet would. An additional boon: The cloth can be reused up to three times.   First for Women Magazine   05/05/2010

Stall in housing market threatens economy By Alan Zibel updated 7:35 p.m. CT, Wed., March. 24, 2010   WASHINGTON - The recovery in the housing market is at risk of collapsing. Home sales are sliding, prices are stalling and foreclosures are rising. And mortgage rates are likely to go up after next week, when the Federal Reserve ends a program that has driven them down. The trend could threaten the broader economy, economists warn. People whose home equity is stagnant or shrinking are less likely to spend freely. In a move that will help at least some homeowners avoid foreclosure, Bank of America unveiled a $3 billion plan Wednesday to help some of its most troubled borrowers. It said it will forgive up to 30 percent of their total mortgage balance. About 45,000 borrowers are expected to... 03/25/2010

Warning to Anyone with a Hot Tub or Whirlpool.   You would never dream of bathing in water from your toilet bowl. But believe it or not, that's what you may be doing when you sit in a whirlpool or hot tub. In fact, a study done by researchers at Texas A&M University found that more than 9 out of 10 water samples contained fecal bacteria! In the study, the researchers tested water samples from whirlpools around the country, including the ones in private homes and one in public hotels and resorts. Every single one of the samples was found to be contaminated. In fact, 81% contained fungi...34% contained dangerous staph bacteria...and a whopping 95% contained fecal bacteria! Why are whirlpools and hot tubs so full of nasty germs? It's the pipes. Water gets trapped in interior pipes aren't f... 02/25/2010

Better Mood Enhancement Than Chocolate, Alcohol, or Music   The next time you need a mood boost, forget chocolate, wine, and music. Because researchers have discovered something else that works even better. And best of all, it's calorie-free, doesn't require exercise, and can be done almost anywhere. What is it? Looking at personal photos. Researchers at the United Kingdom's Open University examined how much people's mood rose after eating chocolate, sipping an alcoholic drink, watching TV, listing to music or looking at photos.  They found that the music and chocolate left people's moods unchanged. Alcohol and TV gave a slight lift. But the winner by a long shot was viewing personal photos. Next time you feel down in the dumps, pull out the photo albums. Or, if your technologically min... 02/10/2010

Stop Germs At Your Front Door #2!   Studies show that kids carry home millions of infectious microbes from school. Luckily, containment is easy!   Pathogenic bacteria, including strains that cause pneumonia and gastroenteritis can be found on 96 percent of shoe soles, according to a study led by Charles Gerba, Ph.D., and environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. What's more, 90 percent of those germs were transferred to carpet, tile & other floor surface. A "shoes off" policy can substantially reduce germs transfer in the home, says Gerba. Offer a visual reminder by placing a plastic tray ( like a boot tray) just inside the threshold. Once your child is in his/her socks, have them wash up to remove show germs from hands.   First Magazine   02/10/2010

Stop Germs At Your Front Door!   Studies show that kids carry home millions of infectious microbes from school. Luckily, containment is easy!   Backpacks... In Charles Gerba's tests of women's handbags, those that had been set on floors and bathroom counters harbored an average of 10,000 germs per square inch. Since kids also tend to toss their backpacks on germy surfaces like locker-room benches, bus seats and desks, the germ counts on their bags are thought to be even higher. To keep your child's book bag from contaminating home surfaces (like the kitchen table), install a hook near your front door where they can hang it. And Gerba suggests cleaning backpacks once weekly, cloth bags can usually go in the wash, while vinyl bags are be cleaned with a disinfecting wipe.   First Magazing   02/10/2010

Lush, lustrous hair for less.   Due to the drying indoor heat, you've always associated winter with bad hair days. But no more! Simply refrigerate a can of coconut milk until it solidifies, then rub a few tablespoons into your tresses. Let sit for 30 minutes before rinsing with warm water. Coconut's fatty acids smooth and moisturize hair cuticles without leaving a greasy residue.  Money Saves...$35.00 for salon deep-conditioning treatment.   By the way my wife asked that I post this. 02/10/2010

The Popular Headache Remedy That Can Land You In The Emergency Room.   When you've got a headache or other pain, you may reach for aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen. But here's something you should know: Acetaminophen can cause serious liver damage. In fact, some 26,000 people per year are hospitalized for acetaminophen-related liver failure. And 74% of those people are women. Getting acetaminophen poisoning is a lot easier then you might think. First of all, women's bodies break down the drug very slowly. second, drinking wine or other alcohol further interferes with this breakdown. Third, many people unwittingly take a lot more acetaminophen then they realize. Reason: It's an ingredient in more than 100 different over-the-counter remedies. These include remedies for allergies, cold... 02/03/2010

                        Fashion and solar panels don't exactly blend well.  A solar panel is of course important to keep your gadgets charged in an eco-friendly way.  However, most of the time you're going to have to sacrifice your fashion sense to have a solar-powered bag.  There are a few good brands out there that do make an effort to keep their bags stylish, yet this is the first that features a smaller design that I've seen.  Most solar bags are larger totes or book bags.  Which those are nice for someone that is on the go so much that they have to carry around a lot of stuff.  Yet, something smaller like this would probably appeal to a great deal of women. Now there is a way to always have your phone or camera fully charged all the time. 01/08/2010

Watch out for double dippers.   If you see someone dipping a half-eaten chip into the guacamole at your next party, beware" "Double-dipping" can spread cold and flu viruses and other germs. Inspired by an episode of Seinfeld in which the character George Costanza is caught double-dipping, professor Paul Dawson enlisted undergraduate students to dip a chip they'd already bitten, into bowls of chocolate syrup, cheese dip, and salsa. He found that after three to six re-dips, the students has transferred 10,000 aerobic bacteria from their mouths to the dip bowl. Of the three dips, salsa wound up with the most bacteria because it's runny consistency allowed it to drip from a dipped chip back into the bowl, Dawson tells the New York Times, "look around and ask yourself, Would you be willing t... 01/06/2010

One on four American children now depends on food stamps. Among all Americans, one in eight is receiving food stamps, and as unemployment drops middle class people into poverty, 20,000 additional people are signing up each day.   The Week Magazine/New York Times 12/30/2009

   WOW! Can You Believe?  It must be true...I read it in the tabloids.   A Utah man missed the birth of his child when he was arrested for allegedly groping a nurse outside the delivery room. Adam Manning, 30, rushed his partner to the hospital when she went into labor, but then, police said, Manning told a nurse wheeling the woman into the delivery room that she was "cute," attempted to give her a neck massage , and finally grabbed her breast. The nurse then called the police. "Obviously he wasn't there for the birth of his child," said a police spokesman.   The Week Magazine   12/29/2009

Bad Week For... Sheep?                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Spontaneous combustion, after a flock of sheep in Jordan burst into flames and virtually disappeared in front of  a startled shepherd. The soil the sheep had been walking on was saturated with methane from a nearby sewage plant, geologist said, and was ignited by a spark. "There's no need to panic," geologists Bahjat Edwan assured frightened Jordanians.   The Week Magazine I Wonder when this person would see a need for panic? Poor Sheep!   12/29/2009

Only in America.   A 6-year old Delaware Cub Scout was suspended for carrying a camping utensil to school. First-grader Zachary Christie says he had planned to use the mutli-tool, incorporating a knife, a spoon, and a fork, to eat his lunch. But under his school's zero tolerance policy, Christie was suspended and faced 45 days in a local reform school. "I think the rules are what is wrong," said Chrisite, who was reinstated after a public outcry. "Not Me."   The Week Magazine 12/28/2009

Give it a rest. With Mind Games.                                                                                                                                              Perhaps the most extreme example of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. next time you're working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof, or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to "sleep on it." Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good night's rest doubled participant's chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex infor... 12/28/2009

Not having any cash, was not an excuse to pass by the Salvation Army kettles this holiday season. Bell ringers in about 200 cities, including New York, Chicago, and Dallas were accepting credit cards from passer by's. The Week 12/28/2009

Searchable Recipes   The Department of Healthy and Human Services has a variety of healthy recipes sorted in almost every way imaginable: breakfast, lunch, and dinner; appetizers and desserts; vegetarian, fish, and meat; soups and salads; even by how long it takes to prepare. Dig in at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/recipes.html recipes 12/23/2009

The Power of Prunes.   The fiber in dried plums is known for helping regulate digestion. But it turns out prunes may help build better bones too. Laboratory studies have shown that compounds in dried fruit enhance the body's ability to mineralize and build bone.   The American Legion Magazine 12/23/2009

What is cyberbulling?   Online bullying comes in many forms. Cyberbullies flood their targets with nasty e-mails or text messages. They set up websites devoted to attacking their victims or spared rumors and personal attacks via chat rooms. A clever harasser can even steal another teen's user name and use it to send out messages that appear to be from that teen. That's what happened to with-grader Kylie Kennedy of South Burlington, VT. Someone stole her ID and sent out text messages that indicated that she was a lesbian. Then a website went up called "Kill Kylie Incorporated," complete with a slew of crude insults under the heading, "she's queer because...   The Week 12/23/2009

Only In America   Two Wyoming junior high school girls who threw fries at each other during lunchtime have been cited by police for "hurling missiles." Laramie Junior High has recently been abuzz with rumors of an imminent food fight, explained Police Chief Bob Deutach, and the principal had warned students just the day before of serious consequences for food throwing. School officials therefore, were right to bring in the police. "They saw it as really the planning of a riot," said Deutsch.   The Week Magazine 12/22/2009