HEARD IT AND READ IT
Prepared by Bassam Mechammil
January 2009
For comments; please email Mechammil@aol.com
HEALTH:
Men get hot flashes too:
Hot flashes in men result
from low testosterone and are a common side effect of androgen deprivation
therapy, a treatment for advanced prostate cancer. What can you do?
If hot flashes are bothering
you don’t feel embarrassed to mention them to your physician. Write down any
foods or actions that seem to trigger hot flashes and share this information
with your doctor.
Questions and Answers!
Q: WHAT CAUSES DRY MOUTH AND
WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?
A: Dry mouth occurs when the
salivary glands produce inadequate saliva. Not only does saliva help with
eating and digesting food, it also protects against tooth decay and helps
control bacteria in the mouth. When you lack adequate saliva, chewing and
swallowing can become difficult, making you more susceptible to choking. Hundreds
of prescription and over the counter meds can cause dry mouth. Other causes
include diabetes and Parkinson’s disease as well as chemotherapy and radiation
for head and neck cancer. Talk to your doctor about dry mouth. They can
recommend an artificial saliva spray or different prescriptions. Drink plenty
of water and sugarless gun. Avoid caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol.
EXERSISE MAY PREVENT ABNORMAL HEART RYTHYM IN OLDER
ADULTS:
Light to moderate exercise,
such as walking, may reduce your risk of atrial
fibrillation (Afib), an irregular heart rhythm common
in older adults. A study included 5446 people over 65 whose physical activity
was evaluated and compared to their risk of Afib.
Research found that compared to those who walked less, people who walked just 5
to 11 blocks per week had a 22% lower risk of Afib
while those who walked 12-23, 24-59, and 60 or more blocks per week saw their
risk decline by 24, 33, and 44 %. And Compared to those who walked at slower
paces, people who walked at 2-3 mph and faster than 3 mph had a 32 and 41 %
lower Afib risk.
GOOD THINGS TO KNOW! We share this with our friend
mastro3a karkora.
1.
Peel
a banana from the bottom and you wont have to pick the little stringy things
off of it.
2.
Take
your bananas apart when you get home. If you leave them connected at the stem
they ripen faster.
3.
Store
your open chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and
not mold.
4.
Add
a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away
from the meat while cooking.
5.
To
make scrambled eggs rich, add a couple of spoon full of sour cream or cream
cheese and then beat the eggs.
6.
Place
a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
7.
To
keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with Cayenne
pepper. The cayenne pepper does not hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come
near it.
8.
If
you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside,
just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. It will
unseal easily.
9.
Supermarkets
usually place the most expensive items at eye level where they are more likely
to be selected. To get the best buys, look on the upper and lower shelves
first.
10.
Most dangerous times of the year to be in the
hospital are July and August. New Doctors fresh out of medical school begin
their residencies on July 1st and most senior doctors are on
vacation during this time.
Ultra Premium Tequila Ley .925 “Pasion Azteca”: $225,000
This platinum-and-gold bottle fetched nearly a quarter-million dollars at
auction in Mexico City last year. The spirit that fills
it is a triple-distilled mix of 8-, 10- and 12-year-old agave
plants and is produced by Hacienda La Capilla
Distillery in
TRAVEL TIP: For the luxury traveler touring the tequila region, Altamirano recommends the Camino Real Hotel in
Delicious Wines of 2008
Of wines we tasted this year, one (Château Latour) earned
our highest rating, Delicious!, and we ranked eight others Delicious. These
prices were representative at the time of the tasting. These are likely no long
available, at least in these vintages, but think of them as examples of
Delicious wines on shelves everywhere. Explore!
Château Latour 2005 (Pauillac)
Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires Blanc
de Blancs
In a tasting of "prestige
Vinum Africa Chenin Blanc 2006 (Stellenbosch)
Don Olegario Albariño 2005
Some of the world's most exciting wines are coming from
Don David (Michel Torino Estate) 'Reserve'
Torrontés 2007
(
Vietti 'Scarrone' Barbera d'Alba 2005
Vincent Girardin Premier Cru 'Les Caillerets'
Volnay 2005
Red Burgundy can be a heartbreaker, but we found the wines from 2005
consistently excellent. This sings with duck and roast chicken.
Dead Letter Office (Henry's Drive Vignerons)
Shiraz 2005 (McLaren Vale/Padthaway)
This huge, ageable wine would go well with a roasted leg of lamb or veal chops.
Pirramimma (A.C. Johnston) Shiraz 2004
(McLaren Vale)
We have been disappointed with
Are automated
poker tables the future?
PokerPro automated tables by North Carolina-based PokerTek are used at the Four Winds Casino Resort.
OK,
so it's not exactly the stuff of a sci-fi/horror
film, but some people in the gaming industry think the future of poker rests
with automated tables. In August 2007, Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo
installed 19 PokerPro tables, automated poker tables
made by Matthews, N.C.-based PokerTek. At the time,
it was the world's largest poker room running exclusively on automated tables.
Four Winds now has 14 of the tables as part of a redesign, and poker-room
manager Glenn Arana said they will soon be
commonplace in casinos around the country.
"Coming from a traditional background of
poker, I immediately said this is the future of poker," said Arana, who predicted they'd be mainstream within five
years.
Since
being installed in Four Winds, PokerTek, which
started in 2005, has expanded into larger gaming markets with a dozen tables in
"Our
experience at Four Winds has shown us we're able to easily and successfully
manage a PokerPro room in other markets as
well," said PokerTek vice president of marketing
and product management Tracy Egan, who graduated from
From
a potential cost-cutting perspective, automated poker makes sense: Casinos
don't have to pay dealers or handle chips; the machines track the action; it's
faster, meaning more hands per hour; and there's less risk of human error,
either from players or dealers. Proponents also say it's less intimidating for
beginners or online-only players.
But
will most players embrace the tables?
It
appears to be a question of stakes (how much it costs to play) and player
experience.
Blue
Chip Casino vice president and general manager Ted Bogich
said installing automated poker tables is "not in the immediate
future." While he thinks they will become more visible in more casinos, he
doesn't think they'll replace manual tables. They appeal to low-stakes,
"casual" players, he said. The players Bogich
has talked to are more comfortable handling cards and chips. They also say some
of the strategy and skill of reading opponents is lost on automated tables.
"For
us at this point," Bogich said, "we believe
there is a strong preference for the live game."
Poker
pro and host of the "World Poker Tour" Mike Sexton seemed to agree
with both sides. Sexton said in an August interview with Casino City Times that
it's the "wave of the future, at least as far as low-stakes games are
concerned."
How it works
With
automated poker tables, there are no dealers, cards or chips. There is a main
screen in the center of the table that shows chip stacks, betting order and the
flop. Each player has their own screen and can reveal their cards by sliding
their hands over the dealt cards. All the math is done by the table, and
players are prompted when it's their turn to bet. There also are audio cues to
indicate when someone has bet.
PokerPro makers say their tables allow
for 40 to 45 hands per hour as opposed to 20 to 24 hands per hour at manual
tables.
