In the 15th annual Horizons Fishing Tournament that was held June 21 Todd Townsend, fishing from Sword A Broke, took first place in the Kingfish category; Dylan Wagner, fishing from Six Pack, took first in the Dolphin category; Khori Kane, fishing from Reel Addicted, was first in the Wahoo category; Jett Perry, fishing from Choppy, was first in the Snapper/Grouper category; Jackson Lync, fishing from Fins, was first in the Junior Division and Kari Townsend, fishing from Sword A Broke, was first in the Ladies Division. The event benefited the Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation. For information, call 561-494-6888 or visit http://www.hpbcf.org.

The 27th annual Kids Fishing Day will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and July 31 at the Lake Park Harbor Marina. The outreach program targets children from throughout Palm Beach County who dont normally have the opportunity or means to experience saltwater fishing aboard a big boat. Approximately 400 kids will be treated to a special day of marine environmental education, angling instruction and fishing adventure. Participants range in age from 8 to 12 years old. The program, which is offered free of charge by the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation provides each child with a special T-shirt, lunch, drinks, a two-hour drift fishing trip, personalized certificates of participation and a new fishing rod and reel, sponsored by the Florida Foundation For Responsible Angling. For information, call 561-832-6780.

The Jupiter Medical Center Loggerhead Triathlon will be held at 7 a.m. Aug. 2 at Carlin Park in Jupiter. The race consists of a 3/8-mile ocean swim, 13-mile bicycle ride and a 3.1-mile run. Participation in the event is sold out.

The Jupiter Senior Softball Association seeks men age 55 and older to participate in games at 8:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Jupiter Community Park. All players are welcome regardless of talent level. There are two divisions allowing for more competitive players and for those desiring a more relaxed style of play. Call 561-748-5573 or visit http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=jssa.

West Jupiter Recreation Center is offering the following programs:

Boot Camp: Tuesdays, Thursdays 6 to 7 p.m., Saturdays 9 to 10 a.m. $5 per class. Call 561-694-5430.

Classical fencing: Wednesdays 6 to 9 p.m. One-hour class $15, two-hour class $23. Call 561-694-5430.

Okinawan karate: Aug. 13 to Sept. 6 and Sept. 10 to Oct. 4. Wednesdays 6 to 7:30 and Saturdays 9 to 10:30 a.m. $65 for eight classes. $15 per class. Call 561-694-5430.

The North County Aquatic Complex in Jupiter holds water fitness classes at 10 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. $4 per class or $30 for 10 classes. For information, call 561-312-1091.

The Palm Beach Gardens Aquatic Complex will offer Save-A-Life from 11 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month through August. Instructors will teach participants how to respond to an emergency and the basics of CPR. Residents $3, nonresidents $10. Water Fitness Classes including deep water aerobics, shallow water aerobics and aqua zumba will be held at the Aquatic Complex Monday to Saturday. Deep water aerobics is a no-impact, cardio and strength training work out with classes on Monday from 9 to 10 a.m., Tuesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. Shallow water aerobics is an upbeat cardio and strength training work out with classes on Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Aqua zumba is a low-impact aquatic exercise thats cardio-conditioning and body-toning with classes on Tuesday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Residents $4, nonresidents$5. For information, call 561-630-1145 or visit http://www.pbgfl.com/aquatics.

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Sports & Recreation

The Red Cross of Idaho is running low on blood donations.

Every 20 seconds, someone in Idaho needs blood, but things at the Red Cross donation center in Boise... are a little quiet.

In Idaho, the Red Cross strives to collect 1200 pints of blood each day. In the summer months, they aren't hitting that goal.

"We've seen an eight percent decline in donation over the last eleven weeks," said Jane Stutzman, a donor recruitment manager for the American Red Cross.

People are out on vacation or busy enjoying the outdoors. Some people fear donating blood, but then being unable to participate in summer recreations. The truth is a healthy person's fluids will normally be replaced in a day. Losing a day of excercise to donate makes a big difference.

"You are making an impact in patients' lives for them and for their family."

Donating blood really is easy. On Your Sides Jake Melder came in during his work day. It takes forty-five minutes. There's a quick medical history, some swabbing, a quick needle poke, a little bit of waiting, and in minutes you're done. They even give you treats. Treats are the best.

Sean Falconer stopped by to donate a pint Tuesday. Overall, he's donated more than a gallon.

"We produce enough blood to share with everyone, said Falconer. I know there's a need for blood so I'm happy to come, spend 45 minutes or so and do it every couple of months."

The staff at the donation center make the experience fun and enjoyable.

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Red Cross of Idaho needs more blood donations

Much as cycling is a good source of exercise for the lower body and the core, it admittedly doesn't do much for the upper body. We've seen a number of attempts to address this shortcoming, mostly in the form of bikes that are pedaled with both the legs and the arms. The FitRider takes a somewhat different approach, looking somewhat like a cross between a regular bicycle and a NordicTrack.

Instead of traditional handlebars, the FitRider has two vertical ski pole-like levers that extend down to the pedals, and which pivot in the middle where they meet the aluminum frame. Each one is connected to its respective pedal via a steel rod, allowing arm power applied to the levers to augment the leg power that's applied to the pedals.

If the rider's arms get tired, they can disconnect those rods and secure them to an anchoring point on the frame, locking the levers in a more traditional non-pivoting configuration. They can still turn from side to side, however, to facilitate steering.

In its current form, the FitRider also features a suspension fork, 700C wheels, and a 14-speed drivetrain.

Its creators, Bill Capek and Abraham Mathew, are now in the process of raising production funds on Kickstarter. A pledge of US$1,800 will get you one, when and if they're ready to go. The estimated retail price is $2,199.

You can see the bike in action, in the pitch video below.

Source: Kickstarter

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FitRider bike puts those lazy arms to use

Sunnyvale, CA (PRWEB) July 22, 2014

CoverCake provides library patrons and library staff with an exclusive books-as-seen-on-TV reference service that is available in library-branded mobile apps from Boopsie. It helps libraries and librarians answer the common question: I heard about a great book on Oprah, but forgot to write down the title. Can you help me find it?

The CoverCake subscription service is engaging and exciting to patrons and helps libraries increase circulation by making popular books easier to find while keeping the library fun and relevant to the interests of its community. CoverCake provides both library patrons and library staff with a comprehensive way to discover books that are featured in the media.

In the York County Libraries app, CoverCake was the third most popular channel. Lora-Lynn Kahler, the director of Technology Integration & Collections at the library, said, CoverCake serves a real need. It is exactly the kind of service that most libraries will want.

Library app users can browse New York Times Best Sellers lists or they can quickly find a book mentioned on their favorite media program.

For library staff, CoverCake provides another easy-to-access reference tool. When patrons come in to ask about a book they heard about in the media, the librarys staff can simply open up the app (or use the desktop app demo page provided for each library) to quickly find the title requested.

Libraries can also use the CoverCake integration to leverage their library collection on social media. For instance, a library staff member hears about a title being reviewed on the Today Show, they can share a link to the item in their catalog on their social media networks to increase their collections visibility. This leveraging can lead to acquiring new patrons who might not have entered the library otherwise.

Flower Mound Public Library in Texas began providing the CoverCake integration to their patrons in mid-May. On May 31st, more than half of the unique library app users were accessing their CoverCake integration.

CoverCake is a huge hit among our staff and patrons, says Sue Ridnour, Director of Library Services at Flower Mound Public Library. The integration makes it so easy to find the books our patrons hear about on TV and the radio.

The St. Charles Public Library app in Illinois saw 72% of unique users who accessed the library app visited the CoverCake integration.

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Libraries Using Boopsies Mobile Platform Deliver Innovative Books-as-Seen-on-TV Reference Service to Patrons

Mike Cahill's audacious I Origins touches on a number of Big Subjects, such as reason versus spirituality, scientific hubris, and the perils of hooking up with supermodels. It's probably going to end up on an equal number of "Best of" and "Worst of" end-of-year lists.

Protagonist ("hero," not so much) Ian Gray (Michael Pitt) is a scientist obsessed with eyes. In addition to taking close-up pictures of the peepers of anyone who doesn't find the request creepy, his work is to make colorblind mice see colors, with the goal of eventually bringing sight to species that never evolved eyes. It's your typical tampering-in-God's-domain kind of stuff, but since he says he doesn't believe in God, he willfully chooses to miss the point of the metaphor. Indeed, he hopes to end the whole Intelligent Design/"a watch needs a watchmaker" debate, which is a perfectly noble goal but, as atheistic scientists tend to be stereotyped in movies these days, he's a smug, charmless nozzle.

I Origins is by no means the same kind of overt anti-scientist propaganda as God's Not Dead, but since it plays its themes and emotions in broad, operatic strokes, Ian lacks the sense of joy and wonder found in, say, avowed atheists (and past and present Cosmos hosts) Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson. (That I Origins comes on the heels of Pitt's truly disturbing performance as Mason Verger on Hannibal only ups the creep factor.)

The working title was Sex Peepers.

Ian is also a floppy-haired New York hipster, and at a Halloween party he meets Sofi (Astrid Bergs-Frisbey), a fashion model who quite reasonably decides to flee Ian when he says a dumb thing during impromptu sex in a tastefully squalid closet. Thanks to a series of coincidences at 11:11 a.m. on 11/11 hey, ever notice how the numeral 1 looks not unlike the letter I, which itself is a homophone for "eye," and when you put two 1s together they look like a pair of eyes, especially if you're watching a movie that will probably inspire several academic papers on eyeball imagery in the cinema? Ian successfully stalks Sofi, and they pick up where they left off.

Unlike Ian, Sofi believes in souls and reincarnation and has reasonable ethical objections to mutating eyeless worms to make them grow eyes. She's the classic Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and while it's typically the MPDG's job in these movies to teach the boy how to lighten up, I Origins is playing a longer game than that. When a bizarre accident at the end of the first act cleaves Sofi from Ian on what was supposed to be their (ill-considered) wedding day, the picture jumps forward seven years and starts playing the cards it's dealt, moving into the realm of spiritual science fiction.

Though it moves at a brisk pace and is gorgeous to look at it, I Origins is a frequently confounding movie, one that will anger as many people as it will enchant. It's a film about not just the male gaze, but the reciprocal gaze it would make a wonderfully abstract double feature with Godfrey Reggio's Visitors but the gender politics are still troubling, particularly the character of Karen (Brit Marling). She's Ian's lab assistant turned wife and mother of his child, and writer/director Cahill gives her a Stepford-level tolerance for Ian's occasionally literal masturbation over that one hot girl he was involved with years ago.

Still, few recent films so motivated by the leading man's boner have such deep thematic ambitions, or are likely to inspire such heated post-viewing conversations.

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"I Origins": Science, Religion, Sex & Eyeballs

Last week, I discussed the latest scientific research on fasting and its effects on the body, brain, and health in general. Fasting was found to have multiple benefits such as promoting fat loss; detoxifying the organs and systems; eliminating toxins; causing the body to heal itself; repairing damaged cells and organs; generating new white blood cells; balancing hormones; producing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and an anti-aging hormone; relieving and energizing the digestive system; boosting the immune system; enhancing insulin sensitivity; reducing blood sugar count; breaking up plaque build-up in the arteries; enhancing the memory and mental activity; intensifying spirituality; and revitalizing energy. Such positive body responses invariably lead to healthier body systems and brain functions, which eventually result in good health, energy, and longevity. Detoxification through fasting gets rid of cumulative body fat and concealed toxic residue (synthetic chemicals, heavy metals) that can trigger autoimmune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia) or lead to cancer. Fasting has yet more benefits than improving mental and physical fitness. The lack of eating sheds the excess fat and toxin, relieves the intestinal tract, cleanses the brain, and clears the mind, intensifying spirituality and concentration for the long night prayers of taraweeh and qiyam. Worships when done with awareness and conviction clarify the spirit and improve the temperament; strengthen the character; increase endurance; temper anger; and teach humility, and other virtues like righteousness, altruism, and ethics. Such characteristics should make us better people, not only during the Holy Month of Ramadan, but all the time. Today, I will discuss what to eat and drink after breaking the fast, iftar until sahoor, abstinence before morning prayers. The health threat in our styles of Ramadan fasting does not come from food and water deprivation for fourteen or fifteen hours, but more from overconsumption and low quality food. We tend to rush and wolf down whatever is in sight, as if we have been starved for weeks. And look what foods and beverages we eat: fries, syrupy desserts, starches, creams, trans fats, and sugar-laden beverages, the most harmful foods possible. Can you imagine the shock our systems get when fatty, sugary, and fried foods enter the digestive tract and race to our bloodstream, body, and brains? Blood glucose spikes, triggering the pancreas to release insulin to break down the pervading sugar. Once sugar enters the body, energy kicks in, but when insulin breaks it down rapidly energy goes flat, leaving the consumer depleted and fatigued. Nutrient-empty foods and overconsumption defeat the purpose of fasting by inflicting harm on the brain, body, health, and spirit. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) warned against overindulgence and recommended breaking fast in a healthier manner: starting with dates (1, 3, or 5) and water. Dates are nourishing fruits rich in a plethora of nutrients like vitamins (A, Bs, C), minerals (iron, sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, fluoride, manganese, boron, selenium), carbohydrates (glucose, fructose, sucrose), some proteins (important amino acids), very little good fats (omega fatty acids), prebiotics and fiber (pectin). The fruit is also rich in antioxidants, phytosterols (to control cholesterol), and protective phytochemicals (carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin, polyphenols, quercetin). Dates are a wholesome nutrition for the body, brain, and nervous system, especially against malnourishment and famine in children, adults, and the elderly. To benefit from their bioavailability, dates are best consumed alone, but in reasonable amounts. They should be eaten on an empty stomach or with other fruits, but never after a heavy meal. They increase weight and fat gain. Dates make a healthy snack for both children and adults when combined with raw or roasted nuts. The fruit has multiple medicinal effects on the organs and systems, but I will limit the article to fasting this time (read my article The Date The Superfruit from the Arabian Desert, published Aug. 8, 2010). Because dates are not available everywhere, fresh fruits make good and nourishing substitutes. They are replenishing and hydrating. Plenty of water is necessary after a long hot day of fasting. Water is essential for the body, its systems, and functions. The body consists of seventy percent water and the brain eighty percent. When the body fluids are reduced, the volume of blood is decreased and becomes less fluid to transport nutrients through the body, organs, cells, systems, heart, and brain. The urinary tract and kidneys require sufficient water; otherwise, infections and kidney failure occur. Mild dehydration can lead to acid reflux, constipation, and digestive problems. Dehydration is a dangerous condition. In order to practice fasting both hygienically and successfully, you require to eat good portions of lean and quality protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes, nuts) and have non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, cabbage family, carrots, tomatoes) and fruits in order to prevent deficiencies and weight gain. Lean protein should be emphasized to prevent muscle wasting. Quality fats are required for the brain, heart, and health like olive and nut oils, and fish oils (in supplements), avocadoes, and others. When nutrients are insufficient or calories are heavily restricted for too long, the body begins to waste and dysfunctions (thyroids) and imbalances (hormones) appear. It is important to cut down on pure sugar, refined carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice), and fried foods. It is hard to resist temptation of the array of desserts on the modern iftar table. If you wish to eat fries or carbs, have them after the salad and proteins. Desserts in tiny portions should be left to the very end of the meal, but not to be eaten daily to avoid overindulgence and corpulence. Keep away from heavy snacks between iftar and sahoor as well as soda and sweetened beverages. Herbal infusions are digestive and detoxifying, but without sugar, sugar substitutes, or corn sugar. Green tea and a little Arabic coffee are good, but they are negative water; they make you lose lots of body fluids. Fruit juices are concentrated in sugar. Whole fruits are healthier to eat with a couple of nuts or a glass of yogurt drink with mint can be refreshing. Drink plenty of water in between meals. Fasting properly eliminates body fat, and cleanses and renews the systems, organs, brain, cells, and the blood. Moreover, it is the perfect time to quit smoking, alcohol, and caffeine habits. It is an opportunity to restore and boost your immune system; detoxify your body from fat, toxic chemicals, and addictions; and energize your brain in order to prevent disease symptoms, disorders, and illnesses, provided bad habits and addictions are not taken up again and weight is maintained in a healthy manner. There is no safeguard from toxic habits, except quitting them to regain mental and physical health, energy, and wellness. I personally witnessed a ninety-five-year-old fasting against her physicians advice. Her physical and mental health was energized; her immunity was boosted; and her mental clarity was heightened. It was so obvious, which astounded her treating doctors. Of course she could not fast the entire month; there were days she had to miss, fearing dehydration and urinary tract infections, but the benefits were noticeable to her family and doctors. People wonder whether it is possible or advisable to exercise while fasting. The two practises do not conflict. Fitness experts believe both can be combined successfully. Exercising when fas
ting not only preserves the working muscles, but also sheds unwanted fat. The working muscle or muscles is prevented from wasting while other tissues and fat are broken down instead. However, long-term food deprivation along with heavy exercising wastes the muscles. I wish you a rewarding end of Ramadan and good health after fasting. I will resume writing after the Haj season. Happy Eid and remember to refrain from overindulgence during the holiday.

References: Fasting for three days renews entire immune system, protects cancer patients, remarkable new study finds, by Sarah Knapton, The Daily Telegraph, National Post Wires Services Science Discover that Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration & Fights Cancer by Arjun Walia Fasting at least Twice a week Seen as Alzheimers Hedge, by Makiko Kitamura, Oct 29, 2013 N.B.: Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural. The previous Health Solutions articles are located at www. arabnews.com Email: [emailprotected]

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What is the point of fasting? (Part 4)

Feature Article of Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Columnist: Kwarteng, Francis

Thus, Chinua Achebe, an antagonistic hero of the so-called Biafran Secession War, reminds the yechy unrecognized self-styled poet and writer, a bastardized ideological scion of The Brethren, writing:

The fiction which imaginative literature offers usdoes not enslave; it liberates the mind of man. Its truth is not like the canons of an orthodoxy or the irrationality of prejudice and superstition. It begins as an adventure in self-discovery and ends in wisdom and human conscience.

Question: How dare he, Achebe? Everyone knows it for sure! It? About what? Moral, spiritual, and intellectual decadence in the body politic, The Country! Well, everyone is fully aware it is not beyond the bounds of decorum to acknowledge Achebes advisory agency as a timely gesture of agreeable community, for the yechy unrecognized self-styled poet and writer, so-called, stands intolerably short as a hopelessly irretrievable national disgrace in the pageantry of civilizational sentience. Everything he supposedly poetizes about emanates from his schizophrenic, scrappy persona. Yet he sees himself essentially a scholar in his self-contrived wasteland of deranged consciousness. As a matter of principle, the scholarly community lacks a critical scope of accommodation with regard to his shallow, shoddy scholarship, hence his euthanasic narcissism, hence his manic persona.

That kind of scholar, a fetishistic victim of penile atresia, is the bane of civilizational de-colonialism, the proverbial spoke in the wheel of intra-national coherence. Even of his own mental integrity. Importantly, his viscous relationship with citizens whose progressive sense of community is not in question usurps the aristocratic conscience of national discourse, whence comes Chinua Achebes intercessory wisdom. In consequence, the moral caliber of the fiction, Achebes phraseology, is all there is to it, no doubt, though it resists the textural candor of George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Even of George Orwells Animal Farm. Realpolitik. DoublespeakThe poetic realpolitik of the scholar. The poetic doublespeak of the scholar. Achebe said it in the nebulous archeology of Yesterday. In the substantial space-shuttle of Today. And in the nebulous time-warp of the Future. That the poetic realpolitik of the scholar, that the poetic doublespeak of the scholar, that he, the scholar, has no verifiable interest in the unity of The People, in the positive development of The Country. Stoking the embers of disunity, of ethnocentrism, of ethnic nationalism is his thing, his patriotic duty! In one sense, therefore, the phraseologic aesthetics of Achebes the fiction beggars his, Achebes, advisory largesse. Surprising? Not necessarily! In another sense, however, Achebes the fiction is the kind of national ethos whose cultural and philosophical actuation The Scarab Beetle had wanted to graft onto African PersonalityThrough The Scarab Beetles conscious replacement of old-fashioned colonialism with progressive instruments of de-colonialism, of poetic consciencismUntil The Brethren subverted it.

Oh, the Sisyphean weight of guilt will forever intrude upon The Brethrens splintered conscience even as it denies them a scintilla of sleep in the agoraphobic graveyard of moral accountability. This is the kind of heavy moral burden those who hate men and women of conscience without justifiable grounds bear. The scorching guilt of immorality, of indiscretions! Maya Angelou actually recalls this physiologic-moral dilemma in Insomniac:

There are some nights when sleep plays coy, aloof and disdainful. And all the wiles that I employ to win its service to my side are useless as wounded pride, and much more painful.

Obviously a creative response to Maya Angelous physiologic-moral dilemma is The Voice, Achebes the fiction. Let the world be told in black and white that the yechy unrecognized self-appointed poet and writer, the dregs of human civilization, has neither natural intelligence nor artificial intelligence. Where is the whereabouts of the poets apperception? The Earth, a polluted earth. Oh, The Voice, O Great People of the World, of The Earth. Indeed, that ostensibly authoritatively nebulous-voice, The Voice, The Scarab Beetles, arguably, O Great People of the World, imbues the auctorial, cognitive ballpen-voice of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Teju Cole. Doreen Baingana. Taiye Selasi. NoViolet Bulawayo. Dinaw Mengestu. Helen Oyeyemi. Ogochukwu Promise (Founder of The Lumina Foundation). Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. Aminatta Forna. Vronique Tadjo. Antjie Krog. Ishmeal Beah. Sarah L. Manyika. Okey Ndibe. Mukoma wa Thiongo. Nnedi Okarafor. Adaobi Tricia Nwaubaniliterary disciples of Achebes the fiction:

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Fate Of A Misguided Scholar 1

July 22, 2014, 3 a.m.

WARRNAMBOOL academy EKB Fitness and Aerobics has had a record number of athletes qualify for world championships.

EKB Aerobics Fusion team (from left) Kaytlyn Wallace, Maddison MacDonald, Jessica Brunt, Tahlia Gaw, Paige Lloyd, Achsah Gibbs and Brittany Leach earned bronze at the national championships. 140721DW26 Pictures: DAMIAN WHITE

WARRNAMBOOL academy EKB Fitness and Aerobics has had a record number of athletes qualify for world championships.

Eighteen athletes booked their tickets to the Prague titles in October by medalling in their international stream events at nationals championships in Melbourne.

The qualifiers included teenager Jordan Rooke, whose gold medal in the junior male fitness section was his first nationals triumph as an individual.

EKB Aerobics Junior Male solo Jordan Rooke. Picture: DAMIAN WHITE

Senior female fitness trio Audacity sisters Emma and Sophie Bellman and Aylish Auchettl also won gold and two teams finished in the placings.

Fierce won silver in the senior fitness teams section while Fusion earned bronze in the junior fitness teams section.

Coach Emma Bellman said the academy had previously had eight members at most compete at worlds in the one year.

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Warrnambool aerobics stars book their place in world championships