Southern California Skateparks

If I was planning a trip to Southern California to go skateboarding then these are the skateparks that I would make sure and visit. Due to traffic on any given day it would be pretty hard to hit them in a day but you could do it in two. Day One would be Vans Skatepark, Costa Mesa Skatepark and Etnies Skatepark. Day Two would be Chino Skatepark and then drive down to the Encinitas Ymca Skatepark.The best case scenerio would be a week vacation and you spend a day at each skatepark.

#1 Etnies Skatepark Lake Forest, California

Location: Lake Forest Drive and the 261 Toll Road
Address: 20028 Lake Forest Drive

A 40,000 Square Foot cement skatpark with something for everybody. Big Street course, a pool and a big flow section for the transition lovers

#2 Costa Mesa Skatepark Costa Mesa, California
Location: Arlington Drive and the 55 Freeway.
Directions: 405 to 55 South
Exit Baker Go Right
Bristol Street Go Left
Newport Blvd Go Right
Arlington Drive Go Right
Costa Mesa Skateboard Park is located inside Tewinkle Park.
This is a great skatepark. It has a small bowl that is very fun about 4 feet tall, a big bowl with a big long face wall and a good street course. The best part about this park is its layout. You don’t have boards shooting into the big bowl as your about to drop in from some kid that ate it on the street course.

#3 YMCA Magdalena Ecke Skatepark Encinitas, California
Location: 200 Saxony Rd, Encinitas, CA 92024, USA
Check out our updated street course! In addition to our multiple ledges, rails, boxes, and mini ramps, we added a new four stairs designed for both beginners and experts.
Looking to go big? Drop in on our 120’ vert used at the 2003 X-Games.
We have two of the best cement pools in the country. One is a backyard style kidney pool the other is a multi-tiered clover bowl. Both pools have smooth transitions, flawless coping, and perfect tile.
For the beginners, mini land is the perfect place to learn. With gradual transitions and smaller ramps, mini land will help you learn proper techniques and maneuvers.

#4 Vans Skatepark Orange California
Location: 20 City Blvd W, Orange, CA 92868
The skatepark for the most part has a good vibe and has a solid mix of both street, transition, and vertical skateboarding. Highlights of the park include a remake of the Upland Pipeline Skate Park Combi-Bowl, an X-Games style vert ramp, a 2’ mini –ramp, a 5’ to 6’ mini-ramp with deathbox, a large tranny/street style skate plaza, a mini tranny/street style plaza, and an outdoor old school type skate area with large cement banks and a pyramid.

#5 Chino Skatepark Chino, California

Location: 14225 Central Ave, Chino, CA 91710
Features of the skatepark include a 3 leaf clover bowl with tile and pool coping, a 9′ square bowl, a huge endless flow section with banks and bowls ranging from 4′ to 7′, and a decent banked street section. This is one of those skateparks you will want to skate again and again. The skatepark is layed out well and the lines are endless.

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Red wine stops effects of high-fat diet

Last Updated: 1:01am BST 04/06/2008

Red wine does indeed explain why the French get away with a relatively clean bill of heart health despite eating a diet loaded with saturated fats, concludes a new study.

'Red wine' based drug may fight cancer Antiageing drug shows promise in first human test Could red wine help us keep fit and thin at 120? People living in France have a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease than those in Britain, despite their similar intake of saturated fats - a phenomenon known as the "French paradox". Red wine contins resveratrol which can blunt the toxic effects of a high-fat diet Many have speculated that answer to the paradox lies in their love of a glass or two of wine with a meal and have focused on a chemical found in red wine called resveratrol, also a natural constituent of grapes, pomegranates and other foods. Earlier studies have shown it can blunt the toxic effects of a diet very high in fat, which causes liver damage, but this is the first study to directly look at ageing. Today, in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers report that even low doses of resveratrol in the diet of middle-aged mice has a widespread influence on the genetic levers of ageing, and may confer special protection on the heart. Specifically, the researchers found that low doses of resveratrol mimic the helpful effects of what is known as caloric restriction, diets with the full range of nutrients but up to 30 per cent fewer calories than a typical diet, which extend lifespan and slow the progression of age related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer. "This brings down the dose of resveratrol toward the consumption reality mode," says senior author Prof Richard Weindruch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But, importantly, resveratrol is just one of many "healthy chemicals", called polyphenols in wine. Now, he says, it is possible to see how a glass or two can have a health effect. advertisement <A HREF="http://ads.telegraph.co.uk/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=28805&AdID=35572&TargetID=6217&Values=3607&ASeg=&AMod=&Redirect=http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/clk;202862480;26931571;f" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://adc.telegraph.co.uk/n/nivea/sun/nivea_300x250.swf" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A> "Resveratrol mimics a significant fraction of the profile of caloric restriction at the gene expression level," according to Prof Tomas Prolla, coauthor In the new study - which compared the gene use of animals on a restricted diet with those fed small doses of resveratrol - the similarities were remarkable, explains lead author Dr Jamie Barger of Madison-based LifeGen Technologies. In the heart, for example, there are at least 1,029 genes whose functions change with age, and the organ's function is known to diminish with age. In animals on a restricted diet, 90 per cent of those heart genes experienced altered gene expression profiles while low doses of resveratrol thwarted age-related change in 92 per cent. The new findings were associated with prevention of the decline in heart function associated with ageing. In short, a glass of wine or food or supplements that contain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to represent "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac ageing," the authors note. The new resveratrol study is also important because it confirms studies that show eating fewer calories, which has been shown in a wide range of species to extend lifespan, and resveratrol may govern the same master genetic pathways related to ageing. Original here

One Small Victory Reported in the War On American Childhood Obesity

After a 25 year increase, it seems that the percentage of obese or overweight children has plateaued. This news offers us some hope that perhaps the future of America will not be riddled with diabetes and heart disease.

One expert, Dr. David Ludwig, has commented that even though he is encouraged by these findings, “it is still too soon to know if this really means we’re beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke.” Another expert maintains that there is at least a small level of optimism about these results.

Study Results

According to studies by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in ‘03-’04 and ‘05-’06 about 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent of children were obese and an unfortunate 11 percent were extremely obese. Since 1980, those levels had risen consistently, but finally we see a leveling off.

Most experts emphasize that although it would be inadvisable to celebrate prematurely about these findings, there is hope that emphasizing better eating habits and a need to exercise is finally paying off. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, our culture has experienced an increased awareness of the damage that can be caused through excessive consumption of junk food and a lack of physical activity. Parents and teachers that grew up during this time period are now believed to be turning the tide in the battle with obesity, by promoting a sustained healthy lifestyle.

Be Optimistic, But Take the Results with a Grain of Salt

Because it can take many years for obesity to translate into life-threatening complications, Ludwig believes that until we see a significant reduction in American obesity levels, “the full impact of the childhood epidemic will continue to mount in coming years.” The experts, and Americans like myself, hope that we can avoid such ailments as kidney failure and heart attacks by continuing to aggressively promote healthy living.

Ludwig also commented that the best evidence for determining what direction children’s obesity rates are really heading, will be the CDC’s analysis of data for 2007-08, which is due out next year.

About the Study Participants

The results of the CDC studies are based on nationally representative government health surveys conducted in ‘03-’04 and ‘05-’06. 8,165 children ages 2 to 19 participated in the surveys.

The studies are based on in-person measurements rather than people reporting on their own height and weight, thereby making them a truly accurate reflection of true obesity levels in American children.

The CDC also reported similar findings for both American men and American women during this same time period.

Conclusion

Although this marks a favorable trend in the epidemic of childhood obesity, we still have a long road ahead. What with fast food restaurants popping up in nearly every large American town, and with sugary food and soft drinks prevalent in American culture, we still must continue to educate our children, not on the dire effects of eating junk food and being a louse, but rather on the positive effects of eating healthy and exercising regularly.

Here are some good rules with which to govern a healthy lifestyle:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables. Eat at least 5 servings a day.
• Eat whole grain carbohydrates. Avoid white or processed carbs that come in boxes or contain added sugar.
• Eat more fish and poultry, avoiding high fat beef and pork products.
• Drink more water. Avoid soda, sweetened juice, and other beverages with empty calories.
• Exercise vigorously 3 times a week, for at least 30 minutes per session.
• When eating fast food try to avoid mayo, other high fat condiments, beef, bacon, and high fat salad dressings. There is typically a salad or grilled chicken meal at every fast food restaurant that you can opt for instead.

What You Can Eat At Fast Food Restaurants

I will preface this list by letting you know that you can order all chicken sandwiches without mayo or sauce, and then get a side of BBQ sauce to put in its place.

• McDonalds - egg mcmuffin, grilled chicken salads with low fat dressing, grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken wraps
• Burger King - grilled chicken sandwich, for a real treat order a junior whopper without mayo, I’m not sure if BK sells salads or not
• Wendy’s - grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salad with low fat dressing
• Dunkin Donuts - order all drinks with skim milk and splenda; ham, egg, and cheese on a toasted english muffin
• Arby’s - just get a simple roast beef sandwich, it’s not all that bad for you

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"Informal conversation" on medical marijuana

State health officials met with representatives of law enforcement and medicine Monday, another step in their legislatively mandated mission to define the "60-day supply" of marijuana granted in state law to patients with serious health conditions.

The Department of Health allowed about a dozen medical-marijuana advocates, some in wheelchairs and walkers, to listen to the "informal conversation." Some had vowed earlier to disrupt a closed meeting.

The discussion table included invited representatives from police and sheriffs, prosecutors and the American Civil Liberties Union, a lone doctor, a medical-marijuana patient advocate, and the sponsor of the bill mandating a limit.

Although the health department sought public comment in an unusual set of workshops around the state before drafting a rule — which will start the clock on a set of formal hearings — Gov. Christine Gregoire directed it to seek more comment from law enforcement and the medical community, which were barely represented among the hundreds who spoke at the workshops.

For an hour and a half, the participants wrestled with the task.

"This is a medical decision. It should be determined by physicians," said Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. But the number shouldn't be so big that "anybody involved in cultivation and sale could hide behind it."

Earlier this year, health officials told the governor they planned a limit of 35 ounces and a 100-square-foot growing area.

Dr. Bob Wood, director of the HIV/AIDS Program for Public Health — Seattle & King County, said a pack-a-day smoker would use about 4.4 pounds of tobacco in two months. And two months' worth of the HIV/AIDS pills he takes weigh 2.2 pounds.

Setting a medical-marijuana limit is difficult, Wood said, because the health department is seeking a "one size fits all" number, something unusual in medicine.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl Welles, D-Seattle, the limit-setting bill sponsor, said she began her effort after watching her sister-in-law and her best friend die of cancer. "They could take a couple of puffs from a little [marijuana] cigarette, and the nausea would dissipate."

Reluctantly, her in-laws — "conservative Republicans" — helped their son-in-law buy marijuana on the street. "That's just appalling," she said.

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X-Rays, sunshine: Could radiation be hurting your health?

When Sheri Diehl, a Chicago-area flight attendant, got -- and finally stayed --pregnant after four miscarriages in the 1990s, she contacted her supervisor and asked to stop flying immediately. Her biggest worry? Radiation. She knew the airplane's shell didn't protect her from the sun's rays at high altitude. Diehl and her fellow flight attendants had long wondered -- Could there be unknown health risks for frequent fliers? -- which now included her baby. "I wasn't taking any chances," she says.

Radiation exposure is on the rise, thanks largely to the popularity of high-tech medical exams such as CT scans.

Diehl's baby was fine. But her worries were more than new-mom-to-be jitters. We're all exposed to radiation sources -- the sun, X-rays, mammograms, CT scans, dental exams, even soil -- and we're just now finding out whether those rays, combined, are dangerous.

So how much radiation is too much? Scientists are still figuring that out-- and they tend to disagree about the risks. But they recently found worrying signs that radiation exposure is on the rise, thanks largely to the popularity of high-tech medical exams such as CT scans. So it's wise to follow in Diehl's footsteps and be smart about limiting exposure. Here's what you need to know.

Why radiation is scary

The odds of developing cancer from radiation exposure are very small, but risks do rise the more you get zapped and the younger you are when you're radiated, according to the National Academy of Sciences. This means putting off radiating medical scans, if they're not medically necessary, is always good for you because radiation can damage cell DNA-- and that damage can lead to cancer years down the road. It's true that your body can repair the damage or the cell may simply die. But the earlier you get radiated, the more opportunity there is for uncorrected errors to start cropping up in your DNA.

Know your radiation footprint

To understand what's typical and how radiation adds up, remember this number: 3 mSv. (mSv stands for millisievert, the scientific unit of measurement for radiation.) That's how much radiation, on average, a person in the United States absorbs in a year from background sources such as sunlight, soil, and radon gas that may be in our homes or offices. "If you add the man-made sources like radiation from smoke detectors or X-rays it rises to an average of about 3.6 mSv," says Cynthia McCollough, Ph.D., a radiation-dose researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. That's not much, but your footprint gets bigger fast if you have multiple radiation-based medical tests.

Learn the limits

Health.com: Estimate your annual radiation dose with this chart. Then remember that while some scientists don't believe any level of radiation is necessarily safe, the International Commission on Radiological Protection says that the maximum acceptable dose depends on the source and the purpose. For the general public, it's about what you get from background radiation -- 3 mSv per year. But if you need a medical exam (or several exams), the acceptable limit is as high as 20 mSv per year.

Weigh the risks

At some time in your life, of course, you'll need a radiation-based medical treatment or diagnostic test. Radiation therapy may be the best way to shrink a cancer or save a life. But you should weigh each diagnostic test carefully, experts say. For instance, studies show that having a mammogram from age 40 and up saves lives. "Most often the benefits of such tests and treatments outweigh the risks," says Henry Royal, M.D., a professor of radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, MIssouri. But getting a mammogram before age 40 or having more than one per year carries higher risks and should be avoided unless your personal risk factors are high. The same goes for DEXA scans, a low-radiation scan for evaluating bone density and catching signs of osteoporosis. Like mammograms, the earlier you start DEXA-scan screenings, the more radiation you'll absorb over your lifetime. That's one reason the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a standards-setting body, uses age 65 as the starting point for DEXA scans, unless there's a history of bone fractures or high risk of osteoporosis. Health.com: What is radiation therapy?

If you break your ankle on vacation, an X-ray can't be avoided. But you can ask for copies of the X-ray so that you don't need a second one when you get home. And do you really need dental X-rays every six months to look for hidden cavities? If your teeth are generally healthy and you brush and floss regularly, ask your dentist about annual or biannual bitewing X-rays instead.

Avoid the CT scan bandwagon

A recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine warned that up to one-third of all CT scans may be medically unnecessary -- and that 20 million Americans may be radiated unnecessarily every year. With some 65 million CTs performed annually in the United States, study authors David Brenner, Ph.D., and Eric Hall, Ph.D., of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City suggested that up to 2 percent of all future cancers may be caused by radiation from CTs. Health.com: What's a CT scan?

While your odds of cancer from one CT scan are minuscule -- 1 in 2,000 -- the study also reported that some scans may be riskier than others. A typical, full-body CT scan (often used in emergency rooms to check for internal injuries after car accidents) can emit 200 to 250 times as much radiation as a chest X-ray. The same numbers apply to full-body scans at boutique medicine storefronts designed for healthy people wondering if they have undiscovered diseases.

There is no doubt that CTs can be incredibly useful, but some experts believe that doctors may order full-body CTs to protect themselves from possible malpractice suits following emergencies, on the off chance that they'll miss something. Always ask whether a CT scan is absolutely necessary, says William McBride, Ph.D., a radiation-oncology expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Cancer Center. Health.com: I paid $450 to boost my cancer risk

Rethink those frequent flier miles

Frequent flying theoretically ups your cancer risks. After all, seven miles above sea level, there's much less atmosphere to absorb radiation from the sun. The Association of Flight Attendants takes the risk seriously enough that it recently warned members (who fly an average 100,000 to 450,000 miles a year) that some researchers have found "a significant increased risk of breast cancer among female flight attendants."
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The 10 Most Worthless College Majors

College is a great place to learn and have fun. But let’s not kid ourselves, some degrees are as useless as the plot in a Michael Bay film. Here’s a list of 10 degrees that may be interesting, but do jack shit for you in the real world.

10. Art History

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: With an art history degree you could maybe curate an art gallery or work at a museum or….yeah, that’s it. That’s all you can do. And seeing as how every art gallery and museum I’ve ever been to has exactly one dude sitting quietly at a desk reading a New Yorker and eating a food that requires chopsticks, I’m going to go ahead and assume there’s not a lot of positions open in the field. That means you’re going to have to venture out into the corporate world. And let me inform you, when you’re interviewing with Bob from the HR team at Wal-Mart who’s wearing a tie that has the twin towers smoking with writing underneath that says “We Will Never Forget,” your art history degree says to him “I’m a commie a-hole who thinks I’m better than guys with 9/11 ties.”

What Job You’ll End Up With: After your parents boot your ass from your bedroom to make room for anything that’s not your bedroom, you’ll wander towards the nearest coffee shop and get a job there, which will allow you to meet artists who will thank you for allowing them to put fliers by the cash register that inform people of their upcoming show that touts “the combination of art and flute.”

9. Philosophy

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: This isn’t ancient Greece: No one is going to pay you money, or allow you to sodomize their attractive son, in exchange for your knowledge of existence. Never has there been an employer who’s said “Man, we’re having all kinds of problems, I wish we had someone on our team who could reference and draw conclusions from the story of Siddhartha that would pull up our fourth quarter numbers.” I took many philosophy classes and it involved reading and smoking a shit pile of weed. You don’t need to pay 20,000 dollars a year to do that. All you need is twenty dollars and a library card.

What Job You’ll End Up With: Thanks to your extensive knowledge of philosophy, you’re now self-aware enough to know that most jobs out there will make you totally miserable. So most likely you’ll wait tables part time and hope someone starts paying you for the bi-monthly entries on your blog.

8. American Studies

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: If you’re not named Achmed or Bjork or G’Day Mate this isn’t a degree, it’s the last 18 years of your life. If you really want to study us you don’t need to go to some stupid class, you need only to sit back and watch a two-hour block of Must-See TV to understand The American. After doing my own research, it seems that this mysterious creature is a pot-bellied humanoid with a hot wife and bad credit who has a penchant for low-calorie beer, Chilis, Applebees, TGIFridays, Denny’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Dave and Busters, Steak and Shake, Chilis (again) and Red Lobster. Oh and he can totally demolish a White Castle Crave Case in, like, 20 seconds. OK, now give me my degree.

What Job You’ll End Up With: To take your American Studies degree one step further, you will be qualified to do 40-50 years of “graduate work” cleaning tables and taking orders at a Chilis, Applebees, TGIFridays or Red Lobster. Or possibly Denny’s.

7. Music Therapy

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: I didn’t even know this was a major until I found it on the Appalachian State website. According to their actual explanation of this major: “Music therapy is the scientific application of the art of music within a therapeutic relationship to meet the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of individuals.” Which is a big, fancy way of saying “We’ll teach you how to make a mix tape.” I guess I, too, am a qualified music therapist because my “Summer Jams ‘95” tape I made in the 10th grade totally rocked my house party. All my friends told me that kicking it off with Wreckz-N-Effects “Rump Shaker” followed by Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” totally met their physical, mental and spiritual needs to help them get wasted on my dad’s Schnapps and Drambuie.

What Job You’ll End Up With: After realizing that yoga studios and elderly homes don’t pay people just to come in and set mood music, you’re sadly going to end up putting your degree towards burning a fire to keep warm because you are homeless.

6. Communications

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: Go into a communications class on any given day and it’ll smell like dried semen and booze. Reason being, communications is the major for anyone who wants to graduate, but doesn’t want to stop getting totally wasted on weekdays. Here’s the bad news, if an employer is going to hire someone to help decipher how human beings communicate, he’s going to hire someone with the letters “Dr.” before their name, not the person who first checks to see if a class is offered online, then when they find out it’s not, let’s out a “gaaaaay bro.”

What Job You’ll End Up With: You’ll go to several job interviews that turn out to be pyramid schemes, even though at first you won’t realize this and come home and tell your parents, who you still live with, “They said I’ll probably be making six figures in less than a year just by selling these beer cozies.”

5. Dance

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: Despite what “Dancing with the Stars” and “High School Musical” may tell you, there aren’t a lot of dancing jobs out there—so you better be good because there aren’t any gigs for mediocre dancers. Outside of New York City or some crap in LA there is absolutely nothing you can do with a dance degree that doesn’t involve actually dancing for money. And since the Des Moines interpretive dance movement hasn’t really taken off yet, you have a better chance landing a job as an 8-Track repairman or a member of the Beatles.

What Job You’ll End Up With: After moving to New York and trying out for Hello Dolly! or Damn Yankees or any of the other seven Broadway plays that want dancers and not landing a single one because you got your dance degree from Ball State, you will find ample opportunity to show off your choreographic skills at one of the city’s many strip clubs. You’ll just need to change your name to Crystal or Bambi and you’ll be able finally live out your dream as a dancer. (Mom and Dad will be so proud!)

4. English Lit

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: If someone can spend a weekend with a box of Cliff’s Notes and have only a slightly less conversational knowledge of what you spent 4 years studying, you probably don’t have the most employer friendly degree. Having an English Lit degree is like being a member of the Kansas City Royals: No one cares and the best you can hope for is every once in a while someone buys you a beer because of it.

What Job You’ll End Up With: You can read and comprehend, so that gives you an advantage over 99.5% of the people that peruse Craig’s list job listings. Therefore, you’ll most likely end up landing an entry level position at a random small company, or showing up to your interview and being raped repeatedly by a group of masked men.

3. Latin

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: Not only does no one speak this language anymore, but we already have all the Latin that exists in the world. There’s no new Latin that’s hot off the presses that needs immediate translating. I’m no business major, but majoring in a language that doesn’t exist anymore doesn’t sound so good for job security. And I’m sorry to break the news to you, but the world doesn’t need someone to translate The Bible or the inscription on the side of a Post Office or El Loco Latino’s “Latin House Party.”

What Job You’ll End Up With: Since you majored in something that doesn’t exist, you’re going to have two jobs. Your first one will be as the annoying pretentious guy who gives everyone the Latin etymology of every big word he hears at every dinner party he attends. Your second, and most lucrative job, will be as a Subway Sandwich Artist.

2. Film

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: No one in hollywood gives a shit that you made a short film about an alcoholic albino that discovers the meaning of life through the help of a retarded child. Unless that retarded child was played by the son of Harvey Weinstein, your film or degree will be as pointless as the last three seasons of Lost

What Job You’ll End Up With: If you’re lucky, you’ll have an uncle who can get you a job as a production assistant on CSI Miami, where your time will be spent making coffee runs and finding whores that will let David Caruso pee on them.

1. Religion

Why It Won’t Help You Get a Job: Sorry God, but a major in Religion is about as worthless as St. Brice (The Patron Saint of Stomach Aches.) Even Duke University can’t put a solid sell on this degree: “A major in religion offers intellectual excitement and can be a pathway to a liberal education.” OK, you sold me. So now I get to shell out about a hundred thousand dollars so I can know what to wear to a Shinto ceremony and learn how many virgins Allah will give me if I blow myself up in an Israeli square? If it’s OK with you, I’ll keep my money and stick to my sinning-a-lot-now-and-repenting-on-my-deathbed plan.

What Job You’ll End Up With: This one is tricky. On one hand you’ll probably end up working behind the desk of a Christian Science Reading Room. But on the other, you may end up with everlasting peace and spiritual enlightenment. Let’s call it a draw.

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