Denver, CO

Here’s a paragraph that makes the argument for supplements to your already healthy (I assume…) nutritional diet.

“…the American Health Care System. Health care plans and Medicare are going bankrupt. A growing population of retirees has forced politicians to cut back on health benefits in order to stave off the complete collapse of Medicare. The only way to keep health care costs from bankrupting the entire country is to lower the incidence of disease…

“In 1988 only 0.003 percent of U.S. Health dollars went toward prevention, a figure which hasn’t changed significantly over the past decade. Health care providers aren’t directing their patients to the health benefits provided by nutritional supplements…The massive daily use of multivitamins has been proposed as a method of getting health care costs under control. For example, the National Defense Council Foundation indicates the federal government would save up to $6.3 billion annually by the provision of vitamin supplements to retired military personnel. If all Americans took a multivitamin daily the number of yearly hospitalizations would be expected to drop and the insurance industry would save an estimated $5.5 billion which would result in lower insurance rates. A report in the Western Journal of Medicine suggests vitamin supplements would reduce hospital costs by $20 billion annually.” –article from book The New Truth About Vitamins and Minerals by Bill Sardi, page 22

image from http://www.childrenfirst.nhs.uk/teens/health/healthy_eating/healthy_eating/vitamins_minerals.html

Are you getting enough healthy foods in your diet? Even if you eat well—whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.—you may want to add a multivitamin to the mix. Especially when including a healthy diet of intense exercise, your body will need all the nourishment it can get to rebuild, restore, and heal itself. As the above excerpt illustrates, we need to accept responsibility for our own health and take care of our bodies instead of relying on the American (or any) Health Care System. It is just one more aspect of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Was this health clip helpful to you? What other aspects of healthy lifestyles and educational tidbits would you be interested in reading more about? Leave feedback by submitting a comment below

for more on health care in the U.S., click here for a documentary recommendation

This week begins the about-denver focus on health care and health issues in the U.S. There are far too many to cover in a week, but I’ll try to focus on broad issues concerning many, many people. An example of one is universal health care, something Al Gore briefly talked about during his presentation in Denver last month.

October means Halloween, which gives way to November and Thanksgiving, and not far behind that is December and Christmas. Before you know it we will be beginning a brand new year in 2008! My how time flies…
Today’s post features some Halloween fun for families in the Denver area. Trick o Treating can be cold, requires parent supervision, and means way too much candy for the kids. A great alternative to a night of candy snacking and a way to still have fun with this Halloween holiday could be this:

World’s Best Halloween Magic and Marionette Show
Date: Oct 27, 2007
Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Description: Jim Loshbaugh shares his magic and marionettes for this frightfully good show!
Location: Park Hill Denver Public Library
for more info please click here

i have been known to dabble in magic before (OK, honestly, I just know two or three card tricks) and I will try to make it to this sure to be fun and entertaining Magic and Marionette Show. If any of my readers attend, please return to the about-denver blog and to this post to leave feedback about the event. Much appreciated!

picture found at http://free-halloween-wallpapers.com/

also, check out these blog’s for more great ideas of family fun

click here for Creative Mom Cafe featuring a pumpkin craft idea

and click here for useful children’s toys reviews

Thanks for reading and keep checking in! The blogs have been somewhat slow coming lately, but I will return to the normal pace of posting blogs for readers and keeping everyone informed about Denver, CO!

Have you seen the movie picture show starring Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth?
This show was here, live and in person, earlier this month on October 2nd at the Wells Fargo Theater in Denver, CO.

Gore presented his famous powerpoint about climate change, as seen in An Inconvenient Truth, but he included updated information, news, etc. Also in the mix was some of Gore’s politics and what he had to say about certain issues which earned him a standing ovation on numerous occasions, shouts of ‘we need you Gore’ and some members of the crowd pleading for him to run for president.

At the end, Al Gore took a few questions from audience members that had been written down and turned in before the show was underway. The hit question of the night came from an elementary school age girl who asked of Gore, “will there be any polar bears around when I’m older?”

Whether you agree with climate change or disagree and feel that Gore’s movie should be labeled ‘An Inconsistent Truth’ I found - and think others would have to agree - Gore’s passion for politics and the environment to be very moving. Even after years and years of playing his slideshow before audiences and years, fighting for environmental causes, working in politics, it is very admirable to witness his passion and know that this man truly believes in what he is saying.

for another about-denver post featuring local heroes and people with passion, click here

image from http://www.rwm.org/rwm/tf_col.html

If you’re a loyal reader or here for the first time but have read through my previous blog posts, you’ll know that I took the about-denverco.com website to a community meeting about education. This post shall be a reflection on the meeting and my overall feel of the successes of the meeting and where it didn’t work.
First, let me begin by saying this was an incredible experience. If you have not taken the time to participate in your state’s government before, then please do so. You will not forget it. Helping to make decisions, engage in discussions about ideas, these are all things that invigorate me and I think probably do the same for most anybody. For this reason, and because many people are concerned with education in Colorado and the U.S.A., there was a sizeable group of local politicians, educators, parents, grandparents, councilmen and councilwomen, and students at this community meeting.
Issues discussed: How do we improve Colorado education?
It was clear that everyone in attendance agreed that Colorado public schools need improvement. And everyone agreed a good start for this was to do away with CSAP. Another key focus of the meeting was to expand the ways in which we teach, what we teach, and how that information is presented to kids. Basically an overwhelming consensus that our education is too standardized.
Where I felt this meeting was lacking was that we focused much on what the system needed to remove or change, but not in the least on how to change it and what the education system in the future would look like it. The meeting was able to establish what was not working in education and what should work better, but no strategies on how to implement it.

These conversations are taking place around the state of Colorado, in an effort to garnish as much community ideas, support, and involvement about the future of Colorado education. This affects all of us, either because we have kids in Colorado’s education systems, or we care about our state, our nation, and will continue to live here, hopefully as leaders of the free world.
For more info please visit www.conversation2007.org

Rockies are living large this life and have earned a Wild Card playoff berth; things are good for Colorado in this the month of Rocktober. And my sincerest wishes go out to the Rockies and taking this state through some exciting post-season games!
But stepping away from the sports scene (at the risk of offending loyal fans) for a brief moment, I want to inform readers about a unique speaker in Denver, something other than the Rockies that has sadly, been kept relatively obscure compared to the big baseball news.
Al Gore in Denver. Tonight. For some readers this is good, exciting news. For others, it’s a ‘who cares?’ blog post. And for still others, there are more interesting things than politicians, like watching paint dry.
But its not everyday that a former vice president and presidential candidate makes an appearance in your home city. And for this writer, this event is enough to get me out of my pajamas and, putting my thinking cap on, head out to hear what Al Gore has to say.
Tonight’s presentation will be especially useful and interesting if you have been following Al Gore’s spearheaded movement of protecting our environment and doing our part to prevent climate change.
More about tonight with Al Gore:

the Aaron Harber Show airs at 8pm on channel 12 KBDI-TV with the former vice president’s appearance

there was a chance presented in the Rocky Mountain News to win tickets to this event (see, you should all be reading the newspapers!). But that opportunity is over. Tickets may still be available at http://www.harbertv.com., otherwise set your TiVo and plan on recording Al Gore in Denver. Then switch back to baseball!!

stay tuned: the next blog post will be a summary of last week’s community meeting on education

other news in politics: State Senator sues God