News Letter 2006 12

M. A. SMITH

A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION

MASAPLC.COM

Michael A. Smith, Attorney at Law

319 E. Foothill Blvd., #C Voice - (626) 357-1177

Arcadia, CA 91006 Facsimile - (626) 357-4588

December 2006 No. 18

The decorated Christmas tree can be traced back to the ancient Romans who, during their winter festival, decorated trees with apples as a symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve which was held on December 24.

The first record of a Christmas tree being on display was in the 1830s by Pennsylvania German settlers. In 1846, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable in both British and American society.

The proximity of Christmas to the winter solstice served to identify certain pagan beliefs and practices with Christian themes of renewal, etc. Winter solstice rites of the evergreen tree easily evolved into those of the modern Christmas tree. The star crowning the Christmas tree is also related to the north or pole star. This compatibility of Christmas celebration with late December along with beliefs about the evergreen tree, the north pole and Father Winter (Santa) still survive in Christian guise.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating trees with homemade ornaments; German-Americans continued using apples, nuts and marzipan cookies. Electricity brought Christmas lights and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition. Western Pacific Landscaping, January 2006 Thanks Gloria V.

The largest snowflakes on record fell in Montana, in 1887. Each snowflake measured 15" in diameter.

Stampede Pass, WA, is the snowfall capital of the US. Each year brings an average snowfall of 430 inches.

More snow falls each year in southern Canada and the northern US than at the North Pole. Western Pacific Landscaping, January 2006 Thanks Gloria V.

December’s flower is holly. Its birth stone; turquoise which is believed to bring happiness and prosperous relationships between friends when given as a gift. It can also indicate changes in the wearer’s health.

When it comes to professional perception, appearance matters and clothes do make a difference. According to an administrative staffing firm, 80 percent of workers say a person’s work wardrobe affects his or her professional image.

Poor-fitting clothes; too much perfume, cologne or after shave; shorts or too-short skirts; tank tops or T-shirts; out-of-control hair; ripped or torn jeans; noisy jewelry; gym attire; flip-flops or sandals; extremely high heels.

Cover blemishes with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile and speeds the healing process.

Remove a splinter by putting a drop of Elmer’s Glue-All over the splinter and let it dry. Peel the dried glue off the skin; the splinter having stuck to the dried glue is easily removed. Thanks Michele B.

Yes! men get breast cancer. In fact, more men die from breast cancer than from testicular and prostate cancer combined. Although less common in men, it is more deadly; 27 percent of men with breast cancer will die in 2006, compared to 19 percent of women. It also has a higher death rate than prostate (9 percent) and testicular cancers (4 percent). Lack of awareness, embarrassment and social stigma contribute to late diagnosis.

The Men’s Health Network has launched an educational campaign, Dare to be Aware: Men and Breast Cancer. The campaign was designed to help break through the often fatal barriers that can prevent men from getting diagnosis and life-saving treatment.

Men’s Health Network is a non-profit, educational organization comprised of doctors, researchers, public health workers and individuals committed to improving the health and well-being of men, boys and their families. For more information go to www.menshealthnetwork.org.

“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” Old Chinese Proverb.

Ever wonder what information hotels put on their key cards? Although it differs from hotel to hotel, a key card may contain both personal and credit card information. Take care and keep those key cards in a safe place. Thanks Pauline M.

The Washington, D.C., based Tax Foundation ranks California 45 of 50 states for the effect state taxes have on business. It may surprise some to learn there are states considered worse. New York and Vermont ranked lower than California, which fell to 45 from 42 in 2006.

The State Business Tax Climate Index for 2007 measures what effect corporate, personal income, sales, unemployment insurance and property taxes have on the ability to do business in California.

According to the index, the three best states for businesses are Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska. The three worst; Rhode Island, Ohio and New Jersey. Thanks Fred C.

California, the most populated state in the nation, ranks 45 in crude oil reserves and production. With a massive network of highways and busy airports, California ranks first in gasoline and jet fuel use and third in distillate fuel consumption.

California is a major refining center for West Coast petroleum markets with combined crude oil distillation capacity totaling more than 2 million barrels per day, ranking the state third highest in the nation. A large network of crude oil pipelines connect producing areas with refineries located in the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles and Central Valley areas. Major ports in north and south California receive Alaska North Slope crude oil for processing in many of the state’s 21 refineries. Natural gas is the leading fuel for home heating, followed by electricity. Thanks Fred C.

Danforth, a Missouri Republican as well as a lawyer and Episcopal minister, tended to avoid nasty partisan politics during his three terms in the U.S. Senate (with the notable exception of his defense of his protégé Clarence Thomas during U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings). After voluntarily retiring from the Senate in 1995, Danforth accepted appointments by White House Republicans, including ambassador to the United Nations and envoy for peace in the Sudan. But the partisanship of President George W. Bush, a variety of other Republicans and quite a few Democrats has now led Danforth to urge political rivals to pull together to strengthen the United States, so the nation can in turn promote world peace. Danforth oozes sincerity and good sense as he excoriates “Christian conservatives” (naming James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed and Pat Robertson, among others) for corrupting religious doctrine on reproduction and marriage and inappropriately inserting it in government. Conceding he is an imperfect human being who sometimes failed as a student, husband, father, lawyer, minister and senator, Danforth comes across as a welcome paragon of virtue. Thanks Fred C.

California legislation is cracking down on criminals who posses stolen personal information and use it to commit large-scale identity theft. The law increases penalties for repeat offenders and possessing data of 10 or more persons used for trafficking and financial fraud.

Assembly Bill 2886, the “Personal Information Trafficking and Mail Theft Prevention Act” also makes mail theft a misdemeanor offense at the state level. It also allows law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cases involving mail theft.

Assembly Bill 2043 by the Committee on Banking and Finance, extends financial protections, such as temporary debt relief, given to consumer debtors who have been a victim of identity theft to -non-consumer debtors, such as firms, corporations and other businesses. Thanks Fred C.

A new study from researchers at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, revealed high levels of testosterone can lead to a catastrophic loss of brain cells. Steroids are well known for causing rage and suicidal tendencies. The Yale study explains why this may be happening. Too much testosterone appears to trigger the self-destruct mechanism in brain cells, or neurons. Researchers write the death of neurons would have a long-term effect on brain functions. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2006; 281:25492-25501 Thanks Fred C.

Scientists and doctors from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and New Mexico VA Health Care Systems are trying to connect hypertension and diabetes and the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Hypertension and diabetes both damage white matter in the front of the brain. White matter is the connecting fiber between the thinking lobes of gray matter. It is linked to memory and the processing of complex information. White matter is also damaged in people with dementia or Alzheimer’s, said one research member of the team.

The team is working to establish what can be considered “healthy” aging. They want to know what can be expected as loss of function from aging alone, as opposed to what happens when other disease processes are involved.

In the meantime, it is important to exercise your brain with games like sudoku, cards, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles or even social activities. Thanks Fred C.

Figs were first cultivated between 11,400 and 11,200 years ago. In an early Neolithic village site in Israel, nine carbonized figs were found with a store of grains and acorns. The find pushes the earliest known fruit cultivation back by about 5,000 years.