News Letter 2007 03

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

March 2007 No. 21

As we age, our metabolism can slow down 25 to 30 percent. We can, however, fight back without using the so called “miracle” remedies (which do not work and can be unsafe).

Eat breakfast every day. Skipping breakfast makes the body shift into starvation mode to save energy and burn fewer calories. It is better to eat in the morning and taper off your food intake throughout the day.

Eat small amounts. Each time you eat, your body burns calories to digest the food. Aim for healthy meals or snacks every three to four hours.

Keep moving. Even if you exercise daily, your metabolism slows down if you sit all day. Take short walks, climb stairs or if you are “tied to a desk,” stretch, fidget and to sitting exercises hourly.

Strength train. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Two or three days a week, add free weights or resistance training to your workout. Start with small hand weights while watching TV.

Protein. The body works harder to digest proteins; the building blocks for muscle. Good sources include lean meats, fish, beans, reduced-fat dairy and nuts.

Vitamins. The nutrients in fruits, vegetables and multivitamins protect cell structures that convert food to energy.

Drink wisely. Water is key to the energy-burning process; green tea appears to speed up metabolic rate. Alcohol can make the body burn fat more slowly.

Sleep. A good seven to eight hours sleep each night, will help you stay active all day. Thanks Fred C.

1. The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough, use it.

2. If a robber demands your wallet or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM--toss it away. Changes are, he is more interested in your wallet and will move toward it and away from you. While he is going for your wallet, RUN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

3. If tossed into a vehicle trunk, kick out the back light, stick your arm out and waive.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and looking over their checkbooks and receipts, making lists or just thinking. WHEN YOU GET IN YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE. Do NOT sit there. Predators use this time to attack.

A. Be aware-look around you; check out the back seat, floors and passenger seats.

C. Check out the car parked near your driver’s side. If a man is sitting alone, go back into the mall, office, etc., and get help. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.

6. STOP being sympathetic. As difficult as it may be, if you are alone and someone asks for help, tell them you will call for assistance. Do NOT approach them alone. Remember Ted Bundy, the serial killer, played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women by asking for help and then attacking. Thanks Ivy M.

The number of defaults on mortgage loans is rising rapidly, providing striking evidence that more people are at risk of losing their homes. Default notices jumped an alarming 145 percent in the last 3 months of 2006; the largest number of default notices in any 3-month period since 1998. Thanks Fred C.

Getting enough calcium and vitamin D while reducing your calorie intake can increase the beneficial effects of weight loss on cholesterol levels, according to Canadian researchers.

Overweight women who took calcium and vitamin D supplements while on a 15-week diet showed greater drops in LDL (bad) cholesterol and an increase in HDL (good). The women had been getting less than 800 mg. of calcium daily at the start of the study.

If you are trying to lose weight, be sure to get adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, as well as calcium and vitamin D. Evidence shows vitamin and mineral supplementation may have beneficial effects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2007. Thanks Fred C.

Long Beach Unified School Board members are discussing the merits of vocational training. This is a proposed program called Early College Academic and Technical School, which would give students career skills in a variety of fields. The goal is to open job opportunities to students not interested in college.

Vocational training declined as educators directed minority students toward “shop” classes and parents assumed college was right for their children, no matter what.

A public-private partnership has shown such programs help students develop high levels of technical skills. At-risk youth become engaged not only in the crafts, but in math and other academic areas that could lead them to college training as well. Even in the conventional, vocational classes, studies show teachers, make heavy use of technical manuals, trade publications and other resources to enrich students’ experience.

Vocational classes in public schools declined for lack of attention and political support. Fortunately, this is changing. Thanks Fred C.

Bananas contain three natural sugars; sucrose, fructose and glucose and are combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. It is the number one fruit with world leading athletes. If all this isn’t enough, they taste good. Thanks Olga S.

There is no one way to reduce your risk of getting breast cancer but a combination of approaches could make a difference, as reported in a recent edition of Harvard Women’s Health Watch.

Alcohol. After menopause, women who consume even a few drinks per week raise their risk factor.

Activity level. Exercise may help prevent breast cancer and its recurrence; including weight reduction and lowering the amount of estrogen in breast tissue.

Vitamin D. Evidence shows vitamin D helps protect against several types of cancer.

Hormones. Lifetime exposure to estrogen is a risk factor. There is concern about women using birth control pills and postmenopausal hormones.

Diet. Eat five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables every day and cut down on fats. Thanks Fred C.

Jeffrey Brett Goodin was found guilty not only of infringement of the Can-Spam Act, but also of 10 other counts, including misuse of AOL’s trademark, witness harassment, failure to appear in court, wire fraud and aiding and abetting the unauthorized use of credit cards. Sentencing will be handed down June 11. The maximum jail time could be as much as 101 years in federal prison.

Goodin is the first person convicted under the Can-Spam Act of 2003. He was arrested last year and convicted in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, at Los Angeles.

Goodin had been running a sophisticated phishing operation in which he posed as a member of AOL’s billing department and tricked users into divulging credit card information. He used several compromised Earthlink accounts setting up fake Web sites that mimicked legitimate AOL pages. He used old fashioned fear-mongering and official-looking threats to scare people into giving him their personal information.

DO NOT give out personal or credit card information freely. See the February 2007 newsletter about Social Security scam. Thanks Fred C.

Courts are checking jurors’ backgrounds more frequently, especially when it comes to lengthy and high-profile trials. In Washington’s federal court, criminal-background checks occur only in big cases with the decision [of retaining or removing a juror] being left to the individual judge.

Serving jury duty and called for a panel? Be honest with the court, the alternatives may not be pleasant. Thanks Fred C.

Not every heart attack will be exhibited as pain in the left arm. It could appear as intense pain in the jaw line or pain in your leg. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.

Be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we have to survive. Thanks Olga S.

Information provided by departing employees during “exit interviews” does not fall on deaf ears and often makes a difference. More than 76 percent of executives polled say they “always” or “somewhat frequently” act on information gathered during exit interviews.

Whether leaving on good or bad terms, employees should take time to share their insight and suggestions for improvement. It is not easy to criticize constructively, but diplomatically offered feedback is valuable to the employer.

Even if the work experience was not always smooth, keep the interaction on a positive and professional level. Be as truthful as you can, but be mindful, what you say could have an impact on other people’s careers. Thanks Fred C.

Officials of the IRS and Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) announced the unraveling of an abusive cross-border tax scheme. The scheme involves hundreds of taxpayers and tens of millions of dollars in improper deductions and unreported income from retirement account withdrawals. Promoters have marketed the scheme on both sides of the border to investors, ranging from middle to high-income individuals.

Under the scheme, investors purchased what appeared to be high-yield offshore investments through offshore corporations and foreign bank accounts. Typically, investors make these purchases using cash or proceeds from withdrawals, allegedly tax free, of retirement funds (RRSPs in Canada; IRAs in US). Investors also make purchases through use of tax refunds improperly generated by alleged losses claimed for natural resource industry investments.

Promoters and participants engaged in abusive schemes have routinely been subjected to strict enforcement action by both administrations.