Blog post by WGMD’s Jared Morris,

Not that I advocate the use of diet pills and lots of drugs to lose weight, but there are some warnings against some weight-loss pills.. Also, you might want to stay away from anything locked up in that strange plastic display at those dirty gas stations…

Also, I don’t recommend eating peas and only peas..

My plan is simple.. no fried foods.. less oils in cooking.. no salt.. no soda.. no cheese.. no fast food..

It’s more of a prevent a heart attack at 30 plan than a diet..

This is all too much pressure.. When’s Dan getting here with the scale..

Is it too early to back out?

poynter.org writes:

FDA Warns Against Several Weight-Loss Pills
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says to be careful when trying to shed those extra holiday pounds you packed on. The government has listed nearly 30 weight-loss pills that pose health risks, including:

Fatloss Slimming
2 Day Diet
3x Slimming Power
Japan Lingzhi
24 Hours Diet
5x Imelda Perfect Slimming
3 Day Diet
7 Day Herbal Slim
8 Factor Diet
7 Diet Day/Night Formula
999 Fitness Essence
Extrim Plus
GMP
Imelda Perfect Slim
Lida DaiDaihua
Miaozi Slim Capsules
Perfect Slim
Perfect Slim 5x
Phyto Shape
ProSlim Plus
Royal Slimming Formula
Slim 3 in 1
Slim Express 360
Slimtech Somotrim
Superslim TripleSlim
Zhen de Shou
Venom Hyperdrive 3.0

The FDA says these pills are available online and even in some retail stores:
An FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine (a controlled substance), rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States), phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), and phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent). Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients far exceeded the FDA-recommended levels, putting consumers’ health at risk.

 

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Chirstmas Eve with Pastor Gary Knapp (audio) from the Jared Morris radio show.

The folks at Clam Jam have raised 1,000 dollars for Toys for Tots and are asking members of the public to match donations.  You can find more details at http://www.clamjam.org or make some telephone calls.

You can reach Dave at 302-422-4247.

You can call Ruthie at 302-422-0508.

Or try this number:  302-422-2526.

Now some of you may feel overwhelmed by all the charitable requests I’ve posted.  Pick one near your heart and the rest will take care of itself. 

A large chunk of my listening audience defines itself small government conservative.  These people would rather see churches and not-for-profit agencies assisting the poor instead of a large and inefficient government agency.  Some telephone numbers where you can get involved are going to follow.  Either you can volunteer to help or you need help. 

Milford, God’s Way to Recovery:  302-422-3033.

Laurel, Christ Evangelistic:  302-875-2915.

Millsboro, Christian Storehouse:  302-934-8151.

Lewes, New Life Thrift Store:  302-644-0171.

Seaford, St. John’s United Methodist:  302-629-9466 (clothing). 

Some other notes are that God’s Way to Recovery is coming to Georgetown.

And telephone numbers for two shelters follow.

Crisis House:  302-856-2246.

Casa San Francisco:  302-684-8694.

Please Help the Victims of the Willards Mobile Home Fire

Several community organizations are asking the publics help to assist the surviving members of the Zentmyer family whose home in Willards, Md. was destroyed by fire on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Nineteen-month-old Andrew Zentmyer died in the blaze.

• The Lower Shore Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting the family. The Red Cross is located at 1505 Emerson Ave., Salisbury, MD 21801. For more information call (410) 749-5331.

• Taylor Bank, any branch or mail to: 24 N. Main Street, Berlin, MD 21811. Checks and money orders can be made out to “Care of Zentmyer family.”

• Farmer’s Bank of Willards, any branch or mail to: P.O. Box 10, Willards, MD 21874. Checks or money orders can be made out to “Care of Zentmyer-Willis family.”

• Lucky Dog Sports Pub and Grill on Old Ocean City Road in Willards will be a drop-off location for clothes on Saturday, Dec. 20 from 4-8 p.m. Clothes and gift certificates would be particularly appreciated. Anyone with questions should call Tara Danny (410) 835-2366.

• Choptank Electric Cooperative’s Salisbury office is accepting donations of all sorts. Donations can be dropped off at the Salisbury office located on 2121 W. Zion Road. For more information call (877) 892-0001.

News of dead college roommates travels slowly.  Saturday I pulled my college newsletter from the mail.  I can’t say it’s a great publication.  On occasion I get cards to fill out and return with the promise the newsletter will inform old classmates where I am and tell them what I’m doing.  The mail lay atop the kitchen counter for several hours while I made lunch and then watched the Florida-Alabama game. Then I flipped through the glossy quarterly, which still hasn’t reported I’ve moved to Delmarva. 

There is a section for births and deaths.  There was a surprise when I saw the name of a guy I was casually acquainted with.  He died 4 years ago and someone at the alumni office was finally getting the news.  The next name rocked me:  Edward Steinberg ’83, Aug. 28, 2007.  “Stoneberg” was my first roommate and while a few years older than I was and a year ahead in school he was a boon companion.  With my later roommate, Jim Wojnovich, Ed and I would often paint the town.  Late that year Ed met a wonderful woman and his socializing became much more focused.  He would marry her and they would move to the northwest edge of the Adirondack Forest and live on a farm and raise children. 

Ed liked the mountains.  He was born in the Bronx in the mid ‘50s and then after his dad died when Ed was young his mother took him to grow up on Long Island.  After high school he wandered the country and worked for a time in Wyoming as a roustabout. 

He ran, did 400 push-ups and 400 sit-ups every day and didn’t smoke.  Yet I think it just bought him a few extra years.  As father’s go sons so often go the same. 

We quarreled the last time we talked.  He also didn’t go into much detail but apparently there was marital trouble.  He still very much cared for his work.  Ed managed a home in Boonville, N.Y. for what once were labeled the “profoundly retarded”.  It had been his calling for one quarter century.  Had I known about his death, one week before I came to Delaware, I could’ve made the funeral but news of the alumni travels at glacial speed. 

In recent weeks I’ve counted the deaths of many old friends and neighbors.  A large cluster n November alone.  For a man in his late 40’s it’s a concern.  My folks both died in their early 60s.  Does it make me feel old?

Not really.  I seriously started thinking of mortality the day I was working in a newsroom and the A.P. wire clattered with the story of an old hero.  It was the day John Unitas died.  He hadn’t even reached 70 years old.  If you think of youth as a bunch of 11 year old boys atop banana bikes trading football cards the loss of Johnny “U” is a devastating milepost.  On the other hand as you age if you find life contains many other splendid things then the pain of loss will sting, I believe, a little bit less. 

Last week a woman friend told me she had been a little girl when Unitas opened a restaurant just down the street from her house.  It was the place her mother would take the children for dinner.  My lady friend thinks of Unitas as the man who owned the restaurant.  It was the place on a Friday night where family escaped the routine of home.  Who would’ve known old number 19 would mean such different things to different people. 

My old friend Ed, the fellow I called “Stoneberg”, lived a short life but he spent the last 20 years on his terms.  He bought an old farmhouse on 40 acres and was surrounded by his children. 

Judy Mangini joined us on-air on Friday, December 05, 2008.  Judy hosts a “Cookie Exchange” every year.  Participants bake cookies, which are then shipped to our troops overseas.  She suggests others can do the same.  The care packages are sent to the following address:

Trina Gardner

at:  Cartina Hill

KBR

APO AE 09391

Judy offers that if you can bake the cookies she can also ship them.  Cookies can be dropped off at the WGMD studios during daytime business hours and Judy will pick them up before the end of the business day on Friday, December 12, 2008.  Wrap them well!  She has also recorded a Christmas CD and for a small donation you can pick up a copy at our studios.  Money raised from donations for CDs will be used to provide a Christmas for a needy Delmarva family.  Every year Judy and her husband anonymously provide for one family.  The CD is a delight.  Judy has a fine voice, recently winning a talent contest at Long Neck. 

(rewritten from press notice on Wnd.com / content (c) wnd.com)

WGMD Listeners ‘Shocked by the Bible’
Live at 10:06 am Saturday, December 6th 2008
on WGMD Radio 92.7FM, Rehoboth Beach, DE
or live streaming audio on www.wgmd.com

Joe Kovacs, author of “Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You’ve Never Been Told” will be a guest on the Jared Morris Radi Show on WGMD 92.7FM December 6th, 2008 at 10:05 am. in the Rehoboth Beach talking about the real truth of Scripture, shattering misconceptions many people have about the Bible.

Kovacs, the executive news editor of WND, has been stunning readers with amazing facts from the Bible in his brand-new best-seller, which hit No. 1 in three categories on Amazon.com, as well as the No. 1 spot in Shop.WND.com.

Simply put, “Shocked by the Bible” is an educational juggernaut that not only reveals what the Bible really says, but also what it doesn’t say. It’s a massive news report exposing common misconceptions and answering questions that have endured for centuries.

Just a few of the issues explored include:

The Bible doesn’t say Jesus died on a Friday or rose at sunrise Sunday morning
The practice of decorating a tree with silver and gold is actually condemned by God
“Easter” has vanished from modern translations of the Bible
“Three Wise Men” appear nowhere in the story of Jesus’ birth, and none are ever mentioned visiting baby Jesus in a Bethlehem manger
The Bible does not say Eve bit into an apple
There were not just two of each animal aboard Noah’s Ark
The Bible doesn’t say Noah’s Ark landed on “Mount Ararat”
Jesus did not come to make everyone understand His message
The book even delves into “lighter” facts that just never seem to be brought up in church.

Did you know …

God ran lotteries
Nagging wives are mentioned in Scripture
Women’s breasts are celebrated in the Bible
There’s a character in the Bible called a “dumb ass”
Underwear didn’t disintegrate despite 40 years of heavy use
The worst case of hemorrhoids in history is recorded
While this eye-opening blockbuster is now on sale everywhere, WND is the only place that has copies personally autographed by the author.

Kovacs has written countless reports in his 25-year news career. Many have focused on biblical issues such as chariot wheels said to be found in the Red Sea, searches for Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Covenant, and controversies over Christmas and Easter holidays as well as the Saturday-vs.-Sunday Sabbath.

Kovacs has received many awards for news excellence from the Associated Press and United Press International. He’s run television, radio and print newsrooms in the U.S., as well as Budapest, Hungary. Kovacs is also regarded as one of the premier creative headline writers in the news business today.

My friend and former talk show co-host, Jon Alvarez, is serving in Iraq.  Periodically he drops a line to friends and shares details about what life is like in his current neighborhood.  This is his latest message:

Here’s hoping you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Surreal seems to completely capture the experience I am having here in Iraq, so I would have to say it was very surreal to find myself enjoying Thanksgiving in Baghdad, Iraq.  Ours was a little different than yours, I suspect.  We began the day with an early morning mission into Shulla, just north of our FOB.  We’d only learned the night before that we would have to hastily put this mission together as our LT needed pictures of businesses in that area that had receieved business grants courtesy of the USA for a slide presentation he had to put together.  So, rather than sleep in and enjoy a nice Thanksgiving Day breakfast, we threw on our gear and convoyed to Shulla.  It was a beautiful morning and sitting up in the gunner’s turret the entire time, pulling security, I had time to reflect on all that I’m thankful for in my life.  I watched the Iraqis in the area go about their business, some leading donkeys or herding sheep, others doing their shopping, or just meandering about and I couldn’t help but think about how thankful I am to live in the greatest country in the world. (Our terp, Caster, did secure us some wonderful Iraqi bread freshly baked for breakfast)

It also dawned on me how fortunate I am to have my health, especially at 42 and performing a job most 20 yr olds are even struggling with.  I have no illnesses, no aches and pains other than some occasional shoulder aches due to all this freakin armor we wear, and am fully competent in performing my duties.  I’m thankful to have so many caring friends and family back home who write and have sent wonderful care packages to help make our living conditions here a little more tolerable.  I’m thankful to serve with so many wonderful young people who do their jobs while knowing people are back home, safe and snuggled in their beds because they are over here serving.  That fact is not lost on them.  We have an all-volunteer military filled with intelligent, honorable people who do the job for a paltry wage and they do it with a positive attitude.

I’m also thankful for the experiences I’ve already been able to have, which most people will never be able to.  I’ve met many wonderful people here from other countries, including Australians, Romanians and Ugandans.  They all have very positive attitudes towards the good old USA, many of whom have either been or wish to go there.  And, of course, there’s the Iraqis I’ve met who are helping us to rebuild their country.  They are thankful for our efforts to remove Saddam Hussein and to help them take back control of their country rather than just leave it in a mess, a leaderless vaccuum.  In particular, those who risk their own lives helping us, our interpreters and contractors who are targets of the bad people who wish to see a free and democratic Iraq fail. 

So, my Thanksgiving, while definitely out of the ordinary, was a good one.  It put so much into perspective for me.  Like everyone else here, I can’t wait to get back home to my comfortable life and enjoy the freedoms we all get to enjoy.  As Christmas approaches, I know some of you back home want to know if there’s anything you can do to help us out.  We really aren’t lacking for anything.  Of course, we love the care packages and letters and cards, it’s always nice to receive mail.  I suspect some 1st ID soldiers aren’t getting much mail as they are young and might just have immediate family sending them stuff.  Also, our own Lt. John Harris doesn’t get much mail, either.  So, if you want to send a Christmas package to a 1st ID soldier or our own beloved LT, feel free to send something to him directly at the address below, just put his name where mine is, or for a 1st ID soldier, wrap it and send it to my attention but be sure to include your name and address in the package so they can respond back to you.  We pretty much have no females here, maybe 5, so keep that in mind.  Finally, Team Zombie is asking for a few Barbie Dolls and such for our wonderful interpreter’s 2 daughters.  Caster tells us they are age 6 and 12, like dolls and drawing with colors.  Caster does so much for us and puts his life on the line every day when he goes out into the very neighborhoods where he lives and frequents.  Another request is for stuff for an 8 month old baby girl, who is the sole daughter of Achmed, a nice young contractor who has already gone out of his way to bring us Iraqi pizza and such.  He does all the contract work on the base and is an enterprising young man who always has a smile and cheerful greeting for me.  I just think it would be nice to share our own good fortune with these two men whose families must also worry about them. 

My “new” address, as the other ones still result in our mail winding up at HQ at FOB Liberty (mail seems to take one week to get here):

Sgt Jon Alvarez
CAB 1/18 Civil Affairs
2 H BCT 1st ID
FOB Justice
APO AE 09344

God Bless and Merry Christmas from a very quiet and peaceful Baghdad!

SGT Jon Alvarez, USAR
A Co 403rd CA BN
Team Zombie
FOB Justice, Iraq