Reports began circulating on the web last week that the new Apple iPhone 3GS was overheating. The phone, released on June 19, would become warm during use-- in some cases allegedly too hot to handle-- and the screen would become discolored. Was there a design glitch in Apple's new roll-out?

After almost a week of silence, Apple has posted a warning on one of their support sites. And they blame... the weather.

From The Guardian:

Apple says in the support article that "if the interior temperature of the device exceeds normal operating temperatures, you may experience the following as it attempts to regulate its temperature: the device stops charging, display dims, and/or weak cellular signal".

In its message, Apple says that the iPhone has a safety feature which warns users that the device is becoming too hot. As well as leaving the handset in a car, it says that the phone may overheat when left in direct sunlight for prolonged periods, when GPS tracking is used in a car on a hot day or when its iPod function is used in direct sunlight.

If the warning appears, Apple says that users of the iPhone should turn the device off and allow it to cool before using it.

iPhone 3GS users on Mac forums complain, however, that the handset becomes hot when it is not being used in a car. In a posting on the macrumors.com forum, one user complained that using the new device's video recording feature had caused it to overheat while another complained that after carrying his phone in a backpack, it got so hot that the plastic case became distorted with tiny bumps.

Paul Edinger had one of the strangest kicking routines of all time -- now he has the strangest kicking camp I've ever seen in my life.

For the low, low price of $900 (plus airfare), you can spend a week with Edinger in Costa Rica and learn the finer points of kicking. I wish I were making this up.

What??? Huh? Is Janice Taylor, Weight Loss Guru, the voice of Our Lady of Weight Loss, 50-pound big-time-loser, Huffington Post blogger extraordinaire telling us that it's okay to pig out?

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~ Erma Bombeck

4th of July Food: PIG-OUT

Own it. You've been wrestling with, thinking about, and tasting the idea of not pigging out this 4th of July weekend. It's been your focus all week long, hasn't it?

Think about it. You manifest what you focus on. In other words, by thinking about not pigging out, you are destined to pig-out.

What to do. Give yourself permission to PIG OUT. One BBQ, one meal, one day... Not even one pig-out weekend doth a fat-person make. I can pretty much guarantee that if you are not fighting the forces of evil, pushing the devil food away, you will at the end of the day find that you have eaten less than you would have if your mind held on to and kept repeating, "I am not going to pig out."

What not to do. Do not use this one weekend of indulgence as an excuse to fall off the wagon and take a 10-year detour! Do not beat up on thyself!

Hog Wild vs. Pigging Out. There's a difference between pigging out and going hog wild. Pigging out has a playful, light, and fun quality to it. If you like, you can even wear something pink! Hog Wild, on the other hand, is not pretty. Hog Wild means you have gone way too far, into the dark side.

ALL IS FORGIVEN, MOVE ON! If you went past Pig Out straight into Full Tilt Hog Wild, forgive yourself and move on ... move on ... move on ... NOW! Into your 'lite.'

More Pig Out Specials!
Eat More: Weigh Less
10 Healthy Summer Recipes
Summer Salads to Die For

Spread the word, not the icing!
Janice

Visit Our Lady of Weight Loss.
Beliefnet.com

LOS ANGELES — The investigation of Michael Jackson's death is widening as questions intensify about the drugs he took, the doctors who provided them and the actions of police.

Why didn't police seal the mansion where he had been living? Why didn't they get immediate search warrants? Why did they tow away a doctor's car right after the death but not declare the home a crime scene? And why was Jackson's sister Janet allowed to move possessions out of the mansion two days after the death, before police searched it?

Los Angeles police say proper procedures were followed based on the circumstances officers encountered when they were called to the home at 12:21 p.m. on June 25. A doctor was attending to Jackson and stayed with him when he was placed in an ambulance at 1:07 p.m. There was no sign of foul play.

Others say police should have assumed it was possible a crime occurred and taken precautions to ensure the scene was not disrupted so evidence wasn't lost or tainted.

"If I was the chief detective on the case, I would have said, 'We don't know what's going on. We should seal the scene,'" said defense attorney Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities including Robert Blake, Roseanne and Gary Busey. "You always have to think of the worst-case scenario and you have to think fast. I would have sealed the scene just because it was Michael Jackson."

Whether the Jackson probe turns into a criminal investigation hinges on what evidence emerges involving the drugs. Charges could be brought if authorities determine Jackson had been overly prescribed medications, if he had been given drugs inappropriate for his medical needs, or if doctors knowingly prescribed Jackson medications under an assumed name.

It's still not known what caused Jackson's death at age 50. The pop star went into cardiac arrest in his bedroom and his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, performed CPR while an ambulance was called, according to Murray's lawyers. Murray has spoken to police and authorities say he is not a suspect, though his actions have come under scrutiny because his own lawyers acknowledge it may have taken up to a half-hour for an ambulance to be summoned.

An autopsy was conducted but results are not expected for several weeks. The Jackson family had a second autopsy performed and those results also are pending.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press learned Los Angeles police asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to assist in the investigation.

DEA agents participated in the investigation of the 2007 overdose death of Anna Nicole Smith at a Florida hotel. California Attorney General Jerry Brown investigated her former boyfriend and two of her doctors.

Brown handed the investigation over to the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which filed charges of conspiring to provide Smith with prescription drugs.

Brown said the suspects broke the law because Smith was a "known addict." The former boyfriend and doctors denied the charges.

The DEA also probed whether painkillers found in actor Heath Ledger's system after his death last year were obtained illegally. Federal prosecutors did not charge anyone.

Jean Rosenbluth, a University of Southern California law professor, said the agency's involvement in the Jackson case suggests authorities are looking into whether drugs came from out of state. Murray lives in Las Vegas and is licensed to practice in Texas, Nevada and California.

Federal drug regulations include controls over whether and how frequently a doctor can write prescriptions over the phone, and DEA agents could be looking to see if these rules were broken, Rosenbluth said.

"You can't just get on the phone and continue to prescribe something for someone without having seen them for a long period of time," she said.

Jackson had a well-known history of using prescription medications, especially painkillers. Following his death, Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who had worked for Jackson, told the AP she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug Diprivan, also known as Propofol. It's a potent anesthetic used in operating rooms and it would be highly unusual to have it in a private home.

Uri Geller, a former Jackson confidant, said he tried to keep Jackson from abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs, but others in the singer's circle kept him supplied.

"When Michael asked for something, he got it," Geller said in a telephone interview from his suburban London home.

Jackson had multiple doctors and many others like Geller who came in and out of his life. Which people are being interviewed by police is unclear because the LAPD has said virtually nothing about the probe.

"I am not going to make any comments on the investigation," Commander Patrick Gannon, the designated police spokesman on the Jackson case, said by e-mail Thursday.

Any evidence would be turned over to the district attorney's office, which has final say on criminal charges.

One of the key questions is why it took four days for police to issue a search warrant and remove medications from Jackson's home. In the meantime, several people, including Janet Jackson, removed unknown items from the home.

Although the home wasn't declared a crime scene, police did tow Murray's car the evening of the death to look for potential evidence.

Vernon J. Geberth, former commanding officer of the Bronx Homicide Task force in New York, said police should have known they were dealing with an extraordinary situation.

"If it's a high-profile person, you have to do more than you would do ordinarily," he said.

Still, Geberth, who now acts as a private forensic consultant, said he believes the LAPD acted appropriately.

"Having a doctor present altered the equation. It was not a homicide scene. It was an emergency medical scene," he said.

Police spokesman Lt. John Romero declined to comment when asked if the LAPD was reviewing its handling of the investigation.

Rosenbluth said if the case ends up as a criminal prosecution, any defense attorney would seize on the LAPD's failure to immediately seal Jackson's home.

"If you can get even one juror think, I don't know, maybe somebody fiddled with the medicine before the police came in and collected it, that's reasonable doubt," she said. "All that the defense attorney needs is one juror."

Last week, I wrote about feelings of inadequacy and how I work to battle them. Notably, I received quite a few e-mails in response to that post, most of which focused on specific questions. However, while those questions were different, they shared a common theme: everyday angst. That angst was expressed most commonly with regard to specific areas of life, such as finances, career, or faith. I plan to focus some upcoming posts on several of the main questions--more details to come as I explore the questions a bit further.

Before discussing specific topics, I would like to share a secret tool with you. I dubbed this little gem "The In2 Effect."

Background
A few months ago, I found myself allowing negative situations to dictate my perspective and my mood. Soon enough, I began that all-too-familiar and very uncomfortable downward spiral. Thankfully, I decided to focus my strength: I chose to step back, see the big picture, and flip a coin. Flipping that coin would allow me to shift my focus from pure negativity to the positive alternatives.

Perspective
Does your perspective on something ever turn sour?
Do you ever feel as though you're stuck in a negative rut?
Do you focus on the negatives more than the positives?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then read on. Alternatively, if you answered no, then please post your secret immediately!

The In2 Effect

What is the one word that has the power to shift your perspective?
--> In2 (otherwise known as Into)

Be perceptive. Take note of when you see, say, or hear the word into. The goal is to strengthen your awareness of that word.

The word into serves as your trigger. When thinking about into, be sure to associate the number "2" with it. That 2 emphasizes the two sides of the coin you hold; essentially, the power you have to choose your perspective. Here, you have 2 options: positive or negative.

Take Action: Ask yourself what you can do to turn something negative into something positive.

Fill in these blanks mentally:
_____ into _____

Now that I've let you in on my little secret, let's talk about the background story that led me to the In2 Effect.

At the time, I was trying to let go of my expectations for Perseverance; unfortunately, I couldn't. I realized finally that I equated letting go with giving up. And I could never give up on my book, even if an entire field of well-constructed obstacles threatened my progress. I realized that I could choose to turn the situation into something other than failure: positive alternatives were indeed available to me. I didn't have to let go or quit just because of my unmet expectations. Instead, I could simply redefine those expectations, which would allow me to switch my perspective from "failure" into "success."

Now it's your turn, and don't waste any time. Start today! What can you change from a negative into a positive? How can you apply "The In2 Effect" to your life?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. Also, if you have a "secret" tool, I would love to hear about it!

: : :
Each day, I post inspiring tips focused on turning knowledge into action and action into change. You can read these tips and much more on carolynrubenstein.com.

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson's memorial service has been set for Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

AEG Live, which owns the Staples Center and was Jackson's promoter, called a press conference for Friday at 10 a.m. to announce details, according to a press release from the office of the Jackson family's publicist.

Randy Phillips, AEG's chief executive, said tickets would be free. He was not sure how they would be distributed.

But Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine said the Jackson family should consider delaying the public memorial to allow more time to plan. He also said the cash-strapped city can't afford to pay police overtime.

"If you can imagine 100,000 people show up and you have 20,000 capacity (at the Staples Center), there is not sufficient room. Now you have a crowd-control problem," Zine said. With the July Fourth holiday weekend "it's the worst time ... to work something out."

While men tend to run larger farms focused on such commodity crops as soybeans and wheat, women tend to run smaller, more specialized enterprises selling heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef to well-heeled, eco-conscious consumers.

This has been an emotional week for many here in America and some around the world. Thousands, if not millions, of people have been mourning the death of legendary artist Michael Jackson, literally pouring into the streets in an expression of grief, while our media outlets and bloggers have been running nonstop to cover every angle, every crumb, every breath of this story. It is hard when someone who has touched millions of people with art suddenly dies. I understand that and I respect the feelings.

However, during a conversation this past weekend with some friends, a few of whom are also rabbis, the conversation turned for a moment to Michael Jackson and the whole tragedy. One of my friends was genuinely upset and felt pained at his death, and she was a bit incensed that I and another friend, were not so much. And, that we were more upset at the outpouring of grief and expression of pain at this death, rather than at any of the myriad other events this past week that could be commanding our attention, was just a total buzz kill for her! I have been thinking about this all week and as we celebrate the 4th of July this Shabbat, the day when we honor our country and all that is good and right, just and joyous about this land in which we live, I want to comment on what I feel is the tragedy within this tragedy as it relates to us as a nation.

John F. Kennedy once wrote in a letter to the publisher of Musical America, "There is a connection, hard to explain logically, but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth was also the age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life, can also be a New Frontier for American art." (Musical America, Oct. 1960) Certainly one can say today, without a doubt, that the age of cable television and the internet is also the age of a pop musical culture explosion, in which Michael Jackson is surely unmatched.

Artists have a way of entering our souls, filling our lives with meaning, offering us hope in times of despair, in a way that very few other people can. And often, as is the case with Jackson, the art becomes larger and more profound than the actual person. With the advent of music videos, and the mass market culture which grew out of the 1980s, Michael Jackson led the way toward a new crossover medium of music, dance, fashion and cultural style. His was not only the voice of a generation, but his dance moves and unique contributions to fashion, embedded him as a cultural icon like none other.

Art has always had the power to transform and elevate us as human beings; like the great artists of old, Jackson found a link to our collective consciousness that tapped into something primal in our need for connection, community and inspiration. For that, we should be grateful for his gift and mourn his death. However, what concerns me is this: why is it that the death of a musician, one man, and one with a very troubled life, brings out the passion of Americans onto the street with such force? It is not the expression of grief that troubles me, but rather the lack of expression and energy for things that are truly of greater consequence and importance in the affairs of our world.

What bothers me most is what I see as a disconnect between our emotional outpouring and the priorities of our society. So, I would not be as troubled by the reaction to Jackson's death, with people sleeping on the streets overnight just to walk by his Walk of Fame star, or setting up spontaneous vigils which draw thousands of people, in tears, if I saw the same kind of reaction and devotion to causes and issues that truly will affect the lives of people. In the same week that hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a travesty of democratic values, Americans took to the streets for the death of a superstar entertainer.

I have to ask: where were the throngs of people when we called for support to end genocide in Darfur? Supporting gay rights as our state voted to support Prop. 8? Protesting the horrendous budget cuts that our state is facing? Speaking out for affordable healthcare? I have been reading the letters in papers, following some of the blogs and talk-radio, which along with Jackson, have been covering the mindless story of South Carolina Governor Sanford's affair, and noticed, at least in some of the letters, a tone of gratitude for the paper covering something really meaningful and important, rather than, and I kid you not, only covering news issues, like the energy bill, the effort to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope that we are aware that the draw down of troops in Iraq began this week. One would think that this would be front page news, no? No, buried somewhere inside. What is this saying about our society?

July 4 celebrates the noble actions of our ancestors who fought for freedom, stood up to tyranny and helped to create the foundation for the birth of our blessed nation. I fear that what we are spreading now is not the values of our nation but only our pop culture, a culture that elevates superstars to gods, encourages consumer capitalism based on false values and promotes a quasi idolatry. People all over the world look to America and are copying what we do; yet, are we truly aware of what aspects of our culture others are mimicking?

Do we only want the music, clothes, videos and violent components of our society transmitted to others around the globe? Do we not want people to look to America and see us rallying for justice, promoting, with strength of numbers, the values we hold dear, and actually exercising our democratic rights by voting? Will we rally on the streets to promote alternative energy? Will we rally on the streets to protest unfair and immoral healthcare coverage? Will we rally on the streets to end wars and stop violence? A generation ago, people risked their lives for causes that changed the course of our nation. Today, most of us don't risk our lives for anything, but have no problem spending a day, a week, a month, mourning a superstar, waiting in line for the newest video game machine, or trampling one another to get to the sale rack first. On this 4th of July, let us think about our priorities and assess where we stand.

I close with a rabbinic parable. A king had some empty goblets. He said to himself: "If I pour hot water into the goblets, they will burst, and if I pour cold water into them, they will crack." So what did the king do? He mixed hot and cold water together and poured that into the goblets and the goblets did not break. Similarly, when God created the world, the Holy One said, "If I create the world on the basis of mercy and compassion alone, it will be overwhelmed by sin; on the basis of justice alone, the world cannot exist. So I will create the world with both justice and mercy; that way it will endure!" (Genesis Rabbah 12:15).

Our emotional outpouring over Michael Jackson is the legacy of mercy and compassion, the hot water, and it is necessary and encouraged. Yet, if it is not balanced with an equal amount of cold water, our concern for justice and righteousness, then we are going to shatter our glasses, our world will not endure. Let us keep this message in mind the next time we are called to dedicate our time, our lives, to a cause. May the energy we give to the mercy and compassion be matched by the energy we give to justice. In that way, we imitate God and make our world an even holier and more profound place to dwell. Shabbat shalom.

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate committee that will consider Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination says a Puerto Rican civil rights group's papers could shed light on her judicial approach, particularly her view of racial preferences in hiring.

White House Counsel Greg Craig, however, told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a letter that board meeting minutes and other papers detailing the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund's activities while Sotomayor was an outside adviser shouldn't impact her nomination because she had no role in writing or approving them.

"During her time there, the organization took extreme positions on legal issues ranging from the death penalty to abortion to racial quotas," Sessions said in a statement. He said it was "absurd" for the White House to call the documents irrelevant.

The battle over the papers isn't likely to damage Sotomayor's chances of confirmation, since Democrats have more than enough votes in favor of President Barack Obama's first high court nominee, and Republicans have shown little appetite for trying to block her.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will begin confirmation hearings July 13, shrugged off the GOP concerns being raised about Sotomayor, saying some in the GOP were going to oppose any Obama pick _ "even if the president had nominated Moses."

Republicans "were going to object no matter who it was. And several of them have told me that privately," Leahy told The Associated Press in an interview at his Vermont farmhouse.

Republicans did not respond to requests for comment about Leahy's remarks.

Sotomayor early last month gave the Judiciary panel documents she contributed to or helped write while she was a board member of the group from 1980 to 1992, but Leahy joined Sessions recently in asking for more information about the group's activities and policy positions while she was involved.

The organization, now know as LatinoJustice PRLDEF, began sending some of that material to the committee Wednesday, but Sessions' office said Sotomayor's backers were delaying the release of the information to prevent a thorough investigation.

Cesar Perales, PRLDEF's president and general counsel, told the AP earlier this week that he planned to send the documents on a rolling basis, and all of them would arrive on Capitol Hill by week's end.

In his letter to Sessions, Craig said the Judiciary panel already has all pertinent documents on Sotomayor. He said the judge never served on PRLDEF's staff or supervised its employees, and noted that Republicans have in years past refused to release similar documents on their own Supreme Court nominees.

"Perhaps there is confusion about Judge Sotomayor's role with PRLDEF, and that confusion may account for your unusual interest," Craig wrote. "Let me be clear: On Judge Sotomayor's behalf, we submitted all documents the committee requested of her, and we did so in record time."

Craig also defended PRLDEF, calling it "a highly respected civil rights fund."

Sessions noted, however, that Sotomayor held leadership posts on the group's board. And he suggested her participation in PRLDEF, which brought several lawsuits on behalf of minority employees alleging racial discrimination in hiring and promotion, could help show a propensity on the judge's part for using the legal system to advantage minorities in the workplace.

On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge that rejected the reverse discrimination claims of white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who were denied promotions because too few minorities scored highly on the qualifying exam.

"During Judge Sotomayor's time at PRLDEF, the organization launched a series of legal actions to throw out the test results for other city employees on the basis of race just like in the New Haven case. What role did Judge Sotomayor play in the decision to bring these cases?" Sessions said in his statement.

The White House is strongly resisting Republicans' suggestions that the hearings should be delayed to give them more time to review the group's documents so they can draw conclusions about Sotomayor.

The best evidence "of how she'd be as a judge are the 17 years of legal opinions that she has written and that she herself has worked on _ not a box or boxes of documents that she didn't write, review or approve," said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. "I think there has been plenty of time to review the record."

___

Associated Press writers Wilson Ring in Middlesex, Vt., and Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report.

A police Bomb and Arson unit is investigating a Thursday night incident in which fireworks were used to blow up a portable toilet at Diversey Harbor.

Conservative pundits and politicians so quickly jump all over the Democrats' attempts to provide health care for all, bemoaning that any expansion of government programs will lead to health care rationing. Images of middle-aged men standing in line at the local hospital, clutching their chests and popping nitroglycerine pills while waiting endlessly for the artery-cleaning heart operations they need lest they drop dead may come to mind -- in the style of a make-believe Canadian or British 'socialist' health care system -- where basic medical needs are delayed for months or years, as opposed to our shining, efficient, and above all, fair system where, true to our democracy, Americans get the care they need when they need it. I am not sure in which alternate reality these Conservative nay-sayers live, but as a primary care doctor working with uninsured patients, I can assure you that health care has been rationed in the US for years.

Since I completed my internal medicine residency in 1996 and started to work in community health centers in Chicago and Boston, I have seen the plight of my uninsured patients go from bad to worse as fewer people become eligible for Medicaid, county hospitals start to charge for services, and waits for an appointment with me become longer. But as a doctor married to a doctor, I have always had great health insurance coverage, getting all the care I need. How fair is that?

Yesterday, an uninsured woman in her mid-20s came to my clinic for her first visit with me and her annual Pap test. In discussing her concerns -- she is currently healthy -- it turns out she has a strong family history of early breast cancer. Both her mother and her maternal aunt were diagnosed with pre-menopausal breast cancer, and this young woman was naturally concerned about her own risks. As a doctor, I talked about her concerns and her risks and her rather limited options, given her lack of health insurance. But as a patient and another human, I could naturally relate. I too have a strong family history cancer history.

My mother died of ovarian cancer about 23 years ago, and age 57, and my brother, now 50, was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer at age 41. He had a rocky course at first, but his tumor responded to chemotherapy, and he is now in complete remission. When he was first diagnosed, I knew that I needed to get a colonoscopy, the best test to detect colon cancer and pre-cancerous polyps. The wait for a routine colonoscopy can take months, but I found a doctor willing to add me to her schedule within a few weeks. Certainly my private insurance did not hurt my chances for getting the test I needed quickly.

I have also undergone intensive genetic counseling and screening for 2 family cancer syndromes: hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and HNPCC, or Lynch syndrome. As a Jewish American of Eastern European ancestry, my mother's ovarian cancer imparts on me a higher risk of having either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. My brother's early colon cancer together with my mother's cancer also increases my risk of having Lynch syndrome, or a set of genes that increase my risk for colon, ovarian and uterine cancer. How do I know all of this? Being a doctor does not hurt, but mostly having private insurance has given me access to experts in the field of medical genetics, lot's of helpful counseling, and ultimately, expensive genetic tests. I have been tested for both the BRCA1 and 2 genes and my brother's tumor was tested for the Lynch syndrome genes. All the tests came back negative, and my doctor and her assistant were able to conclude that I do not appear to have a genetic predisposition to the kind of cancers that have struck my family members. I still need routine screening and more frequent colonoscopies than the general population, but my private health insurance pays for it (well 80% -- that's another story), and so I can get the care I need.

But what about my patient? I was able to refer her for a mammogram, and unless the looming Illinois budget catastrophe cuts the free mammogram programs offered here, she will be able to get a mammogram now and hopefully, periodically, but that is only a small amount of the care she truly needs. I did refer her for genetic counseling which would most likely lead to genetic testing because I need to practice income-blind care, but will she really get genetic testing? I doubt it. As a single mom, currently unemployed and struggling a bit, I doubt she could pay the $3000 or so out-of-pocket for the test to determine if she does have the BRCA1 and 2 genes that put her at a higher risk for early, potentially deadly breast cancer. Without insurance, she probably will forgo not only the genetic testing, but also the frequent breast MRIs or even preventive mastectomy that a medical geneticist would possibly recommend, if her genetic testing revealed a risky set of genes. I told her to try to get a job that would give her health insurance and hope the federal government can provide health insurance for all soon. Until then, she might as well keep her fingers crossed. I know I will.

What is more emblematic of this country's deep rooted commitment to rebelling against the status quo than the impending July 4th holiday? It's a holiday which celebrates the collective commitment to individual liberties, freedom and democracy. As part of our individualistic spirit, how often do you seem to hear lately about people removing themselves from "grids." I'm referring to energy grids, food grids, education grids and any other behemoth industrial structure that stagnates our growth, individual freedom and ability to operate outside of the confines of our sometimes restrictive corporate or government structures. While this should be a day that we each take the time to read the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights and celebrate heroes like Paul Revere, instead we ususally opt to take to our backyards to grill, baby, grill.

I'm not asking you to give up your cherished grilling time, but each of us has the opportunity this holiday to make a radical political statement by declaring our food independence. What does this mean? Well, it means a lot to each one of us as unique individuals. But, collectively, it's about saying 'no' to our industrial food system which is feeding us an unhealthy corn-based diet that is contributing to skyrocketing obesity rates, helping to fuel global warming, scaring us with constant food recalls and offering us foods that barely resemble food (a friend recently received a piece of sausage resembling a Pabst beer bottle. American kitsch? Yes. Healthy? No.).

It's time that we return to our roots. Literally. We need to support a food system that offers us healthy, safe, sustainable, fresh foods. And what better time to begin than on Independence Day? Below are some tips for how to launch your food independence to have a healthier, fun holiday.

1. Skip the so-called "meat" hot dogs and choose veggie ones instead. I know this might be blasphemous for me to write, but unless you are getting meat from humanely-raised, grass-fed beef, you're more likely to be consuming a hot dog filled with antibiotics, hormones, chemicals and corn. Not so yummy, eh? Instead, join with millions of others who will be enjoying veggie hotdogs during July-National Veggie Hotdog month; they're tastier, healthier, have less environmental impact and are humanely raised.

2. Ok, so option 1 might have been a bit extreme for some of you. If you choose to eat meat this holiday weekend, check out Eat Wild for local, grass-fed beef and dairy sources.

3. Grill some fresh farmers market veggies. Skip the vegetables shipped thousands of miles and instead choose produce grown by a farmer near you. The Eat Well Guide is a handy online-tool that will allow you to find local farms and farmers markets.

4. Go on a corn-free diet. Corn is everywhere; it's an ingredient in the food and perhaps even the packaging of a zillion products in our kitchens.

5. Don't eat anything you can't pronounce (excluding hard to pronounce international dishes like souffle or babaganouj). Don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients (this is care of the food guru Michael Pollan).

6. See Food, Inc. This eye-opening movie connects the dots to explain who and how our food system really operates. It will make you want to change how you eat.

7. Plant a garden in your home or join a community garden.

8. Choose sustainably raised seafood. Not to rain on your parade, but many fish-stocks are dwindling at alarming rates and many fish are filled with chemicals like mercury. Make sure you eat fish that are safe for you and the planet.

9.Start a compost bin. You'll have lots of kitchen scraps from your farmers market produce which can be turned into nourishing, rich soil that can then be used on your new garden.

10. Choose hormone-free dairy. Do you really want to your sparkler-topped July 4th ice cream sundae to be made with hormone-laden dairy? Me neither. Choose organic dairy or soy ice cream.

Sarah's Social Action Snapshot originally appeared on Takepart.com

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) The soul of convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff briefly appeared for sale on the popular Internet classifieds site Craigslist today, but was taken down after it became clear that there were no takers.

The seller, Satan, said that he had bought Mr. Madoff's soul forty years ago and was "disappointed" that it had turned out to be worthless.

"I guess I'm not the only schmuck who got screwed by investing in Bernie Madoff," the Prince of Darkness said.

Satan said that he was more hopeful about the performance of other souls in his investment portfolio, including Joe Jackson's.
More Andy Borowitz here.

Andy Borowitz is a comedian and the author of "Who Moved My Soap? The CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison: The Bernie Madoff Edition."

More on Bernard Madoff

Syria's first lady has put out the welcome mat for the Obamas, a further sign that the once frosty relations between the two nations is thawing.