Thanks, Clark.

Cram Charges Being Put on Cell Phone Bills

Living Social deals have been offered for as low as $59 for full dental check up and cleaning. Normally a $300 visit. But before you go, be sure to check doctor ratings. Yelp reports on docs can tell you if doctor is prone to up selling (finding added expenses to increase services and bill). But if the doctor checks out uninsured can ensure they are in good health physically while guarding their good health financially.

Doctors are finding more cases of skin cancer on the hands of gel nail polish afficianados. Why? Because the treatment calls for drying nails under UV light. This means extra exposure to harmful UV rays directed at your hands, specifically, every 2-3 weeks.

Want to keep the great gel polish look without risking skin cancer? Coat your hands with SPF 30 before beginning your treatments. I have also heard of people cutting the fingers out of gloves for treatments. The idea is to limit your hands exposure to UV light while doing the treatments.

Keep yourself safe and beautiful. Sunblock is your friend.

Word spread quickly that Starbucks used cochineal extract, which is made from the juice of a tiny beetle, and instead use lycopene, a tomato-based extract. Cochineal dye is widely used in foods and cosmetics products like lipstick, yogurt and shampoo. Starbucks had used the coloring in its strawberry flavored mixed drinks and foods like the raspberry swirl cake and red velvet whoopie pie. The company says the new reformulated treats will be on sale by the end of June.

This just goes to show you that consumer voices are important. The company would never have made such a switch to proven saleable recipes unless consumers insisted on higher quality product. Don’t let your voice go unheard. It could be the difference between eating crushed beetles or tomato extract. Which would you prefer?

National Safety Council offers a course “How to Be a Better Driver and Avoid Collisions” online that are accepted by most insurance companies as qualifying you for the discount.

Be sure to check with your car insurance provider to confirm that they offer the discount. Then sign up for information that cannot only save you money, but very possibly save your life.

iPhone is now offering users a $15 settlement for their troubles. However, if you got the free bumper case previously offered you are disqualified from the $15 settlement, as Apple says the bumper solves the antenna issue.

This just in from Progressive Change Committee: (there page includes screen shots to help you through the process)

In just a few hours, Google will put into place new privacy policies. Gizmodo reports, “things you could do in relative anonymity today, will be explicitly associated with your name, your face, your phone number come March 1st.” If you don’t act today, all your past searches and activity will be retroactively applied. Here’s how to change that in less than a minute:

1. Sign into your Google account.

2. Go to https://www.google.com/history (clicking will open in new window)

3. Click “remove all Web History.”

4. Click “ok.” Note that removing your Web History also pauses it. Web History will remain off until you enable it again. (Via the EFF under Creative Commons.)

5. Then, share this with your friends so they can protect themselves too!

Though some may be convinced that these new warnings do not apply to them, please note that there must be a sizeable percentage of people effected or the FDA, as history has shown us, will not insist on new warnings for consumers. “A growing number of studies published over the last five years have found a link between statin use and type 2 diabetes. Last June, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed five older randomized trials and concluded the increased risk was small but real for people taking higher doses of any statin,” according to the New York Times.

For natural cholesterol busting methods, try including Puer Tea in your diet. Studies have shown this Chinese tea available in green or black (the black is actually not caffeinated) drastically lowers cholesterol.

According to Teasetc.com, “The most eye opening of these studies [on Puer Tea] was conducted in France several years ago. A blind study was conducted with 500 hyperlipidemia patients (individuals with advanced cholesterol conditions, usually controlled with medication). Half of the controlled group consumed 3-4 cups of Pu’erh daily, while the rest of the participants were given something else. After a 30-day period the results showed that drinking Pu’erh on a regular basis could significantly lower cholesterol and further research confirmed that Pu’erh was as effective as the most advanced cholesterol lowering medications available. This is just one of the many healthy benefits of this delicious tea.”

The tea has also been touted by Dr. Oz for its benefits as a weight loss enhancer, as well as a natural cholesterol lowering tool.

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