He Told You So

Hitchedmag.com's own Brian Brogan of The Brogan Group of H.G. Wellington and company, Inc. hit a bulls eye with this January column titled "Bring on '07." According to Brogan, the VIX (volatility index) hit an all time low and now has spiked, while the AGG (Lehman Aggregate Bond I-Share) is hitting all time highs. "This is the correction I have been calling for with our clients," said Brogan. "People need to get defensive because this economy is going to slow quicker than most portfolio managers are calling for." In a rather ecstatic e-mail today Brogan professed, "Your readers are making money from my call if they followed the article." Hopefully they did Brian. Keep up the good work. Mr. Brogan can be reached at bdb@signalreport.com or 610-896-8823.

Geocaching

A while back, we wrote an article about geocaching as a Date Night. This article in the OC Register highlights a couple who seemed to have taken our advice. The article says, "For both of them, the pastime is a couples-bonding adventure". If you're not familiar with geocaching, it's discovering treasure by using a GPS navigation device and coordinates usually found on websites. Typical protocol says once you find something, you are to leave something behind for the next person. To get more information, read our article by clicking Date Night above.

Taking Your Wife's Name

A man in Los Angeles is petitioning a federal judge so that he can take his wife's name. His father has not been much of a figure in his life and his new father-in-law has. Also, it's the only way to preserve the family name from his wife's side. This article states, "A woman can choose her husband's name or her maiden name on a California marriage-license form after the couple pays a county application fee that ranges from $50 to $97. California and 43 other states provide no place on a marriage-license application for the groom to choose the bride's surname. What do you think? Should this be a special form scenario or is this something that should be on a standard application? We would love to hear from you if you are a husband who took your wife's name.

Chew Gum For Your Health

Need extra calcium in your diet, have a stick of gum. Not getting enough Vitamin C, have a stick of gum. Don't like your dietary suppliment pills, have a stick of gum. According to this post on SlashFood, Americans chew about two pounds of gum every year. Scientists are now thinking of gum as the delivery vehicle of the future because the absorption of chemicals through the mouth is so fast. Gums in Europe and Asia already offer gums with added tea extract and other dietary suppliments laced in. So what do you think? Are you willing to replace your Flinstone vitamins with Wrigley's Centrum?

Trans Fat Increase Infertility

Dr. Jorge E. Chavarro of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and colleagues found that the infertility risk for a woman who eats trans fat was dose dependent, that is, the more trans fat a woman eats, the higher her risk of becoming infertile. Their findings were published in the January issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Foodconsumer.org says...

In the study, the researchers analyzed data from 18,555 healthy women participating in the Nurses' Health Study to see if there was any association between intake of tarns fat and infertility. The participants were married and trying to get pregnant between 1991 and 1999.

A women's risk of infertility increased by 73 percent for every 2 percent of energy she took from trans fat instead of carbohydrates, the researchers found.

Similarly, the risk of infertility increased by 79 percent for every 2 percent of energy from trans fats instead of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. The risk more than doubled for every 2 percent of energy from trans fat instead of monounsaturated fat.

Two percent of energy is equivalent to 4 grams of trans fat for a woman who consumes 1800 calories per day. According to the Food and Drug Administration, an average American eats 6 grams of trans fat a day. This means that the effect of trans fat on infertility can be substantial.

Another Week To Save Your Marriage

TLC has brought back Dr. Robi Ludwig and the show "One Week to Save Your Marriage". If you don't recall, this show videotapes a couple in their home on the brink of divorce. Dr. Ludwig then has one week to try and get the couple to recommit to their marriage. After last season, Dr. Ludwig chatted with hitched about her own marriage and what she learned from the show. You can read the full article here. For more details about the upcoming season go to TLC.com or click here for a release synopsis.

What Isn't Happening On 7/7/07

As if inventing the Internet wasn't enough, the number one supporter of earth has now invented the festival to end all festivals. Yes, Al Gore will be bringing some of the music industries biggest names together this summer in a massive one-day, world-wide event called "Live Earth". Slated for July 7, the concert to fight climate change will take place in London, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Sydney and locations to be announced in Japan, Brazil and America. But it wouldn't be a true world-wide event until you added a show in Antartica. That's right, some lucky bands will be playing on an ice sheet. "This is all about getting people's attention" said Gore, "and then asking them to answer the call to save ourselves and give solutions for communities, families and for nations."

"The Whole Substance To My Rap"

Marriage isn't easy. Trust us, we give couples advice everyday on a broad range of subjects that never ends. But imagine how difficult marriage would be if you had half a catalog of dark, depressing rap songs with your name and likeliness associated with them. (We haven't had our experts answer that... yet). For Eminem's twice on and twice off again wife, Kim Mathers, the lyrics became too much and admits she tried to kill herself one night after her, then, husband's concert. "He was singing a song that was about me and he had a blow-up doll up on stage that looked like me and he was physically beating it and kicking it," says Kim, "Seeing the crowd response and everybody cheering, singing the words and laughing... I knew that it was about me, and that night I went home and I tried to commit suicide." The interview, on "The Dr. Keith Ablow" show, airs tomorrow.

Valentine's Spending

On average, men and women will shell out $120 on Valentine's day. What may be surprising is that men spend an average of $70 more than women. When BIGresearh crunched the numbers, men spend an average of $156, while women spend $85. So what are they dropping the coin on? 63% purchase cards, 48% buy candy and 45% spend a their money on a night out. Unless it's an expensive card or candy, that sounds like a great night out! We hope you're having a great Valentine's Day.

Not So Husband-and-Chief

Over the past seven or so odd years, President George W. Bush has convinced a lot of people that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. And, now, he probably just sealed the deal with the person closest to him: his wife, Laura. In a recent interview with daytime talk-show host Rachael Ray, the First Lady confessed that the husband-and-chief wasn't to keen on remembering Valentine's Day. "There's a White House florist, so they always send up flowers and he signs the card," she said. As for this year, Mrs. Bush said the two will probably share a romantic dinner together. Hey Laura, if your reading this, get him a subscription to the greatest marriage magazine on the planet here