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The IDF is in the midst of a sudden major drill in northern Israel. The exercise began Sunday with an emergency call-up, and will conclude at the end of the week. Roughly 2,000 reservists were called up suddenly to take part in the drill. The exercise was created due to recent threats from Israel’s northern neighbors, Lebanon and Syria. “This is a special drill, the first of its kind, which simulates a broad-based call-up, and follows the process from the [reservist’s] home to the meeting point, and reflects the real situation regarding the force’s preparedness,” a senior IDF source said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg loves us. He wants us to be healthy. So he’s taken it upon himself to pass laws to stop people from eating too much salt, trans fats, and big sugary drinks. He believes these new laws will make a difference. Of course, they might, but so will passing a law that requires everybody to eat only 1800 calories per day. When Mayor Bloomberg gets a hold of the new exercise study, there’s no telling what new laws will be passed. According to the medical journal The Lancelot, “a third of the world’s adults are physically...

It may have looked like they were ready for war or some deranged person looking for his late Social Security benefits. But it was only Federal Protective Service officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who were conducting a random training operation early Tuesday morning when they surprisingly showed up at the Social Security Administration office in downtown Leesburg. With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-9s, sifted through the building. "I thought...

An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study. The 11 participants in the study were all diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the previous four years. Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal. Three months after the end of the diet, when participants had returned to eating normally and received advice on healthy eating and portion size, most no longer suffered from the condition.

Looking to become the next Mr. Olympia or Ms. World? Want to bulk up the physique and get those abs rock hard and defined as a "six pack"? Are you the skinny kid that gets bullied around and need to get buff to protect yourself? Then consider a gym membership--not just the "get a few pounds off after the Holidays" type plan but a real, solid way to get and stay in shape. You can join a local club like Gold's or Bally's and pay fees to belong, or you can go to the local YWCA or YMCA for not...

...Scientists have suspected for decades that exercise, particularly regular aerobic exercise, can affect the brain. Now an expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain... ...This spring, neuroscientists at Columbia published a study in which a group of men and women, ranging in age from 21 to 45, began working out for one hour four times a week. After 12 weeks, the test subjects, predictably, became more fit. Their VO2 max, the standard measure of how much oxygen a person takes in while exercising, rose significantly. But something else happened as a result of...

MUMBAI: Madonna swears by it, Michael Jordan has dunked for it and Claudia Schiffer is hooked to it. Will Mumbai jump for it? A vibrating platform, the favourite gym accessory of several celebrities, is the latest arrival in Mumbai's fitness market and is making its appearance in some high-end gyms across the city. A 10-minute, three-days-a-week whole body vibration (WBV) workout sounds like the perfect prescription for the hassled-for-time Mumbaikar. But does it work? WBV is said to be the key to Madonna's hot bod, the athleticism of the sultan of slam-dunk and model Schiffer's sleek-as-a-Ferrari frame. According to desi...

On the flight home this morning, I was unfortunate enough to have a bleeder sit next to me. By bleeder, I mean he was invading my space because he was large and his body was spilling over into my seat. I've seen worse cases than what I had today but let's hear your experiences.

BERKELEY, Calif., July 8 (UPI) -- California researchers found genes are more important than exercise in determining response to cholesterol. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute conducted a study to compare the effects of a high-fat diet and of exercise. Paul Williams gave diets that were either high or low in fat to 28 pairs of identical male twins -- one twin a vigorous exerciser, the other a comparative couch potato. For six weeks the twins ate either a high-fat diet -- 40 percent of its calories from fat,...

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK. The shoes - dubbed Square Eyes - contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's exertions. The design was inspired by a desire to combat the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers,...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

A study of more than 22,000 Greeks provided further evidence on Wednesday that the "Mediterranean diet" rich in cheese, nuts and olive oil can protect against heart disease and cancer. The study found that people who ate a Mediterranean-style diet had a 33 percent reduction in the risk of death from heart disease and a cancer death rate that was 24 percent lower compared to volunteers who ate other foods. The diet, which varies from country to country, often includes monthly servings of meat and weekly meals of poultry, eggs and sweets. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, unrefined cereals, olive oil,...

JERUSALEM: Ahead of a possible US-led attack on Iraq, the joint exercise between the United States and Israeli troops continued with US-made Patriot missiles being fired in southern Israel. As part of the continued joint maneouvers, six missiles were fired by the US and Israeli Air Forces dubbed Juniper Cobra 2003. Aimed at testing their effectiveness to intercept incoming missiles or rockets, the missiles hit the targets in southern Negev, Jerusalem Post reported quoting security sources, adding loud explosions were heard in the area. The exercises are aimed at improving both countries' air defence systems and to examine possible scenarios...

<p>That ultimate fantasy of the couch potato may become a reality some day, according to researchers who have found the chemical pathways that muscle cells use to build strength and endurance.</p> <p>With this basic knowledge in hand, it now may be possible to develop a pill that pumps up muscle cells without all that exercise, said Dr. R. Sanders Williams, dean of the Duke University School of Medicine and senior author of a study appearing Friday in the journal Science.</p>