Greek leaders blow chance of quick EU bailout approval (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers have dropped plans for a special face-to-face meeting on Wednesday on Greece's new international bailout, saying political party chiefs in Athens had failed to provide the required commitment to reform.

A day before euro zone finance ministers had been due to meet in Brussels to consider the bailout, the man most likely to be Greece's next prime minister had yet to sign a commitment to implement the austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF.

Likewise, the cabinet had yet to fill a 325 million euro ($427 million) gap in the budget cuts promised for 2012, even though the ministers of the Eurogroup had told Athens that they needed a complete package of promises and signed undertakings.

With the European Union's patience with Greece close to breaking point, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker downgraded Wednesday's talks to a telephone conference call.

That appeared to kill any chance that the Eurogroup would approve on Wednesday the 130 billion euro bailout, funds from which Greece must start getting by next month to avoid a messy bankruptcy. It is due to hold a regular meeting on February 20.

Juncker said he was awaiting written undertakings from Greek party leaders on pushing through with the austerity package of pay, pension and job cuts - which parliament passed early on Monday as rioters wrecked buildings across central Athens.

"I did not yet receive the required political assurances from the leaders of the Greek coalition parties on the implementation of the program," he said in a statement.

A source familiar with the bailout negotiations said conservative leader Antonis Samaras had yet to sign the commitment to implement the deeply unpopular austerity package, a condition set by the EU/IMF lenders who are weary of broken Greek promises on economic reform and budget cuts.

"So far Samaras has not given a letter of commitment and this is a problem," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The New Democracy party of Samaras declined comment.

A government source said Samaras would provide the undertaking on Wednesday morning. If he does, he will be sticking to a pattern among Greek politicians of working right up to deadlines or beyond, infuriating EU leaders.

This practice of keeping everyone in suspense until the last minute appears to have cost Greece the full Eurogroup meeting. Time is running out as it faces a chaotic default if it cannot meet 14.5 billion euros in debt repayments due on March 20.

The MAN MOST LIKELY

With New Democracy well ahead in opinion polls, Samaras is frontrunner to become the next prime minister. When parliament debated the austerity package he indicated that he would try to renegotiate the terms of the bailout, further sowing doubt in the minds of European leaders.

A source at the PASOK socialist party, the other coalition party, said its leader George Papandreou had already provided a signed undertaking.

Greece's cabinet negotiated late into Tuesday evening on solving the other hitch with Brussels, the 325 million euro hole in the 3.3 billion euros of extra budget cuts which the government has promised for this year.

All this was played out as Greece's downward economic spiral accelerated. Data on Tuesday showed that economy shrank seven percent in the fourth quarter of last year, even more than the five percent contraction of the third quarter.

Greece is now in its fifth year of recession and is well on its way to suffering one of the biggest slumps of modern history. Gross domestic product has contracted 16 percent from its peak and the austerity will only make that worse.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has warned that failure to back the bailout would consign Greece to economic catastrophe.

But with many Greeks suffering huge cuts in their living standards and young people burning and wrecking almost 100 Athens buildings in one night on Sunday, some people believe the catastrophe is already underway.

"On the current path - which is not sustainable in my view - we may very well see Greek GDP go down 25-30 percent, which would be historically unprecedented. It's a disastrous crisis for them," said Uri Dadush, at the Carnegie Endowment think tank in Washington.

That would put Greece in the same league as the United States, where the economy shrank 29 percent during the Great Depression.

"They're suffering. It's nasty," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, another in Washington think tank.

"If you could say with a reasonable probability that the worst was over, then that would be different. But you can't say that. They're in for a long nightmare." ($1 = 0.7616 euros)

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, Alan Wheatley and Scott Barber in London; Writing by David Stamp; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120214/bs_nm/us_greece

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Greece faces further obstacles in bailout deal (AP)

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120214/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Top Republican wants vote on birth control mandate (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Conservatives said Sunday the flap surrounding President Barack Obama's birth control mandate was far from over, with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell saying he'll push to overturn the requirement because it was another example of government meddling.

While a senior White House official shrugged off such remarks, declaring the issue resolved and new legislation unlikely, the heated rhetoric from Republicans suggested the GOP would try to keep the debate alive in an election year to rally conservatives and seize upon voter frustration with big government.

"It's riddled with constitutional problems," McConnell said of Obama's broader health-care plan. "And this is what happens when the government tries to take over health care and tries to interfere with your religious beliefs."

Last week, Obama backed down on a mandate that religious-affiliated employers such as Catholic hospitals and colleges cover birth control in their health insurance plans. In a tweak of the rule, those employees would be offered free coverage directly from their health insurer. But employers would not provide or pay for it.

The White House says the plan won't drive up costs because birth control, similar to other preventative care measures, is less expensive than pregnancy. But opponents say that unless drug makers stop charging for contraception, the cost is likely to get passed on to employers regardless.

While some Catholic groups applauded the move, including the Catholic Health Association, the nation's Catholic bishops said it continued the attack religious freedoms ? a theme quickly picked up by Republicans trying to wrest control of the White House this November.

"There's no compromise here," said GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, a Catholic and favorite among religious conservatives. "They are forcing religious organizations, either directly or indirectly, to pay for something that they find is a deeply, morally, you know, wrong thing. And this is not what the government should be doing."

In several televised interviews, White House chief of staff Jacob Lew defended the latest plan as the best possible compromise to provide women access to contraceptives and respect the religious freedoms of employers. Churches had always been exempt under Obama's original plan, although religious-affiliated organizations were not.

"We didn't expect to get universal support of the bishops or all Catholics," he said. "I think that what we have here is a policy that reflects bringing together two very important principles in a way that's true to the American tradition."

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has called Obama's revised plan an "accounting gimmick." He introduced legislation last week that would exempt any organization with moral objections from providing birth control. McConnell said he expects such a bill would be vetoed by the president but that he still wanted a vote "as soon as possible."

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan said there were enough votes in the Republican-controlled House to pass similar legislation.

"If this is what the president's willing to do in a tough election year, imagine what he will do in implementing the rest of his health care law after an election," Ryan, R-Wis., told ABC News "This Week."

Lew shrugged off questions about Senate legislation, predicting that they would not "come to pass" and that the president planned to move ahead with implementing the current plan.

"We're going to go ahead and implement it," Lew said. "And women are going to have access (to contraception) and institutions like Catholic universities and Catholic hospitals will not be in the position that they had feared. I think that's a good resolution."

Santorum and Lew spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press." McConnell and Lew spoke on CBS "Face the Nation." Lew also spoke on Fox News Sunday, CNN's "State of the Union" and ABC News "This Week."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120213/ap_on_go_co/us_birth_control_politics

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Bombers target Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia (AP)

NEW DELHI ? Israel blamed Iran on Monday for bomb attacks on its diplomats' cars in India and Georgia, heightening concerns that the Jewish state was moving closer to striking its archenemy.

Iran denied responsibility for the attacks that appeared to mirror the recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran blamed on Israel.

The blast in New Delhi set a car ablaze and injured four people, including an Israeli Embassy driver and a diplomat's wife; the device in Georgia was discovered and safely defused.

"Iran is behind these attacks and it is the largest terror exporter in the world," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud Party.

The violence added further tension to one of the globe's most contentious standoffs. Iran has been accused of developing a nuclear weapons program that Israel says threatens the existence of the Jewish state. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Comments by Israeli officials in recent weeks have raised fears Israel might be preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. While Israel says it hopes that international sanctions can curb Iran's nuclear program, leaders pointedly note that "all options are on the table" and have warned that as Iran moves closer to weapons capability, time is running out for action. Fearing an Israeli attack could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing, U.S. and other Western countries have been pressing Israel to give sanctions more time.

Israeli military analyst Reuven Pedatzur said Monday's action was unlikely to have any bearing on whether Israel attacks Iran, calling it an "isolated incident" with rather low impact.

The attackers in India and Georgia appeared to have used "sticky bombs" attached to cars by magnets, similar to weapons used against Iran's nuclear officials. Netanyahu said Israel had thwarted attacks in recent months in Azerbaijan and Thailand and unspecified other countries.

"In all those cases, the elements behind these attacks were Iran and its protege, Hezbollah," Netanyahu said, referring to Iran's Lebanese proxy. He vowed to "act with a strong hand against international terror."

Israeli media reported that the government blamed Iran based on prior intelligence and that security officials feared this could be the start of a wave of attacks against Israeli targets overseas.

Iranian officials rejected Netanyahu's accusation.

"This accusation is within the Zionist regime's psychological war against Iran," the official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

"The Zionist regime, due to repeated crimes against humanity, is the main party accused of terrorist activities," he said, according to IRNA.

The New Delhi attack took place just after 3 p.m. a few hundred yards (meters) from the prime minister's residence as the diplomat's wife headed to the American Embassy School to pick up her children, said Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta.

When the minivan approached a crossing, she noticed a motorcyclist ride up and stick something on it that appeared to be a magnetic device, he said. The car drove a short distance, there was a loud sound and then an explosion, and the car caught fire, he said.

"It was a loud explosion. We realized it's not a firecracker, but an explosion, and rushed toward the car," said Ravi Singh, owner of a nearby gas station.

The blast left the vehicle charred and appeared to blow out its rear door.

"The blast was so powerful, the car behind got damaged as well," said Monu, a high school student who uses only one name.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said the woman, Tal Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of a Defense Ministry official based in New Delhi, suffered moderate shrapnel wounds and was treated at a hospital by Israeli doctors.

Her driver, Manoj Sharma, 42, and two people in a nearby car had minor injuries, Gupta said.

Israeli diplomats in India have been on constant alert since Pakistan-based militants rampaged across the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, targeting luxury hotels, a train station and the Chabad Jewish community center.

India's foreign minister, S.M. Krishna, said India would cooperate closely with Israel in the investigation and promised to bring the assailants to justice.

"I have just spoken to the Israeli foreign minister," he said. "I assured him that the law of the land will take its course."

Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said an explosive device was planted on the car of a driver for the Israeli Embassy in the capital of Tbilisi.

Shota Utiashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the driver noticed a package on his car's undercarriage and called police, who found and defused a grenade.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attacks.

"The United States places a high priority on the safety and security of diplomatic personnel around the world and we stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions," she said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the incidents underscore U.S. concerns about the recent targeting of Israeli interests overseas. He added that Washington does not yet have information on who is responsible for the attack but stands ready to help the investigations.

Iranian lawmaker Javad Jahangirzadeh was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying the Israeli charges were meant to provoke the world against Iran and to undermine upcoming nuclear talks between Tehran and the world powers.

Another lawmaker, Avaz Heidarpour, was quoted by Mehr as saying Netanyahu's allegations were an attempt by Israel to justify future operations against Iran.

"It's very likely that the Zionist regime is paving the way to carry out an assassination abroad or hit inside Iran. So, they are making preparations for that," Mehr quoted him as saying.

Hezbollah and Iran have deep grievances against Israel.

Hezbollah battled Israel in a monthlong war in 2006. On Sunday, the Lebanese guerrilla group marked the anniversary of the 2008 assassination of one of its commanders, Imad Mughniyeh, in a bombing widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Iran has been widely suspected of looking for payback for the covert plots against its nuclear program it has blamed on Israel's spy agency Mossad and Western allies.

"There have been all kinds of mysterious things happening in Iran, and it could be an Iranian counterattack," said Mike Herzog, a retired Israeli general and former top aide to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "It's no secret that Iran uses Hezbollah globally, and Hezbollah has the capacity to carry out attacks around the globe."

Iran and Hezbollah also could be trying to divert attention away from ally Syria's crackdown on protesters.

Were Iran found to be behind the New Delhi attack, it would be a stunning action against one of its more reliable allies.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has resisted U.S. and European Union pressure to curtail trade with Iran over the nuclear issue. Energy-starved India relies heavily on Iranian oil imports, and the two countries are working to find creative ways for India to circumvent banking restrictions to pay for the oil by using rupees and investing in Iranian infrastructure projects.

Israel has urged the international community to consider all means, including military action, to stop Tehran.

Last month, a director of Iran's main uranium enrichment site was killed in a blast from a magnetic bomb placed on his car, at least the fifth member of Iran's scientific community killed in apparent targeted attacks in two years.

In a signal Iran could retaliate, Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, the spokesman for Iran's Joint Armed Forces Staff, was quoted by the semiofficial news agency ISNA last month as saying that Tehran was "reviewing the punishment" of "behind-the-scene elements" involved in the assassination.

"Iran's response will be a tormenting one for supporters of state terrorism," he said. "The enemies of the Iranian nation, especially the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime, or Israel, have to be held responsible for their activities."

Clinton categorically denied any U.S. link to an "act of violence inside Iran." Israel has made no direct comments about Iran's accusations of covert operations, but some officials have made provocative hints that Tehran's many foes could have an interest in efforts to destabilize its nuclear program.

Iran also has blamed the U.S. and allies for a sophisticated computer virus, known as Stuxnet, that was programmed to disrupt the centrifuges used in uranium enrichment. Iran said the virus was detected in its systems, but added there were no serious setbacks.

In January, a foreign suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah militants led Thai police to a warehouse filled with materials commonly used to make bombs.

In 1992, a bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires killed 29 people. Two years later, a bombing at a Jewish community center there killed 85 people. Argentines have long suspected high-level Iranian diplomats were involved in the 1994 bombing.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi and Julie Pace and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Nessman at http://www.twitter.com/ravinessman and Federman at http://www.twitter.com/joseffederman

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120214/ap_on_re_us/israel_attacks

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Pebble Beach shows Tiger has a long way to go

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a putt on the seventh hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a putt on the seventh hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

RETRANSMISSION FOR ALTERNATE CROP - Tiger Woods steps on his club after hitting from the ninth fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Tiger Woods hunkers down at the fifth green at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Phil Mickelson celebrates after finishing on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach golf links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, in Pebble Beach, Calif. Mickelson won the tournament. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Phil Mickelson hits from the 18th tee at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. Mickelson finished with an 8-under 64 to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and become only the ninth player with 40 career PGA Tour wins. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) ? Tiger Woods keeps saying his game is close.

Standing on the 18th green at Pebble Beach, he never looked so far away.

With the red sleeves from his shirt sticking out from a black vest, Woods could only watch Sunday as Phil Mickelson made one more birdie putt for an 8-under 64, the final touch of a six-shot comeback to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The white scoreboard behind the 18th green was telling.

The first stunner was seeing Mickelson go from a six-shot deficit to a two-shot lead in just six holes. Then he poured it on with a magnificent shot into 2 feet for birdie on the 13th and an aggressive play on the 14th for another one.

Equally shocking was Woods.

He three-putted for par and a 75, a whopping 11 shots worse than Mickelson. Only four other players had a higher score than Woods in the final round, none of whom started the day within range of the leader.

Woods was two shots out of the lead when he walked off the sixth green and then bogeyed the next three holes.

The two biggest names in golf played together in the second-to-last group, both feeling as though they were close to breaking through, both needed a dramatic charge at Pebble Beach.

That player turned out to be Mickelson.

In a big way.

"To put it together this week, and especially the final round, just feels terrific," Mickelson said. "And it gives me a lot of confidence, but also inspires me. Because I believe now that what I'm doing is correct, and that I'm able to play some of my best golf."

Woods attributed this mess to only one club in his bag ? the putter.

The putting carried him to a 67 at Pebble Beach in the third round, giving him a chance to win for the first time since Sept. 13, 2009 on the PGA Tour. It let him down Sunday, when he missed five putts from under 5 feet.

"I could not get comfortable where I could see my lines," Woods said. "I couldn't get the putter to swing. I just could not get comfortable. It was frustrating, because I was looking to somehow getting off to 2- or 3-under par through six. Phil got off to that start. I had a chance to pick it up through the middle part of the round. Instead, it went the other way."

Lost in all this was Charlie Wi, who started the final round with a three-shot lead. Wi four-putted for double bogey on the opening hole, dropped another shot on the fifth, then three-putted from 15 feet for bogey on the sixth. Only a late rally gave him a 72 to finish two shots behind Mickelson for his fifth career runner-up finish.

The win gave Mickelson his 40th career victory ? his goal is to get to 50, and this will help. He also became the third straight winner on the PGA Tour to start the final round at least six shots behind.

And to do it with Woods as a mere bystander?

"I just feel very inspired when I play with him," said Mickelson, who has posted the better score the past five times he has played alongside Woods in the final round.

"I love playing with him, and he brings out some of my best golf. I hope that he continues to play better and better, and I hope that he and I have a chance to play together more in the final rounds."

Mickelson took more satisfaction over having his wife, still recovering from breast cancer, come up for the weekend and even give him a pep talk when Mickelson was going nowhere in the second round.

"I was moping. It was terrible," Mickelson said. "And she said, 'Come on, now, cheer up. Let's go make some birdies.' And she was so positive, and it just changed my attitude."

He became a four-time winner at Pebble Beach, where his grandfather used to caddie.

It's more about the momentum he hopes this will give him going into the rest of the year. Mickelson had not won since the Houston Open last year and had fallen out of the top 10 in the world. He started this season believing his game was about to turn the corner, only to miss the cut at Torrey Pines and finish out of the top 25 in two other tournaments.

"It's one of the more emotional victories for me than I've had, and the reason is I've had some doubt these last couple of weeks, given the scores I've shot," Mickelson said. "Having these great practice sessions, I started to wonder if I'm going to be able to bring it to the golf course. So this gives me a lot of confidence and erases the doubt."

Despite the six-shot deficit, Mickelson drew optimism from recent history ? not only his record playing alongside Woods, but the nature of Pebble Beach. He was tied for the 54-hole lead in 2001 when Davis Love erased a seven-shot deficit in seven holes, shot 63 and won.

As for the confidence he gets playing with Woods?

"I just seem more focused," Mickelson said. "I know that his level of play is so much greater when he's playing his best that it just forces me to focus on my game more intently, and hit more precise shots."

That's what he did.

After picking up birdies on Nos. 2 and 4, Mickelson got a bonus with an 8-iron that plopped down 2 feet from the cup for a tap-in birdie at the par-3 fifth. His approach to the par-5 sixth hopped onto the green and then came another break. He knew the putt broke to the right and had a line picked out.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo ? Woods' partner ? went first from a similar line.

"I saw that it broke more right than I thought, so I adjusted by a couple of inches," Mickelson said. The ball curled in from the right side of the cup, giving Mickelson the outright lead.

Woods had to make a 6-footer for a two-putt birdie ? his first ? but that didn't last long. He three-putted the seventh from 18 feet, missed a 5-foot par putt on the eighth badly to the right, failed to save par from the bunker on the ninth.

He headed home with another close call. Two weeks ago in his 2012 debut, Woods was tied for the 54-hole lead with Robert Rock in Abu Dhabi, couldn't break par and tied for third. He knew he would need a round of 66 at Pebble Beach to have a chance and wound up watching his old nemesis get the job done.

Woods sounds insulted when asked about not winning on tour. He considers the Chevron World Challenge against an 18-man field last December just as significant. Still, he is raising more doubts than answering questions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-13-Pebble%20Beach/id-32dd80e5ecb44cf4b095d4e65d31ced8

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Effective Anti Aging Skin Care Solutions | Start Online Fast

There?s quite a demand for anti aging skin care tips these days. Since we are living longer, this kind of response is really to be expected. You know that you can tell a lot about a person?s health and vigor through their skin. Anti aging skin care methods are varied, but we have a few in this article you will find helpful. laserska depilacija, beljenje zob cena, how to apply make up

The old cliche is that you are what you eat, plus your skin definitely reflects what you eat. If you were trying to lose weight and know what foods to avoid, then all of that applies to healthy looking skin. You can help your skin have a healthy glow by consuming the good fats as opposed to the bad ones.

Getting more essential fats in your diet isn?t only good for your heart and the rest of you, but it helps moisturize your skin. These can be found in fish oils, flaxseed oil, avocados and many types of nuts such as almonds.

At this time exercise is something that is highly recommended by a lot of folks for our wellbeing and a tactic for weight loss. Exercise will help the appearance of your skin. Your skin, as well as your entire body, will be greatly rewarded with exercise. Energetic types of exercises make us perspire and will help detoxify the skin. The more time you can spend outdoors, the more apt you will be to stay fit and trim. When you adopt a laid back lifestyle, you are just asking for surplus weight and will also be more apt to have skin that looks older than it really is.

Facial masks are a simple and inexpensive way to care for your skin at home. We recommend you know your skin type so you do not use something that may aggravate it. Always inquire about what is in any facial mask that you are about to get at local spas, etc. Cucumbers make a great facial mask, and you can mix cucumber juice with honey and coconut milk, which makes for a great combination of beneficial ingredients.

There are many people trying to keep up with the current trend of fitness, anti aging and living a healthier lifestyle. In this article, we?ve focused on the health of your skin, but many of these guidelines will help your entire body stay young longer. There are many things you can do to promote the health of your skin, and if you?re interested you can learn a lot more about this fascinating topic.

Source: http://startonlinefast.com/effective-anti-aging-skin-care-solutions/

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Living Green With Pets: Flowers for Your Valentine ? The Creative Cat

Posted: February 11, 2012 | Author: animalartist | Filed under: behavior, feline health, living green with pets | Tags: cat greens, cats and flowers, cats and plants, lilies toxic to cats, pet-safe bouquets, plants toxic to cats, toxic plants |

Sophie is not eating the flowers! "The Perfect Camouflage", pastel ? B.E. Kazmarski

Apparently, you can?t go wrong with roses, either for your Valentine or for your kitty?as long as they don?t have thorns! The roses, I mean.

Many of the cautions in this article apply to dogs as well, but cats are a little more sensitive to certain plants?lilies, for instance, may give a dog a tummy ache but they may kill a kitty?plus kitties can jump and climb and get themselves into truly amazing places, so I am focusing on cats for this article. But for any pet, please be cautious of flowers and plants and keep the list of toxic species linked at the end handy.

Would a cat eat a daisy? Namir did. "Conversation With a Daisy", pencil ? B.E. Kazmarski

Cats aren?t necessarily particular in what greens they?ll nibble on; generally they?ll try anything green and fresh, and some cats will completely chew down a plant that can?t have tasted very good and wasn?t very easy to chew. They don?t stop with leaves, either, but will eat the petals off of a flower.

And while many pet owners know the dangers of various houseplants, most people don?t associate cut flowers with these dangers, yet many cut bouquets include flowers from? some of the most toxic plants for cats and dogs. What makes it complicated is that we recognize them when they are individual growing plants, but may not even notice them in a mixed bouquet.

Some plants cause gastric upset which can be a mess to clean up and is uncomfortable for your cat, but it can also have long-lasting effects such as ulcers in the mouth or digestive tract, and excessive vomiting or diarrhea can dehydrate and even kill a very young or old cat.

Sunday Best

Other plants more seriously affect a cat?s organs and can be deadly within hours, even to a healthy cat.

Lilies in all their forms

Lilies in just about all their species can cause kidney damage in cats which is permanent and can lead to kidney failure within 48 hours if left untreated.

Alstromeria

Sure, we know the big white lilies at Easter, but consider an everyday small grocery story bouquet: a few yellow mums, some white daisies, pink carnations, fern, baby?s breath and?alstromeria, a South American lily, which comes in colors from white to scarlet.

Or a medium-sized get-well bouquet: Yellow roses, white mums, blue larkspur and?two big pink Stargazer lilies.

And what used to be part of my favorite backyard bouquets in spring: pink climbing rose, red rambler rose, Shasta daisies, blue widow?s tears and?big orange daylilies.

Bulb-forming plants

Purple Tulips

Instead of a bouquet of cut flowers we?ll often give or receive bulbs forced to bloom early in baskets and pots. I used to welcome the new year and the last long days of winter with forced bulbs all over my house as pots of paperwhite narcissus, trays of daffodils and baskets of mixed fragrant tulips, hyacinth and crocus along with squills and starflowers.

Then I learned that any part of these plants can not only cause gastric upset but also organ damage, specifically kidney damage and heart failure. I remembered a healthy fifteen-year-old cat I?d lost years before to acute kidney failure?her kidneys just failed one day and I had to put her to sleep the next. This can happen without an outside stimulus, but I?ll always wonder if that was the cause and I have never forced bulbs in any place my cats could get them since then.

In the same way, onion and garlic, also bulb-forming plants though they are considered food, are toxic to cats.

Other plants

Rhododendron

While most plants are not that immediately toxic, other plants, such as azalea and rhododendron, lily of the valley, ivy and yew can be deadly to cats in impaired health or kittens, since they?re small enough to get a big dose with an enthusiastic bite. Though not deadly for adult cats in good health, they?ll often cause extreme abdominal pain, nausea, salivation and vomiting. Repeated exposure can be cumulative with some plants.

Sometimes cats have no sense

?Oh, she?ll stop eating if she gets sick,? or ?she won?t eat this, it?s got little thorns?, don?t believe that. I?ve seen cats try to eat cacti, drool while they are chewing aloe and vomit up philodendron and go back to eating again. Don?t rely on their non-existent common sense, just remove the plant.

You can?t really punish them for following both a natural impulse and a physical need. We don?t really know why cats, obligate carnivores with no obvious need for greens, chew on grass, but some guess they help cleanse their mouth and digestive system, and to add fiber to their primarily protein diet to aid in elimination. An indoor kitty will take what she can get to simulate the natural outdoor environment she craves.

Namir in the arboricola.

The problem is that, while you may get some cats to stay away from your plants, most cats will return again and again, even if they suffer discomfort from their snack. The best way to keep your cats safe from plants is to put the plants completely out of reach?bearing in mind that cats can jump six times their height and can be ingenious about launching from strategic furniture to get into a hanging basket. Sometimes it is necessary to completely remove the plant from the house, no matter how much you like it.

Signs of plant poisoning may include vomiting, diarrhea, and swelling or pain inside the cat?s mouth. If you know or suspect which plant your cat has eaten, identify the plant by name when you call your veterinarian. Bring samples of the plant?s leaves or flowers when you take your cat to the veterinarian for treatment.

Keeping your cat out of your plants??

Loo-See of the Jungle

What happened to that nice spider plant you used to have? Oops?while enjoying the scene out the window, Fluffy forgot it wasn?t just a clump of grass and chewed it down to little nubbins. Then, because it really wasn?t grass and really wasn?t digestible by her little system, she deposited it back on your carpet in a most inelegant manner.

And that wandering jew? She used it for a bed? I?ll bet she looked sweet.

A determined cat will do what she wants. Remember, you have to sleep some time.

As for the non-toxic flora, even though Fluffy won?t suffer if she chews on it (unless you get your hands on her), you still don?t want her shredding your greenery. Several commercial sprays will give the plant a bad smell and/or taste without damaging the plant with recommended use, and a nibble by Fluffy will not harm her. One product is ?Bitter Apple for Plants?, a stronger version of which is available for dogs learning not to chew on everything. Other products are named ?Off for Cats? and such like, and simply smell bad.

You can also try your own home brew by dabbing hot sauce on the tips of some of the leaves, or rubbing a citrus peel on the leaf. For the sake of your plants, however, just try it on one or two leaves to make sure you won?t fry the whole plant in an effort to keep Fluffy from eating it.

You could also place ?Sticky Paws? on the countertop around the arrangement or plant so that when she steps close to the plant she steps on the product and backs off; please read the instructions on the Sticky Paws package for what surfaces are appropriate for its use.

Distractions

Peaches with her Cat Greens

One other thing to help the situation?and it?s a nice thing to do for your cat even if you don?t have a plant problem?is to plant her own pot of greens and make it available to her at all times. Don?t use regular plant seeds such as grass seed because some seeds are treated with chemicals, at least check before you use them; instead, purchase ?cat greens?, usually a mixture of wheat, oats and barley grains, all three of which are not only a pleasure for your cat, but full of nutrition. Some other commercial ?cat greens? mixtures contain catnip, a sure winner, sage, parsley, chickweed, colt?s foot grass, and other herbs and wild plants that your cat would eat if outdoors.

Most of these plants can be grown in a small container on a windowsill, and if you keep two containers growing, one available to the cat and one just sprouting, you can have a constant treat for her. These plants need a good bit of sunlight to thrive, so try to find a sunny spot that your cat can get to. It will serve two purposes: because she tends to chew when she?s gazing at the outdoors, you?ve provided exactly what she needs for her little interlude.

Keep toxic plant and flower information handy

Your local veterinarians and shelters often have lists of toxic flora has handouts, and plenty of resources exist on the internet.

And as far as those flowers, you just can?t go wrong with roses!

17 Common Poisonous Plants

ASPCA Searchable Database of Plants

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All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

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Source: http://portraitsofanimals.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/living-green-with-pets-flowers-for-your-valentine/

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