SAINTS & COLTS HEADING TO THE SUPER BOWL

The New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 in OT after Brett Favre's ill faded pass cots he Vikings a chance to win the game in regulation. Favre's pass were not the only problems the Vikings had in the 2nd half of the game it seemed every time they ran the ball they fumbled it in the 2nd half. This will be the Saints first visit to the Super Bowl. In the AFC Championship game yesterday the Colts beat the Jets 30-17 after the Jets jumped out to quick lead but in the end the Colts just had to much for the Jets. Well it is raining again here in Colonial Heights this morning and the wind is blowing pretty hard as well, it almost feels like a Spring morning here in the Heights. Fellow blogger Keith is out of town this week for another tough week of government work, this he has gone to Leavenworth, Kansas. Also yesterday afternoon I continued to prepare for the upcoming baseball season by throwing with dad for the 2nd day in a row, so far my arm is feeling pretty good. MICKEY

Ground Beef
The dirt: Even a little ground chuck can make you upchuck. When USDA inspectors last tested hamburger meat, they looked at 563 sources nationwide and discovered Clostridium perfringens in 53 percent of the batches, Staphylococcus in 30 percent, and Listeria monocytogenes in 12 percent. Interestingly, the USDA found no trace of Escherichia coli 0157:H7, a.k.a. E. coli, one of the desperadoes of foodborne illness. Despite this finding, if slaughterhouse safeguards fail (and they sometimes do), E. coli could potentially pop up in your next patty.

At the supermarket: Choose ground cow that's been nuked. "Find a grocery store that sells irradiated ground beef," says Donald W. Schaffner, Ph.D., an extension specialist in food science at Rutgers University. The package will bear the words "treated by irradiation." Schaffner gives the safety of the treatment a glowing review: "The amount of induced radioactivity is 200,000 times smaller than the level of radioactivity naturally present in all foods.

Give me an A. Vitamin A keeps the lining of your nasal and respiratory passages in tip-top shape so they can defend against invaders. It's so important for fighting infection that even a small deficiency boosts your risk of respiratory ills. That said, too much vitamin A in supplement form can cause birth defects and raise the odds of osteoporosis in older folks. That's why we recommend a food-first strategy. Conveniently, this is the time of year when loads of A-rich foods are in season. Get yours from bright orange and dark green veggies like sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, spinach, kale, and collard greens.

"A real friend is one who walks in
when the rest of the world walks out.”
Walter Winchell

Edwin Newman Journalist 91
Eduard Shevardnadze Former president of Georgia 82
Dean Jones Actor 79
Conrad Burns Former U.S. senator, R-Mont. 75
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Dinah Manoff Actress ("Empty Nest," "Soap") 52
Chet Culver Governor of Iowa 44
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Alicia Keys Singer 29