7 Self-Defense Techniques That Could Save Your Life

You decide to go for a late-night walk in your neighborhood. It’s been a rough day, and you just want to go out for a little while to clear your head. You’re enjoying yourself until suddenly you hear what sounds like footsteps behind you. You turn around to see what it is and realize that someone is running towards you with a knife. Although this is a situation that we hope we’re never faced with, there is the possibility that something like this could actually happen. It’s always a good thing to be prepared, so read on and keep those shoulders back.

Do as They Say
You should never try to be a “hero”. This means that if someone is pointing a gun or knife at you, you should comply with his or her demands. No amount of money or other item is worth your life. If someone demands your watch from you, give it to them. The main point to remember is that safety should be your main concern.

Run!
When you have the opportunity, you should always try to run away from your attacker. There’s no need to fight if you don’t have to. The attacker could have a knife or gun, which they could use to seriously harm or kill you; running isn’t going to change that but it may startle them enough to save your life. When you run, try to get to a public area, or at least a house with the lights on, and call 911.

Avoid Dangerous Situations
You should try to avoid unfamiliar areas of town, especially late at night. In these situations, you could get lost or not know where to run for help. Avoid walking through strange neighborhoods if you can, and when driving, make sure that your doors are locked and never talk to anyone you don’t know; don’t even slow down if somebody looks like they intend to approach your car.

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Are There Really People Who Would Make This Mistake?

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Feds Propose Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels

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Corpses, cancer patients and diseased lungs are among the images the federal government plans for larger, graphic warning labels that would take up half of each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States.

Whether smokers addicted to nicotine will see them as a reason to quit remains a question.

The images are part of a new campaign announced by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday to reduce tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths per year.

"Some very explicit, almost gruesome pictures may be necessary," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a very, very serious public health issue, with very, very serious medical consequences," such as cancer, heart disease, strokes and lung diseases.

The share of Americans who smoke has fallen dramatically since 1970, from nearly 40 percent to about 20 percent, but the rate has stalled since about 2004. About 46 million adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes.

In the same period, the average cost per pack has gone from 38 cents to $5.33. Much of those increases are from state and federal taxes.

The new prevention plan is part of a law passed in June 2009 that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco, including setting guidelines for marketing and labeling, banning certain products and limiting nicotine. The law doesn't let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco.

The FDA is proposing 36 labels for public comment. They include phrases like "Smoking can kill you" and "Cigarettes cause cancer" and feature graphic images to convey the dangers of tobacco.

"It acts as a very public billboard because you all of the sudden are reading something about lung cancer from that pack behind the cash register, whereas before you were just reading 'Marlboro,'" said David Hammond, a health behavior researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who is working with the firm designing the labels for the FDA.

Some of the labels include a man with a tracheotomy smoking a cigarette, a cartoon of a mother blowing smoke in her baby's face, rotting and diseased teeth and gums, as well as cigarettes being flushed down the toilet to signify quitting.

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7 Hidden Dangers In Your Fridge

Fruits & Vegetables
Now here are some foods that don’t have to be in perfect condition for you to enjoy them.

Produce is the easiest to tell if it is starting to rot, because it won’t look good enough to eat! Squishy, slimy, or stinky produce needs to go in the garbage.

However, greens that are wilted can still be used in soups and stews; they have simply become a little dehydrated and started the aging process.

To avoid having to throw out expensive fruits and vegetables, grocery shop more often. Buying enough for 3-5 days at a time will help ensure you don’t lose money.

Mold
Moldy foods can be tricky and are sometimes a matter of preference. If cutting a green fuzzy corner off a block of cheese doesn’t gross you out too much, then you can save and eat the rest.

However, mold can also be dangerous, depending on how much and what food it appears on. If mold is covering the majority of the surface of the food, be safe and throw it out. Any meat in your refrigerator that has any sign of mold should go in the trash right away.

Watch out for mold on bread, jams, yogurt, nuts, and most pre-cooked leftovers. With these foods, it is better to say goodbye than to get sick.

Meat
The best way to judge if the meat in your refrigerator is safe, is to check the expiration date. Even meat that looks, smells, and tastes fine could be dangerous. Steaks and other red meats should not be consumed more than four days past the date on the package.

Frozen meat lasts longer, but never thaw and re-freeze it.

Use common sense. If meat is slimy, smells funny, or has a strange color, it should definitely be thrown away.

Freezer Burn
Freezer burn does not make foods unsafe, but it does change the taste and quality of the food. Having food in the freezer too long makes the water molecules extract and freeze, which can make it taste dry and lose flavor and color, even when thawed.

Everything from freezer-burned meat to ice cream can be safely eaten. The freezer burned sections of the meat can be trimmed off before or after cooking. Ice cream from the top of the tub, which can have heavy freezer burn, can be scraped off and the remaining ice cream should taste fine.

Fish
Wondering whether you should throw away ‘fishy smelling’ fish can be irritating, because of the expensive price tag in most grocery stores.

Fresh raw fish has a very short shelf life, lasting only 1-2 days in the fridge. Cooked fish leftover from a night at your favorite restaurant should last 3-4 days, but make sure you heat it thoroughly before you finish it.

If you can’t remember how long it’s been since you bought it, a sure sign that your fish has gone bad is a strong smelly odor in your refrigerator. Fish should smell like fish, but should not be overpowering.

Eggs
If the sale at the grocery store allows you to buy a lot of eggs at a time, go for it!

The term ‘rotten egg’ has led people to believe that eggs are inedible much faster than they really are. Eggs last up to five weeks after purchase.

And does anyone know the verdict on eggs that happen to freeze?

Dairy
Milk is one of the more straightforward foods to tell if it is past its prime. If it smells sour, then toss it. Still not sure of the smell? The consistency should give a clue-any lumps or flakes means it needs to go.

Cream, cottage cheese, and sour cream can be a little tricky, but generally stay safe for about 10 days past the date stamped on the label.

Yogurt can still be eaten a few days past the expiration date, but loses its flavor and nutritional value as it gets older, so it is probably worth throwing out.

Cheese and butter last the longest, but it is best to finish them before they are four weeks old.

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