Because the news is probably bored of it at this point

H1N1 Numbers in the US.

Granted, the numbers are "probable AND confirmed", but still, "probable" 3000 in Wisconsin? WTF.

Also amusing- right wing pundits claiming that the flu is a scare tactic to get people to obey the government, while FEMA is building concentration camps...Behold a Pale Horse much? I suppose pride demands that it would take a vast conspiracy, aliens, mind control and scalar weaponry to take down American Freedom (TM), and not, crumbling infrastructure, poor education, and a lack of public healthcare...

Stress Reduction: Pressure Points for your Back

Most people recommend this with two tennis or golf balls. I find tennis balls are a little too big and golf balls are too damn hard- my recommendation is going to a toy store and buying those old school pink rubber balls- the ones that are about the size of a mandarin orange or so.

But find whatever you can that'll work for you. If it's too hard/intense, put a towel or sweatshirt over it.

You'll be laying down, face up, laying on top of the two pressure point balls- starting with one on each side of your sacrum. Bend your knees so the soles of your feet are flat on the floor. Gently lean your body side to side, to increase pressure on one or the other. You can slowly raise one foot off the ground and bring the knee to your chest if you want even more pressure.

Then move them up a little bit on either side of the spine and repeat.

After you get up just past the shoulder blades, leave one right where it is, and put the other one down by your sacrum again. So you might have one by your left shoulder blade, the other by the right side of your sacrum. Again, relax, then shift your weight around. Play around with different positions and spaces for these.

Whereas the lever trick for the back I spoke of last time was good fro stretching the muscles of the spine, this one is good for giving them compression and squeezing out tension and stagnant blood.

You can do it anytime you've got 5-10 minutes to lay on the floor, though doing it after a workout or some yoga is especially good.