Tattoos as personal branding is a growing trend for people living with HIV who want to communicate their status, as seen in the above video of Michael Lee Howard:

It's a branding of who I am, and it's a branding of being comfortable with that, being comfortable with who I am and particularly the ribbon because after five years I've gone through a huge amount of stuff to get to where I'm at now.

Howard is tattooed with a biohazard symbol on his right arm and a radiation symbol on his left. The origin of HIV-related tattoos is unclear, but the biohazard symbol is a clear sign "to let other men know that they're HIV-positive so that they don't have to come out and say it… a "secret identification code," said David Dempsey, clinical director at the Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House in Chicago and The Harbor in Waukegan, Illinois, transitional living facilities for HIV-positive people in drug and alcohol recovery.Continue reading...

McDonald's USA President Jan Fields has kicked off the brand's first ever "listening tour," at the BlogHer conference in San Diego.

The Hillary Clinton-style move to engage parents (particularly moms — ideally, those who blog with vast Twitter and Facebook networks) was promised as part of its new nutrition commitment that was announced on July 25th. That's when the company announced its menu overhaul a "series of town hall style meetings (that) will connect us directly with parents and nutrition experts for important dialogue about how McDonald’s can continue to play a role in children’s well being."

McDonald's executives also talked up its new Family Arches online community, signing up members of the private community at a boot at the conference. Above, listen to Fields field questions — and, well, listen.

Americans would agree that they don’t want carmakers in the bedroom or their accountant’s office. But what about their doctor’s office?

Ford, Toyota and General Motors are among auto companies developing and demonstrating new technologies that could turn their vehicles into rolling health clinics, with various types of telematics (electronic systems) able to monitor heart rates, blood-sugar readings, air quality for asthmatics and other safety criteria and medical conditions.

The technology is relatively "easy" because modern cars already are highly advanced electronic environments full of sensors, digital readouts, wireless-communications devices and other essential building blocks of medical-monitoring systems. And automakers argue that the need is a crying one:  About 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day, and 26 million Americans have diabetes.Continue reading...

Obesity is one of the dirtiest words you can say in Washington, D.C., these days. America is overstuffed with a massive collection of overly large individuals and that number continues to grow, particularly in children. So the federal government has been attacking the issue on a number of levels.

From First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House garden, restaurant and retail-lobbying efforts and Let's Move! initiative to the new daily-nutrition-recommendation plate (above) from the USDA, the folks in the federal government are doing what they can to help Americans know their chard from their Cheetos. Not everyone inside the Beltway agrees on how to take in the Beltway a few notches, however.Continue reading...

Last year, during the Indianapolis 500, while racecars went around and around (and around) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 1.1 million hot dogs were purchased (and likely consumed) by race attendees. 

That many dogs eaten in one location apparently set off some alarm bells for The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C., group that promotes preventive medicine and a vegan diet, according to USA Today. As a result, the group put $2,750 down on a billboard near the Speedway and put an ad up there that shows hot dogs in a cigarette pack along with a skull and crossbones. For once, the concern isn't obesity with this food warning; it's cancer.

The billboard's text accompanying the alarming graphic: “Warning: Hot dogs can wreck your health."Continue reading...

When someone is looking to buy a cell phone, they don’t generally want to hear about how the World Health Organization has classified such devices as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” But the city of San Francisco now requires that such a lovely piece of info be passed along to its more than three million residents upon purchase.

The city's board of supervisors approved a new law on Tuesday, giving their "final approval to a law that would require retailers to disclose information about the radiation emitted by cellphones. No other city in the nation has passed similar legislation," according to The Bay Citizen.

Earlier this month, “the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave preliminary approval to a revised ordinance that would require cell phone retailers to provide information to customers about radio frequency energy emissions from cell phones,” according to CNN.com. “ This energy can be absorbed by the head and body, and retailers also would have to explain how consumers can limit this exposure.”Continue reading...

Maybe McDonald's is just feeling generous because its second-quarter net income rose by 15% and the iconic brand has been able to buck the vestiges of recession that have been afflicting so many of its competitors. Or maybe company executives are just tired of being played as villains by food activists.

Whatever the reason or reasons, McDonald's today laid out details of a new multi-pronged, multi-year commitment to boost nutrition in its menu and, to the extent it can, across American society. Most notably, it includes a major overhaul of the much-maligned Happy Meal in response to concerns about childhood obesity, as well as significant new uses of its influence in various forms of communication about food choices.

The company’s “Commitments to Offer Improved Nutrition Choices” aim to help Americans “make nutrition-minded choices whether visiting McDonald's or eating elsewhere.”Continue reading...

McDonald's last week surprised office workers in downtown Chicago Oak Brook, Illinois, with a pop-up "summer beach party" to celebrate the launch of the new McCafe Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie. Tomorrow, they can find out just how nutritious that smoothie is.

The chain will unveil its new nutrition commitments tomorrow morning via a live webcast with Jan Fields, McDonald’s USA President, and senior director of nutrition Dr. Cindy Goody.

According to the press release, it's a "long-term" (multi-year) national initiative designed to "impact consumers and communities across the country," and will involve "ongoing menu evolutions and comprehensive nutrition awareness efforts." It will also "help kids and adults nationwide make informed food decisions."

Update: Click here for the details on McDonald's new nutrition commitment