COVID-19 vs. Elections 2020

How we can vote without killing ourselves and ensure every vote counts!

April 7, 2020

Greg Palast and Nicole Powers for Igniting Change

COVID-19 has caused eleven states to reschedule their elections. Several more are still scheduled to be held this month. As states attempt to figure out how to safely run elections in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, many see voting by mail as the solution, but there are pitfalls.

In this interview with civil rights leader and Igniting Change host Barbara Arnwine, first broadcast on NewsTalk 1450 FM on March 31, investigative journalist Greg Palast says that rather than creating a precedent for cancelling elections, we should embrace mail-in ballots so we can vote without the risk of dying. However, he also explains that we need to make urgent changes to our voting system to make sure every mail-in ballot counts — and breaks down what those essential changes are.

Barbara Arnwine: Let’s talk about what’s going on with vote by mail.

Greg Palast: Look, we may have to vote by mail or we die. The real issue now is how do we protect our vote? When we talk about vote suppression, if you want to suppress the black vote, the minority vote, the young vote, the best way to do it is to go vote by mail. All the go-postal people do not tell you that.

According to the Elections Assistance Commission, 512,000 ballots were mailed in and rejected — a half a million ballots. The chance your ballot will be rejected if you are mailing in your vote is about 284% higher if you’re African American, about 300% higher if you’re Hispanic, and a similar number if you are Asian-American. If you’re young, forget about it, your chance of having your mail in ballot rejected is far higher than for someone over 65.

Senator Amy Klobuchar has put in a bill to expand and make it easier to do mail-in voting. They’re all going crazy about mail-in voting. But in their world it’s as simple as pick and lick. You know, you pick your candidate, you lick the envelope, you send it in. Well, in Amy’s own state of Minnesota and in Wisconsin, which is the key swing state, in order to vote you have to have a registered voter or a citizen witness your ballot. Six states required ballot witnessing. Now, how do you do this during a lockdown? Members of your family can’t witness your ballot. So you have to have someone break the embargo, come into your home, or otherwise meet them and touch the ballot that you and who knows who else have been handling. It’s very difficult and people aren’t going to do it. And for younger people and others such as the disabled this is going to be murder, getting someone to witness your ballot in Wisconsin or in Amy’s own state of Minnesota.

She has points in her bill to protect the mail-in vote from Russian interference, as if Putin is going to start mailing in his ballot. But they don’t say anything about the requirements in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and four other states for a witness, which is just madness. And in some states, like Alabama, you have to have your ballot notarized. NOTARIZED!!! How do you get to a notary? In most states they’re closed. How do you get your mail-in ballot notarized? There has been no attempt to overcome these impediments.

And finally, the most important thing, now here’s the big number; according to an MIT / Caltech study called “Losing Votes by Mail”, 22% of all mail-in votes are lost. TWENTY-TWO PERCENT!!! One out of five ballots. If it were random, we can live with that. But it’s not. According to MIT and all the other studies that I’ve seen, including the Congressional Research Service, it’s about three to 10 times more likely that minority and young voters will lose their vote by mail. One of the biggest single reasons is that if you don’t get your ballot, if it’s not mailed to you, you can’t mail it back. That’s pretty simple.

The state of Ohio refused to send out 1,039,000 requests for mail-in ballots. Because first you have to get a card, you have to fill in the card, return the card, then get the ballot in time, and return the ballot in time, and they simply refused to send out 1 million requests for absentee ballots for people who are on their so-called inactive lists. If you didn’t vote in a couple of elections, according to them, you were put on the inactive list — and that list is at least 20% wrong in most states.

We’ve also had mass purges. 17 million people — SEVENTEEN MILLION — according to the Elections Assistance Commission, which is often quoted by the Brennan Center. 17 million people have been purged from the voter rolls in the past two years. Most of those have no idea that that’s happened and they will not get their ballot. If they request it, they won’t get it. So this is a massive, massive problem. I’m not saying don’t vote by mail, because we may have no choice. But I’m telling you right now, you better figure out how to protect your vote. And it’s really aimed at the minority vote.

In Wisconsin, the new Democratic Governor has taken the reluctant position that they should take the April 7 primary that’s just in a week. The Republicans won’t delay it. They would rather have people stand in line and die so they can go ahead with their election on April 7 — that’s the Republican party. Why is the Republican party so concerned about going ahead with the Democratic primary? The answer is, in Wisconsin there’s a Democratic presidential primary, but that’s kind of closed out because there’s no students left in Wisconsin. They were all sent home so Bernie’s out of the race. But what the Republicans care about is that while it’s a primary for the Democrats, it’s also the general election for the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, which is right now controlled by a bunch of Republican hacks…

In Wisconsin, the issue is who controls the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. That will be on the ballot. The Republicans in the rural areas are still able to go to polling stations and do early voting and have plenty of social distancing. But in Milwaukee, people are scared to line up at the polls. They had three early polling stations for the entire city of Milwaukee, so people did not come out because they would have to stand in line for an hour right next to other people. People aren’t crazy, they don’t want to endanger themselves. Plus, they can’t get enough poll workers to open the polls because most poll workers in America, 75% are 60-plus, and they shouldn’t even be poll workers at this time because of the dangers presented to the older population by COVID-19. So they couldn’t even get people to man the polls.

There’s supposed to be 180 polling stations in Milwaukee. They can’t do that. So the governor has reluctantly said, if we have no other choice, let’s switch to all mail, but send every voter a ballot. And this is the big issue, which Amy Klobuchar’s bill does not touch: You have to get a ballot to vote. And students, renters, low income people move around all the time, just down the street, even within their building — how do they get their ballot? So this is a dangerous, dangerous thing to switch to all mail-in votes.

Arnwine: What should people be doing? What should people in the legislators in their states be doing to remove barriers that are created by vote by mail? What are some of the things that we should all be advocating for right now?

Palast: We have to get rid of any requirement by those six or eight states that you have a witness or that you actually have to have the ballot notarized. If 40 states in America can do without witnesses and notarization, why can’t this handful who make it ridiculously difficult to vote and even force people to break the quarantine to be able to vote. Those requirements are simply to stop voter impersonation fraud and there’s literally been four cases in the past decade out of a billion votes cast — and they were not mail-in ballots. So it’s ridiculous, it’s to stop a fraud that doesn’t happen.

In addition, some states like Wisconsin and others, require voters to mail in a photocopy of their ID. Understand, Kinko’s is closed, so if you don’t have access to a printer, it’s impossible to comply. And you have to right ID. Going back to the key swing state of Wisconsin, they have 182,000 students in the University of Wisconsin system. You have to have a state photo ID to vote in Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin photo ID does not qualify for voting. They said, students can simply go into their Dean’s office to get the voter ID. But, guess what? The schools are closed. So voter ID is obviously a new Jim Crow tactic, because we don’t have people impersonating others. There should be no requirements in any state to mail in an ID or a copy of an ID. If people sign a ballot under penalty of perjury and they lie about it, that’s five years in prison. That’s one of the reasons people don’t do it,

The third thing is that no one should be denied a ballot because they are on the so-called inactive list. According to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, you can’t lose your vote for not voting. It’s called the failure to vote clause. They are deliberately violating this law in Ohio and a lot of other states — Georgia’s announced they’re going to do the same thing — by saying that if you’re on the inactive list, you don’t get a ballot even if you requested it.

No one should be denied a ballot because they’re on an active list. No one who’s been supposedly purged in the last two years should be denied a ballot. Those are the things that we should put in the law to begin with.

The other thing is eliminate things like exact signature match. We have this crazy business in about half the states were when you send in your mail-in ballot, they check your signature against your registration signature, and some partisan official says, oh, that matches or that doesn’t match.

Arnwine: It’s not even that they’re partisan, they’re not trained to know how to match signatures. These are not professionally trained people. It’s like anybody who comes off the street, literally, matching signatures.

Palast: And there’s something else to it. Again, I go back to why do we have this signature match? The idea is to prevent someone from stealing your ballot, filling it out, and signing your name on it to steal a vote. Well, this has been tested so many times by Professor Lorraine Minnite of Rutgers and others, we don’t have people doing that. It is so rare and the people that do that do get caught — it’s like a couple in the last decade, that’s it! And believe me, with the signature match game, the people that are doing this type of stealing, the very rare cases, they know how to forge a signature.

Arnwine: What are some other things that we want to make sure policy-wise is changed?

Palast: Postage.In half the states you have to put a stamp on your ballot, though I will say, Amy’s bill does say that it has to be postage paid.

Arnwine: But that’s just a proposal. It’s not law yet. Let’s talk about what the law is currently. We have states currently that require you to put postage on and they don’t provide free postage.

Palast: Well, first of all, you have to go out and get the stamps — without breaking quarantine? But the biggest problem is that most states don’t tell you that your typical ballot requires two stamps. So for example, in the state of Ohio, tens of thousands of people lost their vote because there’s a little square that says put in postage showing a place to put a stamp. But you have to put on two stamps cause it costs more than announced for most of these ballots.

You have over 100,000 Americans losing their votes because of postage due. It’s insane. So we have to have postage prepaid envelopes for returning the ballot. Half the states do that. So money from the CARERS Act package that was passed by Congress should be used first and foremost for postage paid return envelopes for all your mail in ballots.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR OWN MAIL-IN BALLOT

There’s things we personally can do to save our ballots. And we can save our families and friends’ ballots by letting them know what to do so that they don’t lose their vote. The very first thing is, please check your registration. Almost every state, except for Oklahoma I think at this point, has online voter registration. If you say, well, I’m already registered. I’m sorry, 17 million people lost their vote through purges in the past two years. You may be one of them.

When I was in Atlanta, Martin Luther King’s cousin Christine Jordan, 92-years old, voting at the same vote polling station for 50 years, I was there and filmed her when she was being bounced out because they said she wasn’t on the voter rolls. She’d been purged.

Please check your registration online at either vote.org or your secretary of state’s office or your county clerk’s office. All those places have your registration. Make sure you’re still registered with your proper address, proper name. That’s the number one thing, cause you can’t get a ballot if you aren’t registered.

Check your own ballot. Don’t make mistakes. When you’re in a polling station, a lot of states have scanners where you stick your ballot in. If you make a mistake, it rejects it. But if you make a mistake and you’ve mailed in your ballot, you’ve lost your ballot.

For example, two voters, my parents, lost their vote because they put X’s next to the candidate’s name instead of filling in that little bubble, cause most scanners require you to fill in that little bubble.

Don’t use red pen. Don’t use a pencil. Use a black pen or blue pen. I know these sound like small things, but I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of people losing their vote because of things like this.

We also need to make sure that ballots can be forwarded so that if a ballot’s mailed to you and you’ve moved down the street you can still get it and vote. Remember who moves: students, low income people, renters, urban people — in other words Democrats.

I want everyone to vote, Republican, Democrat, green, blue, purple, but we we have to understand that voter suppression is racial. When you switch to vote by mail, you are going to suppress the African American vote and the youth vote, and this is what we have to stop.

7 STEPS LAWMAKERS NEED TO TAKE TO ENSURE EVERYONE’S VOTE BY MAIL COUNTS

1. Eliminate witness and notarization requirements.
2. Eliminate requirements to mail in an ID or a copy of an ID.
3. No one should be denied a ballot because they’re on an inactive list.
4. No one who’s been purged in the last two years should be denied a ballot.
5. Eliminate exact signature match.
6. Make all mail-in ballot envelopes postage paid.
7. Allow ballots to be forwarded so those that have had to move due to the COVID-19 lockdown can still vote.

7 STEPS YOU SHOULD TO TAKE TO MAKE SURE YOUR VOTE BY MAIL COUNTS

1. Check your registration at vote.org or your secretary of state or your county clerk’s office.
2. Check your ballot for mistakes and have someone double-check it for you if possible.
3. Don’t use red pen. Don’t use a pencil. Use a black or blue pen.
4. Make sure your name and signature match the ones you used on your registration. (Eg. Don’t use your middle name or initial if you didn’t include it on your registration.)
5. Don’t use an X instead of filling in a bubble.
6. Use the correct envelope,
7. Use the correct postage.

GREG PALAST is America’s wittiest (and wickedest) muckraker. An award-winning Guardian investigative journalist, he is causing crooked election officials all over the country to shiver in their shoes as they wait for a knock on their door from the FBI – thanks to his explosive book and feature film (“The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”), which identifies these campaign cockroaches by name and exposes their illicit tampering with the 2016 election.

Nanalysis Business Update and COVID-19 Impact

CALGARY, April 6, 2020 /CNW/ - Nanalysis Scientific Corp.("Nanalysis", TSXV: NSCI, OTCQX: NSCIF, FRA: 1N1) would like to provide an update on our business to our investors, given the global coronavirus pandemic.

Nanalysis CEO, Sean Krakiwsky states: "We are addressing the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") and the related economic and social disruption, volatility in financial markets, and potential future disruption to global supply chains. Nanalysis continues to keep a full staff complement, and for the most part continues to produce and ship product on schedule. Our supply chain has been impacted to some extent, but initial delays seem to be clearing up, allowing us to continue our sales process and deliver goods based on customer demand. Some countries, such as India, have restrictions on incoming foreign goods, but global product distribution has remained largely unaffected. Orders continue to be processed, and collaborative work with partners continues, albeit at a slightly slower rate.

"We are pleased to report that thus far, no members of the Nanalysis family in Canada, France, Germany, or USA have reported any positive COVID-19 tests, and we are all healthy, which is the most important thing for our business right now.

"The vast majority of our people are working from home, but some workers in manufacturing and product development are going in to our R&D centres and manufacturing facilities in Canada and France: While doing so, they are observing strict social distancing and density rules, as well as all recommendations of the Governments of Canada and France. Our leadership team, especially our HSE Officer, Dr. Heather Phillips, has been planning for this for over two months, and has done an incredible job of minimizing operational disruptions to the extent practically possible. As an example, on the R&D front, we remain excited about our new 100 MHz product, which we expect to be shipping commercially in mid-year to a growing orderbook of excited customers."

On the financial front, Nanalysis CFO, Luke Caplette, states: "Our company remains in solid financial condition, with a strong cash position of over $5 million, $2 million untouched line of credit from our commercial bank, an untapped $1.4 million interest free credit facility from Western Economic Diversification. The governments of Canada and France have significant COVID-19 related payroll support programs available, and we are investigating our eligibility for these programs in a detailed fashion.

"On the capital markets front, we began the process of registering to trade over-the-counter in the USA several months ago, and I am pleased to announce that as of today, Nanalysis has qualified to trade OTCQX® Best Market, under the ticker symbol NSCIF, investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. We remain committed to sharing our story with the massive U.S. small cap investor community. Our investor relations strategy includes attending virtual roadshows in the U.S. at which we will continue to expand our growing investor base. Examples of these U.S. IR initiatives are (1) we will be participating in an Planet MicroCap 2020 virtual investor showcase panel discussion on week April 23, and (2) here is recent feature article by the popular U.S. site SECfilings.com at this link:
http://www.secfilings.com/news/investing-in-uncertain-times-83/

"I would also like to announced that we have changed to Ernst and Young for our 2019 audit and beyond: At this stage in our business we required the resources and global support that a quality tier I firm like EY can provide".

Nanalysis is an award-winning company, and we are proud to announce that Nanalysis has been recognized by global research firm Frost & Sullivan, as the 2020 company of the year for portable NMR. The award is in recognition of our miniaturized of NMR/MRI technology platform, best-in-class manufacturing, global partnerships, and market leading position. Nanalysis is indeed a category creator in the field of miniature NMR.

With the uncertainty and loss that COVID-19 is inflicting on us all, Nanalysis thanks all investors, customers, partners, and governments of Canada and France for their support. Management would like to ensure all stakeholders that Nanalysis is on solid footing and management strongly believes the company will weather this crisis successfully, and we continue moving forward towards its promising future.

About Nanalysis Scientific Corp. (TSXV: NSCI, OTCQX: NSCIF, FRA: 1N1)

Nanalysis trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) in Canada with ticker symbol 'NSCI' and over the counter in the United States under the ticker symbol 'NSCIF'. The company's business is what we term "MRI for industry": It develops and manufactures portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometers or analyzers for laboratory and industrial markets. The NMReady-60™ was the first fully featured portable NMR spectrometer in a single compact enclosure requiring no liquid helium or any other cryogens, and the company has followed-up that initial offering with new products and continues to have a strong innovation pipeline. Nanalysis recently announced that it will begin selling a 100MHz device in mid-2020. The Company's new device will be the most powerful non-cryogen, permanent magnet NMR device ever brought to market.

Nanalysis devices are used by chemical professionals in many industries (oil and gas, chemical, mining, pharma, biotech, flavor and fragrances, agrochemicals, and more) as well as numerous government and university research labs around the world. The company continues to exploit new global market opportunities independently and with partners.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements and Legal Disclaimer

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "would" occur. These statements are only predictions of what we believe might happen. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Corporation is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Nanalysis Scientific Corp.

World Animal Protection Calls on WHO to Ban Wildlife Markets to Save Human Lives

TORONTO, April 7, 2020 /CNW/ - As the world continues to fight COVID-19, over 200 organizations, including World Animal Protection, Humane Society International and Born Free have issued a letter urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to endorse a permanent ban on live wildlife markets and the use of wildlife in traditional medicine.

The letter, sent on World Health Day (April 7, 2020), highlights that with the suspected COVID-19 link to a live wildlife market in China, WHO must take action to achieve its mission to serve public health at all times by recommending that governments worldwide permanently ban live wildlife markets and the use of wildlife in traditional medicine.

These actions would help protect human life from future pandemics such as COVID-19. Sixty percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, meaning they originate from animals and 70% of those are thought to originate from wild animals.

The letter states: "While a robust global response is critical in detecting, treating and reducing transmission [of COVID-19], it is equally necessary to take vital measures to prevent similar emerging infectious diseases developing into pandemics with the associated threats to human life and social and economic well-being."

A ban on wildlife markets is urgently needed to prevent the unregulated and unhygienic conditions and the close proximity between humans and animals, which provides the perfect opportunity for pathogens to spread.

This risk is further exacerbated by the cruel conditions in which animals are typically farmed or collected from the wild, transported to and kept at such markets. This inevitably results in large numbers of different species being held in close proximity, causing immense stress and weakening of their immune systems.

Gilbert Sape, Head of the Wildlife Not Medicine campaign at World Animal Protection says, "We all commend WHO's efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. Given this pandemic is believed to have originated at a wildlife market, we're calling on WHO to unequivocally state the proven link between these markets and the serious threats they can cause to human health."

Sape continues that WHO can help prevent future pandemics by excluding the use of wildlife from their endorsement of traditional medicine, especially as plant-based alternatives are available. This could help save lives in the future and help protect millions of wild animals that are unnecessarily and cruelly farmed or poached from the wild to supply this industry.

These organizations strongly urge WHO to:

Recommend to governments worldwide that they institute a permanent ban on live wildlife markets, drawing an unequivocal link between these markets and their proven threats to human health.
Recommend to governments that they address the potential risks to human health from the trade in wildlife - including collection from the wild, ranching, farming, transport, and trade through physical or online markets for any purpose – and act to close down or limit such trade in order to mitigate those risks.
Unequivocally exclude the use of wildlife, including from captive bred specimens, in WHO's definition and endorsement of Traditional Medicine and revise WHO's 2014-2023 Traditional Medicine Strategy accordingly to reflect this change.
Assist governments and lead a coordinated response among the World Trade Organization, World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and other multilateral organizations worldwide in awareness-raising activities to clearly inform of the risks of wildlife trade to public health, social cohesion, economic stability, law and order and individual health.
Support and encourage initiatives that deliver alternative sources of protein to subsistence consumers of wild animals in order to further reduce the risk to human health.

About World Animal Protection

From our offices around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Kenya, and Canada, we move the world to protect animals. Last year, we gave more than 3 billion animals better lives through our campaigns that focus on animals in the wild, animals in disasters, animals in communities and animals in farming. More information can be found at www.worldanimalprotection.ca

SOURCE World Animal Protection

panCELLa receives research and development support for cell therapy

TORONTO, April 7, 2020 /CNW/ - panCELLa is pleased to announce that it will receive advisory services and up to $400,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to help further research and development of its technology platforms for cell therapy.

Support from NRC IRAP will go toward the research and development of a two-step safety switch known as panKiller. While panCELLa's safety switch, known as FailSafe^TM, is specifically designed to eliminate only "rogue" or deregulated therapeutic cells, the panKiller system further enhances this platform and provides a means to remove a graft entirely once it has fulfilled its therapeutic purpose. When the therapeutic cells are no longer required, and to avoid serious adverse events, for further safety measures they would be eliminated using panKiller. The panKiller strategy is an effective solution that addresses serious limitations of current cell therapies which involve removal of these therapeutic cells through irradiation. panKiller will enable more prolonged, effective treatment in vivo; and will destroy the therapeutic cells at the appropriate time without the use of radiation to prevent the possibility of a malignancy.

About panCELLa

Founded in 2015, panCELLa is a privately-held early-stage biotechnology firm based on the innovative technology developed in Dr. Andras Nagy's lab at the Sinai Health System (SHS). panCELLa has created platforms that allow for the development of safe, universal, cost-effective, "off-the-shelf" cell lines. panCELLa's mandate is to accelerate cell-based therapies to a broad range of diseases by providing safe therapeutic cell products. panCELLa has secured partnerships with several biotechnology partners to enhance its patent position and provide expanded access to its exclusive FailSafe^TM and Stealth Cells^TM and its in-licensed SAFE harbor technology. panCELLa aims to develop therapeutic products in the immunology, mesenchymal stem cell and pancreatic islet space and to partner with other companies to develop novel products in other areas of regenerative medicine. panCELLa continues its internal R&D efforts to develop additional novel uses of its platform technologies in areas such as bio-production, cancer vaccination and tolerization. To learn more about panCELLa's FailSafe^TM and induced Allogeneic Cell Tolerance, please visit https://pancella.com

SOURCE panCELLa Inc.

Simple, Healthy Recipes for Home Cooking
Pantry Items as Base for Tasty, Nutritious Meals

Albany, Ga. (April 7, 2020) – Today, more than ever, it’s important for adults, children and seniors to focus on healthy eating and healthy habits. To provide simple, tasty and nutritious mealtime ideas, The Peanut Institute has curated a collection of recipes that include a number of pantry staples.

Nutrition scientist Dr. Samara Sterling recommends building meals around foods that help support a strong immune system.

“Whole grains, nuts, beans, fruits and vegetables are nutrient dense so finding ways to integrate them into a daily diet is important,” says Sterling. “They are also versatile ingredients that can be used in a variety of recipes or to round out a meal.”

To boost whole grain consumption, Sterling suggests whole grain breads and pastas, as well as oats.

“Oats are a good source of fiber and protein. Plus, they are rich in thiamin, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, selenium and iron,” says Sterling. “They’re a wholesome ingredient for an oatmeal breakfast or can be used as the base for a healthy granola mix. To up your nutrient intake even more, add peanuts and dried fruit to the mix.”

Peanuts and peanut butter are another nutritional staple since they’re packed with nutrients and can be incorporated into either sweet or savory dishes.

Peanuts are known as a superfood because they deliver significant nutritional value in a small amount. Just one serving packs seven grams of protein, 19 vitamins and minerals, fiber and heart-healthy fats. One serving of peanuts is an ounce or approximately 35 peanuts and a serving of peanut butter is two tablespoons.

Dried or canned beans, such as lentils, chickpeas or kidney beans, also deliver protein and fiber.

Plus, since peanuts and beans are high in fiber and protein and low in fat, they’re a healthy substitute for meat. They can be made into a hearty and filling side dish, salad or soup to create a meal that’s full of protein and fiber, which will help you feel full longer and avoid the urge to snack.

While intentional, healthy snacking is fine, Sterling warns against the unhealthy habit of mindless eating.

“When reaching for something in between meals, think about the motivation for eating,” advises Sterling. “Is having a snack in response to hunger? Or, is it related to stress, anxiety or boredom? Pausing for a moment before snacking is a good way to evaluate whether it’s actually your body that’s looking for something to eat or if it’s your emotions that are driving your urge.”

Fruits and vegetables are another key ingredient for optimal health; and it’s important to remember they’re available fresh, frozen and canned.

Sterling says it’s vital to eat a variety of types and colors of produce in order to get a mix of different nutrients. No single fruit or vegetable provides all of the nutrients a body needs.

“A smoothie for breakfast is a great way to fit a serving, or more, of fruits or vegetables into the day,” adds Sterling.

For breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack recipes that incorporate peanuts, peanut butter, and other pantry staples, visit peanutinstitute.com.

# # #

Dr. Samara Sterling is a Nutrition Scientist with expertise in the use of plant-based nutrition for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. She currently serves as the Research Director for The Peanut Institute and has also worked as a nutrition consultant for various community-based nutrition projects. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University, a master’s degree from Andrews University and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Based in Albany, Ga., The Peanut Institute is a non-profit organization supporting nutrition research and developing educational programs to encourage healthful lifestyles that include peanuts and peanut products. The Peanut Institute pursues its mission through research programs, educational initiatives and the promotion of healthful lifestyles to consumers of all ages. As an independent forum, The Peanut Institute is uniquely positioned to work with all segments of the food industry, the research community, academia, consumer organizations and governmental institutions.

There's no lack of online workout options right now, but everyone knows music is everything when it comes to genuinely enjoying your workout and staying motivated. While we're all stuck in our house, Fit Radio is a must-have exercise music app! It's an unparalleled workout experience created by real DJs from Vegas, Miami, and around the globe. It's a real human creating the mix, so sometimes they'll throw in a movie quote or something else fun and interesting. These DJ's create an experience that'll have you hooked in no time - it really is like magic! Through audio-guided workouts coaches will push you further and cheer you on, while DJs continuously surprise you with kick-ass playlists (there's even a brand new "Quarantine Mix"). Scroll through more than 40 music genres and workouts (like Cycling, Cross-Train, Zumba, Running), or search by track or artist. When it comes to running, Fit Radio features pace matching technology so that each song matches your stride. The quality of the audio-guided workouts of Fit Radio far surpasses what's currently on the market. Coaches are put through vocal coaching for a month before recording any workout. Every word has a purpose and every word is pre-planned. Coaches only talk when necessary - not just to fill dead air. Perhaps the best part: the music is separate from the audio coach. This means, if you like country music you can listen to that genre with the coach you want. This is the #1 thing that makes Fit Radio different than anything else out there. Plus, Fit Radio lowers the music to just the right level whenever the coach speaks so you can hear what they're saying. Fit Radio works on Android, iPhone and Apple Watch. Anyone can test it out with a free trial at www.fitradio.com, in the App store or Google Play store.

A Mother’s Touch: How An Experienced Health Professional Makes Exercise Easy for New and Expecting Moms

Yoga, Barre, and Pilates instructor Emma Jory aims to empower women by making exercise classes accessible and affordable

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (March 2020) – Emma Jory lives by the motto “move it or lose it!” In other words, staying in motion is the key to feeling good, preventing injury, and maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle. However, as every busy mother knows, it’s tough to work exercise into a packed schedule. Jory’s longtime commitment to health and healing, and her insight into clients’ unique needs, led her to create ePilates Online.

Jory draws on a wealth of experience to educate and care for her clients. She was notably the first instructor in Australia to offer barre classes. In her 16+ years of teaching, Jory has worked with a wide array of health professionals, including physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors, giving her a unique insight into the healing process.

Her extensive experience as an instructor naturally taught her the ins and outs of health and fitness, but what it also demonstrated to her were the hurdles many women face in attending a class or maintaining a daily exercise routine. The belief that every woman deserves to feel healthy and confident in their bodies is the driving force behind her work.

ePilates Online aims to dismantle the many barriers that new mothers face in looking to heal and get fit. Time and money are prohibitive to many, who may feel that trendy and expensive exercise classes are out of their reach. Others may be new to these classes or feel self-conscious at the prospect of exercising in a group setting, but Jory makes her classes accessible by offering affordable prices and personalized lessons at every possible level.

Jory offers a solution that provides the best of both worlds to any woman interested in yoga, barre, or pilates. The convenience of exercising in the privacy of home is combined with Jory’s signature personal touch. Clients say they feel as if she is in the room with them.

This caring approach sets ePilates Online apart from other online videos, and even in-person instructors. Jory’s vision encompasses everything from the details of the client’s individual needs, to the bigger picture of long term health, including prenatal yoga, a core restore and pelvic floor program aimed at postpartum recovery, and reduction of pain during labor. She is even responding to the current coronavirus crisis by offering a free month-long trial to anyone who may be quarantined at home and looking to start a new exercise routine.

Above all, it is Jory’s mission to help women make a holistic recovery from childbirth and stay healthy through the rest of their lives. With a personalized guided pre- and postnatal journey, she looks to empower women and make a better life possible. No matter your lifestyle or budget, Jory has a plan to help you feel your best.

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