PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Government, Health & Living Dec. 28, 2007

_____________ EXPERT ALERTS

1. Careers: Career New Year's Resolutions Rise Dramatically

2. Health: New Year's Resolution: Kicking the Prescription Drug Addiction

3. Health: Hangover Help

4. Politics: Faith in American Politics

5. Weddings: Alerting Brides About Bad Wedding Vendors

6. World Affairs: Fidel Castro's Retirement: Impact on Post-Castro Era

**1. CAREERS: CAREER NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS RISE DRAMATICALLY. LEE MILLER, former Fortune 1000 head of HR, co-founder of YOURCAREERDOCTORS.COM:
"Careers have moved to the forefront of what people are focusing on for the coming year. Getting a raise, promotion or new job are among the top New Year's resolutions this year." Miller, the author of an article for the New Jersey Star Ledger titled "New Year's Career Resolutions: Get a Raise, Get a Promotion or Get a New Job," can offer tips on getting the most out of your career resolutions. He is also the author of the new book "Up: The Art of Getting What You Want." He is available for interviews New Year's Day and the following week. (12/28/07)

**2. HEALTH: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: KICKING THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION. LYNN WEBSTER, M.D., pain management doctor, is a strong advocate against prescription drug abuse who founded ZERODEATHS.ORG, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the cause:
"For New Year's, many are looking to make positive changes in their lives. Many resolutions include kicking unhealthy addictions, and with the staggering increase in prescription drug abuse for chronic pain patients, this topic may be more important this year than ever." Webster is available to discuss prescription drug abuse, getting over drug addiction and safe drug alternatives. News Contact: Lauren Bishop, lbishop@paramountpr.com Phone: +1-312-643-0610 (12/28/07)

**3. HEALTH: HANGOVER HELP. Deborah Enos, certified nutritionist and author: "Feeling a bit under the weather after your holiday celebrations? The fastest way to recover is to make sure you stay hydrated. When you overindulge in alcohol or caffeine, your body can get very dehydrated; once dehydrated, your body will actually have symptoms similar to the flu. The best antidote is to drink more decaffeinated beverages and eat fluid-filled foods such as fruits and veggies. The vitamins and minerals in the fruits and veggies can also help your body replenish necessary electrolytes lost during dehydration." News Contact: Patricia Vaccarino, patricia@xanthuscom.com Phone: +1-206-979-3380 (12/28/07)

**4. POLITICS: FAITH IN AMERICAN POLITICS. JESSICA DAVIS, M.Div, J.D., D.Min., is a law director at SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, radio and television veteran as a political commentator, religious affairs expert, diversity consultant, two-time nonpartisan Illinois and Maryland mayoral candidate, and author of "American Social Justice:
Creating a Beloved Community": "The challenge to faith in American politics is the 20th century secularization of American culture. This cultural shift has led to the privatization of a person's faith. Personal faith has been pushed into the shadows of American life. The average American is unable to articulate his or her faith in the public forum. As a result, openly religious people are negatively characterized as fundamentalists. A person's religious belief informs a person's ability to lead the American people. The mystery around Romney's religious belief system makes people uncomfortable. At the same time, Huckabee's openly religious approach also makes people uncomfortable. There is room for personal faith in the presidential campaigns, but not to the extremes demonstrated by some of our candidates." (12/28/07)

**5. WEDDINGS: ALERTING BRIDES ABOUT BAD WEDDING VENDORS. ALEX LLUCH, president of WEDDINGSOLUTIONS.COM, can discuss wedding issues that arise this time of year, including alerting brides about bad wedding vendors: "Getting references from service providers doesn't help that much, since they tend to give names of only those customers who they know were happy with their services. This makes it very difficult for a bride to know if the service provider they are thinking to hire will perform according to their expectations." Lluch has published over 70 best-selling books, and his wedding planning books outsell corporate giants like Martha Stewart. He is also the publisher of the Web sites WeddingSolutions.com and UltimateRegistry.com. His Wed Reviews section at WeddingSolutions.com allows brides to rate their wedding vendors. News Contact: Holly White, Holly@WSPublishingGroup.com Phone: +1-619-589-1919, ext. 110 Web site: http://www.weddingsolutions.com/wed_reviews/ (12/28/07)

**6. WORLD AFFAIRS: FIDEL CASTRO'S RETIREMENT: IMPACT ON POST-CASTRO ERA. JUDGE MARIA LOPEZ, TV court show host and Cuban immigrant, is available to comment on the potential impact of Fidel Castro's retirement on a post-Castro era:
"Fidel Castro did not personally deliver the news -- a letter he purportedly wrote was read on Cuban TV by one of his officials. He may be so deteriorated that they do not want him to make public appearances or, as some Cubans speculate, he's been dead for a while and the government was waiting to institutionalize the transition before announcing his demise. Either way, it will take generations to repair what he's done -- socially, economically, in all ways." From 1980 to 1987, Lopez served as assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. Continuing her passion to deliver justice for the oppressed, Lopez served as counsel to the Office for Refugees and Immigrants, enforcing the state's civil rights laws through 1988. News Contact: Mira Yellin, mira@beckmedia.com Phone: +1-310-689-7363 (12/28/07) SOURCE ProfNet

-0- 12/28/2007 P