JENNIFER JOHNSON: THE RESOLUTION TRIFECTA >>>

Last year, as the end of 2007 approached, I laid out some ground rules for 2008. I vowed not to buy clothes that would fit if I lost weight â€" to live in the now; not to keep clothes that are too big; no impulse buying â€" hit the gym instead; and no guilt over owning 30 pairs of black shoes and 40 purses. Last but not least, I vowed to get my closets organized and set my fashion karma right. How did I do? I joined a gym losing nearly 50 pounds, gave away tons of too-big clothes to friends, charities and the homeless shelters. I did away with destructive impulse spending and now have my vast self-indulgent collection of excessive accessories organized meticulously. I’m giving myself an A+.

So, you’re thinking about what your upcoming New Year resolutions will be, are you? I list marvelous resources for the three most common resolutions on the Weekly Volcano Web site.

What are your resolutions this year?

LINK: Weekly Volcano's Fix lifestyle section

MATT DRISCOLL: METH FORUM >>>

The Safe Streets Campaign will hold a “meth forum” in Parkland tonight at Pacific Lutheran University’s Xavier Hall from 6-8 p.m. Topics of discussion are expected to be meth labs, trafficking, organized crime, teen use and other meth related issues. According to the press release, “Safe Streets’ meth forums have been held in Buckley and Gig Harbor-Key Peninsula, with panels tailored to each area. The results of each forum will influence the upcoming regional Meth Summit sponsored by the National Methamphetamine Training and Technical Assistance Center on September 29 and 30 at Tacoma’s Hotel Murano.”

I predict the forum will proceed something like this:

There’s nothing quite as hot as a meth forum in Parkland â€" except, possibly, Graham’s annual obesity and corduroy forum. Either way, meth experts and citizens from all over Parkland are sure to have plenty to discuss Thursday. Questions from the audience are expected to include “Are you going to do anything with that scrap metal?” and “Has anyone seen my teeth?”

The Weekly Volcano print version hits the streets today. Check it out for more predictions on South Sound events.

JOHN HERBERT: HEALTH CARE REFORM LECTURE >>>

Pacific Lutheran University philosophy professor Paul Menzel will present a public lecture exploring the moral and political issues facing health care reform tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the PLU Scandinavian Cultural Center. He promises a non-partisan look at the moral underpinnings of the clash between the major political parties’ approaches to healthcare reform.

I predict the discussion will be framed thusly:

Democratic policies usually call for some sort of government intervention, such as a government-run universal healthcare system, like Medicare, only for everybody. Menzel will mention that the United States is the only industrialized nation without such a system. He also will mention that a great deal of our current problems stem from a grossly bureaucratic and underfunded Medicare system.

Their Republican counterparts, he will explain, generally call for tax credits and free-market solutions. Free-market solutions, the new ones anyway, generally involve banks, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies making a lot of money. They also leave a depressing percentage of the population sick and dying, which is apparently a price worth paying while we wait for the market to work it out.

Menzel will fail to mention that the system we have now is the result of a combination of those two approaches.

Grab a copy of the Weekly Volcano on the streets today for our other predictions of the week, which includes Nick Lachey’s Celebrity Weekend.

MICHAEL SWAN: FREAKING OUT >>>

Turn the lights off, and start wearing clothes made of tinfoil: High frequency voltage transients linked with cancer incidence.

SUZY STUMP: METRO PARKS CARES >>>

First of all, it’s quiet.

So quiet, you can get lost in your thoughts.

Begin at the Point Defiance Park entrance.  Pick a parking slot, lace them up, stretch those calves and groin and head into the Park. The quiet will help you concentrate on the first few steps of your run.

Not that you have lot to concentrate on.

Forget political science, literature, biology. Forget chemistry, French and calculus. Go back to before you could think.

Just past the Japanese Gardens veer left toward the zoo.  Just short of one mile veer left and head uphill to the Five Mile Drive.   

So follow the paved road. At 1.9 miles check out the Vashon Island viewpoint. Let thoughts come back to your mind. Start with the basics. The multiplication tables, the spelling tests. Remember the first time you glued macaroni to paper?

Continue on.  At 2.2 miles you’ll pass the Mountainier Tree, a 400-year-old Douglas Fir. Your pace will increase at mile 2.4 as you get a view of gorgeous Gig Harbor. Remember the fastest time you ran a mile in school, how you picked out one or two of your classmates in gym class â€" secretly â€" and vowed that you would run faster than each of them, no matter what? Remember how that felt like stealing second â€" and beating the throw?

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge viewpoint is at mile 2.6.  You are more than half way there.  Enjoy the serenity of the forest, and the cool, crisp fall air. 

THEN A CAR HITS YOU. YOU ARE THROWN 10 FEET. YOU ARE BLEEDING. YOU CAN’T THINK.

Solution
Metro Parks doesn’t want to see you die on the Five Mile Drive. Five new speed tables are scheduled for construction to help slow vehicular traffic in Point Defiance Park Sept. 3 and 4 if the weather doesn’t suck.  Metro Parks has contracted with the City’s Public Works Department to install traffic calming features in pedestrian crossing areas and straightaway stretches where cars often exceed the park’s 20 mile per hour speed limit.

So stay in the zone if you see Public Works messing with your Five Mile Drive next week. Think good thoughts.

BTW: The two month pilot project that added Sunday mornings to the drive’s vehicle-free hours concludes this weekend. The District is collecting feedback from park visitors about the pilot project through an online survey available here through Sept. 15.

JOHN HERBERT: GO GET 'EM CHC >>>

Tacoma’s Community Health Care kicks off National Health Center Week 2008 on Aug. 10 with special emphasis on promoting a new health center plan to create more health care homes in the future for the medically unserved. The program also recognizes doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals who have chosen to serve in communities in need, and will include Health Care for the Homeless Day, Aug. 13, and Farmworker Health Day on Aug. 14.

MATT DRISCOLL: LOVES BOOB JUICE >>>

Within Reach, a family health care advocate group based out of Seattle, has named the City of Tacoma the “2008 Outstanding Employer.”

For what, you ask?

Promoting, supporting, and showing leadership when it comes to breastfeeding and the workplace, that’s what. Apparently a job with Tacoma is now one of the friendliest gigs in Washington for the lactating.

Plenty of studies have shown the benefits of breast feeding. As a relatively new parent with a wife that’s possessed with baby research and doing what’s healthiest for the wee-one, I’ve heard all about it. In fact, I’m sold on it. Couple the research with the fact that boob juice is free, and it’s enough to turn me into a regular breast feeding PR guy, doing my job to get the word out whenever possible.

But this is about Tacoma, not me and my love of lactation. Within Reach named Tacoma the 2008 Outstanding Employer, and applauded the city for creating a lactation room in the Municipal Building for employees to use. Tacoma also promotes breastfeeding when discussing maternity leave with employees and has a progressive lactation policy shared with all employees when they’re hired.

Well done, City of Tacoma, for making breastfeeding an option for your employees. Perhaps now all the businesses that call you home will follow suit. Perhaps now you should ask them to. 

JENNIFER JOHNSON: BALANCING BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT >>>

Balancing Body, Mind and Spirit, an inspiring and empowering evening with Elizabeth Bloom, D.H.M., a leader and practitioner in the field of holistic medicine, and Linda Christiano, an RN specializing in cardio-pulmonary rehab and coronary health will take place at Tacoma’s Savi Day Spa Thursday, Feb. 7.

Bloom’s background in homeopathy, naturopathy, and holistic medicine combines various cultures and medicinal practices. Bloom will relate tips for balancing the stressors of life, aligning the mind, body and spirit, and increasing overall health.

Christiano will share information on the LIFE system of biofeedback, stress detection and reduction.

Proceeds from Thursday’s event will be donated to the American Heart Association in conjunction with the Heart Ball 2008 Saturday at the Hotel Murano.

[Savi Day Spa, Thursday, Feb. 7, 6-8 p.m., $30 reserved space, Hotel Hurano, 1320 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.2000]