President Obama signaled a newly collaborative spirit during his recent visit to Mexico, and emphasized strong focus on the Administration's agendas for immigration reform and the Drug War.

Economics are subtexts to both immigration reform and to the two nations' shared stake in ending the sales of and violence around illegal drugs. In the cities and towns of the U.S., far from the pomp of State visits, many Mexican-American immigrants also are likely to be especially concerned about another aspect of U.S. - Mexico relations that directly affects their lives:

The challenges they face in making Internet-based payments from the U.S. -- known as remittances -- to business partners, family-members or friends in Mexico.

Restaurants are increasingly adding healthy eating out options into their menus these days. What is key about current menu trends at restaurants are that they are in sync with a wide variety of contemporary healthy eating styles, including low-carb and locavore, paleo and probiotic. Ultimately, restaurants are getting savvy about how to satisfy nutritional trends and an ever-expanding range of niche diners who are interested in healthy and delicious food.

From the rise of digitized health records to the increasing trend toward patient tele-monitoring, it is clear that a healthcare technology revolution has taken place in nearly every stage of the healthcare system.

In the food and beverage market, health-conscious Americans are driving big changes in food production, packaging, distribution and service. This is especially evident in supermarkets and in restaurants, where companies are under pressure to provide clearly-labeled packaging and menus that list calorie amounts.

At times,  I like to think of Duke, my beloved 11-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, as the canine equivalent of the actor George Clooney. Like Clooney, Duke wears his age with distinguished finesse. His once predominantly chestnut colored muzzle is now a brown/gray salt and pepper mix that broadcasts his elder statesman status. Yet even as an older dog, Duke retains a rascal's disposition -- his dancing eyes convey a whimsical mischief mingled with curmudgeonly weariness (and yes that is Duke's way of brilliantly channeling Clooney's performance in the Academy Award winning film The Descendants).

Warmer weather and longer days motivated me to make my first trip of the season to Home Depot’s Garden Center. Like last year, stevia plants were for sale. Of course, I had to ask how they are selling, and the clerk assured me they are a hit.

Earlier that day I interviewed James Kremer, Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage at Country Club of Peoria, Peoria, IL, for an article I am writing on a topic for Culinology. He offered this from our conversation:

Healthcare organizations have long been searching for ways that healthcare technology can help them innovate and provide better outcomes.  A particular challenge is the paper patient files that doctors and hospital staffs create, which no longer comply with trends in the healthcare IT market.

The key to transforming healthcare organizations from paper-based to paper-less is Electronic Medical Records, EMR.  

Weight management concerns are top of the mind for a substantial portion of today's grocery-aisle cart-pushers -- consumers, that is. Weight control, weight loss, and obesity are topics that rank among the most urgent health-related drivers: as reported in Packaged Facts’ report, "Weight Management Trends in the U.S.", two out of five adults, representing 88 million consumers, are currently watching their diet to either lose or avoid gaining weight.

If you are involved in the healthcare IT market, you might be familiar with the term eHealth, meaning digital medical records and systems. Are you and your company ready for mHealth?  In brief, mHealth refers to mobile health, the practice of medical health aided by mobile devices.  It is part of the expanding universe of the healthcare IT market and eHealth systems and applications, and is gaining traction in developing nations and in Western countries including the United States.  By one estimate, the market for mobile healthcare applications will be worth $26 billion by 2017.

ABC News reported on this phenomenon, dubbing it "Puppy Love Healing" in reference to a group of specially trained-golden retrievers provided to people in the communities of Boston, Massachusetts following the April 15 bombings during the Boston Marathon, to offer "cuddle comfort" for those in need (see the video here). The popularity of the "Puppy Love Healing" campaign is so great that some of the dogs associated with it even have their own Twitter accounts.