Saturday, April 20, 2013

This Predator Helmet Can Make Even the Tiniest Vespa Badass

Motorcycle riders don't get a lot of respect from other drivers on the road, but who's going to dare cut you off when you're cruising around looking like an intergalactic game hunter in this awesome Predator helmet. It's built on an actual motorcycle helmet so it's properly safety rated, but has been enhanced with a sculpted outer shell, a dreadlocks mullet, and even a tri-laser scope. More »
    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/k5cYCGTarec/this-predator-helmet-can-make-even-the-tiniest-vespa-badass

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Why I'll run the Boston Marathon again in 2014

Angry people set off the bombs at the Boston Marathon. We runners are angry, too, but we're going to use that as fuel to train harder and become better at the sport we love, so when we show up in 2014, we'll be ready to do our best in memory of those who fell on Monday.

By Ray Charbonneau / April 17, 2013

Mike Merino (left) and oped contributor Ray Charbonneau rest after completing the Boston Marathon before the bombs went off April 15. Writes Mr. Charbonneau: 'Non-runners have asked me whether I'll be afraid to return to the marathon next year. They don't understand. If I were afraid, running is what I'd do to work through those feelings.'

Photo courtesy of the author

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For my 22nd marathon, I volunteered to guide visually-impaired runner Mike Merino in the Boston Marathon. We were part of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind's "Team With A Vision." Mike and I tethered ourselves together at the start in Hopkinton and then wove our way through crowds of runners to the finish on Boylston Street.

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After I guided Mike across the line, we jammed ourselves in with hundreds of other tired, sweaty runners stumbling slowly forward to collect the medals commemorating our victory. We were a scrawny army wrapped in foil blankets ? survivors of a war we'd fought in flimsy uniforms and boots padded with lightweight foam, armed only with bodies loaded with pasta, oxygen from a beautiful spring day, and determination. The fight to finish in under four hours had taken all we had.

Then there was an explosion. While we were still trying to convince ourselves that the first blast was just an accident, maybe a short in a power transformer or a gas leak, another one went off. We knew then, though it wouldn't be confirmed until much later, that the real war had intruded, the one with bombs, flying shreds of metal and glass, three tragic deaths, and more than 150 people injured.?

My first response, and the first response of many of the people I know, wasn't fear. It was anger. We were mad, and are still mad, because running is our refuge, and it seems like someone is trying to take it away.

Running helps me process my thoughts. It distracts me just enough to let the back of my mind sort out whatever is bothering me. An hour's run is a straightforward task that gives me the comfort of knowing I've accomplished something that day. If I argue with my boss or get in a fight with my spouse, I can work through it by running a little faster. And a nice, long run is a few hours out of the day when I don't have to worry about yard work, bills, politics, crime, or terrorism.?

At least until Monday, when someone decided to make a point of some kind at the Boston Marathon.

Non-runners have asked me whether I'll be afraid to return to the marathon next year. They don't understand. If I were afraid, running is what I'd do to work through those feelings.

But running isn't just about escaping the stresses of daily life. We don't run just to get fit, for the competition, or to collect money for charities. Those are wonderful benefits, but they're not why we run. As Mike told me on Tuesday, "I run marathons because of something bigger than all that."

It starts with individual people, getting out on the road regularly, building fitness and training to run farther and faster. As they run, they find others who share their goals and start working together, having fun while encouraging each other to achieve even more. Some of those people organize events, and even more people, many of them non-runners, join in to help. Soon there are 27,000 people running together from Hopkinton to Boston with thousands more in volunteer jackets helping out, hundreds of thousands lining the roads to cheer and enjoy the spectacle, and millions donating to their friend's charity, watching on TV, and maybe even thinking, "Hey, I'll bet I can do that."

It's also about the next day, when the crowds are gone and you're out there by yourself, not for the glory, but because it's who you are, a runner. And it's about getting out there the next day and the next and the one after that.

Usually, distance runners toil on the side of the road, away from any spotlight other than the headlights from an oncoming car. Our sport only gets noticed in the US in passing, when the Summer Olympics are held in a convenient time zone or on the weekend of the Boston Marathon.

Now we're getting worldwide attention, but for all the wrong reasons. And it makes us mad.

Sure, lots of people were disappointed that they didn't get to finish their race, but that's not the real issue. Marathoners are used to the vagaries of the weather or a mid-race injury spoiling six months of training. It's frustrating, but there's always another race. The bombers appear to want to destroy that possibility of redemption.

Marathoners already know running Boston isn't a given. Most people have to qualify by running fast or collecting for a charity. If we aren't able to earn our way in, that's OK. But we are not willing to let someone else take our opportunity away.

Angry people set off the bombs in Boston on Monday. We runners are angry, too, but we're going to use that as fuel to train harder and become better at the sport we love, so when we show up in Hopkinton in 2014, we'll be ready to do our best in memory of those who fell on Monday.

Ray Charbonneau lives with his wife Ruth in Arlington, MA. He writes about qualifying for the 2014 Boston Marathon in his latest book, "Overthinking the Marathon." Find out more at Y42K.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/EgVjyolm6_M/Why-I-ll-run-the-Boston-Marathon-again-in-2014

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How Many Ways Can California Be Stupid? (Powerlineblog)

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Sources Say Amazon Acquired Siri-Like Evi App For $26M ? Is A Smartphone Coming?

photoWhen Siri arrived on the iPhone 4S it seemed like a magic piece of software. The future had arrived. But it wasn't alone. True Knowledge, a British startup with a natural language search engine developed in university labs had been working out what to do next. Siri was the 'boom' moment. They licensed Nuance?s voice recognition technology and created an app based on the True Knowledge engine, called Evi, which worked on any iPhone and Android. That clever move looks like it paid off. TechCrunch understands from sources that the company has been sold to Amazon for $26 million. However, calls to Amazon PR, backers Octopus Ventures and the founders of Evi have ben met with a stoney silence. A spokesperson for Octopus told us: "On this occasion Octopus will decline to comment on this specific portfolio company".

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1Kvbs9zeSYk/

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

NY jury awards $12 million to billionaire William Koch

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal jury in New York on Friday awarded $12 million in punitive damages to U.S. billionaire William Koch in his dispute over the alleged misrepresentation of 24 bottles of wine he bought at auction.

Koch, 72, said he may use the proceeds to establish a fund to confront auction fraud and wine fraud.

The founder of Oxbow Group energy company, Koch had accused tech entrepreneur Eric Greenberg of knowingly selling him counterfeit bottles of wine at a 2005 Zachys auction.

"There's been a huge code of silence in this industry," Koch said after the jury decided on the damages in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. "My purpose is to shine a bright light on it."

Koch filed a federal lawsuit in 2007, accusing Greenberg, the San Francisco-based founder of several Internet companies, of fraud and misrepresentation and seeking $320,000, the amount he paid for the 24 bottles.

The jury on Thursday evening returned with a verdict that Koch should be compensated for the amount he spent on the wine, and on Friday the panel decided on the $12 million in punitive damages.

Koch shook hands with jurors and thanked them as they left the courtroom, saying he was "out of sight, over the moon" over the damages award.

Greenberg had denied the charges, saying any forgeries from his wine cellar got to the auction house by mistake. In closing arguments on Thursday, his attorney Arthur Shartsis said his client did not knowingly sell fakes.

"Clearly, the verdict is a disappointment because I believed all the consigned wine to be authentic," Greenberg said in a statement after the verdict.

He said he had offered Koch a full refund of his money when he learned that Koch "had issues with some of the wines he had purchased" and said he intended to appeal the verdict.

"We believe that we acted honorably and tried to do the right thing for all concerned," Greenberg said in the statement.

Experts for both sides agreed that the wine in one of the 24 bottles was fake. The authenticity of the other 23 bottles was unclear, although expert witnesses testified that some of the labels were copies of the originals.

None of the bottles had been opened nor had the wine been tasted.

In court, Greenberg's attorney argued that the New York-based Zachys auction house had sold the bottles "as is," meaning the buyer accepted the product in whatever condition it was at the time.

Koch's lawyer John Hueston said in court that Greenberg withheld information about the provenance and authenticity of his wine collection.

Koch, whose brother David Koch is a major supporter of conservative political causes, settled a separate lawsuit with the auction house in 2011, details of which were kept private.

(Additional reporting by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-jury-awards-12-million-billionaire-william-koch-194113207.html

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Scientists find interferon, one of the body's own proteins, induces persistent viral infection

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a counterintuitive finding that may lead to new ways to clear persistent infection that is the hallmark of such diseases as AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The study, reported in the April 12, 2013 issue of the journal Science, focused on the activity of the body's type 1 interferon (IFN-I) proteins. Since its discovery over 50 years ago, IFN-I has been believed to be an especially powerful antiviral agent that marshals the immune system's response against the body's foreign invaders. But in the new study, the TSRI scientists document in mice that IFN-I initiates persistent infection and limits the generation of an effective antiviral immune response.

"Our findings illuminate an unexpected role for IFN-I protein(s) in persistent infections, which has major implications for how we treat these infections," said Michael B. A. Oldstone, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science at TSRI and senior investigator for the study.

Mystery of Immune Suppression

For decades, Oldstone and other virologists around the world have been trying to understand how some viruses manage to persist in their hosts.

One big clue, discovered only in recent years, is that some of these viruses are especially effective at getting into cells of the immune system known as dendritic cells. These cells serve as key detectors of infection and normally respond to viral infection by producing IFN-I proteins. They also produce both immune-enhancing proteins (cytokines/chemokines) to drive forward a vigorous immune response, as well as immune-suppressing proteins including interleukin-10 (IL-10) and PD-1, which act as a braking system that balances the immune response to keep within healthy (non-autoimmune) limits.

Persistent viruses can use this immune-suppressing effect for their own purposes. In several experimental models of persistent infections and in humans with persistent infections, a rise in IL-10 and PD-L1 is followed by declines in the function and numbers of antiviral T-cells. Many of the surviving T cells are rendered ineffectual -- a phenomenon called "T-cell exhaustion" or "hyporesponsiveness."

A Surprising Observation

To better understand how this immune-suppressing response develops, Oldstone and his team, including first authors John R. Teijaro and Cherie Ng, along with Brian Sullivan, looked in detail at the early events in a persistent viral infection. The team used a now-standard animal model that Oldstone developed almost 30 years ago: laboratory mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) Clone (Cl) 13 strain.

One initial observation surprised them. "A day after infection, bloodstream levels of IFN-I were at least several times higher in the persistent infection, compared to a non-persistent LCMV infection," said Teijaro.

The persistent LCMV Cl 13 strain also turned out to be much better at infecting plasmacytoid dendritic cells -- which are considered the principal source of IFN-I proteins during viral infections. By contrast, the LCMV Armstrong (ARM) 53b strain, from which Cl 13 was derived, generated significantly less IFN-I and did not induce a persistent infection but rather generated antiviral effector CD8 T cells; this infection was terminated within 7 to 10 days. Cl 13 differs from ARM by only three amino acids (protein building blocks) of which just two are important; one in the glycoprotein for binding and entry into dendritic cells and the other in the viral polymerase that enhances viral replication.

Earlier Clearance and Fewer Malfunctions

The production of IFN-Is by plasmacytoid dendritic cells has been considered a normal and beneficial part of the immune reaction to a viral infection. "We usually think of IFN-I proteins as antiviral proteins, so that more IFN is better," said Ng. Indeed, when she and Teijaro used a monoclonal antibody to block IFN-I-alpha-beta (-a-b) receptor, activity just prior to or after infection with Cl 13, they observed a sharp drop in the production of IL-10 and PD-L1, loss of excessive cytokine/chemokine expression (cytokine storm) and maintenance of normal secondary lymphoid tissue architecture.

But the scientists found over the longer term a sharp drop in levels of immune-suppressing IL-10, as well as PD-L1, both inducers of T-cell exhaustion, was associated with restoration of antiviral immune response and virus clearance. And although blocking the IFN-I-a-b receptor led to higher bloodstream levels of virus in the first days after infection, it soon brought about a stronger, infection-clearing response.

"Even when we blocked IFN-I-a-b receptor after a persistent infection had been established and T-cell exhaustion had set in, we still saw a significantly earlier clearance of the virus," Ng said.

Blocking IFN-I-a-b receptor also prevented or reversed other immune malfunctions caused by the persistent LCMV strain, including a disruption of the structure of the spleen tissue and diminished T cell entry and maintenance within lymphoid structures in the spleen that contain dendritic cells. The interaction of dendritic cells with T cells is necessary to generate antiviral effector CD8 and CD4 T cells. "We saw a restoration of this lymphoid architecture, as well as an increase in a subset of antiviral T cells, natural killer cells and dendritic cells, and restoration of antiviral CD4 T cell function," said Teijaro.

Potentially Broad Applications

Oldstone and his team now plan to study IFN-I signaling pathways in further detail. In particular, they hope to determine whether the IFN-I-a-b receptor blocking strategy can work against chronic viral infections in humans. The scientists will also seek small pharmacologic molecules with the same function.

"Most of our findings in the LCMV model mirror what has been observed in human persistent infections, namely the upregulation of IL-10 and PD-L1, and the disruption of lymphoid architecture," said Oldstone.

Conceivably, the IFN-I-a-b receptor-blocking strategy could have broad clinical applications. In terms of viruses alone, chronic HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections collectively are found in hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Other common persistent viruses include Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus and cancer-causing human papilloma virus. Researchers have estimated that the average person at any one time carries at least several persistent, often silent viral infections.

Other contributors to the study, "Persistent LCMV infection is controlled by blockade of type 1 interferon signaling," were Kathleen C. F. Sheehan and Robert D. Schreiber of Washington School of Medicine at St. Louis; and Megan J. Welch, Andrew M. Lee, and Juan Carlos de la Torre of TSRI.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants AI009484, AI057160 and AI077719, as well as an American Heart Association Fellowship (11POST7430106).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Scripps Research Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. J. R. Teijaro, C. Ng, A. M. Lee, B. M. Sullivan, K. C. F. Sheehan, M. Welch, R. D. Schreiber, J. Carlos de la Torre, M. B. A. Oldstone. Persistent LCMV Infection Is Controlled by Blockade of Type I Interferon Signaling. Science, 2013; 340 (6129): 207 DOI: 10.1126/science.1235214

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/jq2JIzicfHA/130411142815.htm

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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Singapore prime minister visits White House

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says he appreciates an outstanding partnership between the United States and Singapore on military, economic and other matters in Asia.

Obama ignored questions from reporters about an alarming development in the Pacific region with North Korea announcing plans to restart its nuclear facilities. Neither Obama nor Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) mentioned it in their brief remarks.

Instead, they focused on touting their bilateral cooperation. Lee says Singapore is looking forward to hosting Navy warships as the U.S. shifts its military presence to the Asia-Pacific.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Singapore's prime minister on Tuesday becomes the third Asian leader to visit the White House this year, as President Barack Obama pursues closer ties with countries in the region in his second term.

It's Lee Hsien Loong's first Oval Office meeting in six years and comes as the U.S. pushes for completion by fall of a trans-Pacific free trade pact. Singapore, a close ally, is one of 11 countries taking part in the negotiations.

The U.S. and Singapore also have strong defense ties. Next week, the U.S. will begin rotational deployments of Navy vessels in Singapore, part of its efforts to shift American military presence toward the Asia-Pacific as the U.S. disentangles itself from a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Defense cuts at home and turmoil in the Middle East have raised doubts in Asia about the U.S. ability to sustain its "pivot" to the region. But Obama made his diplomatic priorities clear by traveling to Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand soon after his November re-election, and then by hosting the leaders of Japan and Brunei. South Korea's new president will visit in May.

"The prime minister's visit underscores the strategic importance the president places on Asia and the value we place on our relationship with Singapore as a key partner," a White House statement announcing Lee's trip said.

Lee is the eldest son of Singapore's founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. He last visited the U.S. for a nuclear security summit in 2010. He'll address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after his White House meeting.

While much attention is currently on Northeast Asia, and North Korea's threats to attack the U.S. and South Korea, Lee's four-day visit also takes place against the backdrop of tensions in the South China Sea, where assertive Chinese actions near disputed islands have unnerved other claimants in Southeast Asia.

Singapore itself is not a claimant, but its prosperity depends on commerce through those busy waters. It is a strong supporter of the U.S. security presence in the region, although it retains cordial ties with China.

Underscoring the administration's efforts to sustain its Asian diplomacy, the foreign ministers of two U.S. treaty allies in the region, the Philippines and South Korea, were also in Washington Tuesday for meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry, who travels to Northeast Asia next week.

Before meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, Kerry expressed deep concern about tensions in the South China Sea and called for the territorial disputes there worked out through arbitration.

During his visit, Singapore's Lee is also meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Kerry. He'll also travel to New York City and meet with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/singapore-prime-minister-visits-white-house-070811591--politics.html

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Monday, April 1, 2013

6000 died in Syria in March, deadliest month yet

BEIRUT (AP) ? More than 6,000 people were killed in the Syrian civil war in March alone, according to a leading activist group that reported it was the deadliest month yet in the 2-year-old conflict.

The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an increase in shelling and clashes around the country led to the high toll, which is incomplete because fighters on both sides tend to underreport their dead.

"Both sides are hiding information," Rami Abdul-Rahman said by phone from Britain, where he is based. "It is very difficult to get correct info on the fighters because they don't want the information to hurt morale."

The increase also likely represents the further spread of the civil war throughout the country.

Clashes continue to rage in the northern city of Aleppo and around the capital Damascus as well as in the central city of Homs.

And in recent weeks, rebels in the southern province of Daraa along the Jordanian border have seized towns and military bases from the government with the help of an increased influx of foreign-funded weapons.

The Observatory, which opposed President Bashar Assad's regime, said the March dead included 298 children, 291 women, 1,486 rebel fighters and army defectors and 1,464 government soldiers. The rest were unidentified civilians and fighters.

The government does not provide death tolls for the civil war.

That toll solidly beat the second most deadly month, when airstrikes, clashes and shelling killed more than 5,400 people in August 2012, Abdul-Rahman said.

He said his total death toll for the conflict through the end of March is 62,554, a number he said he guessed only reflected about half of the actual dead.

He said many deaths go unreported by the government or rebel fighters and that there are tens of thousands detained in regime and rebel prisons whose fates are not known.

The United Nations said in February that 70,000 people had been killed since the start of the conflict. It has not updated its number since.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6000-died-syria-march-deadliest-month-yet-163824539.html

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Jewish Business Ethics: Proper Marketing and Selling | Jewish Journal

March 31, 2013 | 5:30 am

Posted by?Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz


Photo

There is a famous business concept called caveat emptor (buyer beware). In secular society, as long as a seller does not blatantly lie or actively conceal a defect, it is the full responsibility of the buyer to exercise due diligence and to inspect what is being purchased. Jewish law takes a totally different approach: It is presumed that no defects or problems exist in a product or property if they are not disclosed explicitly by the seller.


We are well aware of fictional examples in literature and old movies of the quack doctor who promises miracle cures. This goes further back than you might think, and was prevalent in the entire Western world. One of the more famous comic Italian operas is Gaetano Donizetti?s L?Elisir d?Amore (?The Elixir of Love?), in which quack Dr. Dulcamara (?Bittersweet?) touts an elixir that cures everything from apoplexy to diabetes, though it is actually just repackaged Bordeaux wine. In this country, the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1906 regulated the drug industry in a helpful way, so that drugs no longer contained dangerous substances like cocaine, heroin, and opium. However, new marketing schemes have continued to emerge and flourish as long as people were unaware of the deception. In the 1920s, for example, numerous ?miracle? cures based on radium were sold to the general public in everything from water to bread to suppositories. Today, of course, companies sell radon detectors so homeowners can tell if there is radon gas (and thus a risk for lung cancer) in their basements.


In looking back to these bygone eras, we should not feel smug about how sophisticated we are today, for we still are fooled by deceptive marketing practices. You may think that that bottled water has to come from a pristine spring in the wilderness, that ?natural? is just as good as ?organic,? or that the FDA has accurately defined and regulated all these terms. If so, you are in error.


For example, many people drink bottled water, unaware that the source of that water is ordinary tap water.? Nestl?? Waters? 5-gallon bottles of water come from the municipal tap water of Woodridge, Illinois, while Aquafina (owned by PepsiCo) also bottles its water from municipal tap water. Even worse, a Coca-Cola subsidiary makes ?Vitaminwater,? which sounds like healthful, vitamin-fortified water, but at 130 calories and 33 grams of sugar it is quite the opposite. To make matters worse, several government- and privately-sponsored studies have concluded that tap water is more closely regulated than the bottled water industry. (Additional benefits of drinking tap water instead of bottled water include less waste disposal and lower spending.) In our search for healthy food products, we see labels such as ?natural? as well as ?organic.? The U. S. Department of Agriculture regulates and certifies the production of organic food, and excludes many harmful substances: ?Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used.? For multi-ingredient food items, a label of ?organic? means that at least 95 percent or more of the content must be organic.


What about ?natural? food? The FDA has this to say about ?natural?: ?[The] FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives.? Thus, all those pesticides, genetically modified food, and ?sewage sludge? that are excluded from organic food may well be in ?natural? food, and these are not required to be listed on the nutrition label. Unfortunately, many large agribusinesses have subsidiary companies that sound small and organic, but which use food that have pesticides and other harmful substances.


Finally, many people are concerned about consuming too much sodium, but will ?reduced? or ?low? sodium products be a better option? Fortunately, there are definitions here, but you may still take in far too much sodium. Of the two, ?low sodium? is often the best option, as it means 140 mg of sodium or less per serving (don?t forget to check the serving size as well). ?Reduced sodium? means at least 25 percent less than the regular product. Thus, if a ?normal? soup contains a staggering 900 mg of sodium per cup, the reduced sodium version can have 675 mg per cup, which in a 2.5-serving can would still give you nearly 1,700 mg of sodium, already more than the daily suggested serving for children, older adults, and people with diabetes or advanced kidney disease.


In consumer cases, the Federal Trade Commission sometimes catches the more outrageous marketing schemes. In 2012, for example, they successfully ordered Oreck to stop claiming that their vacuum cleaners could reduce the risk of flu, asthma, and other airborne illnesses, and forced Nivea to stop claiming that its skin cream could make people lose weight. However, the FTC also acted against a more insidious trend to mask commercials as news stories.? The FTC forced the cessation of fake news sites such as ?News 6 News Alerts? and ?Health News Health Alerts? by six companies selling acai berry weight-loss programs. These companies used fake news sites to pretend that major media organizations had aired stories confirming the false claims of weight loss.??


The American concept of caveat emptor is unjust, as it presumes that the consumer has as much power and ability to find good information as huge corporations do to spread the bad kind. We should be smarter consumers but the onus ultimately should be, as in Jewish law, almost completely on the seller to actively reveal any problems. If the owner does not disclose problems or defects, they have violated the prohibition of geneivat da?at, deception (Choshen Mishpat 228:6). If a product has a defect that is not actively disclosed then the buyer has the right to return the item for a full refund (Choshen Mishpat 232:3), since the transaction was a mekach ta?ut, false sale. This disclosure may not be broad but must be very specific to the problem (Choshen Mishpat? 232:7). To determine whether or not a certain type of defect needs to be disclosed, we employ minhag hamakom, the customs and norms of the land/region (Choshen Mishpat 232:6). With the marketplace as complex and convoluted as it is, it is only just to shift responsibility for improper marketing to the seller.
?

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Founder and President of Uri L'Tzedek, the Senior Rabbi at Kehilath Israel, the Founder and C.E.O. of The Shamayim V?Aretz Institute and is the author of "Jewish Ethics & Social Justice: A Guide for the 21st Century.? In 2012 and 2013, Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America."

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Newly approved blood thinner may increase susceptibility to some viral infections

Apr. 1, 2013 ? A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina indicates that a newly approved blood thinner that blocks a key component of the human blood clotting system may increase the risk and severity of certain viral infections, including flu and myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart and a significant cause of sudden death in children and young adults.

For the past 50 years, people with the heartbeat irregularity, atrial fibrillation, and others at increased risk for forming potentially life-threatening blood clots have been given the anticoagulant drug warfarin. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the blood-thinner Dabigatran etexilate (called Pradaxa?) for atrial fibrillation patients. The drug inhibits thrombin, the body's central coagulation activator of the blood clotting system.

In blocking thrombin activity, the drug disturbs the protease cascade of molecular events that normally occurs in coagulation. While clot formation is reduced, the new study shows it may also cause an unintended consequence. "Our findings show that blocking thrombin reduces the innate immune response to viral infection," says study senior author Nigel Mackman, PhD, the John C. Parker Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the division of hematology and director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute. "The use of the new generation of blood thinners might increase the risk and severity of flu and myocarditis."

A report of the research appears in the March 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Mackman points out that viral infections such as dengue fever trigger activation of the coagulation system but it was considered a bad thing. He says studies on bacterial infections have found that the last product of the "clotting cascade" (the process that occurs in blood clot formation) -- fibrin -- helps activate immune cell macrophages that boosts the immune system.

"But it seems that the antiviral mechanism of the clotting system is not via fibrin but rather via thrombin; namely, its activation of protease activated receptor proteins such as PAR-1," says Mackman. "The new study was aimed at finding out if PAR-1 plays any role in virus infections, a question of importance to the use of Pradaxa? and the development of antithrombotic drugs that target PAR-1 on platelets."

To find the answer, Mackman and colleagues used mice in which the PAR-1 gene is deleted and subjected then to infection with a virus that causes myocarditis. They found that loss of PAR-1 mediated signaling after infection with the cardiotrophic virus resulted in increased viral buildup in the heart, cardiac injury and, later, increased impairment of heart function.

Moreover, the absence of PAR-1 signaling was associated with a slower response to the virus of the innate immune soon after viral infection. The innate immune system provides early defense against disease causing organisms. The defense is almost immediate.

The researchers treated normal mice with Pradaxa?. They showed that thrombin inhibition increased cardiac virus load and cardiac injury after viral infection in a similar manner to a deficiency of PAR-1. In addition, they infected the PAR-1 deficient mice with influenza A and found that PAR-1 signaling was important in controlling the virus load in the lung in the early phase after infection. These results suggest that thrombin and PAR-1 mediate important early antiviral signals after infection.

"Pradaxa? inhibits clot formation by reducing fibrin deposition and platelet aggregation." said Mackman. "Importantly, Pradaxa? might not only facilitate significant lifesaving effects in reducing cardiac death but may also interfere with other processes in the body.

"The results we generated were completely unexpected and in fact our hypothesis was that PAR-1 deficient mice would be protected from viral myocarditis because they would have reduced inflammation," Mackman added. "We are now determining if the traditional long term anticoagulant warfarin has the same effect on viral infection or is this specific to the new blood thinner."

The majority of the study was a collaboration between the Mackman group at UNC and the Charit? -- Universit?tsmedizin in Berlin, Germany, and other groups at UNC, including at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and across the USA.

The first-author is Silvio Antoniak, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Mackman's lab. Other co-authors from Mackman's lab were A. Phillip Owens III, PhD; Martin Baumnacke, MD; and Julie C. Williams, PhD.

The study was supported by the Myocarditis Foundation through a research grant to Silvio Antoniak. Additional funds were provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of North Carolina Health Care.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Silvio Antoniak, A. Phillip Owens, Martin Baunacke, Julie C. Williams, Rebecca D. Lee, Alice Weith?user, Patricia A. Sheridan, Ronny Malz, James P. Luyendyk, Denise A. Esserman, JoAnn Trejo, Daniel Kirchhofer, Burns C. Blaxall, Rafal Pawlinski, Melinda A. Beck, Ursula Rauch, Nigel Mackman. PAR-1 contributes to the innate immune response during viral infection. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2013; 123 (3): 1310 DOI: 10.1172/JCI66125

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/ANitGbFwha4/130401132058.htm

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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Why Foods and Drinks Taste Bad after Brushing Teeth | Cooking ...

Posted on by cookwithkathy

If you have no idea why we?re pondering that question today, go brush your teeth real quick and grab a drink (orange juice, iced tea, beer?anything except water). Awful, isn?t it?

You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants ?? wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid ?? that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they?re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).

While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn?t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they?re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.

So, anything you eat or drink after you brush is going to have less sweetness and more bitterness than it normally would. Is there any end to this torture? Yes. You don?t need foam for good toothpaste, and there are plenty out there that are SLES/SLS-free. You won?t get that rabid dog look that makes oral hygiene so much fun, but your breakfast won?t be ruined.

Source: Mental Floss

Source: http://cookwithkathy.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/why-foods-and-drinks-taste-bad-after-brushing-teeth/

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Are There Really Two Republican Parties? And If So, Why? (Powerlineblog)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295703162?client_source=feed&format=rss

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US pushes back against North Korean war rhetoric

North Korea?warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula had entered 'a state of war.' US officials?note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, but they're taking additional defensive measures just in case.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / March 30, 2013

North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms.

Jon Chol Jin/AP

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In the wake of North Korea?s latest war-like pronouncements, the United States is assuming a sober, tough-minded stance it hopes will avert further threats and provocative acts by Pyongyang.

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North Korea?warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula had entered ?a state of war? and it threatened to shut down a border factory complex involving both countries.

"We've seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden in a statement Saturday. "We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies. But we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern.?

"As [Defense] Secretary [Chuck] Hagel said on Thursday, we remain fully prepared and capable of defending and protecting the United States and our allies," she added. "We continue to take additional measures against the North Korean threat, including our plan to increase the U.S. ground-based interceptors and early warning and tracking radar, and the signing of the [South Korea-US] counter-provocation plan."

Earlier, deputy White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Air Force One that Pyongyang was purely to blame for escalating tensions, Agence France-Presse reported.

"We are coordinating pretty closely with not just our allies, but also with?Russia?and?China which also have a significant stake in resolving this situation peacefully," Mr. Earnest said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TiYA6Ai6Nc4/US-pushes-back-against-North-Korean-war-rhetoric

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

'G.I. Joe: Retaliation': The Reviews Are In!

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson takes the helm in this CGI-heavy reboot
By Driadonna Roland


Dwayne Johnson in "G.I. Joe: Retaliation"
Photo: Paramount

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704570/gi-joe-retaliation-movie-reviews.jhtml

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Pope leads Good Friday rite at Rome Colosseum

By Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people holding candles turned out at Rome's Colosseum to see Pope Francis mark the first Good Friday of his pontificate with a traditional "Way of the Cross" procession around the ancient amphitheatre.

Francis, who was elected on March 13, sat under a red canopy on Rome's Palatine Hill as representatives of the faithful from around the world alternated carrying a wooden cross on the day Christians commemorated Jesus's death by crucifixion.

"Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent," the Argentine pope said, speaking slowly in Italian and in a somber voice at the end of the evening service.

"And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness. It is also reveals a judgment, namely that God, in judging us, loves us," he said.

"Christians must respond to evil with good," he said, urging them to beware "the evil that continues to work in us and around us".

The meditations for the 14 "stations of the cross" which commemorate events in the last hours of Jesus's life - from when Pontius Pilate condemned him to death to his burial in a rock tomb - were written by young people from Lebanon.

The wooden cross was passed from one group and person to another - including a person in a wheelchair. Those who carried it came from Italy, India, China, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon and Brazil.

Several of the meditations, read by actors, referred to conflict in the Middle East and the suffering of its people.

One meditation called the Middle East "a land lacerated by injustice and violence".

Francis praised those Lebanese Christians and Muslims who tried to live together and who, he said, in doing so gave a sign of hope to the world.

Prayers were read out for exploited and abused children, refugees, the homeless and victims of religious intolerance, war, violence, terrorism, poverty, injustice and drug addiction.

There were also prayers against abortion and euthanasia.

Good Friday is the second of four hectic days leading up to Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar.

On Holy Thursday, two young women were among 12 people whose feet the pope washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite.

After celebrating an Easter eve service, on Easter Sunday he will deliver his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message in St. Peter's Square.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-leads-traditional-good-friday-rite-rome-colosseum-005958820.html

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Obama ending Mideast trip with tour of Petra

PETRA, Jordan (AP) ? Taking on the role of tourist, President Barack Obama walked through the winding, narrow pathways of Jordan's fabled ancient city of Petra on Saturday, gazed up at soaring cliffs of reddish rock and described the landscape with a single word: "Amazing."

"This is pretty spectacular," he said, craning his neck to gaze up at the rock faces as he emerged from a narrow pathway into a sun-splashed plaza in front of the grand Treasury. The soaring facade is considered the masterpiece of the ancient city carved into the rose-red stone by the Nabataeans more than 2,000 years ago.

The Bedouins named the building the Treasury because they believed an urn sculpted on top of it held great treasures, but they actually represented a memorial for Nabataean royalty. Bullet holes from people trying to retrieve the treasure are still visible in the urn at the top.

Dressed for the occasion in khaki pants, a black jacket, hiking boots and sunglasses, Obama began the walking tour at the entrance to the Siq, a narrow gorge winding between two, soaring cliffs into the heart of Petra. The pathway opens up onto the Treasury, then widens into a street where Nabataean burial chambers are carved into the mountains on both sides.

Marine One touched down near Petra on Saturday after an hour-long flight from Amman, Jordan's capital. Overcast skies in Amman had threatened to upend Obama's travel plans but the weather improved during the flight across Jordan's rugged countryside.

Petra was carved into the reddish rock by the Nabataeans, ancient Arabs who turned the city into a critical junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

Petra is Jordan's most popular tourist attraction, drawing more than a half million visitors each year since 2007. It may be familiar to many people who saw the 1989 movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Some scenes were filmed in the ancient city.

Obama's 24-hour visit to Jordan ? he arrived in the country on Friday ? is his final stop on a four-day trip to the Middle East, the first foreign excursion of his second term. It also was his first visit as president to Israel and Jordan.

Obama spent the bulk of his time in Israel, where held several meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought through a speech and other public remarks to reassure an anxious public that he is committed to the country's security.

He also made a brief stop in the West Bank city of Ramallah for meetings with Palestinian leaders.

In Amman, Obama met with King Abdullah II.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-ending-mideast-trip-tour-petra-082154344--politics.html

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A DOMA Confrontation was Inevitable (Poliblogger)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294133071?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Intel NUC review: a little desktop PC that holds big promise

Intel NUC review a little desktop PC that holds big promise

The name says it all. Late last year, Intel quietly introduced the Next Unit of Computing (NUC): a miniature, barebones desktop PC that represents a modern take on the traditional beige box. The NUC sits a mere two inches tall and comes nestled within a 4-inch square chassis. It also retails for just shy of $300. Don't let its diminutive size or price fool you, though. The Core i3 system is speedy, stable and more than capable of handling day-to-day computing tasks. Yes, it's a hell of a departure from the noisy monstrosities we lusted after just a few years ago. And it's a lot quieter, too.

Before you get too excited, though, let's temper that enthusiasm just a bit. As with any bare-bones kit, you'll need to install your own memory, storage, wireless networking components and operating system. In other words, unless you're willing to get your hands a bit dirty, the NUC isn't for you. And then there's the question of its price, which becomes a lot less tempting once you factor in the laundry list of necessary components. So, is the NUC deserving of its "Next Unit of Computing" title? Let's explore this question together.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/s1Z6gt7uMb0/

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The writing process: what does a copywriter really do? | Sunflower ...

When talking to a new or prospective client, copywriters often find themselves having to explain why their rates are ?so high?. It?s easy to just rattle off: ?Well, you get what you pay for? and, to a certain extent, that?s true. But it set me thinking that most people probably have no idea what?s involved when we sit down to put words on paper.

I can?t speak for everyone who writes words for money, but this is an approximation of what I do when completing a project.

1. Initial research.

I find out as much as I can about the project, my client and their customers. I may even give clients a questionnaire, depending on the project. This is what I aim to research:

  • The customer
  • The product
  • The business
  • The offer (or message)
  • The end goal: what does the client want from the copy?

The customer is the most important aspect of all your communications. They should always be the focus of your marketing activities: who are they, what do they want and ? most importantly ? how do you and your product/service benefit your customers? If you have any customer testimonials I can look at, send them over!

You need to look at things from their point of view. You know your business and your products inside out, but that?s not always a good thing when it comes to writing about it. You?re so invested in who you are and what you do that it can be difficult to approach the problem from the outside, from the customer?s point of view. That?s why you need me: I can write for your customers, rather than for you.

2. Exploratory research.

After the initial research comes a little more research. Two sets of research, in fact: competitor research and audience research.

Books in a library: the old-fashioned way to research

Old-fashioned research. Still useful sometimes.

I?ll have a mooch around the internet to find out what my client?s competitors are doing and how they?re talking to customers. I?ll look at successful competitors and not-so-successful ones, so I can learn from the best of what they?re doing and avoid the worst.

Then I?ll do some audience research. I need to know who you?re selling to and who you want to sell to. It?s useful to find out where your customers hang out, and stalk them a little. By learning about the audience, I can ensure that my copy is exactly what my client?s audience wants to read.

Talking to people is really useful. You can?t beat a conversation for drawing out information that you might not think to ask about. If I can, I record my conversations then transcribe them; if I can?t, I try to type as I talk.

While I?m researching and talking to people, I make a lot of notes. Sometimes I use a pen and ink, sometimes I use a computer.

3. Find the big idea.

Once the research is done, it?s time to find a ?hook? ? the main theme of the piece of copy. Then it?s time to write an outline or structure.

A rather strange image of a five-eyed little green alien with a lightbulb above his head.

He?s cute. I couldn?t resist it.

You may be surprised at the amount of work that goes on before any actual writing is done, but all this makes the blank sheet of paper much less daunting. It leads to less wailing and gnashing of teeth. Plus, it?s fun: I draw spider diagrams, word nets and helpful doodles, and then I hide them in case someone sees.

An outline is a useful thing: by creating a loose framework and using a number of subheadings, a copywriter doesn?t have to fill a blank page with words (which is a terrible thing to have to do). It gives writing purpose and flow, helping to ensure that it stays on track.

4. Then I write.

I simply put words on the screen, one after another, in whatever order they come out. I?ll write a headline too. None of this will look the way it does when it reaches my client. The final headline is often the last thing I write, when I know what I?m really saying.

Sometimes I write with a real pen and ink. Like in this picture.

Pen and ink: retro.

A little restructuring is in order then, to improve the flow of the piece if it needs it and make sure the ideas are all in a sensible order.

Then I start editing, deleting, adding and expanding. I get rid of anything that is repetition, or fluff, or jargon (especially jargon). It?s vital to trim the fat, and there?s usually a lot of fat to trim: think back to writing school essays?

5. Then I walk away.

Overnight if possible. I?ll sleep on the writing; stop thinking about it. Coming back with fresh eyes is the only way I can really edit and rewrite as necessary, and get the words into great shape.

If at all possible, I get somebody to read the piece of work through for me. It doesn?t really matter who ? and in my case, it?s usually my husband. He?ll catch any typos I?ve missed (it?s really difficult to proof your own work ? you see what you mean, not what you wrote) and tell me if it makes sense, if I?ve missed anything vital, if I?ve hit all the pain points and benefits.

6. Then I send it.

I won?t send anything to a client that I?m not happy with myself, and for this reason I rarely take on same-day tasks (I also tend to be booked up). It?s just not possible (for me at least) to do a job I would consider first-class in such a short space of time; I like to come back to it.

Included in the fee is one set of revisions. It?s rare that a copywriter gets something perfect first time, so I build amendments into the fee.

Value for your investment

When you receive a quote from a copywriter, it?s important to ask: what value are you getting? If you?re happy with a copywriter?s work, and they?ve brought value to your business, they?re worth your investment. If you?re not happy, you should seek out a new copywriter. Sometimes it takes time to find the right person and build a valuable relationship.

Keep this in mind when you ask for something short too. We often hear cries of: ?But it?s only 100 words? or ?it?s just a picture caption!? followed by a request to halve the fee. Shorter is not necessarily easier. In fact, it?s often more difficult. After all, if it was that simple, everyone would just write their own copy. Wouldn?t they?

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Source: http://sunflower-comms.com/2013/03/22/the-writing-process/

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Website Video Is A Great Marketing Tool For Business

The remarkable progress in electronic commerce over the last few years has converted the internet into a excellent marketing tool for businesses searching for new clients. Advertisers have found that it is much simpler to get individuals attention utilizing the internet, and website video is one of the ways that organizations can get themselves notices and can garner new customers and improve their profits.

Website Video marketing over the internet has become inexpensive and reliable. Since bandwidth costs have reduced greatly, individuals can afford to embed or host larger videos on web sites. Website Videos can even be viewed by millions of prospective customers thanks to the increase of viral video websites.

Of course, companies want to make a benefit from a website video. In order to make the most profit, you will need knowledge about multi-media marketing. Knowledge about how to make, compress, stream, and encode video is very helpful. Companies need individuals with these skills, and so consulting careers in this field are generally very lucrative.

When companies use viral videos, they can get a lot of interest. This word of mouth marketingcan help companies make a lot of capital as well. The great thing about viral videos is that they are relatively low-cost to make. A website video can reach millions of individuals with little cost when compared to a conventional television advertisement.

Source: http://www.informationbible.com/article-website-video-is-a-great-marketing-tool-for-business-294768.html

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Zambia : Government to give loans to public service workers at a ...

Time Posted: March 23, 2013 9:29 am

Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda

Finance Minister Alexander ChikwandaFinance Minister Alexander Chikwanda

Government has registered a micro finance institution which will be charged with the responsibility of disbursing affordable credit to public service workers at a lending rate not exceeding 5 percent.

Finance minister Alexander Chikwanda disclosed this when he officially opened the National Servings and Credit Bank Chavuma Branch in Chavuma today.

Mr. Chikwanda explained that the public service micro finance institution which will be operational soon is meant to trigger a downward movement in interest rates.

He said the innovation is in response to some private micros finance institutions that have formed curtails to manipulate the cost of banking services and credits thereby making abnormal profits.

Mr. Chikwanda explained that access to financial services is a major driver to the economic development for any district.

He said the opening of Natsave Bank is a major development to Chavuma as it is the first banking service since the establishment of the district in 1997.

Mr. Chikwanda also revealed that government through the ministry of finance has released KR 150 million for various developmental projects in North-Western Province.

He named some of the projects to be undertaken as the completion of the Solwezi general hospital, upgrading of roads in Mwinilunga and Solwezi, construction of office blocks in Ikelenge and Chavuma among others.

And Bank of Zambia (BOZ) Governor Michael Gondwe stated that it was unfortunate that micro finance institutions have for a long period of time concentrated only along the line of rail.

Dr. Gondwe said the trend has disadvantaged many people living in rural areas as it is hard for them to access financial services.

He urged micro finance institutions to open more branches in rural districts if financial inclusion is to be achieved

Meanwhile, NATSAVE Board chairperson Chiselembwe Ngandwe said the bank will remain a significant development catalyst in the district.

Mr. Ngandwe also disclosed that plans are underway to open more branches in rural districts countrywide in order to ensure that its mandate of taking developmental to rural areas is achieved.

ZANIS

Source: http://www.lusakatimes.com/2013/03/23/government-to-give-loans-to-public-service-workers-at-a-rate-of-not-more-than-5/

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