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Stronger Sales, Traffic Bolster Restaurant Performance Index in

Stronger Sales, Traffic Bolster Restaurant Performance Index in August

Same-store sales rose for the 15th consecutive month; Restaurant operators are somewhat more optimistic about the economy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2012 - Buoyed by stronger same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association?sRestaurant Performance Index (RPI) posted a modest gain in August.? The RPI - a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry - stood at 100.6 in August, up 0.4 percent from July and the first increase in five months. August represented the tenth consecutive month that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies continued expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

?Growth in the RPI was driven largely by improving same-store sales and customer traffic results in August,? said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association. ?Six out of 10 restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales in August, while customer traffic readings bounced back from July?s net decline.?

?In contrast, the Expectations Index remained dampened compared to recent stronger levels, with restaurant operators retaining a cautious outlook for sales growth and the economy in the months ahead,? Riehle added.

The Restaurant Performance Index is constructed so that the health of the restaurant industry is measured in relation to a steady-state level of 100. Index values above 100 indicate that key industry indicators are in a period of expansion, while index values below 100 represent a period of contraction for key industry indicators.? The Index consists of two components - the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.?

The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 100.6 in August - up 0.8 percent from July?s level of 99.8. After dipping below 100 in July for the first time in nine months, the August reading represents a return to expansion in the index of current situation indicators.

Restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales for the 15(th) consecutive month, with August results representing a solid improvement over the July performance. Sixty-one percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between August 2011 and August 2012, up from 53 percent who reported positive sales in July. In comparison, 25 percent of operators reported lower same-store sales in August, down from 36 percent in July.?

Restaurant operators also reported a net increase in customer traffic levels in August. Forty-seven percent of restaurant operators reported higher customer traffic levels between August 2011 and August 2012, up from 35 percent who reported positive traffic in July. In contrast, only 32 percent of operators reported lower customer traffic levels in August, down sharply from 46 percent in July.

Despite the uptick in sales and customer traffic, restaurant operators reported somewhat lower levels of capital spending.? Forty-one percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, down from 46 percent who reported similarly last month.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators? six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 100.7 in August - unchanged from July?s level. Although August marked the 12(th) consecutive month that the Expectations Index stood above 100, it remained nearly two index-points below the post-recession peak reached in March.? ?

Restaurant operators remain generally optimistic that their sales levels will improve in the months ahead, as their sales outlook was essentially unchanged from last month. Forty percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year), compared to 42 percent who reported similarly last month. Meanwhile, only 12 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, down slightly from 15 percent last month.

Restaurant operators are not as bullish about the direction of the overall economy, though their outlook improved somewhat from last month.? Twenty-nine percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, up from 22 percent who reported similarly last month.? Meanwhile, 20 percent of operators said they expect economic conditions to worsen in the next six months, while 51 percent think conditions will stay about the same.?

Restaurant operators? outlook for capital spending dipped somewhat from recent months. Forty-four percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, down from 49 percent who reported similarly last month.?

The RPI is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association?s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures.? The full report and a video summary are available online at http://www.restaurant.org/research/economy/rpi.

The RPI is released on the last business day of each month, and a more detailed data and analysis can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper, the Association?s subscription-based web site that provides detailed analysis of restaurant industry trends.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 970,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry?s largest trade show (NRA Show May 18-21, 2013, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF?s ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 19-21, 2013, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids? menu options. For more information, visit http://www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

SOURCE National Restaurant Association

National Restaurant Association

CONTACT: Annika Stensson, +1-202-973-3677, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Rachel Salabes, +1-202-331-5977, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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Posted on Sep 28, 2012 - 04:49 PM ? Print

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Immigration and its Link to the Swing States' High Unemployment ...

By Joe Guzzardi, CAPS Senior Writing Fellow. Guzzardi's Op-eds about California social issues have appeared in newspapers throughout California and elsewhere for 15 years., September 29, 2012 (7 hours ago)

A recent CAPS homepage feature story revealed that in August five of the 10 states considered pivotal in the U.S. presidential election lost jobs. Unemployment increased in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In the other five crucial states?Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida and Virginia, the unemployment statistics either remained unchanged or increased fractionally. The ten states represent 115 electoral votes. [Jobless Rates Rise in 5 of Ten Campaign Swing States, by Michelle Jamrisko and Alex Kowalski, Bloomberg News, September 21, 2012]

In the weeks leading up to November 6, there have been and will be so many polls offering so many different perspectives that they defy comprehensive analysis.

But one constant remains. Immigration?s adverse impact on American unemployment will be an unmentionable for the incumbent president Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney. Even voters in Nevada, the nation?s? most beleaguered state with its 12.1 percent unemployment, will not hear a single word about immigration unless its boilerplate, debunked stuff about ?doing jobs Americans won?t.?

As?grim as the widely published Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data is, the more telling U-6 rate is appalling.? The BLS defines U-6 as total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force.

For the swing states, the U-6 rate is Iowa (10.5 percent), New Hampshire (11.2), North Carolina (17.5), Wisconsin (13.3) and Nevada (22.1).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau?s latest data, Nevada?s Hispanic population is 27.1 percent. Any time a demographic representation is as high as Nevada?s, American workers will suffer. Many Americans would eagerly work in Nevada?s hospitality industry, if offered the opportunity.

A Center for Immigration Studies report found that from 2000 to 2010, all of the net employment gains went to immigrant (legal and illegal) workers. Fewer native-born workers were employed in 2010 than in 2000, despite a 13.5 million increase in native-born workers during that time. Despite all evidence which proves that adding nearly 1 million legal immigrants annually to the work force devastates Americans, immigration remains the third rail on the campaign trail.

Even the administration?s staunchest supporters paint a grim employment picture for years to come. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich summed it up this way:

?Since the start of the Great Recession [through March, 2010], the economy has lost 8.4 million jobs and failed to create another 2.7 million needed just to keep up with population growth. That means we?re more than 11 million in the hole right now. And that hole keeps deepening every month we fail to add at least 150,000 new jobs, again reflecting population growth?.Bottom line: This is no jobs recovery.?

Perhaps the most curious thing about the candidates? failure to mention immigration is that mainstream Americans like the idea of limiting it. A CNN/ORC International poll found that 75 percent favor Arizona?s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Law (SB 1070).

Nevertheless, Republicans and Democrats alike persist in their efforts to force more immigration onto struggling Americans.

Source: http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2012/09/29/immigration-and-its-link-to-the-swing-states-high-unemployment/

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Strassel: The GOP's Female Trouble (WSJ)

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Predatory bacterial crowdsourcing: Scientists ID simple formula that allows bacteria to engulf food in waves

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2012) ? Move forward. High-five your neighbor. Turn around. Repeat.

That's the winning formula of one of the world's smallest predators, the soil bacteria Myxococcus xanthus, and a new study by scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School shows how M. xanthus uses the formula to spread, engulf and devour other bacteria.

The study, featured on the cover of this month's online issue of the journal PLOS Computational Biology, shows how the simple motions of individual bacteria are amplified within colonies of M. xanthus to form millions-strong waves moving outward in unison. The findings answer longstanding questions about how the waves form and the competitive edge they provide M. xanthus.

"When the cells at the edge of the colony are moving outward, they are unlikely to encounter another M. xanthus cell, so they keep moving forward," said lead author Oleg Igoshin, assistant professor of bioengineering at Rice. "When they are traveling the other way, back toward the rest of the colony, they are likely to encounter other cells of their kind, and when they pass beside one of these and touch, they get the signal to turn around."

Igoshin said the net effect is that the cells "spend more time moving outward than inward, and as a result, they spread faster."

M. xanthus is an oft-studied model organism in biology but, Igoshin said, it is one of the few well-studied organisms that lends itself to the study of systems biology, a rapidly growing field of life sciences that aims to model and discover emergent phenomena -- like the rippling waves of M. xanthus colonies -- that have a basis in genetics but only become apparent when cells cooperate.

"Most of the model bacteria that biologists selected for study in the lab were chosen because they were very good at growing on their own in a test tube and not sticking to the wall or to one another," Igoshin said. "When we were choosing model organisms, we lost a lot of the social properties that systems biologists like to study. M. xanthus is different in that people chose to study it because it grew into cool patterns and structures arising from cooperative behavior."

As a computational biologist, Igoshin specializes in creating mathematical models that accurately describe the behavior of living systems. Such models are useful for understanding the cellular and even genetic basis of emergent phenomena.

In the case of M. xanthus waves, Igoshin and Rice graduate student Haiyang Zhang and postdoctoral fellow Peng Shi created an agent-based model, a computer program that simulated the actions and interactions of individual cells to examine how they collectively produced M. xanthus waves.

The model showed that just three ingredients were needed to generate the rippling behavior:

• When two cells moving toward one another have side-to-side contact, they exchange a signal that causes one of them to reverse.
• A time interval after each reversal during which cells cannot reverse again.
• Physical interactions that cause the cells to align.

To verify the model's accuracy, Igoshin's team partnered with UTHealth's Heidi Kaplan, associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. Kaplan and graduate students Zalman Vaksman and Douglas Litwin, both of the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, used time-lapse images from microscopes to examine the behavior of M. xanthus waves. The experiments confirmed the relationships between wavelength, reversal time and cell velocity that had been predicted by the model.

"We also found an interesting flip side for the behavior, which was counterintuitive and unexpected," Kaplan said. "The same behavior that causes the waves to spread quickly and to cover newly found prey also allows M. xanthus cells to stay on a patch of food and not drift away until the food is devoured."

The exact biochemical signals that the cells use to sense their prey and signal one another to reverse are still a mystery, but the new study helps to narrow the field. For example, many signals between bacteria do not require physical contact, but the study found that the reversing behavior requires contact between cells.

"If the mechanism for this behavior can be found, it could prove useful for synthetic biologists who are interested in programming touch-induced functions into synthetic organisms," Igoshin said.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The computer modeling was performed on three NSF-funded Rice supercomputers -- STIC, SUG@R and DAVinCI -- that are jointly managed and operated by Rice's Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and Rice's Department of Information Technology.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rice University. The original article was written by Jade Boyd.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Zhang H, Vaksman Z, Litwin DB, Shi P, Kaplan HB, et al. The Mechanistic Basis of Myxococcus xanthus Rippling Behavior and Its Physiological Role during Predation. PLoS Comput Biol, 2012 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002715

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_science/~3/mXL6M9xm0o4/120928093719.htm

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christians and culture

We spend most of our time in our community and living in our culture. Christians listen to secular music, attend movies, watch television on big screen TVs, and use the Internet as much as non-Christians. They go to McDonalds and Starbucks and enroll their children in music lessons and soccer as much as non-Christians. They become enthralled with American Idol, The World Cup, Facebook, and U2 as much as non-Christians. They work in all sectors of the workplace and take vacations and yet suffer job dissatisfaction, depression, and divorce as much as non-Christians. Common experiences and networks of relationships bind people together. Evangelicals value exegesis (interpretation) of Scripture.

However, an effective missional spirituality will also exegete (interpret) culture. As helpful as they are, it is not enough to restrict ourselves to a Christian subculture where our primary interactions are with James Dobson, Hill Song, and Beth Moore. It?s not enough, to simply wag our heads about Britney Spears or denounce sexuality and violence in movies, though we would not accept them uncritically.

Like the ?men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do? (1 Chron 12:32), Max DePree wrote, ?The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.?[1] Christian leaders and people need to define reality and ?interpret the signs of the times? (Matt 16:1-3). They need to exegete popular culture and cultivate a missional spirituality that engages and interprets it theologically. Of course the movie Avatar and Oprah communicate syncretistic New Age messages, but what are the messages, how are they depicted and why, what are the values, beliefs, concerns, and anxieties that they portray about our culture? What can we learn from them? How do we interpret their messages from the perspective of Christian theology?

What motivates Lady Gaga?s lyrics, appearance, and view of spirituality? As a pop culture phenomenon, not unlike Taylor Swift who has colossal popularity with very different messages so far, Lady Gaga is a commentary on popular culture?s spiritual, sexual, and social values. How do we help our youth exegete her from the standpoint of Christian theology? On February 13, 2011, Anderson Cooper interviewed her on 60 Minutes?[2] She offers an intriguing glimpse into a person whose views on sexuality, spirituality, and social justice emerge from her own pain and rejection she suffered in her growing up years, especially in a Catholic school. Media both shapes and expresses popular culture through a shared meaning.

It?s not possible to read Scripture and then do theology without involving the context of culture into the theological task. Culture is a lived worldview. The products of culture are cultural texts, which are human actions that communicate meaning and require interpretation. For example multi-level marketing, ponzi schemes, and white-collar crime grabbed headlines in the first decade of the 21^st century. Greed motivates these trends. Theologically interpreted, greed is idolatry. Another trend is social networking such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Blogs. Community in Christ will only satisfy this human longing to belong. We must involve ourselves in and read the texts the texts of culture. Mark Driscoll writes,

I am encouraging Christians on Reformission to involve themselves in their local cultures not merely for the purpose of entertainment but primarily for the purpose of education. As a missionary, you will need to watch television shows and movies, listen to music, read books, peruse magazines, attend events, join organizations, surf websites, and befriend people that you might not like to better understand people that Jesus loves.[3]

Vanhoozer states, ?The church is to be a community of interpreters.?[4] Effective missionaries interpret the culture. They don?t expect people from the host culture to come to their turf to learn their language, values, and customs. They cross borders and learn the language, customs, values, and trends of the host culture.

As you exegete the meaning behind texts and trends, you use the filters of Scripture and Christian theology to read them theologically. Vanhoozer states, ?The believing community ?reads? the world in light of the Word of God. In other words, the church interprets the world and the surrounding culture through the lens of the biblical text.?[5] Yet, you can exegete culture and still be formed by its values, untransformed from only being exposed to abstract informational appeals to your mind that you hear in sermons. Unless you actually engage culture as a missionary nothing will change. James Smith makes the point that the values and practices of the mall and the marketplace shape our imaginations about the ?good life.? If culture shapes your heart and what you desire and love, how will the church offer counter measures? Both the market and the mall do not primarily aim at your head (the intellect) but at your heart and feelings.[6]

What are your responses? For further reading on this subject, see our Missional Spirituality.

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[1] Max DePree, Leadership is an Art (New York: Doubleday, 1989, 2004), p. 11.

[2] See the full Lady Gaga interview available on multiple Internet sites and YouTube.

[3] Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), p. 103.

[4] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson, Michael J. Sleasman, eds. Everyday Theology: How To Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), p. 55.

[5] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ?The World Well Staged? Theology, Culture, and Hermeneutics,? D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, eds., God and Culture: Essays in Honor of Carl F. H. Henry (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993), p. 29.

[6] James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), pp. 18-35.

Source: http://missionalspirituality.com/2012/09/1065/

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Nursing Property Neglect ? Identified Research | ArticlePDQ.com

Elderly people are often cared for by professional caregivers. These health care providers typically work at nursing homes. While it is the duty of these workers to care for the elderly, nursing home abuse is a very serious problem that affects many elderly people.

The most common types of nursing home abuse are:

1. Physical abuse
2. Physical and medical neglect
3. Verbal and emotional abuse
4. Verbal and emotional neglect
5. Personal property abuse.

The statistics surrounding nursing home abuse are startling. Even more startling, the majority of elder abuse cases go unresolved or unreported. A federal report done by the United States government provides these abuse statistics:

1. 24% of nursing home caregivers do not properly administer prescribed medications.
2. 26% of caregivers failed to provide acceptable hygiene care.
3. 36% of nursing homes failed to follow standard food practices. These practices include the serving and storage of food in a proper manner.
4. 18% of caregivers failed to meet the bathroom needs of elderly patients.

Unfortunately, these are just a few of the many upsetting statistics surrounding nursing home abuse. One of of three nursing homes in the United States have been cited due to neglect or other improper care or behavior caused by staff. With one in ten elderly persons spending time in nursing homes, this is a very serious issue that must be addressed.

This article is written by an independent author. Goldberg & Osborne, a Mesa, Arizona personal injury law firm, has not reviewed or edited any of the information, written or implied, on this article and shall not be held responsible for any incident that may arise from the use of the information provided. For more details please see http://mesainjurylawyer.net

Source: http://articlepdq.com/health-fitness/nursing-property-neglect-identified-research/

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Calling U.S. Drone Strikes 'Surgical' Is Orwellian Propaganda (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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France demands restart of idled ArcelorMittal furnaces

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Reports: NFL, referees closing in on new deal

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES

Green Bay Packers fan Mike LePak holds a sign in front of Lambeau Field along Lombardi Avenue, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis., in protest of a controversial call in the Packers 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Monday night in Seattle. Just when it seemed that NFL coaches, players and fans couldn't get any angrier, along came a fiasco that trumped any of the complaints from the weekend. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Two days after a controversial call cost the Green Bay Packers a win, the NFL and the referees' union are reportedly nearing an end to a lockout that put replacement officials on the field since the start of the season.

According to several reports, the NFL and the union are close to a new deal that would allow the league's regular officials to return to work, possibly as early as this weekend. ESPN reported Wednesday that "an agreement in principle is at hand," and The New York Times reported that the sides "were closing in" on a way to end the impasse. ESPN cited unidentified sources from both sides; the Times cited a person briefed on the negotiations.

The NFL declined to confirm that a deal was imminent.

"Until somebody tells me differently, it's not really changed," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

Still, even the suggestion that regular refs could be back as early as Sunday was greeted with welcoming words.

"If it's final and they are, I'm sure a lot of people will be happy ? and I'll be one of those guys, too," Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson said on a conference call with reporters from Detroit in advance of the upcoming Vikings-Lions game.

NFL agent David Canter tweeted: "Welcome back real refs. Just remember when you blow a call you'll get no sympathy."

A person briefed on the negotiations told The Associated Press that talks between the league and its officials resumed Wednesday morning after a short break following a 14-hour meeting that started Tuesday. The person spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the discussions were not made public.

The debate over the use of replacement officials has raged since the start of the season, and boiled over after the final play of the Packers-Seahawks game. A last-second scrum in the end zone was ruled a game-winning touchdown by Seahawks receiver Golden Tate. But Packers players, their fans and much of the football-watching public saw an interception by Green Bay's M.D. Jennings.

"Would you let a Toyota dealership work on your brand new Rolls-Royce? That doesn't work right, does it," Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh said Wednesday. "Our brand is so big, it's so important to a lot of people. There's no way you can have guys that don't have experience at that level."

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay's quarterback and the reigning league MVP, used his weekly radio show Tuesday as a platform to lash out at the NFL and question its priorities. However, New England quarterback Tom Brady said he would rather focus on the game and not worry about officiating.

The NFLRA, whose members were locked out in June, wants improved salaries, retirement benefits and other logistical issues. The NFL is proposing a pension freeze and a higher 401(k) match; the union is balking because of the greater risk to the nest egg that comes with the loss of a defined benefit.

And as speculation swirled that a deal was close on Wednesday, the players' association urged caution.

"Having done this before, everyone needs to wait until the ink is dry," NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith tweeted.

The replacement officials previously worked mostly in lower-division college ranks, such as Division III, and in minor professional organizations like the Arena League.

Despite several field fiascos, not everyone is necessarily pointing fingers at the replacements.

"Someone made a good point this morning that maybe we shouldn't be blaming the refs, but blaming the league, the owners, I don't know who it is," Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "Maybe it's not just the officials. We're putting them in tough situations and it can't be easy."

In Cincinnati, coach Marvin Lewis urged the Bengals in a team meeting to not fixate on the replacement-ref issue.

"I told our guys to shut up," Lewis said. "It's none of your business. You have no influence on it. You don't need to worry about it. Just play football."

Even if a deal was at hand, it was still uncertain how it would affect the weekend's games.

"Your loud voices r heard about getting Refs back," Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay wrote on Twitter. "We're desperately trying 2 get it done! We want a deal that improves officiating overall."

___

AP Sports Writers Richard Rosenblatt, Larry Lage, Joe Kay, Will Graves, Stephen Hawkins, Dave Campbell and Michael Marot contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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How social media can improve your business

Although companies push their brands via social media, consumers don?t see them as traditional advertising and even actively follow their favourites, finds a new study.

Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter are the most popular social networks. Use of LinkedIn and Twitter ranks amongst the highest in the world.
The use of social media keeps increasing thanks to the rapid adoption of mobile internet.
Pinterest and Instagram are the rising stars. Consumers prefer not to start using a new social network unless it has a unique function. Quite a few people intend to use Pinterest and Instagram in the future.
1 in 2 consumers follow at least one brand. On average, consumers follow 12 brands passively and 4 actively.
7 in 10 consumers are prepared to help companies improve existing products. Customer co-creation appeals to consumers and companies have yet to adequately capitalise on this opportunity.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter most popular

The use of social media continues to rise all over the world. Today, 8 in 10 British internet users are active on social media. Facebook is by far the most popular site (68% are active on Facebook), followed by LinkedIn (26%) and Twitter (28%). The study conducted by InSites Consulting demonstrates that the increasing number of smartphones worldwide is stimulating the use of social media. Smartphone owners visit social network sites more often than consumers who do not have a mobile internet connection. Smartphone users are also more open to communication with brands.

Smartphones assure further growth of social media

58% of British surfers have a smartphone and the vast majority have an internet subscription on their device. 13% owns a tablet. The increasing number of smartphones and tablets is boosting the use of social media. 66% of smartphone users are active on social media on a daily basis, as opposed to 48% of people without a smartphone. In addition, social media applications are very popular.

?The results of our study clearly illustrate the importance of mobile internet. Apart from entertainment, consumers also use their smartphone for a broad range of practical online applications. Navigation and weather monitoring applications are especially popular. The fast-paced mobile evolution has given fresh momentum to the use of social media,? Professor Steven Van Belleghem concludes.

Pinterest and Instagram are the stars of the future

InSites Consulting?s study confirms the popularity of the three big social network sites. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn still head the list not just in the Netherlands, but virtually all over the world. Moreover, new social network sites will find it hard to emulate the success of the top three anytime soon.

The study shows that the average consumer is a member of two social network sites, which generally translates into ?Facebook + one other site?. 95% of these users have no intention of abandoning their regular sites, while 60% are unwilling to create a new account. However, the study did find two exceptions that are bucking the overall trend: Pinterest and Instagram. 10% of American surfers use Pinterest and 7% are active on Instagram; in the UK both sites reach only 5% of surfers. These two sites show the biggest growth potential worldwide. A large percentage of people are considering using these sites in the future.

Professor Van Belleghem notes that ?Consumers are clearly satisfied with the currently-available range of social network sites. A small group of consumers is constantly on the lookout for the latest thing, but the vast majority prefer a status quo. Only sites that bring something new to the mix are able to arouse the consumer?s interest, which explains the success and potential of Instagram and Pinterest. Both sites offer something that neither Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn have, and that?s why consumers are interested?.

Consumers are more than willing to help companies on social media

One striking conclusion of this study is the high degree of consumer willingness to help companies. Nearly half (47%) of all European social network users follow at least one brand. The average consumer is a passive follower of 11 brands and an interactive follower of 6 more. Consumers primarily expect these brands to provide information on their products, launch exciting promotional campaigns and involve consumers in the product improvement process. 84% of social networkers would love to help a brand and offer advice. Most of all, they want to help companies improve existing products or services. Some are even interested in helping them brainstorm about the products of tomorrow.

Van Belleghem concludes that ?So many companies out there are wasting a golden opportunity. Most of them only worry about likes and the number of fans, while forgetting about customer co-creation. Social networks provide the perfect platform to involve consumers in the development of corporate strategy. Consumers are able and willing to provide added value in this respect, but unfortunately most companies have yet to recognise these opportunities?.

About the survey:

These are some of the results of a large-scale study conducted by InSites Consulting, data sampling company SSI and translation agency No Problem! A total of 7,827 people from 19 countries took part in the survey, with an average sample size of 400 respondents per country. The results are representative of the internet population in the participating countries. Feel free to call or e-mail us if you would like to know more about the methodology. We would be happy to explain the details.

The full research report is available online

Which social media do you use most for business and why? Let us know your thoughts below?

Source: http://sellyourstoryuk.com/2012/09/25/importance-of-social-media-business/

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#026: How to Lead in Turbulent Times [Podcast] | Michael Hyatt

It?s no secret that the last four or five years have been challenging from an economic, technological, and global perspective. In this episode, I discuss five actions leaders must take in order to lead well in turbulent times.

When I speak publicly on this topic, I call this presentation, ?Shift: Leading in Turbulent Times.? I use the word ?shift? for two reasons:

1. The world seems to be shifting under our feet.
2. We must also shift if we are going to lead well.

Click to Listen

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

While I was the CEO of Thomas Nelson (2005?2011), we experienced three significant changes:

1. Change #1: The Great Recession
2. Change #2: The Digital Revolution
3. Change #3: The Social Media Revolution

Your industry has probably gone through massive change as well. Over the last few months, I have spoken to a vareity of groups representing several different industries:

• The Telecommunications Industry has gone through a massive shift to smart phones and wireless communications.
• The Mortgage Industry has gone through a massive shift in federal regulation and lending practices.
• The Media Industry has gone through a massive shift to digital delivery and direct-to-consumer marketing.

And, of course, the phenomenon of social media has impacted every industry. And, if that weren?t enough, you are probably experiencing massive change in your own life.

• Maybe you?re going through a tough time in your marriage or dealing with the aftermath of a divorce or even the death of a spouse.
• Maybe you?ve been laid off and are struggling to find work. Perhaps you are under-employed or just launching a business.
• Maybe you had a health crisis and are dealing with the impact on your family and career.

Or maybe it?s quite so massive but still change?perhaps you are newly married, just had a baby, or received a promotion. Regardless, we are living in a world of unprecedented change. To lead well in this kind of environment, you must take five specific actions.

1. Action #1: Shift your perception. You must acknowledge reality. This is the new normal. We?re not going back. At the same time, you must remain confident that you will ultimately prevail. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins refers to this as ?The Stockdale Paradox.?
2. Action #2: Shift your intention. You can?t resist change; you must embrace it. This means taking the initiative?going first?and leaning into it. How you approach change as a leader will determine how your organization approaches it.
3. Action #3: Shift your direction. In turbulent times, it is easy to lose your vision. You just stop talking about the future. However, your people need to know there is a future and their actions matter.
4. Action #4: Shift your acceleration. You must recover a sense of urgency. Your responsiveness can be a competitive advantage, particularly if you are a small organization with big competitors.
5. Action #5: Shift your allocation. Unlike the federal government, you can?t fund new programs without defunding old ones. You have to shift your resources away from unprofitable programs to profitable ones.

Real leaders thrive in turbulent times. They come alive. Why? Because it requires them to grow. They discover abilities and resources they never knew they had.

Listener Questions

1. Tom Eggebrecht asked, ?How do you lead people who don?t want to be led??
2. John Bergquist asked, ?How do you handle the stress of change in a healthy way??
3. DJ Wade-O asked, ?How do you deal with change in an organization when you don?t agree with it??
4. Dean Brown asked, ?How do you manage well at work when your personal life is rapidly changing and things seem overwhelming??

Special Announcements

1. I am excited to announce the publication of my brand new audio course entitled, ?Everything You Need to Know to Get Published.? If you have ever thought about writing a book (or even if you have written a book) this course is for you.

   In 21 audio sessions, I cover everything I have learned about publishing in my thirty-plus years in the industry as a publisher, former literary agent, and two-time New York Times bestselling author.

   This week, I am offering a special 50% discount to my blog readers and podcast listeners. But, you must order before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday night, September 30, 2012. I?ll also throw in four FREE bonus products worth more than $150.00.

   Click here to find out more.

2. I will be speaking four times at three events in the Atlanta area next week. If you live there, I?d love to meet you and shake your hand! You can find me here:

   If you want to explore the possibility of having me speak at your event, visit my speaking page.

Episode Resources

In this episode I mentioned several resources, including:

Show Transcript

The transcript of this episode is not quite ready. I will post it here when it is available.

Subscription Links

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe:

Your Feedback

If you have an idea for a podcast you would like to see or a question about an upcoming episode, e-mail me.

Also, if you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out! Thanks.

Question: What needs to change in you if you are going to manage change effectively? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Source: http://michaelhyatt.com/026-how-to-lead-in-turbulent-times-podcast.html

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Tattoos from dot-com boom linger on

Ed Betz / AP file

Joe Tamargo sold ads on his body to various sites, like SaveMartha.com, which was set up to keep Martha Stewart from jail following her incitement for securities fraud.

By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

The dotcom bubble may have burst long ago, but some of its lingering effects are permanently etched on the backsides, forearms and foreheads of a few human billboards. Buzzfeed profiled some people who still carry the ?skinvertising? tattoos. They got cash from websites to ink ads directly onto their flesh back in the 2000s, when the trend was all the rage. The cash is gone. So too are many of the websites. But the ink remains.?

Karolyne Smith sold her forehead space to online gambling site GoldenPalace for $10,000 and hit the talk show circuit. Her current Facebook picture shows her sporting blonde bangs down to her eyebrows. It's against the law to use the site from within the U.S. and several states are blocked from accessing the site at all.?

Ed Betz / AP file

Joe Tamargo shows off a tattoo.

Joe Tamargo sold ads on his body to various sites, like SaveMartha.com, which was set up to keep Martha Stewart from jail following her incitement for securities fraud. The tattoo apparently didn't work, because the hostess with the mostess still went to prison (though, after serving her sentence, now free). Tamargo told Buzzfeed that when people ask about the tattoos ,?they're like, 'Yo, that's pretty cool. I'm going to check out those websites... And then they get there and there's nothing on the website.??

He's trying to buy himself some of the URLs on his body which lead to now defunct sites, like the former Viagra pill purveyor pilldaddy.com.?

Other depressing vestiges of the trend include:?

• Mark Greenlaw: Auctioned the back of his neck on eBay as advertising space in 2006 to a web hosting company called Glob@t to provide for his family while he was in Army basic training.?
• Jim Nelson: Sold a very large chunk on the back of his head to CI Host for $7,000. He signed a contract agreeing he would travel to at least eight states and two countries a year or pay a $25,000 fine.?
• Skinvertise.com: Billed itself as the first and original skin advertising agency, bringing together ?skinvertisers? and advertising clients. The website now leads to a page that says the site is suspended.?

Then there's the poster child for the skinvertising trend, Billy Gibby, who legally changed his name to Hostgator Dotcom after a website hosting company paid him for the ?naming rights.? Tattoos for websites cover his face. He too has a giant ad for GoldenPalace filling his backside. In all, he says he has 37 tattoos. So how much does his flesh go for??

In a 2009 post on his blog?Gibby announced he was selling 6?x1? forehead tattoos for $20,000 and 6?x1? and 4?x1? chest tattoos for $3,000 and $2,200, respectively.?

?Let me be your company or website's billboard,? read the post.?

Reached by email, Gibby said he's currently charging $1,500 for a tattoo on his body. Traditional economic theory would suggest that as demand has dropped, so have Gibby's prices.?

Besides changing his prices, Gibby too has had a change of heart about being the walking, talking, literal ?face? of so many websites.?

?I no longer do tattoo ads on my head or face and plan to get those ones taken off one day with lasers,? he told NBC News in an email.

My kids don't really talk about my tattoos much but when they get older I'll let them know the reason I did it,? he wrote. ?It does make me sad sometimes that I have them on my face but I know the reason I did it was to keep my kids from being homeless.?

More money and business news:

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Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/09/25/14012181-tattoos-from-dot-com-boom-still-mark-those-who-took-the-money?lite

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The Government Doesn't Regulate Use Of Antibiotics In American ...

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --?Although antibiotic use in humans is closely monitored by our nation's health care system, there is no equivalent monitoring for animals as detailed in an article in the September issue of Food Nutrition & Science (FNS).

The article features a debate between Dr. Randall Singer, associate professor of Epidemiology at The University of Minnesota, and Dr. Meghan F. Davis, postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered the FDA to reconsider two petitions seeking restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The order comes amidst longstanding concerns about usage trends for antibiotics in animal agriculture and how those trends relate to antimicrobial resistance in both animals and humans.

"This debate is crucial not only to the safety of our food supply, but to the better understanding of how it affects human health," says Phil Lempert, founder of Food Nutrition & Science and CEO of The Lempert Report and SupermarketGuru.com. "Regardless, we need a better system to monitor our food chain to ensure safety for both animals and humans."

Also in this month's issue, results from a recent study from The University of Minnesota that suggest access to fruits and vegetables during adolescence and emerging adulthood influence consumption in young adulthood (19 to 30 years old).

In addition, FNS celebrates World Pasta Day taking place on October 25, 2012. This annual event, now in its 17^th year, was created to commemorate the delicious, nutritious and versatile role pasta plays in a healthy lifestyle.

According to Lempert, "This is the perfect time for retailers to educate their customers about this delicious staple, providing recipe ideas, product samples/tastes, suggesting new pasta 'pairings' and more."

About Food Nutrition & Science

With more than 26,000 readers, Food Nutrition & Science is the only monthly newsletter created for all food industry players to communicate about the safest, most efficient and healthiest ways to get food to our plates. For more information or to subscribe, please visit www.FoodNutritionScience.com.

SOURCE Food Nutrition & Science

Source: http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/press_releases/the-government-doesnt-regulate-use-of-antibiotics-in-american-farm-animals

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YouTube Expands Translation Tools For Video Captions To 300+ Languages

YouTube just announced that it is now making it easier for video creators to translate their video captions to more than 300 languages by integrating the YouTube Video Manager with the Google Translator Toolkit. It's important to note that these are not the automatic caption translations that YouTube currently makes available for about 50 languages. Instead, users who want to support captions in languages currently not supported by the automatic tools (or who prefer hand-crafted translations over the sometimes odd machine translations) will have to do the work themselves or invite others to help them.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2Qv0EMllpnw/

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Cancer drug mark-ups bring in big money for N.C. nonprofit ...

By Joseph Neff, Ames Alexander and Karen Garloch ? The (Raleigh) News & Observer

Large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina are dramatically inflating prices on chemotherapy drugs at a time when they are cornering more of the market on cancer care, an investigation by the Observer and The News & Observer of Raleigh has found.

The newspapers found hospitals are routinely marking up prices on cancer drugs by two to 10 times over cost. Some markups are far higher.

It?s happening as hospitals increasingly buy the practices of independent oncologists, then charge more ? sometimes much more ? for the same chemotherapy in the same office.

Asked about the findings, hospital officials said they are relying on a longtime practice of charging more for some services to make up for losses in others. Hospitals have a name for this: cost-shifting.

?The drug itself may just be the vehicle for charging for the services that are provided (elsewhere),? said Joe Piemont, president of Carolinas HealthCare System, the $7 billion chain that owns many of the region?s hospitals. ?We make literally thousands of trades to have it balance.?

The rising price of cancer treatment has financially devastated many families, while driving up insurance costs and causing some patients to put off needed treatments.

?If you have enough money or good enough insurance, it may not be an issue for you,? said Donna Hopkins, CEO of Dynamic Medical Solutions, a company that audits medical bills. ?If you?re somebody who doesn?t have that, it can be a death sentence.?

After examining some chemotherapy bills collected by the Observer, Hopkins called the markups ?outrageous.?

Some of the largest markups are made by nonprofit hospital chains that generate millions of dollars of profit each year and have billions in reserves.

It?s a mystery to the public how hospitals set their charges. But the newspapers obtained and analyzed a private database with information on more than 5,000 chemotherapy claims to get insight into pricing for cancer patients, a group that faces some of the nation?s highest medical bills.

The drug data, along with scores of interviews, help explain why hospitals have become so expensive ? and why health care spending now makes up 18 percent of the national economy.

Among the markups found:

? Levine Cancer Institute, owned by Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare, this year collected nearly $4,500 for a 240-milligram dose of irinotecan, a drug used to treat people with colon or rectal cancer. The average sales price for that amount of the drug: less than $60.

? Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast in Concord was paid about $19,000 for a one-gram dose of rituximab, used to treat lymphoma and leukemia. That was roughly three times the average sales price.

? Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, owned by Novant Health, collected about $680 for 50 milligrams of cisplatin. The markup: more than 50 times the average sales price.

Such markups are hidden from patients.

Charlotte native Chuck Moore, the patient in the Forsyth case, got nine weeks of chemotherapy for cancer at the base of his tongue in 2008 and 2009. Though he had good health insurance, he still paid about $15,000.

When a reporter told him the average sales price of the drugs he?d received, he questioned the hospital?s charges.

?I?ve never had a business where I could get a markup like that,? said Moore, an assembly plant supervisor now living near Atlanta. ?It seems almost predatory.?

Costlier, not better

Until recently, those who needed chemotherapy had more alternatives. They could go to the offices of oncologists who weren?t employed by hospitals.

Increasingly, however, private oncologists are under financial pressure to sell their businesses to hospitals. When they do, hospitals often charge more.

In a review of claims for seven cancer drugs, the newspapers found that charges for all but one drug were significantly higher at hospitals and hospital-owned clinics ? usually more than 45 percent higher.

Levine Cancer Institute, for instance, charges about $106 for each unit of Aloxi, the anti-nausea drug. But at Carolina Oncology Specialists, an independent clinic in Hickory, the charge is just $50.

Insurers have found similar patterns.

At the newspapers? request, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state?s largest health insurer, examined data from thousands of 2011 chemotherapy claims and found that hospital-owned facilities in the state tend to be paid 50 to 150 percent more for cancer drugs than independent oncologists.

A recent study by Avalere Health, a consulting firm, found similar disparities nationally. Chemotherapy costs 24 percent more in an outpatient hospital setting than in a doctor?s office, the study concluded.

Dr. Ira Klein, assistant to the chief medical officer at Aetna insurance company, said he believes the acquisitions of oncology practices by hospitals have increased costs without improving the quality of care.

?We?re essentially enriching people and getting nothing for it,? he said. ?And there are higher premiums every year.?

Shifting the costs

Hospital officials defend their pricing.

Unlike many independent clinics, they say, hospitals suffer losses from treating patients without insurance and patients covered by Medicaid, the government program for the poor and disabled. Some independent oncologists acknowledge that they often refer such patients to hospitals.

Hospital officials say they provide counseling and many other cancer services that insurers don?t cover.

Officials for Carolinas HealthCare and Novant, which runs four Mecklenburg County hospitals, emphasize that they provide free care to many financially needy cancer patients.

Carolinas Medical Center spent about 5.5 percent of its budget on charity care in 2010. Presbyterian Hospital spent about 5 percent.

Piemont, of Carolinas HealthCare, said charges for chemotherapy drugs may be used to cover costs of other money-losing services, such as the emergency department, which treats a high number of uninsured patients.

?We cannot be compared to (an independent doctor) who can just overtly select who they see,? Piemont said. ?We take everybody. That requires cost-shifting that is so emblematic of this industry.?

Novant spokeswoman Kati Everett pointed to shortcomings in the Avalere study, noting that hospital patients tend to be sicker than those treated in doctors? offices. Comparing prices at hospitals versus doctor?s offices doesn?t provide an accurate picture, she argued.

Like most hospitals, those owned by Carolinas HealthCare and Novant are nonprofits, a designation that provides them substantial tax breaks. In exchange, they are expected to provide charity care and other benefits to their communities.

Hospitals will likely face fewer unpaid bills under the federal Affordable Care Act. That?s because the law, scheduled to become fully effective in 2014, requires millions of people to buy health insurance. At the same time, hospitals will likely face cuts in government reimbursement for care.

Neither hospital system answered questions about how much they?ve spent on chemotherapy drugs in recent years, and how much revenue those drugs generated.

But Everett said Novant lost money on outpatient chemotherapy infusion last year.

It?s understandable why many cancer drugs don?t come cheap, according to those who make and administer them. Drug companies must cover research and development costs. Hospitals have to cover overhead.

The N.C. Hospital Association said the costs of handling and preparing cancer drugs ?far exceed those required for most other medications.?

?Medicines that treat cancer are toxic, dangerous chemicals that demand the highest levels of trained personnel, specialized equipment and facilities,? the association said.

Community oncologists say they use the same toxic drugs in their practices at a much lower price.

And some experts contend that hospitals don?t need to inflate prices so dramatically.

Gerard Anderson, who heads the Johns Hopkins Center for Hospital Finance, thinks hospitals mark up charges on cancer drugs more than most other drugs and supplies. One reason, he suspects, is that patients are ?not inclined to do comparison shopping in a life-or-death situation.?

Gaining leverage on price

Size has given hospitals major advantages.

An Observer investigation in April showed how hospital consolidation has led to higher prices. When hospitals merge into large systems, they gain leverage to negotiate higher payments from private insurers.

While insurers might be willing to exclude a small clinic from their networks, they are loath to lose the hospital chains that have come to dominate many markets.

That has helped some North Carolina hospital chains evolve into profitable, fast-growing giants. At Carolinas HealthCare, the nation?s second-largest public hospital system, the average annual profit has exceeded $300 million over the past three years. The chain has built up more than $2 billion in investments and owns more than $1 billion in property.

Novant had about $1.6 billion in cash and investments in 2010 ? a threefold increase over the decade.

Carolinas HealthCare?s size and scope have increased the community?s access to quality health care, system officials say. With the creation of Levine Cancer Institute in 2010, the hospital system has recruited specialists from respected institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Size gives hospitals another edge, allowing them to save money when they purchase drugs in bulk.

And more than 40 North Carolina hospitals ? including Carolinas Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital ? are able to obtain deep discounts on outpatient drugs under the federal 340B program, which requires drug manufacturers to provide price breaks to hospitals that treat large numbers of financially needy patients.

Although Congress set up the program to offset the cost of treating Medicaid patients, hospitals can buy discounted drugs for all outpatients, including those with private insurance.

?There is no requirement to pass the savings on to patients, and they don?t,? said Dr. John Peterson, who practiced as a private oncologist in Sanford for 18 years before moving to Dartmouth College last year. ?These hospitals are driving out the private practices, and they?re becoming the Wal-Mart of health care, squashing the competition, but without the low prices.?

Costs jeopardize lives

Cancer costs more per patient, on average, than any other medical condition.

In North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield said the cost of cancer drugs for members younger than 65 rose from $178 million in 2009 to $211 million last year.

New drugs have given hope to many cancer patients. But some of those drugs come with annual price tags that rival those of a small home.

Treating a cancer patient with Avastin, for instance, costs about $90,000 a year, doctors say.

Much of the bill is picked up by employers and their workers, who pay ever-increasing sums for insurance and other costs.

But no one feels the financial pain more than patients. In a 2010 survey commissioned by the American Cancer Society, 21 percent of people younger than 65 undergoing cancer treatment said they had used up all or most of their savings. And 19 percent said they or their family members had put off getting a recommended cancer test or treatment because of cost.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the society?s chief medical officer, has seen the consequences.

When Brawley headed the cancer center at Emory University in Atlanta from 2001 to 2007, he regularly treated patients who waited too long to get treatment ? often because of financial concerns.

?Many folks put off managing their problems until it?s so, so bad, they have to come into the emergency room,? he said.

Too often, Brawley said, such delays cost patients their lives. Patients who initially suffered from treatable colon cancer, for instance, sometimes delayed seeking treatment until the malignancy spread to the liver and became incurable.

Doctors in North Carolina see some patients making similar choices.

?A lot of patients are forgoing care,? said Dr. David Eagle, of Huntersville, who is president of the Community Oncology Alliance, a national nonprofit group dedicated to community cancer care. Marge Beazley, who manages an oncology practice in Western North Carolina, said some underinsured patients wind up with more than $50,000 in annual out-of-pocket expenses. Others, she said, choose not to be treated because of the cost.

?Those are the ones that break your heart,? she said.

?Oh my God?

When Carol Fleming of Huntersville was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, her husband?s job in Saudi Arabia provided health insurance.

But he died of leukemia in 2010. Ten days later, her insurance was canceled. Within a month, the bills for her chemotherapy and related services had topped $65,000.

She recalls opening her first bill and saying: ?Oh my God. Oh my God.?

?I remember thinking, ?I?m in the middle of my battle. How many more treatments am I going to need?? I was petrified.?

Presbyterian Huntersville provided excellent care, along with help with some of her bills, said Fleming, a former CIA agent. She exhausted her savings paying some of the rest.

Now she?s living in a small apartment, dependent on government assistance. It?s a far cry from her life in Saudi Arabia, when she lived in a six-bedroom house with marble floors.

?This has happened to me,? she said. ?It can happen to anybody.?

Database editor David Raynor contributed.

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/09/24/4204286/cancer-drug-mark-ups-bring-in.html

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Judge dismisses New York's anti-drilling lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in Brooklyn dismissed a lawsuit on Monday brought by New York state and environmental groups challenging proposed natural gas drilling in the Delaware River basin.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis threw out the action on procedural grounds, saying there was no basis for the lawsuit since the regulations it sought to halt had not yet been finalized.

"The court concludes that this dispute is not currently fit for judicial review," Garaufis wrote. "The harms that plaintiffs ultimately are concerned about are speculative, and rely on a chain of inferences that may never come to pass."

New York and several environmental groups sued the U.S. government and Delaware River Basin Commission in 2011, asking for environmental studies to determine the effect of gas drilling on the basin, which supplies water to about 15 million people, including some New York City residents.

The DRBC, a federal-interstate commission that develops and governs the basin's water resources, issued draft regulations in 2010 and revised draft regulations in 2011 that would govern natural gas exploration and extraction in the basin.

The proposal would allow as many as 18,000 wells in the basin, some of which would be developed using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, where underground gas is extracted by injecting a high-pressure stream of water and chemicals.

The rules have not yet been finalized and, except for a few test wells, gas development in the basin has been halted. But New York and the environmental groups said there should have been a comprehensive environmental study performed by the commission before the proposal was issued and that the final regulations should be blocked until one is completed.

As the amount of fracking activity has exploded across the country, states such as New York are trying to figure out how to safely expand gas drilling while protecting sensitive natural resources, including drinking water.

New York is currently working on its own environmental review to determine whether to permit fracking in the state. Some towns have taken steps to ban the practice within their borders and at least two of those bans have survived initial challenges in New York state courts.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to comment, as did the New York attorney general's office. The commission did not immediately return requests for comment. (Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-dismisses-yorks-anti-drilling-lawsuit-233713672.html

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