Massive Arctic ice melt far surpasses previous record

This summer, melt pushed the sea ice back to 1.32 million square miles, according to the US National Snow & Ice Data Center, which tracks sea ice using satellite data.

By Wynne Parry,?LiveScience Senior Writer / September 19, 2012

On Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, Arctic sea-ice extent set a new record low that far surpasses the previous low set in 2007.

Jeremy Potter NOAA/OAR/OER

Enlarge

This summer's unprecedented melt for the icy white cap over Arctic waters appears to have come to a stop on Sunday, Sept. 16, setting a new record low for Arctic sea-ice extent that far surpasses the previous low set in 2007.

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This summer, melt pushed the sea ice back to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 square kilometers), according to the U.S. National Snow & Ice Data Center, which tracks sea ice using satellite data.

"It definitely is a further indication that Arctic sea ice has become a lot more vulnerable and is in long-term decline," said Claire Parkinson, a senior scientist who studies climate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

By comparison, on Sept. 18, 2007, Arctic sea-ice extent ? the area of ocean with at least 15 percent ice cover ? reached 1.61 square miles (4.17 square kilometers), NSIDC said. [8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World]

Arctic sea ice grows and shrinks in an annual cycle that follows the seasons. Summer melt comes to an end in September, when the ice reaches its annual low extent. Then colder temperatures cause the ice to reform through the winter.

The new record low didn't arrive out of nowhere. Satellite records, which go back to the late 1970s, show a long-term decline in the ice, Parkinson said.

More recently, the annual lows have shrunk below the longer-term average. The last six years have seen minimum sea-ice extents well below the average for 1979 to 2000, NSIDC data show. [10 Things to Know About Sea Ice] ?

Scientists who study sea ice have blamed a combination of natural fluctuations and human-caused warming for the increased loss of ice, although some differ as to how much humans have contributed, Parkinson said.

The fickle nature of weather plays an important role in ice extent in a given year. For instance, researchers believe?an intense storm over the central Arctic Ocean?in early August made a large contribution to this summer's unprecedented low.

Winds from the storm broke up the sea ice, and as a result, some ice was pushed farther south into warmer waters where it melted, meanwhile the remaining ice was buffeted by winds and waves, which contributed to its decay, Parkinson said.

"The individual years are affected a lot by whatever the weather is in those individual years," Parkinson said. Next year's sea-ice growth will be starting from a lower point than ever before. However, that doesn't guarantee another record low in September.

"If next year ends up with calm conditions and maybe not quite as warm then the ice cover could make a nice rebound," she said. "We really don't know about next year."

Longer-term changes, with at least some human fingerprints on them, are also underway.

The thicker, multi-year ice, which lasts through many seasonal melts, has been declining. This change can't be explained by natural fluctuations, Walt Meier a research scientist with the NSIDC told LiveScience. The thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to warming and to storms like August?s, he has said.

The loss of ice creates a positive feedback loop, since ice reflects much of the sun's energy, while the darker ocean water absorbs it. The more water exposed, the more energy is absorbed. In recent years, unusually high sea-surface temperatures have been recorded in the Arctic Ocean, and these are linked, in part, to the loss of the reflective ice cover, according to the NSIDC.

Another factor contributing to melt is?black carbon, a type of soot released by the burning of fossil and other fuels. These particles fall on the ice, lowering its reflectivity and so accelerating its melt. But their contribution to the melt is not well understood, Meier told LiveScience in an email.

Sea-ice extent matters for a number of reasons. Because less sea ice means the oceans absorb more of the sun's energy, the decline in sea ice is expected to accelerate?the effects of global warming.

It also creates problems for animals, such as polar bears and?walruses, which depend on sea ice for habitat.

Follow?LiveScience?on Twitter@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/Akd6KY-ZMXc/Massive-Arctic-ice-melt-far-surpasses-previous-record

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Lawyers in Pakistan rally against anti-Islam film

Afghan university students burn a U.S. flag in Surkhrod district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept 19, 2012. Hundreds of Afghans, some shouting "Death to America", held a protest against an anti-Islam film in the eastern city of Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan university students burn a U.S. flag in Surkhrod district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept 19, 2012. Hundreds of Afghans, some shouting "Death to America", held a protest against an anti-Islam film in the eastern city of Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan university students step over a U.S. flag in Surkhrod district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. Hundreds of Afghans, some shouting "Death to America", held a protest against an anti-Islam film in the eastern city of Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Muslim protesters throw eggs at a mock U.S. flag during a protest against American-made film "Innocence of Muslims" that ridicules Islam and Prophet Muhammad outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Police officers watch as Muslim protesters hangs banners and a U.S. flag on the razor wire surrounding the U.S. Embassy compound during a protest against American-made film "Innocence of Muslims" that ridicules Islam and Prophet Muhammad in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Kashmiri medical students protest against an anti-Islam film called "Innocence of Muslims" that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, in Srinagar, India. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Several hundred lawyers protesting an anti-Islam video forced their way into an area in Pakistan's capital that houses the U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions on Wednesday, and the United States temporarily closed its consulate in an Indonesian city because of similar demonstrations.

The lawyers who protested in Islamabad shouted anti-U.S. slogans and burned an American flag after they pushed through a gate, gaining access to the diplomatic enclave before police stopped them. They called for the U.S. ambassador to be expelled from the country, and then peacefully dispersed.

The demonstration followed three days of violent protests against the film in Pakistan in which two people were killed. At least 28 other people have died in violence linked to the film in seven countries, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans killed in a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Much of the anger over the film, which denigrates Islam's Prophet Muhammad, has been directed at the U.S. government even though the film was privately produced in the United States and American officials have criticized it.

The U.S. Embassy in Indonesia sent a text message to U.S. citizens saying that the consulate in Medan, the country's third-largest city, has been closed temporarily because of demonstrations over the film, "Innocence of Muslims."

About 300 members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a pan-Islamic movement, rallied peacefully on Wednesday in front of the consulate in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. Later, about 50 Muslim students also protested there. Both groups called on Washington to punish the makers of the film.

It was the third consecutive day of protests in Medan. On Monday, protesters hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails outside the embassy in Jakarta, the capital.

In France, the government has barred a planned protest by people angry over the anti-Islam film, but defended a newspaper's right to publish caricatures of the prophet.

France's foreign minister said security is being stepped up at some French embassies amid tensions in France and elsewhere around the film. French authorities and Muslim leaders urged calm in the country, which has the largest Muslim population in western Europe.

Riot police took up positions outside the Paris offices of a satirical French weekly that published crude caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday that ridicule the film and the furor surrounding it. The provocative weekly, Charlie Hebdo, was firebombed last year after it released a special edition that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad as a "guest editor" and took aim at radical Islam.

The investigation into that attack is still under way.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of France said organizers of a planned demonstration Saturday against the film won't receive police authorization. Ayrault told French radio RTL that "there's no reason for us to let a conflict that doesn't concern France come into our country. We are a republic that has no intention of being intimidated by anyone."

On Tuesday, Islamic militants sought to capitalize on anger over the film, saying a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Afghanistan was revenge for the video and calling for attacks on U.S. diplomats and facilities in North Africa.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-19-Prophet%20Film/id-1f7be1ecec0c4f8db3c5fc08b9643e81

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Analysis: U.S. meltdowns - History lessons for the euro

LONDON (Reuters) - In the early 1870s, property prices in Vienna, Berlin and Paris soared on the back of a state-promoted building boom fuelled by easy credit extended against the collateral of unbuilt or unfinished houses.

The crash that followed parallels what has happened more recently and may, with other lessons from U.S. history, provide pointers for the euro zone crisis.

As the property prices soared, Europe's world was turned upside down. Thanks to grain elevators, conveyor belts and huge steamships, American farmers opening up the fertile Midwest were able to export vast quantities of wheat and then processed food.

Grain producers from Russia and central Europe simply could not compete with what came to be known as the American Commercial Invasion.

The crash came in central Europe in May 1873 as the low costs of the new industrial superpower exposed long-held growth assumptions as unrealistic. Continental banks collapsed, prompting British lenders to hold back their capital, unsure who was most exposed to souring mortgages. Interbank rates rocketed.

The banking crisis soon spread to the United States. Railway companies were among the first casualties, burdened by complex financial instruments that promised investors a fixed return.

Fast forward 135 years and this tale of woe, by U.S. historian Scott Reynolds Nelson, bears an uncanny resemblance to today's chronic banking and debt problems, according to Stephen Ross, a professor of financial economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.

"Substituting Asia for America and the West for Europe, we get a description of what has happened in the current crisis. The West has been financed by the new producing economies of the East and that fueled a housing and consumption binge," he said.

"Not unlike 1873, the financial institutions and the new financial instruments made this easier, and the role of government to prod an expansion of affordable housing played a major role," Ross added in a recent lecture at the Cass Business School in London.

Crises, he concluded, are just as much a feature of the nexus between politics and finance today as they were in the late nineteenth century.

Which in turn helps explains why, as the current malaise stretches into a sixth year, there is keen interest in teasing out the lessons to be learned from history.

NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME

As well as the 1873 meltdown, Nelson profiles American financial calamities in 1792, 1819, 1837, 1857, 1893 and 1929. All resulted in Europeans wondering "if Americans would honor their financial promises, or was America simply a nation of deadbeats?"

Hence the title of Nelson's work, "A Nation of Deadbeats: An Uncommon History of America's Financial Disasters".

Then as now, complex financial engineering was a frequent feature when boom turned to bust, according to a Reuters review of Nelson's book by Bernard Vaughan. http://link.reuters.com/seg72t

In each case, as with the dodgy railroad bonds, financial intermediaries convinced themselves that the instruments they had created were sophisticated enough to protect them from defaults.

"And in each case the complex chain of institutions linking borrowers and lenders made it impossible for lenders to distinguish good loans from bad," Nelson, a history professor at the College of William and Mary, writes.

The 1837 financial crunch gives its title to another trawl through financial history by Alasdair Roberts, a professor at Suffolk University law school in Boston.

In "America's First Great Depression: Economic Crisis and Political Disorder after the panic of 1837", Roberts describes how a burst property bubble - yes, again - triggered a banking crisis - yes, again - that by 1842 led to a third of U.S. states being in default on their foreign debts.

The parallel with the euro zone crisis barely needs spelling out. For Mississippi, an early defaulter, read Greece.

The United States was roughly 60 years old at the time, as is the European Union now, which makes the far-reaching policy response to the states' debt crisis especially intriguing, according to Charles Robertson, an economist with Renaissance Capital in London.

Six defaulting states adopted constitutional debt brakes, while eight others introduced borrowing limits - a drive echoed, 170 years later, by the fiscal compact agreed by euro zone members at Germany's bidding.

As investors regained confidence, the prices of Pennsylvania's and Indiana's bonds more than doubled between 1842 and 1847. Holders of defaulted Greek debt will be hoping that history repeats itself.

NOT SO CHEERY PARALLEL

In another echo of Europe today, American politics got messy as populist politicians harangued banks and investors. But as global recovery set in by 1845, the American economy and the political climate stabilized. Most of its states regained market access.

However, Robertson draws a darker lesson from Roberts's book, namely that the economic shocks of the first Great Depression loosened the bonds forged in the war of independence from Britain 60 years earlier and paved the way for the U.S. civil war of 1861-1865.

Southern American states favoured free trade with Britain, while the northern states wanted tariffs and taxes to build up manufacturing. Europe, too, faces a fundamental north-south divide, Robertson argues.

"The core around Germany is a low-debt, high-savings, manufacturing and export powerhouse, with a preference for deflation to protect savings. Much of the south is a low-savings, high-borrowing group of countries with an inherent preference for inflation to resolve their debt burdens," he said in a report.

Europe will not descend into civil war, but the ties binding the euro zone are weak, with deep cultural and linguistic differences and limited labour mobility, he added.

"A break-up of the currency union is more plausible, because the key popular support for the euro zone union is not emotional, nationalistic or rooted in fears of external threats. It is primarily economic," Robertson concludes.

The metronomic recurrence of crises might suggest that markets and regulators are incapable of learning: the one still festering broke out within a decade of the dotcom boom and bust and Asia's financial meltdown of 1997/98.

"My gravest concern is that with all the talk about reform we really haven't done anything that we can confidently say will stop or even make a second crisis less likely," said Ross, the MIT professor. "The banks, for example, will still have razor-thin equity margins and governments will still provide the backstop."

In fact, Ross acknowledged, policymaking is much more enlightened than it was last century. For example, governments no longer close banks in response to a crisis, as they did to disastrous effect during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But, he concluded, there are only so many lessons to be learned from studying the historical record. Financial accidents will keep happening as night follows day.

"It is difficult for people to believe that crises are endemic to the political-economic system and even more difficult to believe that crises and failures will always be a feature of political economic systems," he said.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-u-meltdowns-history-lessons-euro-093806279--business.html

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Small business leaders talk about election issues - Salt Lake Tribune

Small business owners? concerns about government policies that affect their businesses have intensified after the deep recession and a recovery that doesn?t feel much better.

Karen Kerrigan serves the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council as president and Raymond Keating is the group?s chief economist. The SBEC, an 18-year-old group with 100,000 members, takes a stand similar to other groups: Small businesses are struggling because they have to contend with too many taxes and regulations. And taxes and regulations are words that are coming up a lot in presidential campaign speeches, videos and commercials.

Both are worried about what they are hearing from small manufacturers and are unhappy about regulations that some agencies are creating that are bad for small business. Still, they can identify pockets of the country that are experiencing some improvement and can name government agencies that are doing a good job helping small businesses win contracts.

Kerrigan, whose background includes work at nonprofit groups, founded the SBEC in 1994 out of the remnants of a group called the Small Business Tax Action Committee. Five years ago, the group took on its current name.

Keating came to the SBEC a year after its founding. He had worked as an analyst for the investment firm Kidder, Peabody in the 1980s and then headed a nonprofit group, New York Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Both spoke to The Associated Press recently about issues facing small businesses, and the upcoming elections. Here are excerpts from the conversation, edited for clarity and brevity:

Q: Is small business a bigger in this election than in past elections?

KERRIGAN: I do think it?s a key issue, a top issue and small business is getting more attention and is the focus from both campaigns. And I think primarily this is because of economic conditions and the weak economy over the past four years ? and this growing understanding within the public and certainly elected officials and those running for office that we do need robust job creation in the small business sector if we?re going to get back to strong levels of hiring and robust levels of economic growth. Over the last four years I think both parties have been hitting on this. There?s been certainly a lot of legislation and policies directed toward this sector on the Republican side, certainly a lot of legislation that the House passed over the year or so. And then in the White House the president has had his startup initiative. The JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act was a huge piece of legislation that both parties agreed to and it passed with wide bipartisan support. .... The other issue is the type of policies that were pushed at the beginning of the Obama administration, and I think specifically as it relates to the health care law. A lot of small businesses to this day are very much opposed to the health care law and it continues to get a lot of publicity in terms of its costs, its unintended consequences and whether it?s really going to lower the cost for business owners and their employees. ...

Recently, obviously, the president?s comments about, "you didn?t build that," that again has put small business front and center. A lot of business owners get offended by that, even though the president said, well, gee, that was taken out of context. Again, I think it just heightens small business and the role that small business play in this economy to even greater levels.

KEATING: The key here is the fact that the economy has done so poorly for over four and a-half years. That?s going to bring even greater focus in a political campaign on small business because I think most people understand that small business are the engines of economic growth of job creation and innovation. Small businesses are always mentioned in campaigns and always favorably, no matter which side of the political aisle you?re looking at. But just the reality of the current economic situation amplifies this tremendously. And you can tell when you listen to both sides out on the campaign trail, you can see that small businesses just keep getting mentioned. ... The intensity level is much higher than in the past.

story continues below

Q: What are the biggest issues in this campaign for your members?

KERRIGAN: They?re very concerned about the economic outlook and the financial stability of their firms and their competitiveness moving forward. That?s not at all being helped in terms of government policies. ... They?re concerned about the expiring tax measures and what?s going to happen with the tax code. It didn?t start when everyone else started talking about the fiscal cliff. It?s been on their mind for a longer period of time because they do long-term planning in terms of their of their businesses and what kind of resources they?re going to have for investment, pay down debt etc. ... We?ve talked about uncertainty so much. Now I think intensity is the new word. The intensity of their concerns has definitely picked up not only now because of this looming (tax) deadline and the threat that poses from an economic perspective on their firms. But also you have a host of other issues. ... We have the new health care law. Many continue to see their costs go up, not down. They don?t believe this is going to be good for their businesses. You have rising prices when it comes to energy and gas. Supplies, raw materials. So they?re being squeezed from an economic perspective. ...

They?ve been operating in four and a-half or five years of economic instability. ... They have very little confidence in terms of their political leaders and their ability to get things done. And unfortunately that?s having an impact on their confidence.

KEATING: Across the board, uncertainty is still a word that needs to be used. When you look on the policy front, there?s a great deal of questions in general. The health care law. There?s a whole host of questions on the tax cliff, and what might happen there, with the Congressional Budget Office making clear that if current tax law stands, you?re going to see us back into recession in the first half of 2013. So that just adds to the uncertainties, the doubts of small business. If you factor in the presidential election, no matter which side you happen to be on, who knows how that?s going to turn out. I think the only thing that people are sure of is that it?s going to be a late night.

Q. What parts of the economy or the country look stronger or weaker?

KEATING: Stronger? That question is a real challenge. It?s just very difficult when you look at the extended period that we?re in with such a deep recession and such a poor recovery that some people think we?re still in a recession. ... It?s very difficult to pick out a good place. One of the things about this recovery is, not only has it been so poor, but you get those little bits of hope, maybe a jobs number that comes in OK, some profit numbers that are all right for a while. But then they fade away very quickly. I think when you bring that down to the small business level, it?s just very difficult to pick out an area where things are just rocking. ... Even the ones that are doing well in this environment have worries and concerns.

KERRIGAN: We live in a bubble here in the Washington, D.C., area. It has been able to withstand the recession and economic downturn. You see that in the health of the real estate sector and the housing market. It?s not reality here compared with the rest of the country. You do have a wide array of businesses in northern Virginia, D.C., Maryland, that are doing OK.

Next Page >

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/54890868-68/business-businesses-think-government.html.csp

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UFlorida: Support @GZTrackField for the Mountain Dew Invitational, tomorrow at the Mark Bostick Golf Course! (video) http://t.co/Jji4dFpn

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/UFlorida/statuses/246722567187099648

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Justin Tuck Pleased With Heightened Intensity, Energy At Practice Ahead Of Week 2

Justin Tuck (credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was not shy about his displeasure with the Giants? performance in Week 1 against the Cowboys.

?I think every guy in this locker room is disgusted with how we played,? Tuck said following the defeat last week.

But the two-time Super Bowl champion feels much more confident heading into Sunday?s matchup with the?Buccaneers, and he attributes it to heightened intensity at practice.

?The energy in practice is, I think, double what it was last week,? Tuck said on Thursday. ?I think a lot of that comes from our leadership, comes from (our) coaching staff.?Guys seem to be a little bit more excited about playing football. I think last week we were a little sluggish.?

How could the G-Men ? coming of an improbable Super Bowl victory ? come out sluggish on national television against a hated division rival in Week 1?

Tuck?s guess is as good as anybody else?s.

?You?re asking the million dollar question, I don?t know,? the two-time Pro Bowler admitted. ?I wish I could give you the correct answer.?Some things are unexplainable.?

Head coach Tom Coughlin, who admitted that practices prior to the season opener weren?t as strong as he would have liked, agreed with Tuck that preparation was at a different level this week.

?I think we?re getting better, I really do,? he said. ?Yesterday, the effort was very good. The execution wasn?t as good as you?d like, but I probably can never say that. Today was, for the most part, pretty good. I didn?t think the last period was good. The effort, again, and the focus was better.?

Tuck made four tackles but wasn?t able to sack Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in the season opener at MetLife Stadium.

Justin Tuck is ready for Sunday! Are you, Giants fans? Sound off with your thoughts and comments in the section below?

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/09/14/justin-tuck-pleased-with-heightened-intensity-energy-at-practice-ahead-of-week-2/

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The CSI Effect: A Good or Bad Thing?

The CSI effect, also known as the CSI syndrome[1] and the CSI infection,[2] is any of several ways in which the exaggerated portrayal of forensic science on crime television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation influences public perception. The term most often refers to the belief that jurors have come to demand more forensic evidence in criminal trials, thereby raising the effective standard of proof for prosecutors. While this belief is widely held among American legal professionals, some studies have suggested that crime shows are unlikely to cause such an effect, although frequent CSI viewers may place a lower value on circumstantial evidence.[3] As technology improves and becomes more prevalent throughout society, people may also develop higher expectations for the capabilities of forensic technology.[4]

There are several other manifestations of the CSI effect. Greater public awareness of forensic science has also increased the demand for forensic evidence in police investigations, inflating workloads for crime laboratories. The number and popularity of forensic science programs at the university level have greatly increased worldwide, though some new programs have been criticized for inadequately preparing their students for real forensic work. It is possible that forensic science shows teach criminals how to conceal evidence of their crimes, thereby making it more difficult for investigators to solve cases.

This some's it up somewhat, but do you people think it has a negative effect or positive effect and why? Note this effect didn't begin with CSI, there were shows like Law and Order and Judge Judy that made people believe how the Court was.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/E3eXar8hCKA/viewtopic.php

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The America Invents Act: One Year Later (conference) - Patent Law ...

By Jason Rantanen

Liveblogging the America Invents Act: One Year Later conference at the Indiana University Mauer School of Law.? Warning: Quality may vary.

Session 1:

Mark Janis - opening remarks.? Hard to believe it's been a year act since AIA was signed.? Still at the beginning of understanding the AIA provisions.? Exciting times.? Lots of patent law thought leaders here today - Bob Armitage, Director K appos.?

Come back in ten days for the next conference.

Bob Armitage - wants to the the upbeat, inspirational speaker that we all need at 8:30 am.?

Some things that need to be done with the AIA in terms of legislative correction of errors.? Suggests that different constituencies in patent law work together on this goal in the immediate future - before the next election.

The AIA is the most profound change to the patent system since 1836 patent statute.? He's been involved in the process of patent reform for the last 30 years.? Shortly after he left law school, he realized that we had a law school that we had a patent system that didn't work very well.? Some of the things that we needed to do to improve the patent system was to eliminate first to invent, have a more transparent grace period, and eliminate recurring patent terms.?

Sees the AIA as major constituencies coming together to move the patent system in the direction of transparency and objectivity.? If the implementation of the AIA goes well, this is the patent system we'll have.? A more predictable patent system.? Much of this comes down to invalidity defenses - under the AIA these are much simpler.?

We were the last to the table in terms of modernizing our patent system.? Prior 1999, we really had a secret patent system. With the AIA, the patent system was opened up even further.? After AIA, there's no-fault correction of misnaming of inventors; the technical filing of an affidavit that mis-names the inventor is no longer a worry; best mode is no longer a concern for patent applicants; patent prosecutors are better off because of supplemental examination.? If they're deposed, and things arise, the patent holder can, in a pre-litigation context, go back to the patent office. (me: Query how this is viable, since depositions often arise during litigation.? Could make sense for a sequential litigant).

Other big changes: deceptive intent removed throughout the application process; patent owner can seek the patent as the applicant; no more supplemental oaths.?

Post-grant review: patents are now open to more challenges after the patent issues.? It's any issue of patentability that you can raise in court, you can raise in the PTO.? Why is this important?? This lets parties challenge patents the day patents issue, not six years down the road.? Challenging patents in court is expensive.? Post-grant review allows parties to resolve these issues in the matter of months, not years, at a fraction of the cost.

Sees the AIA as increasing transparency, objectivity, predictability, simplification of patent system.? Patent validity is reduced to just four objective legal standard: sufficient differentiation from prior public disclosures and earlier patent filings of others; sufficient disclosure to identify the claimed embodiments and enable them to be put to a specific practical, and substantial use; sufficient definiteness to differentiate subject matter; sufficient concreteness to avoid excessively conceptual or otherwise abstract subject matter.? That's all there is to the patent law.? These are objective standards that don't require you to know anything about what the inventor did, thought, etc.?

The national embarrassment of the first-to-invent system will now end. Example Gore-Tex case of why this was a problem.? Interference count practice was problematic.? It was an embarrassment and it's gone.?

The AIA is an attempt to be a codification of the way Congress wants the law, not a codification of what the law is. 102(b) was a colossal mess because of the attempt to codify existing law.? Under the AIA, there are no new AIA patent law doctrines.? Legislative history says "apply as written."? Example: 102 - only new phrase is "available to public."? Apply as written - this means that prior art is that art which is publicly accessible (comment: this issue is one of the most debated issues in the new AIA).

Who benefits from the AIA?? Those with the least resources, capital available.? It's a patent system optimized for small inventors, universities.? For those engaged in commerce of patents, supplemental examination allows for due diligence to be more effective, since it will allow the curing of inequitable conduct.

Source: http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2012/09/the-america-invents-act-one-year-later-conference.html

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Biden says ?malarkey.? And another word meaning ?malarkey.?

Vice President Joe Biden pauses after laying a wreath at The Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Memorial in??
Fresh from delivering a moving tribute to 9/11 victims, Vice President Joe Biden told Shanksville, Pa., firefighters on Tuesday that he would have them down to Washington?"No bullshit."

Upon noticing that reporters were within earshot, Biden amended himself. "This is no malarkey. You come to the White House. I'll buy you a beer." Details of the exchange came courtesy of the print pool reporter, Peter Baker of the New York Times.

Biden had traveled to Pennsylvania for a memorial to the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, credited with rising up against their al-Qaida hijackers and sending the plane into a field?sparing a target in Washington.

Afterward, Biden paid an unannounced call on the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department and chatted with Deputy Chief Brad Shober, 44. Biden had met Shober during an event honoring the department at the vice president's residence, and saw him again at the 2010 ceremony marking the worst terrorist attacks on American soil.

Vpotus made an unannounced stop at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department to say hi to the firefighters and arrived just in time for the barbeque and a little earthy talk.

Jumping out of his limousine, Vpotus immediately encountered Deputy Chief Brad Shober, 44, of Shanksville, whom he had met the year before when hosting the department at the Vice President's Residence in Washington and then again a few days later in Shanksville on last year's 9/11 anniversary.

Vpotus was talking about having Shober and the other firefighters back to Washington and pointed to an aide. "He's going to call you, no bullshit," Vpotus said. Then noticing the pool, said, "I didn't know you guys were here." Turning back to Shober, he cleaned up the language. "This is no malarkey. You come to the White House. I'll buy you a beer."

Shober, holding a Coke Zero, told your pool that Vpotus last year had given him one of his vice presidential challenge coins and told him, "'Next time I see you, if you have that coin, drinks are on me. If you don't have it, drinks are on you.' Now knowing that he might come, I made sure that was on my pocket." Since Vpotus didn't have his coin to show him back, he made the spontaneous invitation to come back to DC.

Vpotus worked the group of firefighters as he typically does, gripping their shoulders, joking with them, telling them Delaware stories. One firefighter said, "You got my vote." Vpotus replied, "Thank you, man. That's not why I'm here but thank you."

He talked again about hosting them after the election. "Win, lose or draw, I'm still going to be vice president in January." They should come, he said. "That's a deal." He added: "I give you my word. I'm not just saying it."

He introduced Sec Salazar and suggested a certain insecurity. "He's probably smarter than you and two, he's probably tougher than you."

He gathered the firefighters and posed for pictures in front of a red fire truck with a banner "United We Stand" in red white and blue. Looking at the clear sky, he said, "Isn't it eerie? The day's just like it was."

Then he headed over to the grill. "Come on, let's go get one. I want a hot dog." He actually served himself a hamburger and put a slice of American cheese on it. He pulled a $20 bill out of his wallet and put it in a firefighter's boot that was used to deposit donations. "I want the record to show," he said. Then noting Sec Salazar behind him in line, he added: "My twenty covers both of us." Asked what Dr. Biden would think of his diet, he said, "She's going to say, 'Joe, what the hell are you doing?' I just ate a peanut butter sandwich between here and there."

He posed again for pictures with retired Chief Terry Shaffer in front of a cross made out of steel beams from the World Trade Center. The cross had the numbers 9 11 01 on it and a plaque: "NEVER FORGET. We honor those who saw their untimely fate before them and chose to defeat evil to ensure America's freedom. FLIGHT 93."

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" he said to the cabinet secretaries. Then he stroked the cross, talking about how it came from an I-beam. The firefighters presented him and the two secretaries with blue Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department T-shirts. A firefighter introduced his girlfriend. Vpotus cupped her face in his hands. "Dangerous to date a volunteer firefighter," he playfully warned her.

Somehow he then got into a discussion of racing. "I'm a frustrated-" and then he stopped himself and said he shouldn't say so in front of the pool but went ahead anyway, "dragster." As your pool was then ushered away, Vpotus was saying something about the feel of the road.

Motorcade now headed back to AF2.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/biden-says-malarkey-another-word-meaning-malarkey-173314715--election.html

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Survivors of Chinese earthquakes await supplies

A woman brings the children evacuate from an earthquake hit Luozehe town in Yiliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Authorities poured aid into a remote mountainous area of southwestern China and rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors Saturday after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

A woman brings the children evacuate from an earthquake hit Luozehe town in Yiliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Authorities poured aid into a remote mountainous area of southwestern China and rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors Saturday after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

A man checks a destroyed house following an earthquake which hit Luozehe town in Yiliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Authorities poured aid into a remote mountainous area of southwestern China and rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors Saturday after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

In this Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk to the Luozehe Village, one of the hardest-hit areas struck by Friday's quakes, in Yiliang County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Rescue workers cleared roads Saturday so they could search for survivors and rush aid to the remote mountainous area of southwestern China after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Qin Qing) NO SALES

People walk past damaged buildings at a quake-hit Luozehe town in Yiliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Rescue workers cleared roads Saturday so they could search for survivors and rush aid to a remote mountainous area of southwestern China after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo)

Rescuers carry an injured victim evacuated from an earthquake hit Luozehe town in Yiliang county in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Authorities poured aid into a remote mountainous area of southwestern China and rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors Saturday after twin earthquakes killed at least 80 people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

BEIJING (AP) ? Survivors of a series of earthquakes that killed 81 people and injured more than 800 in a mountainous area of southwestern China were desperately waiting for more aid to arrive Sunday as jolting aftershocks kept fears high and hindered rescue efforts.

The latest victim was a 2-year-old child who was hit by a falling wall as an aftershock struck Saturday night, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

The first earthquakes struck Friday in a region of small farms and mines near the border between Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, where some of China's poorest people live.

They toppled thousands of homes and sent boulders cascading across roads, and authorities evacuated more than 200,000 villagers.

The area was still being jolted by aftershocks Sunday, raising fears of more injuries and fatalities.

Footage from China Central Television showed rescuers and sniffer dogs running past steep slopes because of the risk of fist-sized stones tumbling down. It also showed an ambulance stuck in stones and debris.

Almost all of the 110,000 people who live in Yiliang county's Jiaokui town, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the epicenter of one of the earthquakes, had evacuated, but many had no shelter and were waiting for supplies, a town official said by telephone.

"They are living in the open air now," said the official, who gave only his surname, Xiao. "We are in dire need of tents and quilts. We only received 2,200 tents. Many people have no quilts and are not living in tents."

A resident of Luozehe town, close to where the quakes struck, said he and others were evacuated to a more central area of the county. "It's quite hot here, there isn't enough drinking water or tents," said Wu Xuehong, who described seeing dead livestock after farm buildings collapsed.

More than 11,000 tents, 8,500 quilts, 6,000 coats and other supplies including bottled water and rice have been delivered to Yiliang and more are on the way, Xinhua said, citing the rescue headquarters.

The first magnitude-5.6 quake struck just before 11:30 a.m. Friday and was followed by an equally strong quake shortly after noon. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow. Such quakes often cause more damage than deeper ones.

As of noon Sunday, there had been 279 aftershocks, said Zhang Junwei, spokesman of Yunnan's seismological bureau.

Xinhua quoted Zhou Guangfu, deputy chief of the county's education bureau, as saying that three students were among those who died. He said more than 300 high schools and primary schools were damaged and the education bureau would inspect schools before allowing classes to continue.

In 2008, a massive 7.9-magnitude quake in Sichuan province, just north of Yunnan, left 90,000 dead or missing, including thousands of students whose schools collapsed.

State media reported Saturday that the army and police had mobilized more than 3,200 personnel to help rescue efforts, along with some 4,000 militiamen and reserve forces. That means 11,000 rescuers are attempting to clear roads, evacuate people and search for the missing.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-09-China-Earthquake/id-3e42890b34a042b092f4aed56b5de513

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Low Interest Rate Auto Loans ? Benefits Of Applying On-line ...

Finding The Ideal Deal The best deal on auto loan financing is not located at a auto dealership. Low rate auto loans are provided by financing firms, many of who are on the web. By taking time to compare? Low interest rate auto loans can be found online through comparison purchasing. Not only do you save cash with low rates, but you can also get a better deal on your auto purchase by buying with money. You save oneself from the hassle of finding financing even though auto shopping. Finding The Best Deal The best deal on auto loan financing is not discovered at a car dealership. Low rate auto loans are offered by financing companies, many of who are on-line. By taking time to compare vehicle loan estimates, you can truly find the greatest deal. You also have the option to negotiate far better bargains by means of a greater down payment or deciding on shorter terms. You can also maximize your loan amount with adjustable rates for extra buying power. Energy As A Money Vehicle Buyer Securing your automobile financing before you shop for a car gives you the power in auto negotiations. No matter if you are buying for a new vehicle at a dealership or a utilised car in the newspaper, you will be treated as a cash buyer. Because you can walk away and buy from someone else at anytime, there is more pressure on the seller to make a deal. This is specifically accurate when buying a new vehicle. It equates to a lower price, much more attributes, or each. No Hassle More than The Details Getting your auto loan online saves you from hassling over the particulars of a finance package. You just look at the numbers to see what is the greatest deal for you. Your financing organization will be honest about what you qualify for and the terms. Theres no dickering among a salesperson and a financing officer. TM Online auto loan applications are also uncomplicated. With just basic personal data entered on the web, your types are completed for you. The final loan contract is sent in the mail to you along with a blank check in 1 to two days. When you are prepared to acquire a automobile, you just sign over the check and complete the loan paperwork. TM Save yourself time and money by buying on the web for your next auto loan.

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Usuario:4hjimeoh45 - Indignate Colombia

De Indignate Colombia

Have you lately decided to redesign your kitchen? If so, have you choose what you would like to acquire done? Whether you might be only thinking about changing your cabinets or if you need to remodel each and every inch of your respective kitchen, you\'ll need supplies The actual supplies that you might want will almost all depend on the remodeling that you\'re planning on undertaking Despite the fact that your kitchen remodeling items will vary, you can commonly acquire them all in the same position As earlier mentioned, the type of kitchen remodeling you intend on undertaking will have an impact on which items you will need As an example, if you are planning about replacing your kitchen cabinets, you will have to find new cabinets to put in The same can be said for kitchen flooring, lighting, as well as countertops If you should purchase a relatively large number of kitchen remodeling items, say should you be considering on redecorating all or many your kitchen, you may want to shop at one of your nearby home improvement stores Most diy stores have a relatively large number of home redecorating supplies as well as materials, including laminate counter tops, floor tiles, threshold tiles, lamps, and pantry shelves Purchasing all of your redecorating supplies simultaneously will help to help save time Eventhough it may be a good plan to shop at one of your nearby home improvement stores, you possibly will not want to If this can be a case, you ought to examine the world wide web and what it has to offer keuken renoveren There are many of trusted online retailers that would be ready to deliver their kitchen redecorating supplies right to your door In accessory for traditional merchants, you can also find people and companies that specialize in creating quality, custom-made products, such as kitchen cabinets Whether anyone can\'t find what you are interested in locally or if you want to get something, such as your kitchen pantry shelves, custom designed, you might be advised to look online A basic internet search must return the results that you would look for When it comes to do-it-yourself projects, it is important that you get the items or materials that you need, such as floor tiles or light fixtures, nevertheless, you cannot develop a home improvement undertaking without the right equipment If you do have a few home improvement experience, there is a good chance that you may already have most of the equipment that you need If you need additional equipment or if anyone don\'t have any at all, you will need to acquire yourself some The equipment that you need will all depend upon the redecorating that you are undertaking, that is why it is just a good idea to familiarize yourself with undertaking instructions, along with the tools that are required before you get started If you might be purchasing your remodeling materials from a hardware store, it may be a good idea to save yourself a supplementary trip and buy your equipment at the same time Since the one in power over remodeling, you can shop for materials, supplies, as well as tools wherever you want to Despite because you have complete control over your kitchen redecorating project, along with what is or isn\'t being used, you may want to take the time to compare the prices of all things that you need to acquire As long as you become the tools as well as materials that you might want, it really shouldn\'t matter, but why shell out more money than you need to? keuken renoveren keuken renoveren

Source: http://indignate.co/wiki/Usuario%3A4hjimeoh45

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Is it Safe to Be On Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)? | Internet ...

About the age of 50, women go through menopause, which is associated with the cessation of ovulation and menstrual cycling, and a decline in estrogen and progesterone levels. The conclusion that women needed to ?replace? their female hormones after menopause has a long history driven by the idea that a decline in hormones leads to unnatural and unwanted effects on libido, memory, and cardiovascular health, none of which had any basis in fact.

It all started with a book written 40 years ago called Feminine Forever, by Dr. Robert A. Wilson. It was a national bestseller when it was published. Wilson, a British-born gynecologist who practiced in Brooklyn, New York, and later, on Park Avenue in Manhattan, persuaded the public that, ?Many physicians simply refuse to recognize menopause for what it is ? a serious, painful and often crippling disease.?

His solution was to give women over the age of 40, hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). The FDA had actually approved HRT back in 1942 to treat the hot flashes, difficulty sleeping, mood swings and other symptoms that can accompany menopause. Wilson argued that HRT was a near miracle remedy that could stem a woman?s aging process and improve their sex lives. By defining a natural process as a disease he managed to help the pharmaceutical industry push HRT on healthy woman as a drug they needed to take every day for the rest of their lives. For the pharmaceutical industry this notion created a dream situation of finding a huge segment of the normal population that they could sell their pills to. No matter that there was no good research to support their claims. This idea was very popular for many years, before real controlled trials showed that HRT was very bad, and had caused tens of thousands of deaths in women, as well as other problems.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) involves replacing the body?s natural hormones after normal or surgically induced menopause. Common brand name examples of HRT include premarin (estrogen from a horse), provera (progesterone) and prempro (combination). About 20% of women will develop uncomfortable, and sometimes unbearable, hot flashes during the peri-menopausal period. Some women develop other or additional symptoms, such as problems with rational thinking or depression. These symptoms can be treated successfully with HRT. Other hormones, like testosterone, can be used for purposes such as treating low libido in women.

Although HRT has a role in treating hot flashes for a time-limited period, or occasionally depression or insomnia, it has been marketed for a much larger number of women. For much of the history of HRT, it was believed that HRT prevented heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis, and that it improved well being, sexuality, memory, and mood. However, there was some early evidence from the Nurses? Health Study published in 1995 that showed a 32% increase in breast cancer with HRT. Nevertheless a great deal of marketing was done on behalf of HRT and pharmaceutical companies made billions of dollars by arguing that all post-menopausal women needed to take it for their health. There was supposedly the added benefit that HRT would make you look better and improve your sex life.

However, none of this held up to the test of time. The original evidence that HRT prevented heart attacks was based on what are called observational studies. Women who chose to take HRT were compared to those who didn?t, and were found to have fewer heart attacks. It turned out that women who took HRT also were more concerned about their health. They did other things, like exercise and diet that were beneficial for heart attack. The HRT didn?t do anything. Yet eight years went by from 1995-2003 with major marketing to women and billions of dollars in sales. The pharmaceutical companies had hit on the mother load of all markets. Not just patients with a disease, but all women over age 50.

The observational study design, however, is inherently flawed. It is easy to have some systematic factor creep in that will skew the results. The only way to answer a question like does HRT prevent heart attacks, is to do a controlled study where women get either HRT or a sugar pill, they don?t get to choose which one, and they (and their doctors) don?t know what they are on. At the end of five years, you compare outcomes (i.e. heart attacks) between the two groups. It took so long to do such studies because it was argued that it would be unethical to give a sugar pill to women when HRT had such obvious benefits.

More recently controlled trials have been performed. The Women?s Health Initiative (WHI) involved the random assignment of 16,608 post-menopausal women to estrogen and progestin (equine estrogen and medroxy-progesterone, or Prempro) versus a placebo from 1993 to 1998. Women on Prempro had a statistically significant 24% increase in risk of heart attack or cardiac death. HRT increased the risk of breast cancer by 24%,65 and doubled the risk of pulmonary embolus (blood clot in the lung).66 There was about a 50% increase in ovarian cancer that was not statistically significant, mainly because ovarian cancer is much less common than breast cancer, with no increase in uterine cancer. HRT had no effect on cancer all cancers combined, and reduced the risk of osteoporotic fracture.66 HRT increased the risk of stroke by 31%.

The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) involved randomized blinded treatment of 2768 postmenopausal women with a history of heart disease for 4 years with estrogen plus progestin (conjugated estrogens and medroxyprogesterone, or Prempro) or placebo with 2 years of follow up. There was no protective effect of HRT against recurrence of heart disease. There was a 10% increase in mortality with HRT, related in part to a doubling of the risk of potentially lethal blood clots, and a 48% increased risk of gallbladder disease requiring surgery. HERS also showed a pattern of increased cancer risk that was not statistically significant.

Other studies of estrogen replacement have shown increased rates of uterine and ovarian cancer. HRT doubles the risk of blood clots that can lead to deadly pulmonary emboli (blood clots that travel to the lung and have up to a 50% mortality rate). HRT also increases the risk of gall bladder disease and of getting your gall bladder removed by 60%. For every one hundred women treated with HRT in WHI, one woman developed a serious adverse event directly related to the HRT.

Another study showed that HRT actually accelerated the progression of thickening of the coronary arteries, and doubled this risk of dying of heart disease. A recent metaanalysis showed a 29% increase in risk of stroke. Based on these findings, there is no role for HRT in disease prevention.

HRT had no effect on sexual function when looked at in the proper way with controlled trials. When I say no effect, I don?t mean some effect that was not statistically significant, I mean zero effect. There was also no effect on mood. After one year women on HRT reported miniscule improvements in sleep and pain, but those were back to zero after three years.

So what was all the fuss about how HRT helped women?s sex lives? It was all a placebo effect. You could give a woman HRT and she would have a 25% improvement in her sex life. But you could give a woman a sugar pill and it would have the same effect, and wouldn?t give her a heart attack.

There has been a lot of interest in whether or not memory and cognition are affected by HRT. Men and women have a decline in memory that normally occurs with aging. Estrogen affects brain areas involved in memory like the hippocampus, which has led to the idea that the decline in estrogen after menopause is associated with a decline in memory function. Based on observational studies, it was originally believed that HRT prevented the development of Alzheimer?s Disease and other dementias, and improved memory function or delayed the normal decline of memory with aging in women without dementia. However, ?smart? women at the time were doing things that they thought were good for their health, like taking HRT, which could lead to obvious biases in these types of studies.

In fact, although HRT was originally hypothesized to prevent dementia, when carefully assessed it was found to actually double the risk of dementia. HRT also resulted in a small, but not clinically significant, reduction in cognition in one study.

The largest study, the Women?s Health Initiative, that did not find an effect on cognition, used a measure called the Mini Mental Status Exam, which asks questions like ?what year is it?? or ?name this object?. You can see that this is a fairly gross measure of memory and cognition, and might not pick up subtle changes. Based on this, some have argued that estrogen benefits more specific memory processes. However, combining results from women treated with estrogen alone and estrogen plus progesterone showed that hormones also caused a worsening of cognition.

A number of studies have looked at more subtle and specific memory functions. Studies in women without depression or dementia found no change in a variety of specific memory tests, including ability to learn word pairs, find words, remember a paragraph, or connect numbered dots. Most importantly, the studies that used random assignment to HRT or placebo for postmenopausal women, eliminating the kind of self-selection of educated women to take HRT which can influence results of these studies, showed no effect of HRT on memory.

In terms of benefits, HRT does reduce the loss of bone mineral density that occurs with normal aging, and reduces the risk of osteoporotic fracture. There is also minimal evidence that it improves sleep. However, these benefits are far outweighed by the risks of HRT. Women who have discomfort from hot flashes benefit from HRT. HRT leads to an 80% reduction in symptoms with an associated improvement in quality of life. HRT also improves memory and cognition in women with highly symptomatic hot flashes. If used for a short time, there is a good chance that the hot flashes will come back when HRT is stopped.

The major studies comparing HRT to placebo did not include women with mental disorders. HRT has been shown to be better than a placebo in the treatment of depression in women who develop depression around the time of menopause. Stressed post-menopausal women who were caring for a spouse with depression reported lower hostility when compared to placebo. Replacement of estrogen and testosterone in women who had their uterus and ovaries removed also resulted in an improvement in mood.

Learn more about alternative treatments for menopausal symptoms and hidden risks of prescription medications in Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won?t Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins and Supplements, by researcher and physician J. Douglas Bremner, MD.

http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com

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Source: http://www.econtentz.com/contents/womens-interests/menopause-hrt/is-it-safe-to-be-on-hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/

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GREAT MINDS: GUEST POST WITH AUTHOR, JONATHAN WINN

Why Indie Writers Rock

My name is Jonathan and I'm a writer who self-published.

Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Get it out of your system. I've heard it all before.

From the practiced smile of the insincere "How great!" to the knowing sigh that says "Ah, not good enough to find a real publisher, eh?", it's familiar territory by now.

I've even endured the ol' "Putting out another new book? Oh, well, good for you", those ten words by friends and family hinting at my quiet failure as a Real Writer -- you know, with a Major House and a Marketing Team snagging me a spot on Leno or my face on the side of a bus -- , my decision to self-pub stealing from them their bragging rights.

So why do I do it?

Why do I write knowing my books will be released into the virtual haze of Unread eBook Land? Why do I edit and rewrite and edit again while Rock Star Authors sipping mimosas under the umbrella of Traditional Publishing speak of me with derision as a no-talent, lazy exhibitionist who won't put in the hard work of being a Writer? And why oh why do I sit for hours and hours, my jaw set in determination, my delusions in place, mapping out new books that may never find Readers?

Why do I do what every indie writer does every single day?

Because I'm curious. No, scratch that. Because I'm obsessed.

This obsession can't be stopped by the absence of a Big Publisher brandishing a goody bag of guidance and media connections. This obsession won't be quieted by the lack of a sizeable advance propping up my bank account or the implicit promise of three martini lunches in suit-and-tie restaurants. With tablecloths. And flowers. Or not.

In fact, my obsession -- perhaps I should be calling it a sickness by now? -- isn't even disheartened by this apparently endless wandering among the parched, wind-blasted dunes of NoSales Desert.

My characters, my stories, my books steamroll everything else into oblivion.

I remember when Martuk came to me. That's Martuk as in two or too. Martuk ... The Holy. My first book. In fact, even that came to me, the ironic ellipses in the title. I had yet to write a word, yet to discover and embrace the Writer hiding within the Screenwriter and Playwright. Yet to recognize this was something I not only could do, but wanted to do. But there I was walking my dogs through Greenwich Village in 2008 when this new man sidled up and started whispering in my ear.

I knew his name was Martuk and he came from a land one thousand years before Christ. I knew -- via the ellipses -- he had a sense of humor and a touch of irony and that he was immortal and evil and very, very angry. When he wasn't in love. Or optimistic. Oh, and I knew he lived and suffered and wrote in modern day Paris.

I also knew the tales he had to tell would span many, many books.

But every writer, self-pubbed, indie or whatever, thinks that.

What I didn't know is that the people Martuk meets and walks with and sometimes kills also had tales to tell, their lives not ending with Martuk ... The Holy's The End.

They needed to speak. Insisted they speak. Were desperate to show the world (remember, my delusions are firmly in place) they had layers. That they just weren't evil or heartless. That the choices they made in Martuk were based on years of hurt and decades of disappointment. On loves lost and the death of dreams. And on hope. Not a hope we might recognize, perhaps, drenched, as it is, in blood and blinded by dark magic. But hope nonetheless.

Ergo, in May of 2012, despite the sun rising on yet another day in the desert, I welcomed the birth of The Martuk Series, an on-going collection of Short Fiction inspired by Martuk ... The Holy. To say this new addition to my literary family was a surprise is an understatement. But, seriously, I didn't know I was pregnant.

So, to return to my original statement Why Indie Writers Rock. Or, more specifically, Why I Rock.

I rock because I juggle the writing of a Series and a full-length Sequel with marketing and editing and chapter mapping new books every day. Alone. Like a lot of indie writers.

I rock because I joyfully celebrate each sale. Like a lot of indie writers.

And I rock because I appreciate those who roll the dice on an Unknown and buy my books, trusting the journey will be worth their time and money. Like a lot of indie writers.

But I rock because I do all this, as most indie writers do, knowing the only payoff may be the telling of the tale. In the absence of all those coulda, woulda, shouldas associated with the Big 6, our only safety net as self-published or indie writers is Trust.

Trust in our talent. Trust in our hard work. Trust in our ability to spin a good yarn. And Trust that readers do eventually recognize and reward good tales told well.

And that's Why Indie Writers Rock.

*****************
Jonathan Winn is the author of Martuk ... The Holy as well as The Wounded King: The Martuk Series, and The Elder: The Martuk Series. He's currently working on Red and Gold, the next installment in The Martuk Series and Martuk ... The Holy: Proseuche, the full-length sequel to Martuk ... The Holy.

To learn more please visit: http://martuktheholy.com
or Follow him at http://twitter.com/Jonathan_Winn

Blog: http://martuktheholy.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Jonathan_Winn

Facebook: http://facebook.com/MartukTheHoly

Martuk ? The Holy
http://www.amazon.com/Martuk-The-Ho...31090576&sr=8-1

The Wounded King: The Martuk Series
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008D72S3E

The Elder: The Martuk Series
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y65ZUM

Source: http://greatmindsthinkaloud.blogspot.com/2012/09/guest-post-with-author-jonathan-winn.html

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