Friday, February 15, 2013

More thorough dialysis may reduce deaths

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A more thorough dialysis technique may help prevent deaths due to heart conditions and infections in people with advanced kidney disease, according to a new study.

Known as hemodiafiltration, that method is better able to clean the kidneys of larger toxins than standard dialysis, which mainly removes small molecules. When not removed from the kidneys, larger toxins could play a role in inflammation and cholesterol buildup, researchers said.

People on dialysis are most likely to die of complications such as heart disease and infection, according to Dr. Francisco Maduell, the study's lead author from the University of Barcelona in Spain.

Maduell said hemodiafiltration has been available in Europe for almost two decades and more recently in Asia and Canada as well. The Food and Drug Administration gave the okay for the first hemodiafiltration devices to be marketed in the United States less than a year ago.

About 350,000 people in the U.S. are on dialysis. Dialysis machines do the work of healthy kidneys for people with end-stage renal disease, filtering clean fluid into the kidneys and toxins out. Many people stay on dialysis for months or years while waiting for a kidney transplant.

For the new study, Maduell and his colleagues randomly assigned 906 people currently on dialysis in Spain to remain on their normal regimen or switch to hemodiafiltration.

Over the next two years, just under 40 percent of those participants left the study because of a kidney transplant, a change in dialysis unit or another reason.

Of the remaining kidney disease patients, 207 died.

Death rates over three years were 27 percent among patients on standard dialysis, compared to 18 to 19 percent for those on the more thorough filtration method.

In particular, people getting hemodiafiltration were less likely to die of infections. That group also had fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease, although the finding could have been due to chance, the researchers wrote Thursday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

They calculated that eight people would have to switch from regular dialysis to hemodiafiltration to prevent one death each year.

Dr. Katrin Uhlig, a kidney disease researcher from Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said she welcomed the new research.

"Our survival numbers are not great for this population," said Uhlig, who wasn't involved in the new research.

Hemodiafiltration "has some benefits in terms of the size of the molecules that you can remove, so there is some theoretical benefit that you might be removing stuff that might otherwise be harmful," she told Reuters Health.

However, she said, the cards may have been stacked against the group of people getting standard dialysis in the study, in that those patients were a bit older, on average, and more of them had diabetes.

Standard dialysis costs between $200 and $250 per session in the U.S., and even for younger adults is covered by Medicare. Maduell said hemodiafiltration is usually slightly more expensive, but not by much.

Patients in his study tended to feel better, and had fewer symptoms such as low blood pressure during treatments with that technique.

"The tolerance is equal or better with hemodiafiltration," he told Reuters Health.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/9pxA4s Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, online February 14, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-thorough-dialysis-may-reduce-deaths-222130668.html

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

GOP senator says she'll oppose Hagel confirmation

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Hagel?s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama?s choice as setting an unprecedented new standard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Hagel?s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama?s choice as setting an unprecedented new standard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

(AP) ? A moderate Republican senator said Wednesday she'll oppose the confirmation of Chuck Hagel to become President Barack Obama's secretary of defense, while other GOP senators signaled they may delay a floor vote on the nomination unless the White House provides more information about the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had been viewed as a possible supporter of Hagel, but she said Wednesday that his views on the most critical threats facing the United States are "unsettling."

In a four-page statement, Collins said Hagel was unwilling to ask the European Union to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2006, and he has been hesitant to back the use of all non-military options, such as unilateral sanctions, to pressure Iran into ceasing its nuclear program.

As Collins voiced her opposition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., set the stage on Wednesday for a full Senate vote on Hagel's nomination. Reid filed a motion to limit debate and force a vote, which is expected to be held on Friday. Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate and have the numbers to confirm Hagel on a majority vote, but would need the support of five Republicans to clear the way for an up-or-down vote on Hagel.

A bitterly divided Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday voted to approve Hagel by a 14-11 vote, with all the panel's Democrats backing him to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The committee's Republicans were unified in their opposition to their onetime colleague, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.

"I am unable to support Senator Hagel to be the next secretary of defense because I do not believe his past positions, votes, and statements match the challenges of our time, and his presentations at his (confirmation) hearing did nothing to ease my doubts," Collins said. "I regret having to reach that conclusion given our personal relationship and my admiration for Senator Hagel's military service. But I have concluded that he is not well-suited for the tremendous challenges our country faces during this dangerous era in our history."

Collins said she would not join in a filibuster to block a final vote.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that he would vote against ending debate on Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary because he wants more information on Obama's actions on the night of the Sept. 11 raid on the mission in Benghazi. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the Sept. 11 raid.

Graham, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote to Obama on Tuesday and asked whether he spoke to any Libyan government official during the assault.

"There seems to not be much interest to hold this president accountable for a national security breakdown that led to the first ambassador being killed in the line of duty in over 30 years," Graham said. "No, the debate on Chuck Hagel is not over. It has not been serious. We don't have the information we need. And I'm going to fight the idea of jamming somebody through until we get answers about what the president did personally when it came to the Benghazi debacle."

McCain declined to say Wednesday whether he would try to filibuster or delay Hagel's confirmation if Obama did not provide an answer. "My position right now is I want an answer to the question," he said.

After the committee vote, McCain said he did not want a filibuster of Hagel's nomination. "We have not filibustered a Cabinet appointee in the past and I believe that we should move forward with his nomination, bring it to the floor and vote up or down," he said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he's confident the White House will supply the information and that Hagel will be confirmed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-13-US-Hagel/id-1e3d9caebc994e1b8ccbf12a3bcdffa6

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Obama: Pre-K about teaching (CNN)

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Iran denies officials to be quizzed over Argentina bomb

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran denied on Tuesday it had agreed to allow international investigators to question Tehran officials over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires as part of a plan to form a truth commission.

Israel and world Jewish groups have denounced the pact which is seen as running counter to U.S.-led efforts to isolate Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

Argentinian authorities secured Interpol arrest warrants in 2007 for five Iranians and a Lebanese for the killing of 85 people in the Argentinian Jewish centre (AMIA).

Iran denies any link to the attack.

Argentina said last month it had agreed with Iran to establish a "truth commission" made up of five foreign legal experts to review all the relevant documentations of the attack, which Argentine courts accuse Tehran of sponsoring.

Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday his country was committed to the accord.

"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Argentina to resolve the AMIA case and both sides are committed to its contents," the official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying during a visit in Moscow. "This MOU sets the base for our handling of the AMIA file," he said.

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez, who has close ties with other Latin American leaders who are on good terms with Tehran, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, has hailed the agreement as historic.

According to a document posted on Fernandez's Facebook page, the agreement plans for Argentine legal officials to meet in Tehran to question "those people for whom Interpol has issued a red notice".

Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi is among the Iranian officials sought by Argentina, which is home to Latin America's largest Jewish community.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denied Iranian officials would be questioned over the bombing.

"This report is a lie," Mehmanparast told a news conference in Tehran reported by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

Julian Dominguez, the head of the lower house of Congress and a government ally, said senators would start analyzing the bill containing details of the accord on Wednesday.

Julio Schlosser, president of Argentina's DAIA Jewish community group, said Iran's refusal to allow its officials to be questioned was predictable.

"This is what we expected from the start. We said that Iran was not a reliable negotiator," Schlosser told local radio. "This is the cherry on a cake that we refused to eat. The outcome was already clear," he said.

Argentinian officials were not immediately available to comment on the statement by Mehmanparast.

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian and Helen Popper; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-denies-officials-quizzed-over-argentina-bomb-174307304.html

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Monday, February 11, 2013

Eco Friendly Wedding Ring Pillow - Handwoven Hemp Linen -Rustic Wedding - Handmade Wedding by SoulRole

Wedding Ring Pillow - Handwoven Hemp Linen - Rustic Wedding - Eco Friendly

Some time ago I made a custom cloak for a friend to wear to Burning Man,and as a tip he gave me a few rolls of hand woven hemp linen that he had bought in a village in Nepal and hiked out.The rolls were rather narrow and I pondered for a long time what I could make with such special fabric that truly is priceless to me.I mean,the hemp was grown by these villagers,hand processed into a workable fiber,and then woven by hand.I can't imagine how much time went into making just one small roll of this fabric!

It came to me one day that this special fabric would be perfect for making ring pillows.Marriage is one of the most profound and sacred vows we will make in this life and what better way to honor such a moment in one's life?For those of us who strive to live a more simple life,to honor and appreciate the Earth and Life these pillows seem a perfect accompaniment to the start of a marriage between two people who share such values.

The hemp linen is natural and un-dyed and I have pre-washed it in an earth friendly soap.I then carefully unraveled the edges and then made two rows of stitching to be sure it will not unravel further.The inside is stuffed with organic wool from the U.S. that has not been treated or washed with any harmful chemicals.This pillow features an organic cotton un-dyed ribbon(U.S. grow and processed) to securely tie your rings.I have also added a few pinches of organic dried lavender flowers for a subtle calming scent.If you prefer one without the lavender please let me know.

Measures Approximately 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches

I also have a pillow that features a simple hemp string tie,as seen in the last picture.

*****************************************************************************************************

Please be sure to read all my policies before you purchase.By purchasing this item you are acknowledging that you have read and agree to my policies.Mahalo!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoulRole/policy

*****************************************************************************************************

Check out the rest of our shop for great earth friendly products for everyone!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoulRole

I create all of my products in my off grid studio on the Island of Hawaii using the wind and the sun! Thank you for supporting small, sustainable business. Aloha ka kou!

Please find us on Facebook and be the first to see new products, fabrics and special deals!

http://www.facebook.com/SoulRoleOrganics


Have any questions? Contact the shop owner.

Source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/106700654/eco-friendly-wedding-ring-pillow

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France hunting fraudsters in horsemeat scandal

PARIS (AP) ? Europe's horsemeat scandal is spreading and threatening cross-border tensions, as France says Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders were part of a supply chain that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in frozen lasagna around the continent.

No one has reported health risks from the mislabeled meat, but it has unsettled consumers across Europe.

Accusations are flying. In France, the foreign minister called it "disgusting," and consumer safety authorities increased inspections of the country's meat business, from slaughterhouses to supermarkets. Romania's president is scrambling to salvage his country's reputation. A Swedish manufacturer is suing a French supplier central to the affair.

The motivation for passing off horsemeat as beef appeared to be financial, and authorities are concentrating on pursuing anyone guilty of fraud in the affair, said France's junior minister for consumer goods, Benoit French Benoit Hamon.

The complex supply chain for the suspicious meat crossed Europe's map.

An initial investigation by French safety authorities determined that French company Poujol bought frozen meat from a Cypriot trader, Hamon's office said in a statement Sunday. That trader had received it from a Dutch food trader, and that Dutch company had received the meat from two Romanian slaughterhouses.

The statement didn't name the Romanian, Cypriot or Dutch companies.

Poujol then supplied a Luxembourg factory, Hamon's statement said. The Luxembourg factory is owned by French group Comigel. The lasagna was ultimately sold under the Sweden-based Findus brand.

French supermarkets announced Sunday that they've recalled a raft of pre-prepared meals, including lasagna, moussaka and cannelloni suspected of containing undeclared horsemeat. The French ministers for agriculture, the food industry and consumer protection are holding an emergency meeting Monday with meat producers.

While horsemeat is largely taboo in Britain and some other countries, in France it is sold in specialty butcher shops and prized by some connoisseurs. But French authorities are worried about producers misleading the public. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called Sunday night on BFM television for "tough punishments" for what he described as "abominable" fraud.

An affair that started earlier this year with worries about horsemeat in burgers in Ireland and Britain has spread into a Europe-wide scandal.

The EU commissioner for agriculture is meeting Monday with Romania's foreign minister about the latest horsemeat worries. Romanian President Traian Basescu said Sunday that his country could face potential export restrictions and lose credibility "for many years" if the Romanian butchers turn out to be the root of the problem.

"I hope that this won't happen," Basescu said in televised statements. Romania's agricultural ministry has begun an investigation.

In the Netherlands, Esther Filon, spokeswoman for the Dutch Foods and Wares Authority, said Sunday that the Dutch haven't started investigating but they are ready to if necessary.

"We're a ways away from being able to confirm or deny whether a Dutch company is involved," she said. "It would presumably be a question of fraud, rather than food safety. Horse meat can be sold legally in the Netherlands, as long as it is labeled as such."

Findus Sweden plans to sue France's Comigel for breach of contract and fraud, Findus Nordic CEO Jari Latvanen said Sunday. He said the company's deal with Comigel stipulates the beef in the lasagna should come from Germany, France or Austria, but that has not been the case.

"Customers must be able to trust the contents declaration," he said. "We will take strong action to make sure those who are liable in this affair are punished. Our reputation has been damaged, and we do everything to re-establish confidence."

Officials with Comigel did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails.

French media says Poujol subsidiary Spanghero bought the original meat in question. Spanghero says in a statement on its website that it bought what was labeled beef products from Romania, and threatened to take action against the supplier.

___

Alison Mutler in Bucharest, Romania, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-10-Europe-Horsemeat/id-7b2ec925ec5447d2b1f7a2eaebfc443a

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Whisky, beer, pizza and potatoes ? jjmarsh

singha beerOne of the perks of talking to writers, publishers and agents is getting great recommendations.

Joe Abercrombie would take Ballantine?s 17 to a desert island, Malcolm Pryce hails Singha as the King of Beers and you?ll never guess what Susan Jane Gilman wants on her pizza.

Here are some great soundbites from my interviews with writerly types. (All quotes first appeared in Words with JAM. Subscribed yet? It?s FREE!)

?

Naomi Alderman (author of The Liars? Gospel)

?Which book affected you most when growing up?

?The Bible. But not always in a good way?

?

?

David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas):

?How hard was it for you to find representation given the genre-defying nature and structural originality of Ghostwritten?

I was armed with pristine na?vete. I was living in Japan and just did what I heard you were supposed to do ? send three chapters and a summary to an agent. I picked one, Mike Shaw at Curtis Brown, because he had the only non-posh name that a bog-standard, state comp-educated kid wasn?t intimidated by. He sounded like he could be a character off Eastenders. I sent him my first novel. Big sections of it were rubbish and I?m now profoundly grateful it wasn?t published. But on the back of that, Mike said, maybe not this time but if you want to send me the next thing you work on ? So I did and that was Ghostwritten. I got a very off-the-rack, unastronomical two-book deal, but it was amazing. This was in the days of fax machines and I still remember the excitement of that fax coming through. It was one of my best ever days.

?

?

Chris Pavone (author of The Expats)

?Which book do you wish you?d written?

?The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss. It has a wonderful rhythm and has fun with words. It?s enjoyable to say and hear. Rhythm of writing is so important. Whether it?s the long sentences of Foster Wallace or the short snaps of Hemingway, they understand the rhythm.

?

?

James Long (author of Ferney)

?Much of your work references the inescapable influence of, and fascination with the past. Where does that interest in history come from?

?My mildly eccentric mother drove me round villages as a child with a copy of Highways and Byways of Sussex in the car ? perhaps ?the single most untrustworthy historical narrative yet published but laden with fascinating anecdotes. She would brake to a halt outside any ancient building, church, manor house or crumbling castle and read chunks of it out. I used to half close my eyes and try to imagine it as it was.

?

?

Jojo Moyes (author of Me Before You)

Which was the book that changed your life?

Kate Atkinson?s Behind The Scenes At The Museum. It made me realise that books could have an actual ?voice?, and made me want to find my own.

?

?

Ballantine's 17Joe Abercrombie (author of The First Law Trilogy)
I know you have strong views on made-up swear words in fantasy, and prefer the good old Anglo Saxon traditional four-letter words. Do you find some countries more sensitive to that than others?

By the holy hammer of Swarfega I do not! ?People often think the US to be more puritan and less humorous in taste than the UK, but I haven?t particularly noticed that as an overall trend. ?People occasionally object to the use of ?modern? swearing in my books, but most swearwords are ancient, with long and noble traditions in the English language. ?Returning to that point about truth, my feeling has always been that in an adult work of fiction, if you mean fuck, you should say fuck.

?

?

Jane Gregory (Gregory & Co Literary Agents)

?Traditional publishing is undergoing a series of rapid and dramatic changes. Which elements make you?optimistic and which pessimistic???

On the plus side wonderful authors are still being published and previously out of print books are being made available again as ebooks. On the minus side, books and ebooks are being underpriced and therefore probably undervalued.

?

?

Malcolm Pryce (author of Don?t Cry For Me, Aberystwyth)

?There are a vast range of learned references in your novels, from ancient Celtic culture to modern science. How long do you research each novel?

?I don?t do any research, I make everything up. It?s a lot easier and you can never get facts wrong if you invent them. As for the so-called learned references, they are just bits and bobs lying around in the rag and bone shop of the heart that I chuck into the mix. Just stuff I?ve read and remembered. It all gets remembered and pops up. I?m quite impressed sometimes by the breadth of allusion some reviewers find in my books, often stuff I haven?t read, such as Martin Rowson?s The Waste Land. I will probably read it one day just to see.

?

?

Janet Skeslien Charles (author of Moonlight in Odessa)

?Which modern author impresses you most?

?Authors who work to create a sense of community where they live impress me. Writing is a tough, lonely business, and I appreciate authors who donate their time and share their wisdom with others. In Paris, Jake Lamar and Laurel Zuckerman are two established authors who try to help other writers and that really impresses me.

?

?

AD Miller (author of Snowdrops)

What?s the best filling for a jacket potato?

Butter and hope.

?

?

Tom Weldon (UK CEO of Penguin)

?As a gambler, where would you place your bets in publishing?

?On authors and books. On storytelling in all its various forms. Publishers who embrace change are the ones who will thrive. Tastemakers and curators need to be dynamic, flexible and fearless, and to listen to readers. I?m always open to new ideas, but with every kind of book, I?m betting on the very best writers. The format may change but it?s still the content that counts.

?

?

Emma Darwin (author of The Mathematics of Love)

?You spent many years working in theatre. How did the experience of storytelling on stage inform your writing?

?Doing Drama for my degree had all sorts of benefits: learning to speak Shakespeare, Pinter and all sorts of other texts is peerless training for the ear. Working with Stanislavskian ?intentions?, when you distil a character?s reason for acting and speaking as they do into a verb, is brilliant training for working with characters-in-action on the page. And it does mean I know what it?s like to live in corsets and long skirts.

?

?

Susan Jane Gilman (author of Hypocrite in a White Pouffy Dress)

Which pizza topping best represents your personality?

Smoked salmon. And chocolate.

?

Source: http://jjmarsh.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/whisky-beer-pizza-and-potatoes/

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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq's Cook named president of ...

February 08, 2013 ?|? Staff Writer ?|? Print Article ?|? Email this Article

C.Skye Cook

C. Skye Cook of Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq is the 2013 president of Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Women (MNCREW).

Katy Kopp Adam of Richmac Funding will serve as treasurer, Andrea Fazendin of Art Partners Group was named secretary and Claire Roberts of NAI Everest is MNCREW?s president-elect. The immediate past president is Emily Nicoll of CBRE.

Cook will lead the organization in its mission to advance the careers and create parity for women in commercial real estate.

Other directors serving on the 2013 MNCREW Board include Beth Sheehan of Guaranty Commercial Title, Jodi Johnson of Stoel Rives, Tasha Kirk of Ameriprise Bank, Julie Yeazle of RJM Construction, Michelle Witzany of Winthrop and Weinstine, Karla Sheehy of Absolute Commercial Flooring and Michele Caron of Pinnacle Engineering.

Colleen Ayers of The Harrington Company is the organization?s executive director.

Tags | C. Skye Cook, Cushman & Wakefield, Minneapolis, Minnesota, NorthMarq, St. Paul

? 2013 Real Estate Communications Group. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from the Real Estate Publishing Group. For information on reprint or electronic pdf of this article contact Mark Menzies at 312-644-4610 or menzies@rejournals.com

Source: http://www.rejournals.com/2013/02/08/cushman-wakefieldnorthmarqs-cook-named-president-of-minnesota-commercial-real-estate-women/

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Friday, February 8, 2013

The Economics Behind the Monopoly Board Game

Monopoly has been much in the news lately?not because the Obama Administration has suddenly assumed the guise of a vigorous anti-trust cop (fat chance!), but because the toy company Hasbro is making a conspicuous change to its flagship board game. In a contest held on Facebook over the past month, Hasbro invited the public to decide the fate of one of Monopoly?s classic tokens?the little metal figurines that represent each player on the game board. After more than 10 million votes poured in from fans in 120 countries around the world, the firm announced yesterday that, by will of the people, the old flat iron would be replaced with a new token in the form of a cat.

The new token chosen by Facebook voters

The new token chosen by Facebook voters

But what does Monopoly actually mean to all those millions of voters, aside from being a perennial diversion for families forced to endure rainy summer days indoors? Last fall an article in Harper?s magazine by Christopher Ketcham examined the peculiar history of Monopoly, a game that has, over the past 110 years, been periodically repurposed to teach a number of often conflicting lessons about economics.

As Ketcham explains, the earliest version of Monopoly was designed in 1903 by a Maryland actress named Lizzie Magie as a vehicle for popularizing the ideas of Henry George, a now largely forgotten 19th century political economist whose thoughts on remedying inequality in an industrial society were embraced by such contemporaries as Mark Twain, John Dewey, and Leo Tolstoy. In the game?s original version, players could choose to behave like monopolists and drive their adversaries to financial ruin?an outcome whose perniciousness Magie took to be self-evident?or they could agree to cooperate with each other, pay rent into a common pool, and achieve an arguably happier shared prosperity. Monopoly was deeply anti-monopolist.

As the game evolved, though, subsequent iterations cast aside the communitarian cooperative option. This was certainly the case with the version patented by Charles Darrow, ?an unemployed steam-radiator repairman and part-time dog walker from Philadelphia? who sold the game to Parker Brothers in the mid-1930s. From that point on, the game came to teach a rather different economic lesson. What had started out as a cautionary tale against the evils of unbridled capitalism became a diversion from the trauma of the Great Depression, and then a parlor game where clever children could end up owning their parents. What?s more, as the game made its way around the world, its message varied.

When I was a college student in Vienna in the late 1960s, my friends and I played a German edition of Monopoly that was of post-World War II vintage. In lieu of Park Place and Boardwalk, the game featured properties ranging from the proletarian Badstrasse to the plutocratic Schlossallee. From time to time, you?d be unlucky enough to draw a card bearing the stern order: Gehen Sie in das Gef?ngnis (Go to Jail).

What was especially intriguing about this version of the game was a twist in the rules that made it singularly conducive to rampant inflation. By collecting rents and other cash awards (such as for merely passing ?Los?), some players inevitably amassed huge fortunes, enough to dry up all the available Deutschmarks.

To continue playing, it became necessary to convert smaller bills into much larger units of currency in order to maintain liquidity. One-mark notes would be re-denominated into scrip as large as 100,000 marks. In effect, the bank lost control of the money supply. It was Weimar all over again.

I?ve since wondered if we had simply misinterpreted the rules or whether this version of the game had instead been deliberately rigged by postwar German authorities to instill in young players the virtues of conservative economic and fiscal policies. Perhaps this helps explain the exaggerated sense of alarm with which contemporary Germans react at the meagerest hint of inflation.

So what economic lesson does today?s edition of Monopoly impart? For his Harper?s article, Ketcham had a conversation with Richard Marinaccio, the 2009 U.S. national Monopoly champion, who explained the game this way:

?Monopoly players around the kitchen table??which is to say, most people??think the game is all about accumulation,? he said. ?You know,?making a lot of money. But the real object is to?bankrupt your opponents as quickly as possible. To have just enough so that everybody else has nothing.? In his view, Monopoly is not about unleashing creativity and innovation among many?competing parties, nor is it about opening markets and expanding trade or creating wealth through hard work and enlightened self-interest, the virtues Adam Smith thought of as the invisible hands that would produce a dynamic and prosperous society. Instead, it?s about shutting down the marketplace? The initial phase of competition in Monopoly, the free-trade phase that happens to be the most exciting part of the game to watch, is really all about obliterating free trade and annihilating competition in order to replace it with monopolistic rent-seeking.

Ah, so that?s why it?s so much fun to play on a snowy afternoon.

Source: http://www.psmag.com/culture/the-meaning-of-monopoly-52448/

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Welcome-spica.com ? Health and Fitness

For anyone who is addicted to painkillers or to street drugs like heroin then you may have possibly struggled in the past with opiate withdrawal at some point. Each opiate addict knows the discomfort and discomfort of withdrawal and also the intensity from the withdrawal symptoms, and hence they do anything they will to avoid [...]

Source: http://welcome-spica.com/category/health-and-fitness/

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 169 - 02.07.13

Engadget Mobile Podcast 169 - 02.07.13

We're just one week into February, and it's turning out to be quite the month for cellphones already. Of course, that's set to go truly bananas once MWC in Barcelona kicks off, but for now, how about a sedate fire-side chat with Myriam, Brad and Richard Lai? Sounds good? Then tuck right in below.

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen

Guest: Richard Lai

Producer: James Trew

Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)

Hear the podcast

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/07/engadget-mobile-podcast-169-02-07-13/

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

New Jersey's Christie fires back at doctor over weight comments

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie responded angrily on Wednesday to a former White House physician's comment that he could die in office if he does not lose weight, calling the doctor a "hack" for offering advice without examining him.

Connie Mariano, a doctor in the White House medical unit from 1992 to 2001, said in an interview on CNN that Christie, a blunt-spoken Republican who is seen as a strong contender if he decides to run for president in 2016, risks a heart attack or a stroke if he does not slim down.

"It's almost like a time bomb waiting to happen unless he addresses those issues before running for office," Mariano said.

Asked about the comments on Wednesday, Christie, who has spoken openly about his struggle to lose weight, said Mariano was out of line.

"I find it fascinating that a doctor in Arizona who has never met me, never examined me, never reviewed my medical history or records, knows nothing about my family history, could make a diagnosis from 2,400 miles away. She must be a genius," Christie said, adding: "My children saw that."

He called Mariano "just another hack who wants five minutes on TV."

Mariano's comments came after Christie appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and poked fun at his own size - producing a donut while Letterman was mid-joke.

"I'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life," Christie said.

But Mariano, who helped former President Bill Clinton during his White House years, said her advice was not partisan.

"I'm a Republican. I like Chris Christie. I want him to run. I just want him to lose weight," Mariano said. "I'm a physician more than I'm a Democrat or Republican. And I'm worried about this man dying in office."

In a follow-up interview on CNN on Wednesday, Mariano said she and Christie had spoken by phone.

"The words gracious and appreciative don't come to mind," she said, adding that Christie had asked her not to share the specifics of their conversation.

"You don't have to be a doctor to look at him and see that he has a problem with weight," she said. "I have patients who suffer with obesity, and it is not a laughing matter."

(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Andre Grenon, Cynthia Johnston and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jerseys-christie-fires-back-doctor-over-weight-comments-020421612.html

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Friday, February 1, 2013

'House Of Cards' Stars Want You To Binge Watch

By Ade Mangum The political drama "House of Cards," a remake of a British miniseries, makes its big premiere today. What network is it on? Well, it's not really on television. In the vein of pop classic "Video Killed the Radio Star," executive producer David Fincher and actor Kevin Spacey are attempting to, in a [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/01/house-of-cards-premiere/

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