In the messaging war on Obamacare, both sides get personal [ BeritaTerkini ]


By Gabriel Debenedetti

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wayne Dofflemyer is no fan of Obamacare.

Because of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, Dofflemyer’s insurance company dropped the 70-year-old retiree’s doctor from its network this year. Dofflemyer, who credits the doctor with saving his life when he had a ruptured colon in 2012, switched to a different insurer for about the same price in order to stay with his doctor.

But Dofflemyer, of Hudson, Florida, said that he was still angry enough about the hassle of changing insurers to complain to his Republican senator – Marco Rubio, a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Mark Sullivan, a 31-year-old Texan, is just as passionate in defending the policy. He says he managed to sign up for coverage on the program’s technically challenged website, HealthCare.gov, and will save enough money on health insurance to help him start a “business intelligence” website service.

In Washington, Dofflemyer and Sullivan’s stories have become part of the messaging war over Obamacare, as Republicans and White House-led Democrats spar over whether the technical problems with the program’s web site should lead to a broader reconsideration of the effort to help millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans.

Allies of Obama’s administration, besieged by criticism from Republicans who oppose the healthcare law and see an opportunity to undermine it, have fired off a barrage of press releases and social media posts with stories like Sullivan’s, touting the virtues of the healthcare law.

Senate Republicans and conservative groups have fired back with stories such as Dofflemyer’s. Their aim is to cast the healthcare law as an expensive job-killer that, despite Obama’s promises to the contrary, will force millions of Americans into unwanted – and sometimes more expensive – changes in their coverage.

For both sides, the idea is to cut through the political rhetoric and arguments over bureaucratic failings in Washington and present personal, touching anecdotes that support their side of the Obamacare story and resonate across America.

The White House on Monday shared four anecdotes from people like Sullivan whose insurance coverage had improved under the law, which was passed in 2010 and approved by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

The president tried to inspire a gathering of the pro-Obama group Organizing for Action (OFA) by telling the story of Kentucky’s Jeffrey Huff, who had written Obama a letter explaining that his family’s monthly healthcare costs would drop by more than half next year because of the Affordable Care Act.

And in a sign that both sides see power in such stories, the White House asked Americans to share their Obamacare success stories on its WhiteHouse.gov website, while the Senate Republican Conference (SRC) solicited Obamacare horror stories at a new web site, republican.senate.gov/YourStory.

“The idea is that we get real-life examples that we can share with senators from their states. When they’re talking about these issues, you can really put a face to it,” South Dakota Senator John Thune, chairman of the SRC, said in an interview.

Thune said he also had encouraged senators in his party to talk about Obamacare with their constituents on Twitter.

They are looking for people like Dofflemyer, who told Reuters, “I run into people and Obamacare comes up, and everyone’s like, ‘Bleh.’ “

Democrats have used Sullivan to boost their claim that although the HealthCare.gov website has had significant problems, the healthcare program itself is solid.

“A lot of reporters want to talk about the problems with the website,” Sullivan told Reuters. “I can understand that focus, but a lot are missing the bigger story” that many people in Obamacare will save money on their insurance.

Sullivan said he has been taken aback by the “whirlwind” of attention that has come with being an amateur spokesman for the policy, Obama’s signature domestic policy.

“I got to meet with (Health and Human Services) Secretary (Kathleen) Sebelius two weeks ago,” Sullivan said. “It’s been … a little unexpected. All I did was sign up and tweet about it.”

HEALTHCARE ‘INHERENTLY PERSONAL’

Lauren Crawford, a Washington-based partner at Hamilton Place Strategies who has advised Democrats and healthcare campaigns, said personal stories are crucial in a messaging fight such as this one because healthcare “is inherently personal.”

With Obamacare, “people want to make what’s the most financially smart decision for themselves, and what’s the best coverage. So messaging-wise, we went from this big ‘millions of people signing up’ campaign to a more individual one,” Crawford said.

She rejected the notion that such stories from the White House were merely an attempt to shift attention from the website’s troubles, which have prevented untold numbers of Americans from using the site to enroll in insurance programs.

“I don’t think it’s a conscious effort to move the debate, but this is a next step. We’ve been talking about the website for over a month now,” Crawford said.

The pace of personal stories from both sides of the healthcare debate has picked up this week.

“Yes, the website had some problems, but saving roughly $ 2,500 next year (in premiums alone!) seems well worth a little extra patience,” the White House quoted “Mark from Idaho” as saying on Monday.

DEMOCRATS SCRUTINIZE FOES’ MESSAGES

In a video aimed at Floridians that was released the same day, Republican Senator Rubio read letters from constituents such as “Barbara from Palm Coast,” who complained of having to buy more expensive insurance because of Obamacare.

The Democrats’ messaging efforts have included poking holes in personal anecdotes put out by Republicans.

The White House on Monday pointed to articles in The New Republic and Consumer Reports that it said debunked claims about the rising healthcare costs of Diane Barrette, a Florida resident.

Barrette, who media reports initially said could be forced to pay hundreds of dollars more for insurance each month because her current plan will be canceled, appeared in CBS and Fox News reports and was touted in Republican press releases, The New Republic noted.

But the more expensive insurance plans that Barrette complained about “also offer real coverage, and her current plan does not,” the New Republic story said, adding that after having her options explained to her, Barrette warmed to them.

She called the change a possible “blessing in disguise.”

Democrats have long used poignant anecdotes to promote social programs by focusing on the people they help, while Republicans typically have focused on such programs’ impact on the federal budget or whether they represent an unwanted growth of government.

“It’s one of the reasons Republicans have tried so hard to stop, blunt, divert, delay Obamacare” before people begin seeing many of the program’s benefits, said Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and deputy HHS secretary under president George W. Bush.

So in essence, Republicans have taken a page from Democrats’ playbook by using personal stories of their own.

“It personalizes it, it humanizes it in a way that … Republicans don’t do as well as we should,” Thune said. “For better or for worse, everybody is having an experience” with Obamacare.

(Editing by David Lindsey and Grant McCool)

//

Dave Grohl Jams With Zac Brown Band at the CMAs [ BeritaTerkini ]

They played a new song called ‘Day for the Dead’

Save for the Foo Fighters’ honky tonk alter-ego outfit Hot Buns, Dave Grohl doesn’t have a whole lot of country in his cache. But that changed tonight at the 47th annual CMA Awards, where the omnipresent drummer manned the skins for Zac Brown Band’s new song “Day for the Dead.”

Read Dave Grohl on Kurt’s Last Days and the Making of ‘In Utero’

Grohl pounded away to Brown’s side at the front of the stage, where he powered the band through the bluesy, upbeat number which punctuated its pop tinge with a yearning slide-guitar lead. The song kicked in to high gear midway through, with a stoner-rock-worthy freak-out typical of Brown’s country-jam antics that saw Grohl letting loose like he’s known to do.

Grohl is reportedly on deck to produce the next Zac Brown Band album.

Watch Grohl and Zac Brown Band perform “Day for the Dead” below:

//

Tests Show Herbal Supplements Are Often Fake – AARP News (blog) [ BeritaTerkini ]

Bulletin Today | Personal Health
Print Print

herbal pillsHerbal supplements, like echinacea, ginkgo biloba and St. John’s wort, are taken by millions of Americans to supposedly help fight off colds, relieve mild depression, improve memory and any number of other unproven claims.

>> Sign up for the AARP Health Newsletter

In fact, we spend an estimated $ 5 billion a year on these pills that are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration because they aren’t considered either food or drugs. So how can we be sure the pills actually contain what they say they contain?

Uh, we can’t. And they frequently don’t. That’s what was revealed by a new study that used a type of DNA testing that recently has helped detect fraudulent labeling of seafood.

Canadian researchers gathered 44 bottles of supplements sold by 12 companies and representing 30 different species of herbs sold in the U.S. and Canada.

Using DNA bar coding to identify the genes in the ingredients, they found that one-third of the supplements contained contaminants or fillers with no trace of the herb indicated on the label. Fillers included ingredients like powdered rice, soybean and wheat, and some of the contaminants “pose serious health risks to consumers,” the researchers wrote.

Thirty of the 44 bottles had substituted unlisted ingredients, while only two of the 12 companies had products without contamination, substitution or fillers, according to the study.

For example, one bottle labeled as St. John’s wort, which is taken for mild depression, contained only Alexandrian senna, a powerful herbal laxative that can cause chronic diarrhea and liver damage if taken for a prolonged time, the researchers wrote. Gingko biloba and echinacea supplements were found to be contaminated with black walnut, a serious health hazard for people with nut allergies.

>> Get discounts on health products and services with your AARP Member Advantages

As the New York Times reported, consumer advocates and scientists say this is more evidence the herbal supplement industry is riddled with questionable practices, while industry representatives downplayed the problem.

“Overall, I would agree that quality control is an issue in the herbal industry,” Stefan Gafner, the chief science officer at the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit group that promotes the use of herbal supplements, told the Times, adding, “I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks according to this study.”

Not surprisingly, David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group, had a different take: “Given these results, it’s hard to recommend any herbal supplements to consumers.”

Even the FDA, which requires dietary supplement companies to test their products for safety but only pulls products from the shelves if people become seriously ill, said most companies are ignoring the government’s rules. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a very high percentage — approximately 70 percent — of firms’ noncompliance,” a spokesman told the Times.

So which brands should consumers avoid? Unfortunately, the researchers wanted to avoid singling out the culprits by name, so no product names were revealed in the study. Probably the best advice is remain highly skeptical and take all those herbal health claims with a giant grain of salt.

Photo: Ano Lobb/Flickr

Special Veterans Day Membership Savings Offer

Also of Interest

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

//

New Mexico man sues over repeated anal probes by police [ BeritaTerkini ]


By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – A New Mexico man has filed a lawsuit claiming police subjected him to repeated anal probes and enemas after a routine traffic stop because they suspected he was hiding drugs.

David Eckert, 54, claims violations of his civil rights in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico in August but not make public until this week, his lawyers said on Wednesday.

“This suit is about stopping officers and doctors from subjecting people in their custody and control to unlawful sadistic medical procedures that violate the most intimate parts of the human body,” attorney Shannon Kennedy said.

The legal action stems from Eckert’s treatment by police after he was pulled over in January for failing to come to a complete stop while exiting a Wal-Mart parking lot in Deming, New Mexico.

Officers suspected that he was hiding drugs in his anus, based on the way he was standing and the fact that a police dog alerted to his driver’s seat, and obtained a search warrant “to include but not limited to (plaintiff’s) anal cavity,” according to the lawsuit.

After a medical facility in Deming refused to carry out the procedures, Eckert was taken to Gila Regional Medical Center in nearby Silver City, the lawsuit says, where he was forced to undergo eight searches – including digital penetration of his anus, three enemas, two X-rays and a colonoscopy.

Ultimately, no drugs were found, according to the complaint, which says that the Gila Regional Medical Center billed Eckert for the services it performed.

Named in the lawsuit are the city of Deming, its police department, officers involved in the incident and the Gila Regional Medical Center.

Representatives for the Deming Police Department and the Gila Regional Medical Center could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante told local KOB-TV, “We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place.”

(Reporting by Zelie Pollon; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Lisa Shumaker)

//

Olympic hopeful’s dreams revived in different sport [ BeritaTerkini ]

On a seemingly innocuous day in May 2010, Ashley Cooney was daydreaming about gymnastics. This was not unusual for the then 14-year-old, who had devoted most of her life to the rigorous sport.

Cooney's aspirations revolved around gymnastics and a gruelling 34-hours-a-week training schedule was testament to her dedication. She had been part of the prestigious WA Institute of Sport for eight years and had already won a batch of coveted national junior medals. Her precocious talents in the vault and uneven bars had her destined for Olympic glory in London. 

"I was a very hyperactive toddler always climbing on furniture and jumping off things," Cooney says. "At the age of four, Mum enrolled me in gymnastics and I loved it. My skill progression increased rapidly and I was mastering skills."

Predictably, Cooney's thoughts were focused on her passion while she was a passenger in a car driven by her dad through the Perth suburbs during that day in May. The mundane unexpectedly ceased in devastating circumstances. The Cooney's family vehicle was T-boned by a car running a give way sign. Their car rolled before hitting a kerb and resting the right way up.

To compound the situation, Cooney suffered a full-blown asthma attack and had to be cut out of the car when emergency services arrived at the scene. Struggling to breathe and suffering excruciating pain, Cooney's hopes and dreams flashed before her eyes. Despite being in a state of shock, Cooney processed the gravity of the situation. She knew her life would never be the same again.

"Whilst struggling to breathe I was able to recollect what had just happened," Cooney remembers. "By looking at the state of the car and my injuries I knew I was in trouble and so was my career." A fractured collarbone restricted her upper-body movement and strength – requisites for success in uneven bars.

Cooney survived the accident but a part of her never did. Ashley Cooney the gymnast was gone forever. Representing Australia as an Olympic gymnast was not her destiny. It was a bitter realisation for the teenager.

"Everything came crashing down, with nine years of training and an Olympic team taken from me in a flash," she says. "When I retired from gymnastics, I was lost for a very long time. It was a big part of my life and identity. "

Desperately trying to shake off her stupor, she pursued other sports. Unfortunately, she could not find a sport that replicated the sheer joy she experienced as a gymnast. Fortunately, life has a habit of conjuring silver linings for those persisting.

One day, Cooney was introduced into Winter Olympic sports by a talent scout visiting WAIS. Immediately, Cooney was intrigued. Sure, it seemed wacky considering she had never even seen snow. But Cooney had always enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics on television and her innate audacity plunged her into the unknown.

Cooney gravitated towards the luge, where athletes rocket down a chute, feet-first, on a sled. It is the fastest sport on ice, where speeds average in excess of 120 km/h. Her agility and strength developed through gymnastics was a natural fit for her newfound sport.

Ashley Cooney

Ashley Cooney flies down the track. Photograph: Tristan Lavalette/Guardian

"There are no brakes," she explains. "Athletes rely on their reflexes for steering, unlike bobsled, and they have no protection should they make an error."

Under the guidance of Australia's dual-Olympian and current national luge coach Hannah Campbell-Pegg, Cooney has enjoyed a meteoric rise. She quickly made the Australian luge team and after her first race 12 months ago, Cooney is now on the verge of Winter Olympics qualification, ranking inside the required top 27.

The 18-year-old is currently training in Norway in a bid to realise her new dream. At year's end, Cooney will know whether she will be journeying to the sleepy Soviet-era town of Sochi for February's Winter Olympics.

While yearning to make the trip to Russia, she is not burdening herself with expectations that often suffocate athletes. Cooney is not obsessed solely with results because she knows luge has been catharsis.

Competing in luge is helping wash away past sorrows. "I fell in love with the sport of luge," she says. "I will never forget my first run and the adrenaline pumping through me. I had that desire and determination back to follow my dreams.

"It was the second chance I never thought I'd have and I'm giving it my all." Cooney knows second chances are rare. She is relishing redemption. 

Ashley Cooney

Ashley Cooney of Australia. Photograph: Tristan Lavalette/Guardian jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});

Why many no longer watch the birdie [ BeritaTerkini ]

They loved it. Now many hate it.

A growing number of celebrities, athletes and self-promoters are burnt out and signing off Twitter. Many have become overwhelmed.

Some people built big audiences on the short messaging service, only to have their followers turn against them. Others complain that tweets that once drew lots of attention now get lost in the noise.

As Twitter begins trading publicly today, the company is selling potential investors on the idea that its user base of 232 million will continue to grow along with the 500 million tweets that are sent each day. The company’s revenue depends on ads it inserts into the stream of messages.

But Wall Street could lose its big bet on social media if prolific tweeters lose their voice.

Evidence of Twitter burnout is not hard to find. Just look at the celebrities who – at one time or another – have taken a break from the service. The long list includes everyone from Alec Baldwin to Miley Cyrus to Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof.

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt lamented “all the negativity” she saw on the service when she quit, temporarily, in July. Actress Megan Fox left nearly a million followers dangling when she checked out in January, explaining that “Facebook is as much as I can handle”. Pop star John Mayer deleted his account in 2011, saying Twitter absorbed so much of his thinking, he could not write a song.

“I was a tweetaholic,” he told students during a talk at the Berklee College of Music in boston, Massachusetts.

If Twitter turns off celebrities who have a financial incentive to stay in close contact with fans, how can the company prevent average users from becoming disenchanted?

For some users, Twitter tiredness sets in slowly. At first, they enjoy seeing their tweets of 140 characters or less bounce around the Web with retweets and favorites. But new connections soon get overwhelming. Obligation sets in – not only to post more, but to reply to followers and read their tweets.

Many users conclude that Twitter is a time-sucking seduction and turn away. One who calls herself patrilla$ $ $ thrilla excitedly tweeted “first tweet, wocka wocka” just after she joined in July.

But yesterday, 161 tweets and 27 followers later, the romance was over. She quit to “fully enjoy the little details in life I miss because I’m too busy here”, she tweeted.

The cacophony creeps into everyday life. Twitter fanatics tweet from the dinner table, during a film, in the bathroom, in bed. Holidays can seem like time wasted not tweeting.

The over-doers suffer from a “fear of missing out” (or FOMO), says Tom Edwards, vice president at themarketingarm, a Dallas-based advertising agency.

“Managing our virtual personas, including all of the etiquette that comes with, can be tiresome, especially for those with large followings,” he said.

It happens – even to people who ought to know better. Ask Gary Schirr, an assistant professor who teaches a course on social media at Radford University, Virginia.

In August, while holidaying on a beach, he felt a pang of withdrawal because he had stopped tweeting to his 70,000-plus followers. Then he saw an old condemned house about to be washed away and posted a photo to Facebook and Twitter. He felt relieved when the likes and retweets rolled in.

“You feel forgotten if you’re not out there,” he said. “It’s another sign of addiction. You feel bad if you don’t tweet.”

Prolific tweeters stay engaged partly because there are real benefits to a big following, which usually requires tweeting a lot.

Journalists who have large Twitter followings have used them to land better-paying jobs because every click on stories can make more money for their new employer. Actors can land roles on TV or the movies if their digital audience is expected to tag along.

Matt Lewis, a columnist with The Week magazine, says his Twitter following is like “portable equity” that gave him an edge over more established writers earlier in his career. He now has nearly 33,000 followers.

Even so, one of his more popular stories is called “Why I hate Twitter”. It goes into why the social network became, for him, “a dark place” overrun by “angry cynics and partisan cranks”. He became demoralised by the criticism, but could not pull himself away.

“It’s also like a prison. You can’t check out,” he said.

Others find that as more people join the service, the deluge of tweets can drown out individual voices.

Bob Lefsetz, a music industry analyst who writes an email column, the Lefsetz Letter, wrote in July that Twitter was “toast”. “Over. Done. History”.

His follower count is not rising as quickly as before, although still a respectable 57,000-plus. And his tweets do not see as much action as in the past, which he attributes to too many people tweeting “too much irrelevant information”.

“In the old days, I’d get 20 retweets. Now I’ll get none,” Mr Lefsetz said. “It makes me not want to play.”

Along with the potential for burnout, there is also the risk that Twitter becomes uncool to the younger generation, especially when services such as Pinterest and Instagram are a tap away.

Devon Powers, an assistant professor of communications at Drexel University, says many of her students have moved on to Snapchat. But there can still be pressure to keep up with the other services.

“There’s all these new obligations to update and report and check in,” she says. It can make dropping offline feel like a relief.

“If I get really busy, the first thing I stop doing is checking Twitter. I’m living my life. I’m not having a commentary about it.”

AP

//

Obama gets earful from Senate Democrats about health law woes [ BeritaTerkini ]


By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON/DALLAS (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday met with frustrated Senate Democrats, some of whom fear the disastrous rollout of his signature healthcare law could complicate their already difficult re-election fights in 2014.

The Obama administration has faced intense criticism since hundreds of thousands of people have seen their health insurance policies canceled because they do not meet new benefit requirements, despite Obama’s pledge that Americans could keep their current plans under Obamacare.

The fallout has been exacerbated by the fact that these people cannot shop easily for insurance alternatives on the malfunctioning website, HealthCare.gov.

Obama, joined by Vice President Joe Biden, sat down with 16 Senate Democrats, 15 of them who are up for re-election next year, many of them facing competitive races.

One of the senators, Mark Begich of Alaska, issued a statement after what he said was a two-hour session. He said he expressed his frustration at the website which has not worked properly since going live on October 1.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable in this day and age that the administration can’t deliver on the promises it made to all Americans because of technical problems with a website,” Begich said.

Senate Mark Pryor of Arkansas said after the meeting: “The American people are frustrated with the White House’s botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act, and I am too.”

“In today’s meeting, I told the president and vice president three things: 1) fix the website immediately 2) address the problems with the law and 3) hold the individuals in charge accountable for these mistakes. I won’t let up until these problems are fixed,” he said.

The meeting came just before Obama left for Dallas to speak at two fundraisers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In a sign of its political potency, the rocky launch of Obamacare appeared to help Republican Ken Cuccinelli cut into the lead enjoyed by Democratic Party insider Terry McAuliffe, who won Tuesday’s election for Virginia governor.

The White House said Obama discussed efforts to ramp up communication and education outreach to consumers who have received or might receive letters about how their individual health plans might be affected.

Some of the senators have said they want the enrollment period extended. But Obama believes there is enough time to fix HealthCare.gov and get the people enrolled, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

“We’ll be able to do that within the six-month enrollment period that we talked about,” Carney said aboard Air Force One.

As many as 7 million Americans were expected to sign up for coverage in the first year through the online exchanges established under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The law, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, mandates everyone have healthcare insurance coverage or pay a tax.

A significant shortfall in enrollees, particularly among young and healthy people who cost less to insure, would undermine the ability of the exchanges to work financially.

‘GOING TO GET THIS DONE’

Before the fundraisers in Dallas, Obama met about 100 volunteers who are helping people sign up for health insurance.

Dallas-Fort Worth has 1.1 million people without health insurance, 40 percent of whom are Latino, the White House said.

In his motorcade, Obama passed protesters holding signs saying “LIAR!” and “No Obamacare.”

But volunteers with an interfaith group gave him a warm welcome. Obama thanked them for their help and urged them to keep working with the uninsured.

“I just want all of you to remember that as challenging as this may seem sometimes, as frustrating as healthcare.gov may be sometimes, we are going to get this done,” Obama said.

Obama’s top healthcare lieutenant was on Capitol Hill again on Wednesday where senators from both parties asked for details on the problems.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said he was disappointed to hear the administration say it did not see problems with HealthCare.gov coming.

“When we asked for updates on the marketplaces, the responses we got were totally unsatisfactory. We heard multiple times that everything was on track. We now know that was not the case,” he told U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

White House aides have said the website should be operating smoothly for most people by the end of November. Many Washington political figures have urged Obama to apologize for saying people can keep their plans if they like them, and propose fixes to take account of the plan cancellations.

The White House official said Obama, in the meeting with the senators, emphasized that he shared their commitment to ensuring that Americans who want to enroll in health insurance through Obamacare are able to in time for insurance coverage to start as early as January 1.

The government technology office that supervised HealthCare.gov has undergone a shakeup following the website’s troubled start.

Tony Trenkle, head of technology at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is leaving the agency for the private sector, CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille said on Wednesday. She said he “oversees all of our IT functions” but declined to describe his role in the website or say whether he had been asked to leave.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Karey Van Hall, Bill Trott and Mohammad Zargham)

//

Britons invited to post their genomes online for science [ BeritaTerkini ]


By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) – The hunt is on for 100,000 British volunteers to post their genetic information online in the name of science as a North American open-access DNA project arrives in Europe.

The launch of the Personal Genome Project UK on Thursday offers the public a chance to learn more about their own genetic profiles and contribute to advances in medical science – but it also poses ethical challenges.

Unlike other genome-sequencing initiatives, where data is placed behind a firewall, information contributed to the new project will be available to all.

George Church of Harvard Medical School, who first launched a U.S. version of the scheme in 2005, believes sharing such data is critical to scientific progress but has been hampered by traditional research practices.

“Precision medicine is about big datasets about individuals and that is what the Personal Genome Project offers,” he told reporters in London, comparing the approach to a genetic version of Wikipedia.

A genome is a read-out of a person’s entire genetic information. As a result, sharing this data could create dilemmas for those involved.

It could, for example, reveal the presence of undetected diseases or an increased risk of developing a condition such as Alzheimer’s. There is also the possibility that new technology might allow the malicious use of DNA data.

Those volunteering will be warned about the implications for their own privacy and that of their families, according to Stephan Beck, professor of medical genomics at the UCL Cancer Institute and director of the British project.

To enroll, participants will have to be aged at least 18 and pass an online exam to check they understand the risks and benefits. After getting an analysis of their genome, they will also have a four-week “cooling off” period before deciding whether they want their data to go online.

Beck told reporters he expected within the first year to sequence 50 people’s genomes – the 3 billion chemical pairings that make up human DNA.

Understanding the role of this genetic code and the genes it forms is increasingly important in unraveling complex diseases like cancer. It may also reveal why some people have particular traits, such as musical perfect pitch, Beck said.

Since the first human-genome map was unveiled in 2000, some 25,000 people around the world have had their genomes sequenced – but just a fraction of this genetic information is publicly available for all scientists to scrutinize.

In the United States, Church has signed up some 3,000 volunteers for his open-access project, with a few hundred more in Canada, although only around 200 full genomes have yet been sequenced.

He predicted genome sequencing will speed up as the cost continues to fall dramatically – it has come down from $ 1 billion 20 years ago to a few thousand dollars today.

(Editing by Barry Moody)

//

Tonight Myanmar Relief Fundraiser to Help Children and Dogs – Friars Club New York City! [ BeritaTerkini ]

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a sovereign state, and one of the poorest nations, in Southeast Asia. It is also home to one of the most repressive military regimes in the world, and according to the Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks countries based on corrupt governments and public power, Burma is the 180th most corrupt country in the world, out of 183. Myanmar is currently experiencing an unfortunate increase in of orphaned children, stray dogs, and endangered wildlife.

Myanmar is in fact home to a bustling wildlife and over 800 species of birds. Due to the country's slow economic growth, 49% of the land remains covered in dense, untouched forest, and houses tigers, leopards, and an abundance of reptile species. However, since 1995 a new forestry law has severely reduced forest and wildlife, especially in central Myanmar, where vegetation and agriculture are now sparse. As the logging industry continues to destroy what are supposed to be protected areas, more and more animals will lose their homes. Current endangered species in Myanmar include Rhinoceros, Asian elephants, Blue whales, Red Pandas, and Tigers. The Burmese Mountain Dog, often mistaken for the Bernese Mountain Dog, is a rare canine breed indigenous to Myanmar and are traditionally used for skunk hunting; however, with a growing population of dogs in Myanmar, many do not get the proper care, food, or medical attention needed for a healthy, sustained life.

There is no doubt that the people and animals of Myanmar need our help. Thankfully, for the first time ,the Burma Relief plans to gather donations that will go toward helping Burmese children and their four-legged companions. On November 6th, Burma Relief will host a private New York City fundraiser at the legendary Friars Club that will raise money to help construct a 3,000 square foot dormitory and education center at the New Migrant Compound, which houses a number of orphaned Burmese children and dogs. The dormitory will ensure that these children no longer have to sleep on the floor, and will hopefully attract English-speaking teachers. Burma Relief will also use a portion of the proceeds to spay and neuter dogs that live on site, in order to help prevent overpopulation, aggression problems, and health risks.

Please join  by attending this event or donating, and help the Burmese children and dogs achieve the quality of life we all deserve.

For the Best that Pet Lifestyle and Animal Welfare has to offer follow Wendy  Diamond on Facebook, Twitterand right here at AnimalFair.com!



Bark about it!

comments

Tags: asia, burma dogs, burma relief, burma spay neuter, friars club, fundraiser, myanmar, orphans, stray dogs

jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});

Amid Obamacare furor, Obama, Biden meet with Democrats up in 2014 [ BeritaTerkini ]


President Barack Obama discussed the Affordable Care Act’s disastrously botched rollout with 16 Democratic senators at the White House on Wednesday, including those seen as most vulnerable in the 2014 elections.

The president and Vice President Joe Biden addressed the lawmakers’ concerns about the implementation of the law popularly known as Obamacare, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Senators gave profoundly different accounts of the meeting, which did not appear on Obama’s publicly released schedule.

“It was a positive, constructive discussion,” said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, who described Obama as “engaged and responsive” and eager to show “that he has been listening to the concerns and frustrations we’ve shared on behalf of our constituents.”

But Senators Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Udall of Colorado reported back that they gave the president an earful about the embarrassing — and potentially politically crippling — rollout of the insurance marketplaces at the heart of the law.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable in this day and age that the administration can’t deliver on the promises it made to all Americans because of technical problems with a website,” Begich said in a statement.

“Alaskans should be appreciating the critical benefits of the Affordable Care Act but there is an understandable crisis in confidence because the administration has yet to get it off the ground,” Begich said.

In a separate statement, Udall declared that “the rollout of HealthCare.gov has not been smooth — to say the least — and I shared the concerns of Coloradans directly with the president.”

Udall said he pressed Obama to extend the enrollment period to give consumers time to buy insurance — and avoid the fines meant to force the uninsured to get covered.

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said in a statement after the talks that he was “very frustrated” with the rollout and pushed for delays in the sign-up deadline equal to the delays in getting the enrollment process up and running.

“The dysfunction and delays are unacceptable,” he said. “After meeting with the President today, I remain deeply convinced that this is a ‘show-me’ moment. This will not be resolved until Americans can, day after day, sign on to the health marketplace, review their options, and complete their applications.”

Three Democratic officials disputed the notion that the lawmakers present were “worried” about the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act’s disastrous rollout on next year’s mid-term elections. One noted that several of the lawmakers attending hold “safe” seats.

But the White House released a summary that read like a carefully edited catalog of complaints from Democrats worried that Obamacare could cost them their seats next year — or could collapse entirely.

Obama and Biden sat down with the lawmakers “to hear their input on existing challenges with implementation” of the law popularly known as Obamacare and “discuss the progress” made, a White House official said.

“During the meeting, the president discussed ongoing efforts to fix HealthCare.gov and improve the experience of Americans looking to enroll in coverage,” the official said.

“The president emphasized that he shared the Senators’ commitment to ensuring that Americans who want to enroll in health insurance through the marketplaces are able to do so in time for insurance to start as early as January 1st, and throughout the open enrollment period which goes through March 31.”

Amid the controversy over Americans seeing their existing health care plans scrapped in response to the law, Obama also discussed “ongoing efforts to ramp up communication and education outreach to consumers who have received or might receive letters about how their individual market plans might be affected.”

Obama also recommitted himself to safeguarding “the privacy and security of consumers” applying for health insurance on the marketplaces created by the law.

And he asked the lawmakers “for input on how implementation of the law is impacting their constituents, and expressed appreciation for their ongoing help to ensure the law works best for families and businesses and all Americans can take advantage of the benefits of the law,” the official said.

The Democratic senators who attended were: Begich, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Coons, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Al Franken of Minnesota, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Merkley, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Mark Udall, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

//

Baby’s Gaze Could Signal Autism Risk [ BeritaTerkini ]

Nov 6, 2013 4:17pm

A baby’s gaze could carry the first signs of autism, according to a new study that suggests the developmental disorder disrupts the desire for eye contact.

Atlanta researchers used eye-tracking technology to study how babies respond to social cues between birth and the age of 3, and found that infants later diagnosed with autism paid less attention to the eyes of others.

“These results reveal that there are measurable and identifiable differences present already before six months,” study author Ami Klin, director of the Atlanta-based Marcus Autism Center, said in a statement adding that the findings “have the potential to dramatically shift the possibilities for future strategies of early intervention.”

The study was published today in the journal Nature.

Autism Bankrupts Families, Emotionally and Financially

Autism is currently diagnosed based on careful observation of a child’s behavior, social skills and ability to communicate. But researchers have long been looking for subtler signs with hopes of intervening sooner.

“By following these babies from birth, and intensively within the first six months, we were able to collect large amounts of data long before overt symptoms are typically seen,” study lead author Warren Jones, director of research for the Marcus Autism Center, said in a statement.

But Jones cautioned that parents should not go looking for such subtle signs or be discouraged if their babies sometimes avoid eye contact.

“We used very specialized technology to measure developmental differences, accruing over time, in the way that infants watched very specific scenes of social interaction,” he said. “To be sure, parents should not expect that this is something they could see without the aid of technology.”

On top of raising the possibility of earlier detection, the study could hint at subtle interactions between the complex genetics of autism, brain development and eye gaze, according to Jones.

“Our next step will be to expand these studies with more children, and to combine our eye-tracking measures with measures of gene expression and brain growth,” he said.

Autism Linked to Inherited Gene Mutations, Particularly From Dad

SHOWS: World News


//

Google barge ‘to be learning space’ [ BeritaTerkini ]

Internet giant Google says it is exploring using a large barge as an interactive learning centre.

A statement from Google’s press centre may help end weeks of speculation about the purpose of structures on two barges, one being built in the San Francisco Bay, another off Portland, Maine.

“Google Barge … A floating data centre? A wild party boat? A barge housing the last remaining dinosaur? Sadly, none of the above,” says the statement.

“Although it’s still early days and things may change, we’re exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.”

Google did not specify in the statement if it was referring to both barges or, if just one, which one – and the firm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Google has been building a four-story structure in the heart of the San Francisco Bay for several weeks, but managed to conceal its purpose by constructing it on docked barges instead of on land, where city building permits and public plans are mandatory.

Until now, city officials responsible for land use and state officials responsible for the bay have said they didn’t know what was being built there. Coast Guard inspectors who visited the construction sites could not discuss what they saw.

Lt Anna Dixon said non-disclosure agreements were signed, but that those were not necessary, and that the Coast Guard, as a practice, does not share proprietary information it sees during inspections.

If Google wants to operate an on-barge interactive learning centre in the San Francisco Bay, the firm will eventually need to get permission from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

The East Coast barge, built in New London, Connecticut, harbour in July was recently towed to Maine.

Last year Google proposed building a land-based “Google Experience Centre” which would operate as a private museum and demo space as part of new 120 billion US dollars Googleplex headquarters it is building in Mountain View, California.

AP

//

IVF Surprise for Couple Expecting 2nd Set of Triplets [ BeritaTerkini ]

PHOTO: Sarah and Bill Imbierowicz are expecting their second set of triplets.

An Indiana couple is expecting their second set of triplets – an IVF surprise they’re still trying to wrap their heads around because they only had two embryos implanted.

Sarah Imbierowicz and her husband Bill have four boys: 3-year-old Will and 15-month-old triplets Tommy, Sammy and Drew. And in two months, the Kokomo, Ind., couple will welcome three girls.

“I would be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn’t a little overwhelmed,” said Imbierowicz, 36. “But I also know that with the help we have, there’s never going to be a baby not being held or a toddler not being played with. It will all work out.”

Couples Welcome Babies Born From Embryos Saved During Sandy

The couple slogged through three years of failed IVF cycles before getting pregnant with Will – the lone result of four embryos delicately dropped in Imbierowicz’s womb.

“We started out transferring two at a time but we miscarried several times,” she said. “Eventually we got to the point where we decided to transfer four.”

When Will turned one, the Imbierowiczs wanted to give him a playmate. This time, they transferred three embryos hoping for the same luck as before: a single healthy baby. Instead, they got three.

“We knew there was a chance, but since it didn’t happen before, we didn’t expect it,” said Sarah Imbierowicz, adding that only one of the three embryos was considered “good quality.” The second, she said, was “not great” and the third: “They said there wasn’t much point even trying to use it.”

But all three embryos developed into three healthy babies, born weighing between five pounds, eight ounces and six pounds, one ounce.

Because of the risk associated with multiples, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends transferring no more than two embryos for women 35 and younger. But there are exceptions, according to Dr. James Goldfarb, a fertility specialist at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

“The goal in IVF is to transfer one embryo and get one pregnancy,” said Goldfarb. “But it sounds like this couple had gone through an awful lot of cycles.”

The Imbierowiczs were thrilled, but Bill worried his wife would eventually want a girl.

“He kept saying, ‘You need to think about this,’” said Sarah Imbierowicz, who felt that her biological clock was ticking fast at age 35. “And I said, ‘Well, if we’re going to do it, let’s do it now while we’re still in baby mode.”

Fertility Clinic Offers Gender Selection, Draws Women From Abroad

This time the couple implanted only two embryos, hoping for one healthy girl. Instead, they saw three little dark sacs on the ultrasound monitor, meaning one of the embryos split into two identical twins or the couple conceived one of the three naturally.

“Most of time when you transfer two embryos and get pregnancies it’s because one embryo split and you end up with identical twins,” sad Goldfarb. But it’s also possible that the Imbierowiczs conceived the third baby naturally.

“It’s not unheard of,” Goldfarb added, “but it’s much more likely that one embryo split.”

The three girls are due January 30, but will be delivered by C-section around New Year’s.

“We’re really excited to have everyone,” said Imbierowicz. “And it’s a bonus that they’re girls – it balances the house out for us.”

//

2014 Knitting New Year?s Cruise with AmaWaterways [ BeritaTerkini ]

2014 Knitting New Year’s Cruise with AmaWaterways

Booking Methods


For more information, visit:http://www.amawaterways.com/knitting_cruise. For reservations, see your professional travel agent or call toll-free 1.800.626.0126

//

Cisco to buy out start-up Insieme, unveils products [ BeritaTerkini ]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc said on Wednesday it will buy out its majority-owned data center technology start-up Insieme for a maximum cost of $ 863 million (536 million pounds) as it looks to protect its core business from new competition.

Cisco, which already owns 85 percent of Insieme, also unveiled the start-up’s first products. They are Cisco’s answer to software defined networking (SDN) technology, a growing trend among its rivals in developing software with features that are typically found in high-end network hardware.

Because SDN technology can run on cheaper hardware than Cisco’s expensive routers and switches, the network hardware leader needed to find a way to protect its equipment sales.

Rivals who have been gaining attention in SDN include privately held Arista Networks as well as VMware Inc, which created waves in the industry when it bought SDN start-up Nicira in 2012 for just over $ 1 billion. Juniper Networks Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co are also Cisco competitors in the sector.

With this in mind, Insieme was launched in early 2012 with a $ 100 million investment from Cisco, followed by a $ 35 million round of funding in November 2012.

The start-up is run by longtime Cisco engineers Prem Jain, Mario Mazzola and Luca Cafiero and is now the third start-up they have created to be folded back into Cisco.

The Insieme products are being unveiled by Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers at a New York event on Wednesday.

The products include the Nexus 9000 family of network switches and a software controller it is calling the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC).

The controller was designed to centralize data center management for everything from network, storage and computing equipment to applications and security.

By combining central management with its own hardware, Cisco is promising total cost-of-ownership savings of 75 percent, compared with software-only management systems.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Additional reporting by Nicola Leske; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

//

EU regulators to investigate Hutchison, Telefonica’s Irish deal [ BeritaTerkini ]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators will investigate whether Hutchison Whampoa’s $ 1 billion (622 million pounds) bid for Telefonica’s Irish unit will reduce competition in the mobile telephony market in Ireland, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The move will put pressure on Hutchison to offer concessions such as spectrum sales or making it easier for rivals to access its network, to ease the regulatory concerns.

Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by Asia’s richest man, Li Ka Shing, unveiled the 780-million-euro ($ 1.05 billion) offer for Telefonica’s 02 Ireland unit in June to boost its presence in Europe.

Reuters reported on October 23 that the Commission would open an in-depth investigation into the acquisition.

The European Union competition authority, which did a preliminary review of the deal in the last month, said the deal may have a negative impact on rivals and lead to higher prices.

“The Commission has concerns that the transaction would remove an important competitive force and change the merged entity’s incentive to exert significant competitive pressure on the remaining competitors,” it said in a statement.

The acquisition would quadruple the market share of Hutchison’s subsidiary, 3 Ireland, to 37.5 percent, behind market leader Vodafone.

The Commission said it would decide by March 24 whether to clear the deal.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara Lewis)

//

Huawei to invest £370m in 5G [ BeritaTerkini ]

A technology giant has announced plans to plough at least £370 million into developing a new superfast mobile network allowing one-second film downloads.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei, which also develops gear that underpins UK mobile and broadband networks, said it will invest a minimum of 600 million US dollars worldwide in fifth-generation (5G) technology by 2018.

Huawei said 5G technology could be 100 times faster than new 4G networks currently being rolled out by UK mobile operators, and be in action by 2020.

Technology firms are devising ways to meet the proliferation of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, as users download and stream huge volumes of data ranging from films to music.

Huawei has its UK headquarters in Reading and employs almost 900 staff at 15 UK offices, including a research and development centre in Ipswich.

Huawei chief executive Eric Xu said the investment will help connect billions of extra devices, such as cars, meters, medical devices and white goods.

It estimates 6.5 billion people worldwide will be hooked up to mobile networks by 2020.

Mr Xu said the new network will mean download speeds of more than 10 gigabits per second, allowing people to “download high-definition movies in one second and provide a true-to-life video communications experience”.

The group has already worked on European 5G research, helping establish a 5G Innovation Centre at Guildford in Surrey.

Mr Xu said Huawei’s investment will ” ensure that we are meeting the consumers’ demands for increasingly faster and better connections”.

He added: “We have already achieved many technological breakthroughs in 5G research and innovation, but the majority of the work remains ahead of us.”

The money will help explore ways to exploit airwaves to handle increasing volumes of data transmitted at faster speeds.

The sum does not include the firm’s investment plans for products such as 5G handsets.

Huawei has provoked controversy in recent years and was recently banned from working on a new broadband network in Australia over cyber security concerns, which the company said were unjustified.

Britain’s national security adviser Sir Kim Darroch was tasked during the summer with investigating operations at the company’s cyber security evaluation centre – known as the Cell – in Banbury, Oxfordshire, following concern from MPs.

Huawei, which was founded by a former officer in the People’s Liberation Army, first became a major player in the UK when it signed a deal to supply transmission equipment to BT in 2005.

//

Ladytron’s Radical ‘Gravity the Seducer Remixed’ – Album Sampler [ BeritaTerkini ]

Hear four songs from new ‘parallel version’ of latest album

Electronic pop forerunners Ladytron have enlisted other artists to significantly rework their last album on the Record Store Day exclusive Gravity the Seducer Remixed. The vinyl-only album features all 12 original tracks morphed to the vision of their new producers.

Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures

Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt says, “When we made our last studio album, Gravity the Seducer, we were conscious that although we wanted to make a slightly different kind of record, going further into the more atmospheric threads we had experimented with in the past, that our soul was essentially disco, and that we would also make a more upbeat, parallel version of the record in collaboration with a dozen or so producers we admired.”

The four tracks premiering here show how far the producers pushed the source material. For instance, the Tarsius remix of “White Gold” has a more aggressive thumping than the original, making it both menacing and suitable for the club. While “White Gold” is more anchored to the rhythm, SONOIO presents “Transparent Days” in a significantly louder, dirtier mix, highlighting Ladytron’s shoegaze influences.

Ladytron has continually pushed their own boundaries from record to record. Gravity the Seducer Remixed shows how far other artists can push it, and that turns out to be pretty far indeed.

//

Atlas Obscura uncovers weird travel sights around the world [ BeritaTerkini ]

“In an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world,” says Atlas Obscura, a travel site that continually turns up weird and wonderful sites around the globe.

Click on their “random place” button and you’ll get a good feel for its style and contents. You might find yourself jumping from the site of world’s largest nuclear explosion to a “magic mushroom house” in Colorado to a monkey spa in Japan.

Established in 2009, the site has always been based on collaboration, although a redesign earlier this year has pushed that element more to the forefront. Users can sign up, create a profile, then suggest new sites or add existing ones to their wishlist. The result is an intriguing database of crowdsourced oddities.

Science journalist Josh Foer and video editor Dylan Thuras founded the site and still retain a hands-on role curating the content. Thuras says he was initially concerned that the site might be detrimental to the places it featured, but, instead, they have seen the opposite effect.


Double-decker root bridge in Meghalaya, India
Double-decker root bridge in Meghalaya, India, as featured on Atlas Obscura. Photograph: Alamy

“Some of these places desperately need attention or acknowledgement to stop them being destroyed by development or lack of interest,” he says. He recalls a tip they once had of some living root bridges in India. “It came from local, who said they were being replaced with steel-and-cable bridges that could be set up instantly. We listed the bridges on our site and, before long, they ended up on the BBC [and, ahem, Guardian Travel before that)
and people were travelling to see them.”

Atlas Obscura has carved out a good space for itself by appealing to the whole spectrum, from go-getters to armchair travellers. In the year ahead, they will be expanding their events programme, which they run under an offshoot called the Obscura Society in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Past events include an occult “show-and-tell” and a crime “salon”.

“It’s not just about far-flung places,” says Thuras. “It could be something six blocks from your house. It’s more about an approach to the world and redefining what we think of as travel attractions.”


727 Fuselage Home hotel in Costa Rica
727 Fuselage Home hotel in Costa Rica

Oddity Central: “Real-life Hulk has the biggest hands you’ve ever seen!” Yes, there is plenty of silly stuff here that must do very well from Facebook shares, but it’s worth heading straight for the travel section, which somehow skimps on the shock value and is often just nicely intriguing. Sample stories: a look at the ‘world’s smallest restaurant’ in Italy and a marital arts park in China where you can re-create flying moves of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Uniqhotels.com: This site brings together the world’s most unusual hotels, with categories including treehouse, floating, castle and ghost. And to show that unusual doesn’t always mean more personality, they also profile the Morosani Fiftyone hotel in Davos, Switzerland, which is fully automatic and offers no human interaction at all.

//

In Wendy’s Doghouse -Bravo’s The Spoiled Sha-huahuas of Sunset! [ BeritaTerkini ]

MJ's Shahuahua's of Sunset!

Mercedes "MJ" Javid, star of Bravo TV's Shahs of Sunset, is a luxury real estate agent, notorious party girl, and mom to two adorable Chihuahuas. In spite of her busy and drama-filled schedule, she still finds time to spoil her pets – so much so that she has a second car that she's converted into a pet mobile luxury kennel so her dogs are never bored! We sat down with MJ and her pups to talk about canine pampering, when it's okay to bark loudly, and the importance of canine cultural heritage.

WD:  So, tell us about Pablo and Julio; how did you decide on their names?

MJ:  Honestly, I stared at Pablo for two weeks until the name came to me; it just fit. The same thing happened with Julio.

WD: Why did you choose Chihuahuas – are  you a Chihuahua woman?

MJ:  I actually got these little Mexican jumping beans because my my mom and I decided that my dad needed to exercise, so we got Pablo for my dad! Pablo just fell in love with me and I fell in love with him. I'm his mom!

WD:  How do you spoil them?

MJ:  My dogs eat better than I do, actually.  They eat broiled chicken breast, white rice; sometimes they have basmati with saffron in it. My parents spoil them, so the developed this sophisticated palate.  We also do cardio together, and they stretch; we have a yoga DVD. They're really never alone, they're always stimulated or resting or exercising or wrestling each other.

WD:  If Pablo was a celebrity, who would he be?

MJ:  Pablo would be Pablo Escobar. He's a total alpha male. Julio, on the other hand, is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, so  he would be Don Corleone!

WD:  Do they have favorite collar the like to wear?

MJ:  They love this one' it's called Vegas, because it's actually three rows of gold. They like to be coordinated.

WD:  Your dogs look really similar — do they ever mix them up on the show?

MJ: Their names are reversed so every time you see Pablo, it's actually Julio, and Julio is actually Pablo.

WD: Where do Pablo and Julio hang out when they're not with you on set?

MJ: When when they're not sleeping, they are in my car; my second car is actually their car! I call it the P and J Kennel, because it really is theirs in every way; they have their own beds, their own dishes, and a little gymnasium in the back back.

WD:  Do you believe in puppy love?

MJ: Yes, I do. I don't think I've outgrown it yet.

WD: What would be your advice singles  looking for true puppy love?

MJ:  I think you should just get up every day fearless, suit up for your last day of school or first day of school and just be open and receptive. Keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, and have fun with everyone that you come in contact with.

WD:  Tell us about some of the other dogs on the show. How do they get along with Pablo and Julio?

MJ:  Mikey's Pitbull is on the show, but Pablo and Julio haven't met him yet. I'd probably introduce him to Pablo first, because he listens most of the time, especially when there are no cameras around!

WD:  So is everybody's friends on the show? Are any of you related?

MJ:  No. We've all been friends for five to twenty years. We're New Yorkers — we're loyal dogs, so to speak! I'm a Leo, and Leos are loyal; we're known for that.

WD:  What's the craziest thing these dogs have ever done?

MJ: Probably when they see a squirrel and decide to try and dart like a bat out of hell and chase it up a tree; then they realize they're not as vertically gifted as the squirrel is.  I don't think that Pablo would do so well on an electrical wires!

WD: Do you support any charities?

MJ: Yes, there are three that are really important for me. We actually participated in a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society yesterday. There's another one that's very dear to my heart and it's the Venice Family Clinic in LA, for people that are less privileged and trying to stand on their own two feet by being presentable and well-educated.I also support charities that help battered women and children, or any victims of domestic violence.

WD: Any animal charities?

MJ: I support PETA, and I'm generally in favor of any organization that supports animal welfare.

WD: Do you work like a dog?

MJ: Yeah, I'm a real estate agent. I take the dogs to my showings and they will run around in the gardens and yards.

WD: And mark their spot?

MJ: Yeah; as long as it's not on a Persian rug inside the house! They can do it on a bush.

WD: Now, Pablo and Julio certainly aren't Persian names?

MJ: No, they're not. Because they are Chihuahuas, I thought it would be respectful to the Mexican heritage to give them Mexican names.

WD: Are they Shahs of Sunset?

MJ: They are. They are the official Shah-uahuas of Sunset! They're spoiled.

WD: They have more diamonds than most women.

MJ: That's true. Yeah, they wear their Vegas collars.That's their favorite right now.

If you want to see the glamorous, pampered lives of Pablo, Julio, and MJ in action, don't miss their new show, Shahs of Sunset, on Bravo TV! New episodes air every Sunday at 10/9c, and you can visit them online any time you want at www.bravotv.com.

For the Best that Pet Lifestyle and Animal Welfare has to offer follow Wendy Diamond on Facebook, Twitterand right here at AnimalFair.com!



Bark about it!

comments

Tags: american cancer society, Bravo TV, canine fashion, chihuahuas, Dawn Carlioti, dog yoga, Julia, las vegas, Mercedes Javid, Pablip, Pablo Escobar, PETA, puppy love, Shahs of Sunset, Venice Family Clinic

jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});

Teksta robotic dog already selling out for Christmas, says Hamleys: Parents advised not to wait [ BeritaTerkini ]

Teksta (or Tekno in the States) is the hottest toy this Christmas. London toy store Hamleys has revealed that the update of the toy popular in the 90s is rapidly selling out with seven weeks still to go before the big day, so has advised parents to snap one up quickly if that’s what their bundles of joy have requested.

The other toys it has listed as top sellers for this year’s holiday are the Robo Fish, Furby Boom, Doc McStuffins Doctor’s Bag, and Monster High 13 Wishes Dolls. But it is the Teksta that is gaining the most attention.

Pocket-lint first saw the 2013 refresh of the toy at the Toy Fair and we were impressed. Not only does it come with tech-laden bone and ball accessories that it interacts with, the puppy can be controlled and played with wirelessly using an iOS or Android app.

READ: Teksta the Robotic Puppy (2013) pictures and hands-on

It offers many different movements and emotions, including barking, crying, whimpering, and its eyes change depending on its mood. It can backflip and dance, and has sensors on its back so recognises when it is petted.

Hamleys sells the Teksta for £75 a pop both in store and online at hamleys.com. It’s available in blue or pink.

Robo Fish are available at £14 each, the Furby Boom is also £75, the Doctor’s Bag is £26 and the Monster High Dolls are £23 each.

© copyright Pocket-lint 2013

//

Britain unveils new scheme to curb drug prices [ BeritaTerkini ]


By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Department of Health unveiled a new five-year scheme on Wednesday to curb prescription drug prices and ensure the state healthcare system gets good value for money.

The cost of branded medicines to the National Health Service will be held flat for two years under the latest version of the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, or PPRS.

Drugmakers will be required to rebate the difference between the allowed growth in the drugs bill and the estimated actual increase in the cost of treatments, expected to be 3.74 percent in 2014.

Costs will be allowed to rise by 1.8 percent in 2016 and 2017, and by 1.9 percent in 2018.

Governments across Europe have been taking a tough line on drug costs as stagnant economic growth hits their healthcare budgets.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats agreed on Monday to maintain a similar tight rein on prescription drug costs via legally mandated price discounts.

The new deal struck between the British government and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) follows several months of negotiations during which the ABPI argued that medicine prices in Britain are already among the lowest in Europe.

It also includes a statutory price cut of 15 percent for any companies that do not sign up to the voluntary PPRS scheme, the ABPI said.

Drugmakers have long complained about low prices and slow uptake of new medicines in Britain, which they argue undermines the case for investment in the country. Pharmaceuticals are an important industrial sector in Britain, although recently there have been significant site closures by a number of companies.

The trade body represents British companies such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc, as well as the UK units of multinationals like Pfizer Inc and Novartis AG.

(Editing by Andre Grenon and Elaine Hardcastle)

//

Top Microsoft CEO candidates allegedly named: Nokia’s Elop, Ford’s Mulally and Skype’s Bates [ BeritaTerkini ]

Microsoft has begun to narrow down its list of potential replacements for outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer, reports Reuters.

The list is impressive, including Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Ford Motor Co chief Alan Mulally, former Skype CEO Tony Bates, and Satya Nadella, who heads cloud and enterprise at Microsoft.

Elop and Mulally have been tipped before for the position, so it’s interesting to hear the search committee within Microsoft firm up the last few candidates. According to Reuters the search could still last a few months – after all the latest they have is until next August when Ballmer plans to retire from the company for good.

Ford’s people have once again denied Mulally plans to leave the company, though: “There is no change from what we announced last November. Alan remains fully focused on continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan. We do not engage in speculation.” Nonetheless, Mulally has stayed on the list from Reuters.

Let’s take a look at the candidates. Bates and Nadella already have experience running key divisions within Microsoft, so it can be feasible why the search committee is looking into them as replacement. Mulally is known for his forward thinking and potential to turn Microsoft around like he did with Ford, and Elop has worked extensively over the years with Microsoft in the handset game.

Even with a big list of names, investors are pressuring the search committee to look into other options outside the realm of inner Microsoft to turn things around, according to Reuters.

Though he will be leaving his CEO position, Ballmer still has the opportunity to stay on Microsoft’s board if elected to do so, along with Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Some investors want Gates out from the chairman position he holds at Microsoft.

It’s going to be an interesting few months for Microsoft’s leadership.

© copyright Pocket-lint 2013

//

China’s Huawei to invest $600 million in 5G research over next 4 years [ BeritaTerkini ]

BEIJING (Reuters) – Huawei Technologies Co will invest at least $ 600 million in 5G research over the next four years, the Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer said in a statement on Wednesday.

“While we continue to evolve our existing 4G network capabilities, we plan to invest a minimum of $ 600 million over the next five years on research and innovation for 5G mobile network technologies to ensure that we are meeting consumers’ demands for increasingly faster and better connections,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s current rotating chief executive, said in the statement on the company’s website.

This figure does not include investment in 5G products, he said.

The company sees 5G networks ready for commercial deployment by 2020, delivering data speeds 100 times faster than 4G networks.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten)

//

Readers’ tips: weird accommodation [ BeritaTerkini ]

Where’s the fun in staying in just a regular hotel? These days you can sleep in everything from a Trojan Horse to an airplane. Bearing in mind ‘the weirder the better’, what’s the strangest accommodation you’ve ever slept in?

The winner of this week’s competition wins a Radical Peak 40 Jack Wolfskin backpack worth £130. Submit your tips by clicking on the blue button and using the text tab. Try and include as much detail as possible – location, website address etc – and feel free to add a photo if you own the copyright to it, but it will be the text we’re judging! Your tip should be around 100 words. Terms and conditions.

Closes 13 November at 7am BST

  • GuardianWitness is the home of user-generated content on the Guardian. Contribute your video, pictures and stories, and browse news, reviews and creations submitted by others. Posts will be reviewed prior to publication on GuardianWitness, and the best pieces will feature on the Guardian site.

Follow Guardian Travel on Twitter

//