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Dear Reader,
Around our research office in Austin, Texas, we just call them our "Forever" stocks. We've talked about them so much over the past few months, the nickname is just easier. Everyone here knows exactly what we're talking about.
Put simply, this is the set of stocks so reliable that you can buy today and hold for the rest of your life. They have beaten the market for decades... because they share a few key traits that I'll explain later in this report. When you own them, you no longer need to worry about inflation or deflation... bear markets or recessions... flash-crashes or fiscal cliffs.
For example...
I've got more details on each of these ideas -- including several names and ticker symbols -- a little later in today's report. Just know that this sort of "worry-free" performance is why many of the world's richest investors, politicians, and businessmen have owned shares of these stocks for decades, using them to profit in any sort of market.
Let me show you what I mean...
One of our "Forever" stocks is owned by 23 members of Congress. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) reports that via his wife, he has a stake of up to $500,000 of the stock. And in 2012 (last year that data was available), that stake earned at least $15,000 in dividends from the shares... and maybe as much as $50,000.
You can see for yourself in his latest financial disclosure I had our research team dig up on the Representative, courtesy of OpenSecrets.org:
Michael McCaul (R-TX), the fifth-wealthiest member of Congress also has a stake in this stock worth up to $500,000. Here's the funny thing. When you find a stock that a herd of Congressmen love... you usually find that some of the richest people in the world also invest in it. It's almost like there is a direct link between the two...
In fact, Representative Sensenbrenner and his wife could shake hands with the world's second richest man -- Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim -- at this company's annual meeting. That's because along with a couple dozen members of Congress, Mr. Slim also has a stake in this world-dominating company... owning more than 17,000 shares worth $1.4 million. It's the same story with another "Forever" stock we found. It's owned by dozens of the market's biggest players. Legendary investment firm Fidelity owns 18,470,000 shares worth more than $8 billion. Goldman Sachs owns another 2,300,000 shares.
More than 30 members of Congress also own the stock. That includes Jane Harman -- the third-richest member of Congress, who had an estimated net worth of $326 million in 2010 (the last year of available data). That is to say she was the third-richest member of Congress. Ms. Harman resigned in 2011. At last count, she held over $315,000 in this company's stock. This company also counts Secretary of State and former senator John Kerry (D-MA) as an investor. His stake is worth up to $1.7 million.
John Kennedy III (D-MA) owns up to $550,000 of this one. Even Paul Ryan, the Republican VP candidate in the last election, has a small stake in this stock. But what's most surprising about this select group of 10 stocks we've identified? It's not the fact that millionaire Congressmen... or Wall Street mega-firms like Fidelity and Goldman Sachs... are lining their pockets with the shares. Instead, it's that everyday investors like you, your family, and your friends are able to invest in these exact same companies.
Let me be clear -- these ideas ARE NOT solely reserved for Congressmen, billionaires, or the elite.
In fact, people just like you have been making money from these types of stocks for decades...
George A. from Weatherford, Oklahoma says he's held shares of General Electric for 45 years. During that time, his holdings have turned from $27,000 to $108,000... while also paying him "tons" of dividends.
Arthur R. of Sandy Springs, Georgia tells us he invested in 200 shares of Automatic Data Processing at just $8.00 per share. After holding about five years, and watching his number of shares balloon in a series of splits, he sold at $59.90. His original $1,600 investment turned into $106,000 when Arthur sold.
Tony R. of Reading, Massachusetts bought $2,000 of Esso -- Exxon's predecessor -- more than 50 years ago. "I never purchased any more, I just reinvested dividends. For years it was the only stock I owned."
Tony says that stake topped out at more than $100,000.
Now, I'm not here to tell you about General Electric or Exxon. They've treated long-term investors very well, but I don't want to hold them forever now. I've found a new breed of stocks I think are much better "Forever" candidates.
My name is Dave Forest. I'm an analyst atStreetAuthority, one of the country's fastest-growing financial research firms.
I work closely with Paul Tracy, who started StreetAuthority more than a decade ago -- literally from his kitchen table. It's funny to think about now, but I can tell you back then he tried to keep our humble start a secret.
But then a funny thing happened...
People began to see we knew what we were talking about at StreetAuthority. We were making investors money.
Gradually more investors learned about us. Then our analysis started to appear on AOL, TheStreet.com, Nasdaq.com, and Yahoo Finance. That brought more readers.
Over the years, our business has grown like a weed. We now employ more than 50 people, and we have analysts and researchers from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Today, we publish our research to over 2 million readers in 175 countries.
But I think the research we've done on our "10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever" might be our most important to date...
I'll get into more details on our 10 "Forever" stocks -- including some specific names and ticker symbols -- later on in today's report.
But first, I want to tell you something that a broker never would. It makes it clear that holding a stock forever may be the smartest investing decision you'll ever make...
Your broker would never suggest holding a stock forever. He'd go broke! The more you trade in and out of stocks, the more money he makes. I personally use E*Trade. They are always trying to sell me on using their latest and greatest trading tools. They'd never recommend that I buy a stock and simply hold it... letting the shares pay me year after year. They want commissions.
I don't mean to single out E*Trade. Scottrade, TDAmeritrade, nearly every brokerage house... they all push for you buy and sell frequently.
Now, I'm not knocking trading. I've seen plenty of people make money that way. But it's not for me. And if you're reading this research, I bet it's not for you either. Here's the good news...
You don't have to trade every day... or every week... or even every yearto beat the market. In fact, your success actually increases the fewer trades you make and the longer you hold.
I'll give you the specifics in a minute, but for now just keep in mind that investors in the S&P 500 have NEVER suffered a loss in a 20-year period. They have always ended up ahead of the game providing they held onto their stocks.
Of course, we all know you can't say the same for holding stocks for a year or two. When you hold stocks for a short period of time, your odds of losing money go way up.
And you can lose a boatload of money in a hurry...
In fact, the S&P 500 once dropped -44.8% in a single year. But overall the 20-year stretches we've examined since 1950 (and there have been hundreds of these rolling periods), stocks have always moved higher. No wonder Warren Buffett says his favorite holding period "forever."
I love the sound of that. In fact... I'm convinced that the simplest way to turn any amount of money into a windfall is to find a stock you want to hold forever, invest, and then forget about it.
But it's not just me.
Listen to the story of Grace Groner.
Grace lived nearly her entire life in Lake Forest, Illinois, about 45 minutes north of Chicago. After she graduated from Lake Forest College in 1931, Grace was hired as a secretary at Abbott Laboratories, where she worked for more than four decades.
Grace never earned an impressive salary as a secretary. She never drove a fancy car. According to the Los Angeles Times, she got her clothes from garage sales. She lived in a one-bedroom house that was willed to her when a friend passed.
But in 1935, a few years after she started her job at Abbott Labs, she bought three shares of the company's stock for about $60 per share. Her total investment was under $200.
As I bet you can guess, Grace never sold those shares. Through dividends, share splits, and dividend reinvestment, when she died in 2010, her three share purchase was worth $7 million. She left it all to her alma mater.
Anne Scheiber did almost the exact same thing. She started with $5,000 in 1944, buying shares of market leaders like Schering-Plough, Coca-Cola, and Bristol-Myers. According to those close to her, Anne hated to sell because she couldn't stand paying commissions.
When she died in 1996, her $5,000 initial investment had turned into $22 million.
Now, I don't expect you to turn $5,000 into $22 million. These are special cases. But right now, everyday investors like you are buying into "Forever" stocks, holding for the long-term, and making small fortunes of their own...
Robert R. of The Villages, Florida says he bought 1,000 shares of Exxon in 1973... Today he owns 16,000 shares. His favorite thing about investing in "Forever" stocks? "You don't have to worry about constantly trying to beat the market," says Robert.
George A. from Seattle, Washington has a similar story. George says he bought $2,000 of Apple and $2,000 of Amazon back in October 2000.About 10 years later, he says his Apple shares were worth $60,100 and the Amazon shares were worth $11,600.
William M. is an investor in Boynton Beach, Florida who says he's held over 60 stocks for more than 35 years. He bought just 5 shares of AT&T in 1950.
When we last heard from him, he said thanks to splits, spin-offs, and dividends, he owned 4,000-plus shares of the stock! That's worth well over $100,000 at current prices. William also told us he's been retired 27 years, is a member of two private country clubs, and has homes in both Florida and Massachusetts.
But my favorite story is from Edwin C. of San Diego. I'll let him tell you himself...
"I started out investing on a monthly basis in Exxon and Duke Energy, and then in the Oakmark Equity and Income Fund. I never sold any positions. Today, 10 years later I have $109,000 in Oakmark and $50,000 each in Exxon and Duke. When I get my annual pay raise, I increase my automatic monthly investment by 50% of the raise. Pay yourself first! I am a multimillionaire with no college education, just a 20-year Navy career behind me."
But why? How is it that holding a stock "Forever" seems time and time again to make the biggest difference in your overall success?
My research staff uncovered two big reasons...
If you want to see the best reason why investing "Forever" is the smartest way to let the market make you rich, the table below gives you a big hint...
I ran a simple stock screen on my research team's Bloomberg terminal. I wanted to find all the stocks in the United States that have returned more than 500% in the past year. To make sure we were dealing with solid companies, I only included companies with positive earnings. And to weed out the fly-by-night penny stocks, I had to kick out anything with a tiny market cap under $100 million.
You can see the results for yourself. Just 3 stocks survived the cut -- out of 6,462 traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack! What's more, I bet you've never even heard of these stocks... much less own any of them. I sure hadn't.
Now here's the interesting part. I ran the exact same screen again... only I changed the time period to the past 10 years. The results are night and day.
Over the past 10 years, 181 stocks returned more than 500%. That's almost 60 times as many as the past year! Lesson: if you can hold on for a decade, you're 60 times as likely to hit it big.
That's because the market's greatest stocks take years to reach their full potential.
They won't do it in one year... or even two or three years. But give them enough time for their business plans to bear fruit, and you will see your gains steadily compound into the sort of wealth that can change your life.
Take a well-known case -- shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Apple has been one of the market's best performers for years. But even in the stock's best one-year period, investors made 289%.
I wouldn't sneeze at a 289% gain, but anyone who bought for a year sold themselves way short.
You can see from my chart that Apple wasn't done after six months or a year...
Since 2003, Apple has gained 7,838%. That's an average annual gain of 47%... and enough to turn every $10,000 invested into more than $780,000.
Owning a stock like Apple for a short period is like ordering a 7-course meal and only sticking around for the appetizer. Sure you get a taste... but wouldn't you rather have the whole meal?
And today, I'm seeing a similar setup to what has happened with Apple...
This "Forever" stock is the one owned by Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, and two dozen Congressmen. Like Apple, this stock has long been a darling of Wall Street. Since it first went public in 2004, it's returned 1,090%.
Like Apple, when this company first surfaced, it appeared to be a one-trick pony, offering one main service. But in the past year, this company has shown itself to be a force that could change the world. Its cutting-edge technology is already spreading into several industries -- which may be why CNBC's Jon Steinberg described the company as "the conglomerate of the future." While shares have gone up quadruple digits since the company launched just a decade ago... they still aren't anywhere near where they could -- or should -- be trading at.
This company makes a product you probably use every day. Heck, in my line of work, I use it dozens of times a day.
It owns a dominant 65% of its primary market... and more than a billion of people rely on this company.
That sort of dominance has done wonders for business, although you wouldn't know it by looking at the stock, which I think is extremely undervalued right now. There's nothing wrong with its profit and loss statement, that's for sure. In fact, only 17 companies in the world earn more profit per year than this "Forever" stock.
To put it simply, this business is a cash machine.
Maybe that's how it has built up more than $59 billion in cash on its books... which equals a staggering $86 per share -- or 15% of its share price. I've never seen anything like it.
But despite these statistics, shares are trading at half their 2009 valuations -- even though profits have increased 98% since then. If that screams buying opportunity to you... you're not alone.
I'll give you the name of this company a little later. But first, I want to show you one more reason why owning a stock forever may be the smartest investment move you've ever made...
This one is undeniable: Owning stocks forever reduces your risk of losing money. Of course, it doesn't guarantee you'll make money. Not even a CD will give you a guaranteed profit these days, after inflation takes its cut. But what I can guarantee you is that the longer you hold, the more likely you are to come out ahead.
I'm not blowing smoke here. Decades of data back it up.
In fact, when I started preparing this research report, the first thing I did was go through the annual results of the S&P 500, going all the way back to 1950. That's 62 years of data.
You can see what I found in my chart...
On a rolling annual basis, the S&P 500 has dropped 16 times over a 1-year period since 1950... but zero times in any 20-year period.
This trend is clear as day. The longer you hold an investment, the better your chances of making money. And there's no longer holding period than forever.
But I'd bet you already knew holding for the long-term is smart. Many of the market's brightest minds -- including Warren Buffett -- have heralded the powers of long-term investing.
Know why I think this approach works so well? Because it's so hard! The fact is, it's tough to do anything for a long time -- even when you're doing "nothing" by simply leaving a stock alone. Holding through thick and thin means that you'll experience bear markets, recessions, and the occasional panic. I'm sorry to say there's no way to avoid these facts of investing life when you buy a forever stock.
Fortunately, as with so many endeavors in life, the harder you work the sweeter the reward. If you take away one thing from this bulletin today, I hope it's this: if you do it right, you don't need nerves of steel to hold for the long term... if you're in the right stocks.
Hear me out...
I've run the numbers on my 10 "Forever" stocks during the nasty bear market from October 9, 2007 until March 9, 2009 -- when the S&P 500 dropped a nauseating 56.8%. In a crash that vicious and widespread, you'd think everyone got crushed, right?
If you had owned our 10 "Forever" stocks during that nasty bear market, you would have had a much better experience than the average investor. Only 2 stocks of the 10 fell more than the S&P 500 during the bear market. And since the bull market returned, those stocks have come back with a vengeance... doubling or tripling the S&P 500 in the following year.
As for the other 8 picks? Well three of them weren't listed until after the bear market, so I left them out of our calculations to be fair. The rest fell an average of 25% lessthan the broader market.
And the vast majority of these picks beat the S&P 500 on the way back up. So not only has this select group of stocks held up better in down markets... they've also whipped the S&P 500 in bull markets.
See for yourself...
It's like having your cake and eating it too.
Now, I'll be honest. There's a major caveat. You can't just buy any stock, hold it forever, and expect to come out ahead. The market is littered with Enrons, Worldcoms, even General Motors. Holding forever didn't matter a lick with them.
That's why my staff and I have put so much time, effort, and money into completing our list of 10 "Forever" stocks. This project took about six months, and it wasn't cheap. By my back-of-the-napkin calculation, the total cost of gathering, analyzing and distributing this data comes to about $1.3 million.
But that's a bargain if it can give thousands of investors a lifetime of protection and profits going forward. You see, the performance of these 10 special stocks in the bear market wasn't a fluke. It's one of the main reasons why I selected them in the first place. What's more, this handful of stocks show strong signs they could continue to make investors wealthy for years to come.
When you invest in companies like the dominant monopoly with a 4.9% dividendyield that I'll tell you about in a moment, you can sleep well at night knowing that your money has a great chance of growing year-in and year-out for decades to come.
If you want to read all our research on this select group of "Forever" stocks, I've put everything together in a research report titled The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever.
Even better, I want to give you unrestricted access to this report right now. Keep reading to learn how to claim your copy...
I discovered long ago that you don't need a room full of supercomputers to make money in stocks. All you need to do is buy a handful of "Forever" stocks. Of course the buying part is easy. The hard part is finding these rare gems in the first place.
You'll know you've found a "Forever" stock when you find a company doing three vital things:
1) paying its investors a fat dividend...
2) digging a deep moat around its business to fend off competitors, and...
3) buying back massive amounts of its own stock, driving up the value of the rest of the shares.
One of my own personal "Forever" stock favorites is Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). I've recommended it for quite some time now and it has made me plenty of money.
Colgate meets all three "Forever" stock criteria: With a stable of iconic brands like Colgate toothpaste, Irish Spring soap, AJAX commercial cleaner and more, Colgate is a household name, with a deep moat against would be competitors.
The company has paid a dividend every quarter since 1977 and has raised its payout at least once per year. Meanwhile, Colgate has repurchased 186 million of its outstanding shares over the past decade... and the stock is up 227%.
Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is another great business that qualifies as a forever stock. Years ago, I saw the explosion in demand for agricultural commodities from fast growing markets like China, and recommended Deere because of its sheer market dominance in its global industry Not only does the company one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment in the world, the firm dominates the North American equipment market, with a market share above 66%.
Since 2004, Deere has raised its dividend more than 264% and has repurchased more than $1.1 billion worth of its own shares, boosting share values. The stock has soared over 200% in the past decade, rising from about $30 (split-adjusted) to more than $90 a share.
I have always tried to buy businesses that are so good that I wouldn't have to worry about their stocks. That way, I could hold them as long as I wanted before I cashed out. I assumed other sensible investors thought the same way. But as the market crashed in 2008 and on into 2009, I noticed something disturbing. Thousands... even millions of investors started dumping what I knew were good long-haul investments.
By the time the S&P 500 hit bottom on March 9, 2009 investors sat in shock -- numb, with their portfolios cut in half by the 56.8% drop in the overall market. Some of my colleagues even vowed to never invest again. But at StreetAuthority we saw something completely different. We saw a historic buying opportunity. We didn't wait. So we backed up the truck and scooped up the most undervalued stocks we could find. StreetAuthority founder Paul Tracy bought tens of thousands of dollars of stocks for himself and he urged our subscribers to do the same.
Over the next 12 months, stocks would rebound over 60%, sending those shares soaring. Looking back on that jarring experience, we noticed that when the going got rough, investors dumped some of the most dominant companies on the planet -- the exact type of stocks they should hold forever.
This turned out to be exactly the WRONG thing to do. So the StreetAuthority team got together and started work on a master list of stocks that investors could hold forever. They could simply buy the shares and forget about them. They wouldn't have to worry about what the market is doing... or interest rates... or GDP... or inflation.
They wouldn't have to worry whether Washington ever gets its act together on the debt and deficit. Basically, we wanted to show investors that investing doesn't have to be complicated. And you don't have to watch the stock market every day to make money.
Companies like that can make you money no matter what. Once you find them, the rest is simple -- just buy their shares and forget about them.
Now that we've completed our list of "forever" stocks I'd like to share them with you in... The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever.
To claim your copy, with full details and profiles of all 10 "Forever" picks, I only ask that you try a trial subscription to my monthly advisory -- Top 10 Stocks.
But before you even think about that, let me tell you a bit more about this select group of companies...
He is the richest person in the history.
Warren Buffett? At his peak, Buffett's wealth is less than one-fifth this man's fortune.
Bill Gates doesn't even come close. Neither does Walmart founder Sam Walton or telecom magnate -- and one of the richest men in the world -- Carlos Slim.
The oil tycoon was not only the richest man in history... he had more money than Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Carlos Slim combined. None of these poor guys can hold a candle to the $336 billion fortune (adjusted for inflation) amassed by John D. Rockefeller.
But when I tell you I've found my "Rockefeller" investment, I'm not saying it because I think it will make us billionaires -- although I wouldn't complain if it did.
No, I call it my "Rockefeller" investment because of what this company invests in.
This "Forever" stock owns a rare breed of assets that are nearly impossible for small investors like you and me to purchase directly. Typically only industrial titans like Rockefeller can buy them.
Most people know Rockefeller became rich via his company, Standard Oil. But when you look closely at exactly WHY Rockefeller got rich, you realize Standard Oil didn't turn Rockefeller into a billionaire simply because it was in the oil business.
No. Standard Oil made Rockefeller the richest man in history because the company held a monopoly in its market... while also paying a fat dividend on the shares he held.
And now, I've found an investment -- Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP) -- that lets you own stakes in dozens of infrastructure monopolies across the entire world, and in addition to capital gains, it pays investors a 4.9% dividend each year to own it. Thanks to its Standard Oil-style business model, this company is raking in practically guaranteed revenues from one of the most compelling portfolios I've ever seen.
The partnership owns ports all over Europe... toll roads in South America... railroads in Australia... and thousands of miles of electric power lines in the United States and Canada. These assets are just about impossible to compete with. No one is going to build another electric grid or a new port next to one already in place.
I can only think of one, maybe two, other places where you can invest in a stable group of monopolistic holdings this broad from all over the planet.
But any "Rockefeller" idea would be incomplete if it ignored dividends. After all, it was Rockefeller who once quipped "Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It's to see my dividends coming in."
Right now BIP pays $0.48 per unit each quarter. That's a 75% increase since 2010and gives the units a yield of 4.9%.
But I think that distribution is going to rise in the years ahead. Brookfield states its aim is to raise its distributions 3%-7% a year, while also aiming to return 60%-70% of its income to investors in the form of dividends.
How many other outfits explicitly tell you that their major goal is to increase distributions... and to do so faster than inflation? That's just a peek at one of the remarkable locked-in profit plays you'll see in The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever.
And I still have 9 more to give you...
I mentioned a few of the details about this stock earlier in today's report.
It's the one owned by Goldman Sachs. They own $2.6 billion of the stock alone.
More than 30 U.S. Congressmen also own shares.
I'm talking about Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) -- one of the most dominant companies on the planet -- and one that I want to own forever... especially at these prices.
And guess what... this stock is also being praised by Charlie Munger -- Warren Buffett's second in command.
"Google has a huge new moat," Munger said. "In fact I've probably never seen such a wide moat. Their moat is filled with sharks."
Munger is famous for loving companies with wide "economic moats" -- advantages that keep competitors from gaining territory against a business.
And Google has plenty of those...
It's the most dominant company on the entire Internet. Depending on whom you cite, it owns no less than a 65% of the online search market, and possibly upwards of 90%.
Moreover, it offers email... online documents... mapping tools... and dozens of other free utilities -- all in an effort to get its advertising platform in front of more eyeballs.
Its web advertising platform controls nearly 40% of the market (and growing)... about triple its nearest rival. And online advertising is still in its infancy. It's expected to jump 15% this year.
That's just the beginning. Google has managed to build a functioning driverless car -- a whole fleet of them. They've driven themselves hundreds of thousands of miles with a perfect safety record in all sorts of settings, including heavy city traffic and poor road conditions. A four-way stop? Parallel parking? No problem.
Google's also introduced new web-based software that compiles life-saving data for cancer researchers and surgeons that will improve treatment and reduce costs. The tech-savvy company has even entered the field of robotics, with robots that can walk, run and even think on their own.
This near monopoly of a company has built up a cash stockpile of $59 billion... or $86 PER SHARE. That means Google could afford to pay every investor a dividend of nearly $86 per share and still not skip a beat.
Despite these statistics, shares are trading at half their 2009 valuations -- even though profits have increased 98% since then!
Sometimes the market just doesn't make sense. But I think the solution is pretty simple in this case. Buy the shares now... and hold them forever.
In fact, I think that's the right plan for the rest of our 10 "Forever" stocks...
I've bought and sold millions of dollars of stocks over the years, but I wish I had realized one thing sooner -- it's the few investments you simply buy and hold forever that make the biggest difference to your long-term wealth..
That's why we put together The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever. I send it to every reader of my Top 10 Stocks advisory because it gives them an instant portfolio that requires no supervision... and that is virtually guaranteed to appreciate.
The report is a great starting point for any investor who wants to see what "Forever" stocks can do for them. Most people like the report so much that they become "Forever" investors themselves. When they start getting a new "Forever" stock every month in Top 10 Stocks and see how well our system works, most of them wonder why they didn't start investing this way years before.
Why don't you let me send you the next issue of Top 10 Stocks? I think you'll find it's an unusually helpful advisory...
For starters, Top 10 Stocks is much than the work of just one analyst. That's because I spend my days working side by side with some of the smartest investment minds in the country -- the analysts who run StreetAuthority's eight specialized investment advisories. I have a bird's eye view of all their portfolios. And I can see all their research before it is released.
Being surrounded by so much investment brainpower gives me an edge most investors don't have... and I'd be stupid not to take advantage of it. So every month I dig through all eight advisories looking for "Forever" stocks. Whenever I find a worthy candidate, I present it in Top 10 Stocks.
My top pick one month might be a Canadian trust yielding 13%... and the next month it might be an overlooked asset play that is so cheap it's selling for its cash in the bank. But it's always a company so strong, so entrenched and so shareholder-friendly that you should be able to hold it forever.
We started Top 10 Stocks less than two years ago and it's already StreetAuthority's most popular service. My readers tell me they like this simple approach to investing. I guess you could call Top 10 Stocks a best-of-the-best, "all-star" publication. Whatever you call it, subscribers seem to enjoy it...
"I like the concentrated portfolio and not being inundated with too many "great" ideas, just the ONE best per month and the overall 10 best to be kept in a portfolio."
-- Haviva G., Atlanta, Georgia
"The cream of the crop all in one! What's not to like?"
-- Tony P., Toronto, Ontario
"Don't change anything, you may break it. I think you are the best."
-- Bahij M., Newton, Pennsylvania
"I invested $10,000 each in two of your recommendations. I'm up $2,200 on one and up $1,000 on another."
—Jim M., Hobe Sound, Florida
"The amount of dividend payouts and gains pays for [Top 10 Stocks] very quickly. Totally worth it."
—Christopher P., League City, Texas
Here's What I Propose...
Now, there's no guarantee Top 10 Stocks will be the right publication for you. So here's what I suggest...
Give Top 10 Stocks a try. No rush -- take the next 30 days to see what you think. First, read The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever, which is included free with your subscription... and then decide if my research is what you're looking for. If you're not satisfied, we'll happily send you a 100% refund.
Start your 30 days now, and you'll receive:
Of course you'll also receive my latest issue of Top 10 Stocks, featuring an in-depth profile of my top pick of the month -- the single most promising profit play from across all of StreetAuthority's eight premium investment advisories. (It would cost you $4,510 to subscribe to all of them.)
So for the next 30 days, you can take the time you need to decide if my Top 10 Stocks research is what you're looking for. If not, simply contact our customer service team for a refund.
Like I said, it's easy to see if my research is right for you.
I'll tell you how to get started and gain immediate access to The 10 Best Stocks to Hold Forever in a moment... but first I want to tell you about one more bit of research I've been working on.
I've talked a lot about the Congressmen who own some of our 10 "Forever" stocks... but you're still probably wondering... "Does it really matter if Congress owns shares or not?"
In a perfect world, it wouldn't. But in the real world of haves and have-nots, of insiders and outsiders... it turns out to matter a great deal. After all, only lawmakers have the full inside scoop on upcoming laws and regulations that help some businesses and devastate others. This inside information translates into a serious investing advantage.
In a study cited by Barron's, members of the House of Representatives beat investors like you and me by 6.8 percentage points a year. That's a HUGE margin. Say you invest $10,000 in the market at a 10% return. You'd have $25,937 in 10 years. But with their additional 6.8%, a House member would have $47,253 -- almost twice as much. No wonder 249 of the 535 members of Congress are millionaires. That's 47%! Only 5% of "regular" American households are worth more than $1 million.
As much as the whole situation stinks, it looks like Barron's is right when it says the "Holy Grail of investing has been found: get elected to U.S. Congress."
You may not like the fact that politicians have this unfair edge. I know I don't. But is it any wonder that the first place I went looking for my 10 "Forever" stocks was in Congress' own portfolios?
When you have a privileged class of investors whose insider access clues them into which stocks will go up fastest -- you would be a fool not to pay attention. Fortunately for researchers like me, a new law requires all members of Congress to publicly disclose information on their new stock buys within 45 days. (They previously had to disclose this information only once a year.) This lets us see more clearly than ever exactly what our "representatives" are buying.
I've gone through the latest filing of the Office of Public Records of the Secretary of the Senate. I put my findings in a special research report: Congress' Dirty Secret: The Most Popular Stocks Owned by Your Representatives.
In this report, I profile the six most popular stocks in Congress... and even show you how simple it is to dig up the details on what your local Congressman holds. You should try it... you'll find some fascinating stuff in these guys' portfolios.
I've decided to include this report at no extra charge when you join my monthly Top 10 Stocks advisory. Now here's how to sign up and lock in a major discount.
A Discount of 60% Off the Masthead Price
The masthead price for Top 10 Stocks is $99 per year. We put an enormous amount of time, money and effort into our company's research and we have to recoup our costs.
But today we're trying something different. Sign up through this offer and you can start your test of Top 10 Stocks for 60% off. You'll pay just $39.95 for one year of my monthly advisory. This includes...
If you decide to join Top 10 Stocks for two years (with the same 30-day money-back guarantee), then you'll also receive these additional reports...
Keep in mind that you'll have the next 30 days to decide if you like my research or not.
If you don't like it, I won't get my feelings hurt. Simply call our dedicated customer service team before 30 days is up and we'll issue you a refund. You'll be able to keep the reports, free of charge.
To get instant access, subscribe now.
All the best,
Dave Forest
Chief Investment Strategist, StreetAuthority's Top 10 Stocks


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Target: Alex Cross
A killer elite–six assassins–are on the loose. So is Alex Cross.
A leader has fallen, and Alex Cross joins the procession of mourners from Capitol Hill to the White House. Then a sniper's bullet strikes a target in the heart of DC. Alex Cross's wife, Bree Stone, newly elevated chief of DC detectives must solve the case or lose her position. The Secret Service and the FBI deploy as well in the race to find the shooter. Alex is tasked by the new President to lead an investigation unprecedented in scale and scope. But is the sniper's strike only the beginning of a larger attack on the nation?

subset: commoncrawl


text: Click to viewThe Comedy Central roast of Bob Saget airs this Sunday (August 17). It's being hosted by his former Full House co-star/hunk John Stamos. You can expect to see Gilbert Gottfried, Jeffrey Ross (those two go to like every single one of these things), and you can expect to hear a lot of inappropriate Mary-Kate and Ashley jokes (the twins did not attend). The surprise appearance, however, is Cloris Leachman, who said that she didn't really show up to roast Bob Saget, but to fuck John Stamos. Clip above.


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|Alex with some of her Bible study girls.
Well the school year is finally coming to a close here at San Francisco State. As I type this Alex and I are on our way to debriefing meetings to celebrate the year and talk through with our staff team what went well, what didn't and shaping our fall semester.
It goes without saying Alex and I are so thankful to all our friends and supporters for your prayers and love, without you this ministry wouldn't be possible. We will share stories with you all in the coming weeks; in the meantime, here are some meanderings from the past couple weeks.
- Alex and I both were able to end the school year well. This was a huge answer to prayer. Our relationships and bible studies we lead all ended in encouraging fashion.
- I have been reading through the Proverbs lately and am struck by how often they point to Jesus.
- With the Easter season a couple weeks behind us, I've realized how easy it is/how our culture tends to focus on the Cross and not give as much attention to the Resurrection. But the early Church in Acts had it switched, they preached the Resurrection heavily. "We are Easter people living in a Good Friday world" was a refrain I heard and loved this Lent and I hope to have a deeper grasp on what it exactly means to live my life in light of Easter and the crazy, new, abundant life God offers, not simply the Cross (which is glorious of course, please don't misunderstand me).
- Switching gears, the Lakers losing was shocking but looking back on the season, not unexplainable. I hope they trade Bynum; Kobe, Gasol and Odom should be fine.
- Parks and Rec continues to be the best show on television in this marriage's humble opinion and if you don't watch it you need too.
14 Lines On the Proverbs:
Refresh my bones, oh Lord, and heal my flesh
Fill my cup and awake my soul from dreams,
from delusions of self-sufficiency
for I will always seem wise in my eyes.
You hate a proud heart, my wisdom is fraud,
a shallow imitation of your depths,
cute sayings, sugar coated destruction
sweet music playing as the ship goes down.
But your wisdom is true life abundant,
your wisdom was bought at a precious price;
it led you to your death, broken and shamed,
it led to triumph, walking with the dawn
God forever altered, beauty reformed,
the door re-opened to the way it was.


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The media has jumped on the flying public's anxiety over the new scanners and pat down procedures with a ferocity rarely seen in recent journalism history. As a result, there is a fair amount material available on the matter. For several days now I have listened to the furor over this issue, read numerous news articles, blog posts, comments to many posts, and watched several YouTube videos. There is no doubt in my mind that we are observing, in a very public forum, the breakdown of a public relations and airport security process.
In case you've been incommunicado with your computer, television, or newspaper for the past several months, the federal government has allowed Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to purchase scanning machines that provide a "picture" containing a high degree of detail about the form and contours of an individual's body, i.e. even though clothed, the image makes a person appear naked. It is possible for a traveler to refuse a scanning experience. However, in doing so, that person tacitly agrees to an "enhanced" pat down procedure.
Discussions have revolved around both the scanning machines and the pat downs. Concerns have been voiced regarding the scanning machines:
effectiveness of the scanning machines regarding airport security
invasiveness regarding the "nude" appearance of
the scanned images
storage ability regarding the images taken
safety in terms of the radiation dosage,
especially for certain populations – pilots, flight attendants, frequent fliers, and others[1]
As for the pat downs, various individuals have commented on the:
demeaning nature of the "enhanced" pat
inappropriate behavior of some TSA officers
necessity of "enhanced" pat downs for children
In addition, many journalists, bloggers, and commenters have raised questions about whether or not these changes in airport security could be considered a Fourth Amendment violation, resulting in unreasonable search.
Security experts are questioning TSA's approach to airport security. Take the comment from the Netherlands' Schiphol Airport Security Chief,
"If you look at all the recent terrorist incidents, the bombs were detected because of human intelligence not because of screening ... If even a fraction of what is spent on screening was invested in the intelligence services we would take a real step toward making air travel safer and more pleasant."[2]
American security consultants, such as Bruce Schneier, have similar observations.
"Exactly two things have made airline travel safer since 9/11: reinforcement of cockpit doors, and passengers who now know that they may have to fight back. Everything else -- Secure Flight and Trusted Traveler included -- is security theater."[3]
Other security pundits cite the Israeli[4]method of handling terrorist risks, i.e., profiling, as much more effective.
Am I in favor of racial or ethnic profiling?
No, it is an unacceptable activity in a democratic society. Do I favor profiling questions based upon an assessment of risk? Yes, remember that Timothy McVeigh was an American white male!
Is my sense of security increased due to TSA's activities? No, not really.
"The current security system in which everyone is a suspect is bound to be ineffective and burdensome. No system can perform efficiently when one is looking for a needle in a haystack by checking each straw individually."[5]
Flying is risky, but not nearly as risk filled as driving an automobile. Do I want to be on that single flight that has a terrorist that was missed by intelligence services and TSA? No, I don't. There are no guarantees in life, nor do I expect my government to provide one to me regarding airport security. In the words of a Thanksgiving holiday traveler,
"I just want to know if the TSA workers actually believe they are keeping people safe by feeling us up if we opt out of the full-body scan," said Cara Eshleman, a baker from Arlington County who is flying out of Reagan National Airport on Wednesday and plans to opt out if she is directed to a full-body scanner. "It's too bad I already bought my ticket. If I'd have found out about this before, I wouldn't be going anywhere for the holidays."[6]
Am I willing to trade my civil rights, privacy, and liberty for security theater? Absolutely not! It would appear that I am not alone.[7]Yet, TSA is busy assuring the public that "78% of poll respondents approve the use of full body scanners."[8] What TSA conveniently glosses over is that the referenced poll was taken in January of this year, well in advance of the new procedures being put into place.
If I have committed no offense, broken no law, nor behaved in a suspicious manner, how is it justifiable that I should be subjected to a machine that produces an image in which my body appears naked? This is just wrong on so many levels! Although TSA openly admits that the scanners are an invasion of people's privacy, they justify the necessity by invoking images of bomb carrying terrorists boarding an American airplane.
"I just don't think the government has the right to look under
people's clothes with no reasonable cause, no suspicion other than purchasing a plane ticket."[9]
"I am concerned about the exposure and I am equally concerned that someone saw my precious daughter as if she were naked. I was then put through as well and was humiliated and felt as though I were in a peep show. Before this trip, I honestly felt the scanners were a good idea and a price to be paid for travelling - after living it first hand, I have to say it is flat out WRONG[10]
Some people who experience these scanning machines feel violated. Still TSA basically holds the position that if someone feels violated, "too bad" it's a small price to pay for security. I disagree. Price of this degree of invasiveness is too high.
The scanning machines can and do store images! TSA has already admitted that it requires all purchased body scanners to have the ability to store and transmit images for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes." The agency also contends that those capabilities are not normally activated when the devices are installed at airports.[11] Right! In its reply[12] to the House of Representatives questions about privacy, TSA also states,
No cameras, cellular telephones, or other devices capable of capturing an image are permitted in the image viewing room. Any official or employee who fails to follow these strict procedures is subject to serious discipline up to and including removal.[13]
Given how unforthcoming the agency has been regarding these new procedures, can I really believe that some passengers' images won't end up in someone's private file or on the Internet at a future time? The answer is probably not! In addition, the verbal remarks to buxom passengers attributed to TSA officials don't fill me with much hope that anyone's privacy is really respected by the TSA's employees.
One traveler observed, "I will bet that we will catch more TSA employees guilty of inappropriately forwarding full-body scans of celebrities or attractive women than we will terrorists."[14]
As frequent flyer who spends more than 70,000 miles each year, over roughly 45 weeks, in the air, this concerns me enormously.
Over the last several years I have listened to my fellow passengers question whether or not the security measures that the American flying public is forced to endure really work. I fly out of small airports on regional jets most of the time and, due to my frequent flyer status, often sit next to pilots or flight attendants on their way to work. Many of them tell me that I fly more than they do. That being the case, I have a health concern about radiation from a backscatter full body scanner.
TSA maintains that the health concerns are minimal and that most people are exposed to more radiation from their cell phones. This doesn't allay my unease about the scanners. I want scientific proof! Not only that, but I find the cell phone reference specious, especially since I use a headset to keep my phone away from my head and my phone typically rests on a table at least 3 feet away from my body.
Demeaning Pat Downs
In the few weeks since the policy came into effect, the ACLU has received hundreds of complaints from travelers who have been subject to these invasive and suspicionless searches.[15] Interestingly, the 900 complaints that the ACLU claims to have received exceeds the test sample size of both polls claiming that most Americans don't mind the scanners but have issues with the pat down procedure.
Below are some of the comments that travelers have reported to the ACLU.[16]
"I am upset, humiliated, degraded and feel abused and criminal, when I am guilty of nothing."
"In all of these years and the thousands of flights and millions of airlines miles I have never been so humiliated. If my choice is to risk having my genitalia spread all over the internet and my body exposed to unknown radiation or to have my testicles bounced and my buttocks stroked I will not fly any commercial airline.... our humanity and our dignity are being violated. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!"
"I opted out and was sexually molested in public. The method used to search my body was on par with a sexual massage by a stranger of the same sex. My penis was touched by a man. My anus and groin were rubbed by a man. My scalp was rubbed by the same person. How can this be acceptable...? These TSA agents are not qualified to deal with the psychological or ethical responsibility of this technology."
In fact, during testimony before lawmakers in Washington, D.C., TSA's new administrator agrees that the new pat down procedures are more invasive.
"I'm frankly bothered by the level of these pat-downs," Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., told Pistole. "I wouldn't want my wife to be touched in the way that these folks are being touched. I wouldn't want to be touched that way."
Pistole, who has been subjected to a pat-down himself, allowed: "It is clearly more invasive. But the procedures are necessary," he said, "to detect devices not seen before."[17] You saw it, ladies and gentlemen, "…necessary to detect devices not seen before." Comments like this one have led some
to wonder if cavity searches are next on TSA's agenda.[18] I wonder if Pistole has children. If he does, what is his explanation to them about a stranger in a TSA uniform that may touch them in private places and that it's OK? One father said it best.
"We spend my child's whole life telling him that only mom, dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add TSA (agents), and that's just wrong."[19]
Inappropriate Behavior
In addition to the flying public and lawmakers' perceptions that TSA's new pat down procedures are demeaning and certainly more invasive than the previous procedure, what about inappropriate application of the new procedure by TSA officers?
I was the only female in a crowd of men. Even though I was not next in line, I was called over to the body scanner. As I got closer to the scanner, I could clearly hear him say '[G]ot a cute one, some DD's.' ... I was appalled and decided at that point to 'opt out' of the scanner.... I was then put through the pat down procedure which I only can only describe as sexual assault.[20]
"Simply, I was sexually assaulted. My breasts were caressed in an almost amorous manner. And on the second canvassing of my groin, single-finger pressure was applied to my labia majora - the plane of which was near-broken, during which the agent made a wildly off-color remark."[21]
Standardized procedural, as well as sensitivity, training could possibly mitigate much of this issue. Oh wait, according to a report released by the GAO[22], TSA does not have "a standard process to identify and coordinate the necessary computer support" for its computer based training of TSA officers!23]
Clearly TSA needs not only a better understanding of process and procedures, but also better training and execution.
In an extremely lengthy blog post an author on Flopping Aces reminds the reader that, according to David Leach (first US air marshal under the Nixon administration), that various U.S. courts have agreed that:
"... yes, it was a violation of the fourth amendment, but it was acceptable to the courts with two provisos. One, that it be applied universally so there's no chance of any discrimination, and two, that the search be limited to looking for weapons and explosives."[emphasis added][24]
Let's look at that first proviso, "be universally applied." If I am to accept the truthfulness of the complaints registered with the ACLU, universal application of these new procedures is nonexistent. Talk to any private pilot, and s/he will tell you that there is NO screening of persons or luggage prior to boarding a private plane. Further, for those individuals fortunate enough to have access to private aviation, whether through company or government access or due to personal wealth, there is NO screening of anything. Again, I question the universal application of enhanced screening and pat downs.
It's easy to say, "You don't like TSA's rules, don't fly. Use an alternative." According one of the polls[25] taken over this last week, some 48% of the respondents intend to do just that. They are going to stop flying. I don't believe this is a realistic solution. The disruption to our economy could be serious were people to act on this sentiment.
So far, our elected officials seem to have allowed TSA to issue edicts, in the name of national security, without much discussion or inquiry into preserving the civil rights of the American public. To be fair, the American public, by and large, has unquestioningly followed along with each restriction of rights – until now.
TSA appears to have bypassed the process used by nearly every other federal organization that wants to change regulatory guidelines, regulations, or operational procedures.[26] In doing so, they have lost, not only the willing compliance of many citizens, but the confidence of the American flying public that they are acting in our best interest.
Rationality and a conversation about reasonable risks needs to occur. Why couldn't we as a society engage in a national dialogue about where we are going to balance civil liberties and national security? That is, in part, the purpose of the Federal Register – to allow for discourse and discussion about federal rules and regulations. We could start there.
[7]Interactive: 61% Oppose Full Body Scans and TSA Pat Downs; 48% Will Seek Alternative to Flying"
[10]Passengers' Stories of Recent Travel/
[12]TSA reply to House of Representatives – 24 Feb 2010 page 3, question 8, paragraph 3
[14] "Note to TSA: Let me keep my shoes on"
[16]Recent Travel Stories from Passengers
[17]"New Airport Pat-Downs Are MORE Invasive, TSA Boss Confirms"
[18]"Why Cavity Bombs Would Make TSA Irrelevant"
[19]"A whole new fear of flying"
[20]Recent Travel Stories from Passengers http://www.aclu.org/passengers-stories-recent-travel/
[22]"Transportation Security Administration's Management of Its Screening Workforce Training Program Can Be Improved," Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security
[24]"The TSA conundrum: When security ugly and hype meets legal reality"
[25]Zogby Interactive: 61% Oppose Full Body Scans and TSA Pat Downs; 48% Will Seek Alternative to Flying"
[26] Petition for Suspension of TSA Full Body Scanner


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The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday unveiled its new proposed rates for the freeway "pay as you go" policy, with long-distance travelers facing higher toll fees than what they pay now.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) and National Freeway Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) presented the new rates during a meeting of the legislature's Transportation Committee.
However, before Yeh could start briefing the committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), representing Yilan County, occupied the podium and chided the ministry for mentioning nothing in its report about the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway (Freeway No. 5) that runs from Taipei to Yilan, adding that motorists in Yilan would end up paying higher toll fees under the ministry's proposal.
Dissatisfied with the ministry's rate plan, he shredded a copy of the report into pieces and threw them at ministry officials.
"You are bullying the people of Yilan. You never came and explained the new rates to people in the county," Chen said.
The meeting resumed after Chen left the podium after the convener of the meeting, DPP Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤), promised Chen that he could question the ministry later about the proposed rates.
The bureau had previously offered three rate plans. The first one would not give freeway users any toll-free distance, with each person being charged NT$0.82 per kilometer traveled. The second plan would give drivers 10km of toll-free distance, after which they would have to pay NT$1 per kilometer traveled. The third plan would give drivers 20km of toll-free distance, after which they would be charged NT$1.2 per kilometer if the entire distance traveled is less than 200km. The rate would drop to NT$0.9 per kilometer if the entire distance traveled is 200km or more.
However, the bureau decided to readjust the rates after legislators demanded that travelers on the east-west freeways, including Freeway Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 not be asked to pay any toll fee at all.
As such, the three new sets of proposed rates were calculated based on the condition that motorists on the east-west freeways would not be asked to pay toll for two years. Under the first option, motorists will not enjoy any toll-free distance and will be charged NT$0.9 per kilometer. For the second option, motorists will enjoy 15km of toll-free distance and be charged NT$1.2 per kilometer if the total distance is less than 200km. The rate will drop to NT$0.9 per kilometer if the total distance exceeds 200km.
The third option will give motorists a toll-free distance of 20km, with the rate being set at NT$1.3 per kilometer if the distance traveled is less than 200km and NT$1 per kilometer if the distance is 200km and above.
If the third option is chosen, a motorist would have to pay NT$377 for driving from Taipei to Greater Kaohsiung, compared with NT$360 at present.
DPP legislators Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) also questioned the ministry over the use of eTags, which reports said leak users' information to other businesses.
They said the ministry should not introduce new toll rates until it has come up with measures to regulate how Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection, the freeway toll-collection service contractor, manages personal information.


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Apr 4, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Sanofi Pasteur has won a $97 million federal contract to develop cell-culture technology for making influenza vaccines and to design a facility to use this technology to make a pandemic flu vaccine, federal officials have announced.
Flu vaccines are currently grown in chicken eggs, a process that takes at least 6 months. Several companies have been experimenting with ways to grow vaccines in mammalian or other cells, in the hope of speeding up the process. The chance that H5N1 avian flu could lead to a human flu pandemic has stimulated these efforts.
In the Apr 1 contract announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said, "This action begins the process of speeding up influenza vaccine production, improving surge capacity and scaling up U.S. manufacturing capability."
Under the 5-year contract, Sanofi Pasteur (formerly Aventis Pasteur) will develop inactivated flu vaccines using human cells and manufacture enough doses for clinical trials, the HHS statement said. Sanofi was the main supplier of inactivated flu vaccine for the US market in the 2004-05 flu season.
"In addition, Sanofi Pasteur will develop plans for a U.S. manufacturing facility capable of producing at least 300 million doses of a pandemic influenza vaccine using this technology," HHS said.
The statement said it takes nearly 9 months to make currently licensed flu vaccines. After health agencies select the three viral strains they think will be most common in the coming flu season, the strains must be adapted to grow in eggs. The adapted virus strains are injected separately into millions of fertilized eggs, which are then incubated. Finally the viruses are harvested from the eggs, killed, and blended into a vaccine that includes all three strains.
HHS cited several advantages of using cell-culture technology to make flu vaccines. Viruses don't need to be adapted to grow in eggs, and manufacturers can freeze cells in advance and then thaw and grow them in large volumes in the event of a shortage or pandemic. Also, the method is safe from certain risks associated with egg-based production, such as the chance of eggs being contaminated by various poultry diseases. Finally, cell-based vaccines could be used by people who can't receive the currently licensed vaccines because they are allergic to eggs.
The HHS announcement didn't suggest how fast it would be possible to produce vaccines with cell-culture technology or how soon Sanofi might have a vaccine ready for clinical trials. HHS officials could not be reached in time to provide more information for this report.
According to a Washington Post report published last November, officials at several companies that are developing cell-based flu vaccine technology said the production process would take about 5 months, shortening the conventional process by about a month.
In November 2004 HHS awarded a contract to Sanofi Pasteur to ensure a year-round supply of eggs for flu vaccine production. The government also has awarded contracts in the past year to develop and test a human flu vaccine based on the H5N1 avian flu virus.
See also:
Apr 1 HHS announcement
Nov 9, 2004, HHS announcement of contract to provide egg supplies for flu vaccine production


text:
On Apple's iOS smartphones and tablets, most people stick with the default music player — formerly called "iPod," and now just "Music."
Google's Android platform is a different story, with several developers competing to be the preferred music playback app for an increasingly large group of music fans, now that Android has gobbled up over half of the U.S. smartphone market (according to ComScore).
After researching music player apps, EMusic debuted a solid contender for Android this week, building on its 14 years of experience delivering MP3s via the web. EMusic's Android app is first and foremost a music player app for enjoying the MP3s and other music files on your Android phone or tablet — except that you get to check out biographies, discographies, and similar artists for everything you listen to, should you so desire.
"One of the things that we've found as we were researching and trying to come up with what should our eMusic app be, is that there really isn't a dominant music player in the Android music space, unlike the iOS world, where everyone's using iTunes," eMusic vice president of user experience and design Prateek Sarkar told Evolver.fm.
"At base, [the eMusic Android app] is a very simple music player; the app scans the device and finds every music file," he said, but even non-paying users get some nifty extras. "I can select a mood — I always like to pick 'whimsical,'" he said, as demonstrating the app's ability to make fresh mixes of the music you already own, in addition to the usual playback features. After choosing a mood, you can use one slider to pick slow or fast music from your collection and another to toggle between music you play a lot and the stuff you rarely ever hear.
This feature works great if you have a lot of music you already like on your Android player, and the rest of the app is well-designed and relatively stable. Combined with the biographies, discographies, similar artist listings, and eMusic feature stories about the artist, all of which are pulled down from the cloud (meaning that you need an internet connection to see them), it makes eMusic's quite the impressive Android music player. Even better, it can scan your collection and recommend new artists you might want to check out, in seconds.
However, unless you pay for an eMusic subscription, you'll run up against some frustrating barriers, such as 30-second samples of the music in those discographies, similar artist pages, and recommendations, rather than the full-length streams and downloads enjoyed by those who pay eMusic at least $12 per month for 24 downloads.
This makes sense from eMusic's business perspective, because half the reason this free app exists is to give people a taste of eMusic as they go about their business of playing their own MP3s. But as a user, it seems like at least the Radio feature should be available without paying, given that so many other radio services are free. But alas, that too is only for subscribers.
Overall, if you stick to the free features that come with the player, you'll avoid running into the paywalls, and you'll have a decent free player that delivers extra information about the music you're listening to. Who knows, maybe you'll get hooked and subscribe, in which case the app could become your main source of music.
Another reason you might subscribe: Although eMusic added music from the major labels in 2009 (losing some indie labels in the process), it still has scores of freelance writers and staffers combing through new releases for stuff that's not in the mainstream, and they have decent taste. If you prefer, say, The Shins to Black Eyed Peas, this could be the Android music player for you.
(Connor McKnight contributed to this report.)
Download the eMusic music player for Android.


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Despite the Carpocalypse, Detroit's still where the auto world comes in January, so follow it all at our Detroit Auto Show tag page.
Or, if you're feeling techie-cool, use the RSS feed.
Also, feel free to follow along with us by way of our Facebook and Twitter pages. Just sign up at the links if you're not already using the services and want to be.
But of course we want to hear what you're looking to see no matter how you're reading us, so let's start by having you tell us in the comments below. Don't have a commenter account and you want one? Send Pete an e-mail, he'll hook you right up.


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Ferric Carboxymaltose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) Patients With Iron Deficiency (CLEVER)
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01513369
Recruitment Status : Active, not recruiting
First Posted : January 20, 2012
Last Update Posted : October 9, 2019
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Iron Deficiency
|Drug: ferric carboxymaltose Drug: NaCl (0,9%)
|Phase 3
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Estimated Enrollment :
|152 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|Single (Participant)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose for Improvement of Metabolic Parameters and Vascular Function in T2DM-patients With Iron Deficiency
|Study Start Date :
|August 2012
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|October 2018
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|October 2019
Experimental: ferric carboxymaltose
Dose: according to SmPC; Duration: 12 weeks; Frequency: at week 1 and again at week 5 (if again indicated according to principal inclusion criteria); Application: intravenous
Drug: ferric carboxymaltose
Dose:according to SmPC Duration: 12 weeks; Frequency: at week 1 and again at week 5 (if again indicated according to principal inclusion criteria); Application: intravenous
Other Name: Ferinject (marketing authorization number: 66227.00.00)
Placebo Comparator: NaCl (0,9%)
Duration: 12 weeks; Frequency: at week 1 and again at week 5 (if again indicated according to principal inclusion criteria); Application: intravenous
Drug: NaCl (0,9%)
Duration: 12 weeks; Frequency: at week 1 and again at week 5 (if again indicated according to principal inclusion criteria); Application: intravenous
- reduction in HBA1c-levels [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]reduction of HbA1c from week 1 (baseline) to week 13
- improvement of haematological and iron status [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]Hb, MCV, MCH, hypochromic cells, reticulocyte Hb content, ferritin, transferrin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), sTFR, iron, hepcidin
- improvement in quality of life [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]potential clinical improvement and improvement in quality of life (EQ5D) of patients with ID T2DM
- Improvement of metabolic status [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]measurement of fasting glucose, fructosamine
- reliability of HbA1c-measurements [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]measurement of HbA1c in week 0; 5 and 13
- improvement in vascular function [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]Improvement in vascular function on the basis of the biomarker ADMA serum level
- Change in used insulin dosage during study [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ]Change in used insulin dosage during study (via patient diary)
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
T2DM patients with diagnosis of ID defined as follows:
- serum ferritin <150 ng/mL or TSAT <25% if Hb < 14 g/dL serum ferritin <100 ng/mL or TSAT <20% if Hb ≥ 14 g/dL and ≤ 15g/dL]
- HbA1c: ≥ 6.5 to < 8.5 %
- Age > 18 years
- Written informed consent has been obtained.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII)
- thalassaemia
- Hb > 15 g/dL (> 9,31 mmol/L)
- Change of HbA1c of more than ±0,3 % within the last 3 months.
- known sensitivity to ferric carboxymaltose
- history of acquired iron overload
- History of erythropoietin stimulating agent, i.v. iron therapy, and/or blood transfusion in previous 12 weeks prior to randomisation
- History of oral iron therapy at doses ≥ 100 mg/day 1 week prior to randomisation. Note: Ongoing oral use of multivitamins containing iron < 75 mg/day is permitted.
- Body weight ≤ 40 kg
- CRP > 15 mg/L
- Chronic liver disease (including known active hepatitis) and/or screening alanine transaminase (ALAT) or aspartate transaminase (ASAT) > 3 x ULN (upper limit of the normal range).
- Subjects with known hepatitis B surface antigen positivity and/or Hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid positivity.
- Vitamin B12 and/or serum folate deficiency. If deficiency corrected subject may be rescreened for inclusion.
- Subjects with known seropositivity to human immunodeficiency virus.
- Clinical evidence of current malignancy with exception of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
- Currently receiving systemic chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.
- Renal dialysis (previous, current or planned within the next 6 months).
- Renal function GFR < 30 mL/min/ 1.73m2 (severe)
- Unstable angina pectoris as judged by the Investigator; severe valvular or left ventricular outflow obstruction disease needing intervention; atrial fibrillation/flutter with a mean ventricular response rate at rest >100 beats per minute.
- Acute myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome, transient ischaemic attack or stroke within the last 3 months prior to randomisation.
- Coronary-artery bypass graft, percutaneous intervention (e.g., cardiac, cerebrovascular, aortic; diagnostic catheters are allowed) or major surgery, including thoracic and cardiac surgery, within the last 3 months prior to randomisation.
- Patients with a polyneuropathy without ischemia.
- Subject of child-bearing potential who is pregnant (e.g., positive human chorionic gonadotropin test) or is breast feeding.
- Any subject not willing to use adequate contraceptive precautions during the study and for up to 5 days after the last scheduled dose of study medication.
- Participation in other interventional trials
- Female subject of child-bearing potential who is pregnant (e.g., positive human chorionic gonadotropin test) or is breast feeding.
- Failure to use highly-effective contraceptive methods
- Persons with any kind of dependency on the investigator or employed by the sponsor or investigator
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01513369
|Gemeinschaftspraxis Dres. Grüneberg, Mehring, Stude
|Herne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, 32545
|Univesitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus
|Dresden, Sachsen, Germany, 01307
|Herz- und Diabeteszentrum NRW Ruhr-Universität Bochum
|Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, 32545
|Studienzentrum Professor Hanefeld Abakus Büropark
|Dresden, Germany, 01307
|Medizinische Hochschule Hannover Klinisches Forschungszentrum CRC
|Hannover, Germany, 30625
|Diabetesinstitut Heidelberg
|Heidelberg, Germany, 69115
|Principal Investigator:
|Christoph Schindler, MD
|on behalf of GWT
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|GWT-TUD GmbH
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
2011-005224-18 ( EudraCT Number )
|First Posted:
|January 20, 2012 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|October 9, 2019
|Last Verified:
|October 2019
iron deficiency
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Glucose Metabolism Disorders
Metabolic Diseases
Endocrine System Diseases
Anemia, Hypochromic
Hematologic Diseases
Iron Metabolism Disorders
Ferric Compounds


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gisa21 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 181 designs submitted by 59 freelance designers.
I'm professional photographer looking for a logo for my company. I'm looking for simplicity, creative distinction, and a unique design that stands out from the rest. An artistic signature or use of script may just do the trick. Please visit my site to see my style and current logo http://www.mikemeyerphotography.com. I am NOT looking for an abosolute connection to the fact that i shoot weddings, more so, a custom feel and presentation that captures professionalism.
Mike Meyer Photography
Desired Color Scheme:
Steel Blue, ox blood red, terracotta with a neutral accent color or what ever else your creative minds put together
Desired Style:
Contemporary, fresh, striking, elegant, bold, fun, sophisticated, PROFESSIONAL
Accepted File Formats:
psd and JPG (any others as well)
Discrete punch is what I am looking for. I don't like popular used fonts. I don't like the idea of a "camera" being in my logo. I like the idea of signatures or a simple touch to my name written in a unique font. The logo can be one color or at most 2 colors (see Desired Color Scheme). Please no hearts, stars, or things that are too "frilly; fussy". I'm looking for a strong, clean, elegant / sophisticated and marketable logo that stands out from the rest.
Please see the following photographer logos that I like:
http://jvsweddings.com/ OR http://jvs.bigfolioblog.com/
**Please don't delete your entries. I will visit and re-VISIT each entry often. Just because feedback may seem difficult , I may just like the overal idea!**
I will award you if I like your design even if it's not perfect. Hopefully we can work together afterwards to get it to where I want with additional funds.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Those silly bosses, always want to promote productivity. When will they learn that you would much rather read about productive gadgets, like this one, than do work for them on the clock anyway? There is nothing fancy that happens with the actual ID card, this smart badge just has a Bluetooth headset integrated on the lanyard. It features vibration (now that is my kind of productivity), 40 hours of talk time and 600 hours of standby time. Now, get to work, you cows!
The Iqua Smart Badge [OhGizmo!]
Product Page [Iqua.com]


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Chinese Dumpling ( Jiaozi) is a traditional Chinese food, which are essential holidays in Northern
China. Chinese Dumpling becomes one of the most widely loved foods in the whole world, even
A lot of Foreigners. There are lots of popular old saying in China about dumpling. One of them is
好吃不过饺子, 舒服不过倒着. Hao Chi Bu Guo Jiao Zi, Shu Fu Bu Guo Dao Zhe. It means: "If you want to eat, dumpling is best. If you want to feel comfortable, sleeping will be." Another one is 饺子就酒, 越吃越有. Jiao Zi Jiu Jiu, Yue Chi Yue You. It means: "If you eat dumpling With Chinese liquor, your future will be richer. Why Chinese dumpling becomes so popular widely? Here is a list of reasons.
Traditional in New Year's Food
Chinese dumpling is one of the most important foods in Chinese New Year. Since the shape Of Chinese dumpling is similar to ancient gold or silver ingots, they symbolize wealth. Traditionally, the member of a family get together to make dumplings during the New Year's Eve. They may hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The person who finds the coin will likely have a good Fortune in the New Year. Chinese dumpling is also in other Chinese holidays or festivals, so it is part of the Chinese culture or tradition.
One for all
Usually when you have Chinese dumpling for dinner or lunch, you will not have to cook anything else
Except for some big occasions. The dumpling itself is good enough for dinner. This is one of the
Advantage of Chinese dumpling over other foods, though it may take longer to make them.
Since ancient times, the spread of many dumplings for the first time. But for example : delicious dumplings, but comfortable flat; Dumplings on wine, sharpen your there. New Year eating dumplings, harmonious. Even President Bush and his wife Laura also by the Chinese side during his visit to China in 100 dumplings for dinner. This has fully demonstrated the Chinese dumplings are the traditional food culture. Therefore, not only in the domestic and dumplings also have also been widely favored. To meet the needs of overseas Chinese and foreign, Asia and the U.S. food company founded in 1976. Sunset District of San Francisco in 1426 Nuoruiga Road; 30 years the company has maintained the traditional features of the new manual and "the place" feature. Companies "quality, customer satisfaction first," for the purpose. Intense competition in the market to improve the quality of their products to survive, rely on service development. In expanding the company's reputation and influence the situation, the company has also introduced new products to meet the changing needs of our customers. Wan done for the public, "dumplings, noodles, dim sum in Shanghai good neighbors. "In a time when market competition is so fierce, Chinese dumplings deeply love for Asia and the United States.
Armenian food companies used to purchase fresh daily from the original equipment market, the low evaporation process personally expected, The foundation is fresh and delicious dumplings. There is also the wife personally hand roll skins, plus excellent top quality, and variety selection and read, and the result dumplings Paper explosion traps, eat a top oil feeling that the burden of the above plus a dynamic, texture pole . The new manual procedures dumplings with the strict supervision from the expected settlement from the settlement areas, and from the surface of the samples, checking out Stephen cooperation indispensable. After the majority of customers testing and evaluation; Asia and the United States agreed that the dumplings with the following six features :
1, sanitation, factories, hygiene and strict compliance with provisions of California San Francisco and the "School Official Cites Use 2, fresh and delicious. dumplings with the quantitative ratio of raw material to ensure fresh foods.
3, a beggar eat oil, the end of the evaporation process various materials personally, you feel oil (not oil) and not greasy, texture and Shannon.
4 face the burden of a tendon, a special screening and the ratio of flour to face the burden of dynamic, strong teeth to chew jin, flexibility, not hard, excellent taste "Organization Department Holds Press Conference 5, pretty attractive, professional instructors, professional standards, professional play professional performance.
6, convenience and portability, convenience store, easy to cook, fry, bake.
In addition to dumplings, the company has also produced wonton, assorted fried dumpling, tiao. Leek box and multi-beef pies. Comprehensive on features; Armenian food companies worthy of the northern noodle "dumplings country," said renowned Bay Area.
Besides North pasta, and Shanghai dim sum. Accredited its figures from the Shanghai municipal government 66 charge. Figures for the years of service in Shanghai. She personally produced by the Crystal Shangbao, the radish cake, red bean paste biscuit, crab imperial, Shanghai only wonton, assorted Zhengjia, exquisitely tasteful, also a gourmet home.
A Chinese New Year Without Dumplings is Like A Day Without Sunshine(
Interview with Mr. Li Qinghe
Kingdom of dumpling


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Lavastone Board - Blue Jean
Buy from DKK. 300,00
Material: Water based matt paint. Nordic Ecolabel
Special info: We do not have paint in stock. Paint bought online and in one of our stores is ordered from the manufacturer Tuesday morning every week and shipped on Wednesday (for customers who have chosen shipping).
10 liter cans must be collected at the webshop.
Customers in and around Jutland and Funen please contact the webshop.
A wide range of beautiful colours created by the Danish design company File Under Pop in collaboration with The Jotun Denmark Group.
Change the look and feel of a room by painting a single wall or the whole room. All File Under Pop paint colours have been especially selected by owner, Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer.
Lady Pure 1% - for walls and ceilings
Lady Supreme 5%, 15%, 40% or 80% - for wood and metal
Lady Aqua 10% - for wet rooms
Trestjerner 5%, 40% or 80% - for wooden floors
0.75 liter (min. 0.68 L) covers approx. 2.5 sqm.
3 liter (min. 2.7 L) covers approx. 9 sqm.
5 liter (min. 4.5 L) covers approx. 15 sqm.
10 liter (min. 9 L) covers approx. 30 sqm.
The coverage is based on two coats of paint. Please take into consideration that you with this colour will need up to three coats of paint.
The coverage is purely normative. Coverage can vary all depending on texture of the wall, the color of the wall and the painting gear you use.
Please note that the colors shown on our webshop are only indicative. We recommend that you paint a small test area before painting the whole wall - or encourage you to stop by one of our stores to see the colours.
Please note that you can not return the paint can if it has been opened.
Maling fra File Under Pop - se alt maling fra FUP her.See all products by File Under Pop


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All sessions of the VWBPE 2020 Conference are held in Second Life®. All times are in SLT (PST).
You may access this time zone converter for your local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html.
Add these events to your personal calendar! To add all VWBPE conference events to your calendar, scroll down to the bottom of the calendar, find the "Subscribe" button and click on it. You will find options to add to your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar. To add individual events, click the event and find the "Subscribe" button on that page. You don't have to miss any events at VWBPE!
In most of the United States, Daylight Saving Time is in effect as of 8 March 2020. Canada does not observe DST in 2020. Is your location affected? Check this page to find out when (and if) Daylight Saving Time begins for you.
Compass Point Discussion Presenters: Hsiao-Cheng (Sandrine) Han (SL: Kristy Handrick), University of British Columbia; Kwesi Yaro (SL: Banapeh); Diana Ihnatovych (SL: dianaihn); Jennifer Zhao (SL: JenniferZhao); Peisen Ding (SL: AAADeanAAA)
Description: Have educators considered online education in relation to students' cultural differences? Does that even matter? In MOOCs with students coming from different cultural backgrounds, do students learn differently because their cultural background? Should educators address it? Should courses be designed differently based on students' different cultural backgrounds? Why or why not? This roundtable discussion will talk about how and why it is important to consider culture differences in education.
Cultural difference in learning
Cultural difference in online education
Location: Quadrivium
Accessibility: Voice and SpeakEasy HUD Tool


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ROCKINGHAM, N.C., July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced plans to relocate its 36 employees in Rockingham to a newly renovated, LEED-certified facility in Rockingham West Industrial Park. The new building will replace the current Rockingham resource center and become Piedmont's third LEED-certified facility under the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED rating system. Piedmont plans to begin renovations on the new facility by late July 2013, with plans to have it fully operational by spring 2014.
"Our new LEED-certified facility in Rockingham will not only help us to become better stewards of the resources we all share, it also will offer our local teammates a more effective working environment," said Kevin O'Hara, senior vice president for Piedmont Natural Gas. "We are committed to making positive contributions to the communities we serve and to their local economies. We are grateful and excited for the opportunity to make this investment in Rockingham, and we look forward to growing with this community for many years to come."
Piedmont's Rockingham facility will bring the Company's total number of LEED-certified facilities to three, joining locations in Tarboro, N.C., and Nashville, Tenn.
The new, 40,000-square-foot building sits on more than 15 acres of land. The additional space will allow for necessary expansion and provide Piedmont Natural Gas with much-needed storage space for new and ongoing projects. Piedmont employees will work with design and architecture consultants to design both the interior and exterior of the new facility.
About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage and intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.
SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas


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Stay sane while traveling with kids this seasonDecember 12, 2017
By Jessica Vician
Are you traveling with your family this winter? Whether it's by plane, train, bus, or car, traveling with kids can be stressful for everyone. At YOU Parent, we gathered the best advice from mothers of kids of all ages to help you keep your sanity (and your kids' too).
Traveling with an infant
Traveling with an infant is a daunting task, but the more practice you have, the easier it will become, as you will learn what works best for your family.
- This mom shares six tips that will make your first few times a little easier.
- From planning to packing to day-of travel, this mom details her best advice for traveling with an infant so you can be prepared.
5 ways to make flying with kids easier
This mom jotted down the best advice for flying with kids after returning from a flight the night before. Read her fresh perspective that includes tips from other parents as well.
Paisanos: 3 tips to help your child during the holidays
Are you taking your kids out of school to travel over the holiday? Whether they'll be gone for three weeks or three days, read this mom's advice to keep your kids actively learning while they're away.
What are your best tips for traveling with kids? Share them in the comments below.


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Bilingual books helpful for young and not-so-young readers
Bilingual picture books like "My Big Sister"/"Mi hermana mayor" offer a gentle introduction to a second langauge (English or Spanish), and can be a boon for older readers who need to brush up on their language skills.
Helpfully, these books tend to be written in the present tense (the easiest to understand for a beginning language learner), and printing both languages on the same page makes it easier to remember the changes from one language's grammar to the other, e.g.:
"Wake up, Pablito," Anita whispers = -Leva`ntate, Pablito – Anita me susurra.
Susurra! What a perfect word that "whisper" barely suggests.
Samuel Caraballo's story stands on its own as a charming tale of a doting big sister who looks uncomplainingly after her school-aged brother.
Paging native English-speakers who are planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country: Pick up a bilingual picture book before printing out your boarding pass to brush up your skills. A caveat: Avoid Dr. Seuss translations unless your Spanish is sophisticated. All that subjunctive can scare away whatever you remember of the basics you learned in Spanish 101.


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Wednesday, March 25, 2020 -
Beatties Ford Road Regional
5:00pm to 6:00pm
Beatties Ford Road Regional
Contact Name:
Drop in at the Information Desk for a 30-minute individual session with a volunteer or staff member to get help with computer basics, Microsoft Office, Internet, email or other topics, or to find help developing/editing your resume or cover letter and searching or applying for jobs. Registration not required; Sessions are first come, first served.
Jeremy LytalContact Phone:
704-416-3000Contact Email:


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News tagged with fructose
Fructose (also levulose or laevulose) is a simple reducing sugar found in many foods and is one of the three important dietary monosaccharides along with glucose and galactose. Honey, tree fruits, berries, melons, and some root vegetables, such as beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and onions, contain fructose, usually in combination with glucose in the form of sucrose. Fructose is also derived from the digestion of granulated table sugar (sucrose), a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose.
Crystalline fructose and high-fructose corn syrup are often mistakenly confused as the same product. The former is produced from a fructose-enriched corn syrup which results in a finished product of at least 98% fructose. The latter is usually supplied as a mixture of nearly equal amounts of fructose and glucose.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA


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Automatic ILL Request VerificationThis application uses C# and the WorldCat Search API to automatically find library locations that hold the requested item.
The downloaded request file is processed through the application to find identifying numbers for the requested item, with those numbers sent to the Search API in a Library Locations request. The resulting list of libraries is then sorted by our own internal referral priorities and printed out on the request.
Paul Swanson
Related web services
Submitted on
July 31, 2012


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Echoing efforts to end South African apartheid a generation ago, students at college campuses around the United States are calling on administrators to sell their schools' stock in fossil fuels.
The divestment campaign aims to slow the development of coal, oil, and gas resources – forms of energy that emit large quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses and contribute to climate change – by reducing the investment dollars flowing into energy companies. But energy companies have provided colleges and universities with relatively healthy returns in the past several years.
"We're not debating that fossil fuels are profitable right now. We all understand that. This goes beyond profitability," Shea Riester, an organizer on the campaign, told EnergyWire. "The reason they're profitable is because there's no price on the damage that they do."
Mr. Reister is a campus divestment organizer for Better Future Project and 350.org, two environmental advocacy organizations that have spearheaded the movement.
In November, Unity College, based in Unity, Maine, became the first school to vote for fossil fuel divestment in coordination with 350.org. In a public statement, Stephen Mulkey, president of Unity College, said it was unethical for institutions devoted to training future generations of leaders to invest in industries that many say jeopardize the long-term health of the planet.
"[I]n our country it is clear that economic pressure gets results where other means fail," Mr. Mulkey said in the statement. "If we are to honor our commitment to the future, divestment is not optional."
Skeptics say divestment would have a negligible impact on major oil companies' bottom lines, but 350.org contends it's enough to raise awareness about the issue and "start to sow uncertainty about the viability of the fossil fuel industry's business model."
Within a month of officially launching their campaign last November, the organizers say they had representation on over 190 campuses across the country, and interest continues to grow. Syracuse, Tufts, Stanford, and Dartmouth universities are among the schools where students or faculty have organized chapters of the campaign.
Currently, there are active campaigns at 210 campuses across the country, according to 350.org. In addition to Unity College's pledge, Hampshire College in Massachusetts has committed to eliminating fossil fuel holdings from its portfolio.
A student-led push at Harvard University for the school to divest its $30.7 billion endowment from fossil fuels was met with skepticism by the school's administration.
"Harvard is not considering divesting from companies related to fossil fuels," Harvard director of news and media relations Kevin Galvin wrote in an e-mail to The Harvard Crimson after a student-initiated referendum in support of divestment earned 72 percent of the voting students last November.
In light of the nationwide student push, the fossil fuel industry has gone on the offensive, saying that divestiture is economically unrealistic.
"Students haven't thought this through," John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute (API), told InsideClimate News. "If you suddenly divest yourself of good performing assets, the only people you're harming are students that rely on scholarships."
The API, a major oil and gas trade organization, commissioned a study of the endowments of 823 US public and private not-for-profit colleges and universities. In fiscal year 2011, 2.1 percent of those schools' assets were in oil and natural gas company stocks, the study found, totaling $8.45 billion.
Between June 2006 and June 2011, the oil and gas company stocks held by colleges and universities produced average annual returns of 7.9 percent, the study found. That's 172 percent higher than the average annual five-year 2.9 percent returns on all US stocks and 68 percent greater than the average annual five-year 4.7 percent returns on all college and university endowment assets, according to API's study.


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Energy and utilities companies are experiencing an intense period volatility and transformation. From the emergence of consumers becoming producers through distributed energy networks, to fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices, to changing regulatory demands globally, leaders in this segment face significant challenges and uncertainty. In this uncertainty, there are enormous opportunities for organisations that are able to see more deeply into changing markets and beyond short-term challenges to position themselves for long-term success.
Protiviti partners with leaders to help them achieve greater confidence in changing environments. While the macro-conditions for organisations are similar, we seek to understand the unique strengths, risks and opportunities of your organisation. We then collaborate with you to build custom solutions that maximise your chances for success and bring a tailored, multi-disciplinary team of professionals to fit your situation and company culture. While the process is never simple, our goal is, to help you face the future with confidence.