Zicam Pulled from Stores – Still just a Gimick and it Will Hurt You!
FDA warns against using 3 popular Zicam cold meds - CNN.com
The agency says that since 1999, it has received more than 130 reports of loss of smell associated with Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel; Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs; and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, kids size. The products have been linked to long-lasting or permanent loss of smell called anosmia. In some cases, the loss of smell occurred after the first dose."Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk for people who use these products for relief from cold symptoms," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We are concerned that consumers may unknowingly use a product that could cause serious harm, and therefore we are advising them not to use these products for any reason."
Here is another good one from the world of medicine today, basically proving that once again you can't magically make a cold or it's symptoms disappear by spraying foreign chemicals into your body. Oddly enough, the old way still seems to be the best with a cold - get plenty of Vitamin C consistently and you are way better off than trying spraying Zinc straight into your nasal cavity.
Soon I expect to see this company market an Iron spray because that hasn't been banned yet. It will be called "ICam"
Technorati Tags: zicam, fda, nasal, spray, nasal gel, cold remedy, swabs, loss of smell
Don’t Forget About Memorial Day
This is a reminder to not forget about memorial day... Don't forget that there are many who cannot be home to enjoy the long weekend off, or the great sales when you are at the mall. Many Americans are simply struggling to survive and improve the lives of others in areas where they do not have many friends but they will survive because of the thoughts and best wishes from their family and friends.
To our forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and anywhere else on the globe, a grateful nation says thanks and hopes that you will all return home safely soon. To those families of soldiers that have made their greatest sacrifice, we say " thank you" to you, your children and all those that come after because they have allowed us continue on today. To those veterans of previous generations, previous wars and other military actions we ask that you please share your stories with us. Let us share in your experiences so we are able to teach our children what it means to be patriotic, take pride in your country and understand that when duty calls our country has always responded with vigor and purpose.
If there is one thing we cannot loose, it is the shared experience of hardship during times of war and what that means to this nation. As long as their is injustice at home and abroad, the citizen soldier of the United States will be there to answer the call. To not instill this sense of spirit in our youngest generations will only lead us into a future where people no longer understand why it is sometimes necessary to risk everything to ensure that what we have remains secure and avaible to all future generations.
Thank you for all that you have done, thank you for all that you will do and do not dispair, for your country remembers all that you stand for.
How Free is Free Speech?
So it begins:
The fight between music bloggers and record labels reached its most visible point when a guy who uploaded a leaked copy of the latest Guns N' Roses album to his site got arrested by the FBI. But many music bloggers are now fighting a much more invisible menace, with posts they've written suddenly disappearing from their sites (via Tyler Hellard) hosted on Google's Blogger platform. An RIAA source says that the group sends Google a list of URLs it doesn't like, and Google "then deals with the problem."
Source: TechDirt
How free is free speech? Of course if you violate copyright, regardless of your opinion on the subject, is illegal the fact that private companies decide on what is OK to post ansd what is not begs the question, where is the costitution in all of this? If I have a website and I post something that a group does not agree with and it is hosted within the US, then there should not be a reason to take the content away unless told to do so by a court of law. How can we let a private company dictate what is constitutional and what is not at the whim or request of a trade group with disposable funds?
Why Kiva Rocks
Want to know why Kiva rocks? Watch this video:
[pro-playerwidth="600" height="500"]http://vimeo.com/2769845[/pro-player]
We Will Miss You in the Morning Scott Jagow
This past Friday when I heard that Scott Jagow was not going to be hosting the morning report for Marketplace on NPR any longer, I think it was one of the most depressing things I had heard in a while. Now don't get me wrong, he will still be hosting the "After the Bell" show and leading Marketplace's blog efforts but he did make the financial crisis we are in now bearable. It is a radio show that people made sure to listen to, not just catch when they could. I had to be in my car by no later than 7:50 am in order to listen to this show each weekday because I new that I wanted to be up to speed on what was happening in the world of finance.
Not only did I listen to the show but many of my co-workers did as well. We would get to work and discuss what we had heard in the car that morning on the report and then try and figure out how our little credit union was going to survive another day in this crappy economic reality. Ultimately it was Scott that kept us somewhat hopeful that we were going to make it through this thing and come out the other end better off than when we went in. Between him and his regular commentators like Alan Sloan it kept us all sane in this insane world that we have been living in for years now.
We wish you the best of luck Scott and yes we will all be listening to your podcasts and reading the blogs.
Yet Another Data Breach at a Transaction Processor
A data breach last year at Princeton, N.J., payment processor Heartland Payment Systems may have compromised tens of millions of credit and debit card transactions, the company said today.
If accurate, such figures may make the Heartland incident one of the largest data breaches ever reported.
Robert Baldwin, Heartland's president and chief financial officer, said the company, which processes payments for more than 250,000 businesses, began receiving fraudulent activity reports late last year from MasterCard and Visa on cards that had all been used at merchants which rely on Heartland to process payments.
Baldwin said 40 percent of transactions the company processes are from small to mid-sized restaurants across the country. He declined to name any well-known establishments or retail clients that may have been affected by the breach.
Source: Washington Post
How many more times will this happen before we start seeing significant improvements in the security at transaction processing companies? The fact that this is such a matter-of-fact, response that shows no sign of caring about the people affected is disturbing. As consumers we can no longer afford to simply stand by and watch our personal financial information be stolen and not do anything about it. I think it is time we demand these corporations prove they protect clients data as best they can or otherwise they should not be allowed to operate.
Working in the financial industry myself and in the IT field to boot, it stirkes me as incredibly incompetent that a company would not employ enough safeguards on their networks to deter these types of attacks. It would also make sense that they would force their clients to adhere to the same standards so that they do not have any one weak point in their wider network of operations. Take processing credit cards with Visa for example, where you must go through a rigorus certification program before they will even let you touch their network or data. If you do not do this then you simply don't get to use their service plain and simple.
Not only is the company not really taking any responsibility but they also are announcing this on a day where it will get no news coverage which I don't think is a coincidence at all. They are knowingly trying to avoid telling the public about the potential for their information to have been stolen. A plainly sleazy move that should be investigated by government regulators if you ask me as it is reckless and irresponsible of them to take this type of action. Keep your eyes on your credit card statements folks, you never know where this will go next.
An Open Challenge to President-elect Obama
Mr. Obama, With unprecedented popularity and influence within the 20 - 30 year old age bracket in the United States, it is time you harness that energy and drive your vision of change into our local communities and demographics. This is not a partisan effort, nor an effort that favors liberal or conservative thinking. It is a movement and idea that reconnects Americans with their heritage and communities that is needed now more than ever. We need to rediscover what makes this country great, we need to see the principles of what it means to be an American in everyday life. To this end I challenge you to push us towards a goal of involvement as Jack Kennedy asked us all to do over forty years ago.
1. Establish state level service commissions - We need organizations that promote service within our communities, this can't just be through social media or the Internet. We need people on the ground engaging the youth to do more for the places in which they live. You would be amazed at what we can do if you ask us. We believe in your message, hold us to account and you will not be disappointed. All we ask is that you establish the framework for us to work within and recognize us for our efforts.
2. Encourage state and local governments realize the value of a mobilized citizenry - We can move mountains if you ask us, but if you don't ask and inspire us to do so you will never realize this goal. There are vast untapped resources of human capital in our communities that have never been recognized because institutions do not understand how to reach them or understand that people want to be involved. In this economy, in this recession, we must learn to rely on each other more than ever because that is the American way. Help us become involved by making sure our public servants understand that which you already do.
3. Don't settle for less than our best - You will need to push us to continue our service, challenge us to do more with less, set forth lofty goals and show us the way to achieve them. We are asking you to push us to do more, my generation is asking you to push us as people who want to live up to the memory of our fathers and our grandfathers. We aren't soft, we just haven't been challenged like they were but now is the time for the challenge. We encourage to publically motivate us, call on us in speeches to do more and show us what can be done by average Americans.
4. Realize what you have done - Your platform of change has not only gotten you elected to the highest office in our country but has inspired masses of people who need hope. Don't underestimate what hope does to people or what kind of strength it will give them . Despite what others were saying in the campaign, the concept of hope counts for more than many other tangible promises or goods. Hope can inspire people to do great things and that is what you have brought to us. Realize this reality and use it to our country's advantage but do not take advantage of us. If you learn to harness this power and focus it on the betterment of our society we will once again be the pinnacle of what it means to be a free and democratic society.
These are my thoughts Mr. Obama, from a 26 year old who has never had the chance to be inspired by anyone like I have during this election. There are millions other like me waiting for you to lead us to the next great era of service and prosperity in this country. We want what every generation of Americans have before us; a safe place to live that is prosperous and not afraid of ambitious people willing to work hard to achieve their dreams. We are waiting Mr. Obama just say the word.
When All You Want to Do is Work…
What do you do when all you want to do is work in the town you live in, serve your community, and do what is best for your family? That is the situation I am in right now, I have applied for a job in Hagerstown, interviewed and now am waiting on whether or not I will get the position. The worst part is that I don't know if I will be considered seriously because I am younger than what they likely expect and it just makes me very anxious.
I guess I just had to write this down since I have been thinking about it for the past few days and at this point I just want to know one way or another. I guess I will find out...
Bailout Detroit? I Think Not.
Let the Detroit auto makers fail, let them go into bankruptcy and fail just like any other American company does when they have mismanaged themselves into a financial nightmare.
Why is it that as soon as a big company gets in trouble now all of the Senators in Washington and the Representatives in the House all want to bail them out? There is no need for it and it goes against every free market principle that the country is built on. GM, Chrysler and Ford vehicles have been terrible for years and now we want to save them and postpone the inevitable? They did not respond to industry forces when they should have, they completely ignored America's pleas for more fuel efficient vehicles and failed to improve the quality of their existing fleet of vehicles when they could have. By failing in these areas did they not expect companies like Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Daewoo, Kia and others to move in and take their market share?
So if you can't back them up because of sound business practices then the argument becomes that they are too big to fail, especially in this economy. Why is that? Because so many people would lose their jobs? Let me tell you Washington, another 20,000 at this point seems to be a number of very little importance from this perspective. Why don't you tell the hundreds of thousands that already have why you didn't bail their companies out?
Not only are they not too big to fail (any company can) but if they go into bankruptcy, there is a strong chance that better managed automaker will buy their assets and keep the brand alive. The GM, Chrysler and Ford brands still carry a very iconic stature in the US and any other automaker would love to add them to their portfolio. These new investors might also actually bring in the new ideas needed to turn the brands around as well which is what the autoworkers need more than anything else right now since even with the bailout thousands more get laid off each year.
So Washington, keep your nose out of the free market in this case. The banks may have been a special case, but companies that do not control the entire financial system should not carry any special clout when asking for a bailout. It will be hard when they fail initially but I can tell you now that it needs to happen in order to make our economy stronger once again. The last thing we need to do is face this again later on, we might as well get the pain over with now.
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