A Short Book Review, Enemies, Foreign And Domestic by Matt Bracken

I just finished reading <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/author-bracken-offers-free-bleeding-edge-dystopian-thrillers-downloads">the free Kindle version that Mr. Bracken so graciously offered to everyone</a> last weekend.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vY3cbhQs1XCHC-x6WRZ4DWTJYf8z1H9SXpwqikxPTzPwSOSTmm_t472oITPW6EpkzDPoYhtYxv1VtEilNLx8UaGPtfwVsxeAEBxukMZGs9Ja9_Rl-BH9uv_40a28bFC9D6ZciAKvljOV/s1600/bookcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vY3cbhQs1XCHC-x6WRZ4DWTJYf8z1H9SXpwqikxPTzPwSOSTmm_t472oITPW6EpkzDPoYhtYxv1VtEilNLx8UaGPtfwVsxeAEBxukMZGs9Ja9_Rl-BH9uv_40a28bFC9D6ZciAKvljOV/s400/bookcover.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />What do I think?<br /><br /><br />I think someone should already be filming the movie.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, I am going to buy the dead tree version of the trilogy, I liked it so much.<br /><br /><br />It's a real page turner, I hated having to stop reading because I had to go to work the next day.<br />There is plenty of action to keep you flipping the pages to see what happens next!<br /><br />At five hundred and fifty pages, I could read this at one sitting if I started early enough and didn't have to do anything the next day.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's not some far fetched science fiction, in the current political climate we are in right now this could very well be a possible future for this country.<br /><br />He does a great job of weaving his characters in and out of the evolving story line and is all over the technological warfare we are under right this minute.<br /><br />I definitely give this read two thumbs up.<br /><br />Like I said, I liked it so much I am going to buy it.<br />You can't be much more sincere than that.

A Short Book Review, Enemies, Foreign And Domestic by Matt Bracken

I just finished reading the free Kindle version that Mr. Bracken so graciously offered to everyone last weekend.What do I think?I think someone should already be filming the movie.As a matter of fact, I am going to buy the dead tree version of the tr…

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St Louis Cardinals are the Person(s) of the Week!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">The IWS Person(s) of the Week are the St. Louis Cardinals! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The Cardinals just beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to earn their fourth trip to the World Series in the last 10 years … <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3E0Da0dAzw8CLjARZMuBb0_iB4VjpTlbUvfAwlCb6xu43ckMV2m9GeDLeiJAMZW4Qnpz09cGFSeiqZAA85L2Nxgr2VMMhY40mkdi47q5ndSoaDPmGc9M8JEJtpoCYvATuOo0yi81VkuG/s1600/Cardinals+Mott+Molina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3E0Da0dAzw8CLjARZMuBb0_iB4VjpTlbUvfAwlCb6xu43ckMV2m9GeDLeiJAMZW4Qnpz09cGFSeiqZAA85L2Nxgr2VMMhY40mkdi47q5ndSoaDPmGc9M8JEJtpoCYvATuOo0yi81VkuG/s400/Cardinals+Mott+Molina.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Their 19^th National League Pennant … <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgN1hCIRlphVzkpSUQ3xEf5auboFQnOUB9moo1SWLrzPVnel1VmTdbXMKBHQkpQ6SNWJsDFm-wO91jXFZzCMYefi2p-ljBgRyl9Gg8lsAnAoqhYpkHh89XUy_rTQ7q_R2LRFr_gVHH4W9/s1600/St+Louis+Cardinals+World+Series.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgN1hCIRlphVzkpSUQ3xEf5auboFQnOUB9moo1SWLrzPVnel1VmTdbXMKBHQkpQ6SNWJsDFm-wO91jXFZzCMYefi2p-ljBgRyl9Gg8lsAnAoqhYpkHh89XUy_rTQ7q_R2LRFr_gVHH4W9/s400/St+Louis+Cardinals+World+Series.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Proving once again that they are one of the best organizations not just in baseball, but in all of professional sports … <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUMmGc2Z296uKAPD6YJDtcJ5i8YhcNVjnsbRsxOAlnkeHpVz-6hNT_s3xzgINfiJUi5CKr5-_ToV8fAwK_W-6JOBo0cjBy5lPtWxzxr8j0W201NSFR3pIqpqzMTDCN9vdaUoXlWBeE6mB/s1600/St+Louis+Cardinals+NLCS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUMmGc2Z296uKAPD6YJDtcJ5i8YhcNVjnsbRsxOAlnkeHpVz-6hNT_s3xzgINfiJUi5CKr5-_ToV8fAwK_W-6JOBo0cjBy5lPtWxzxr8j0W201NSFR3pIqpqzMTDCN9vdaUoXlWBeE6mB/s400/St+Louis+Cardinals+NLCS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Not to mention having the BEST FANS IN BASEBALL! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJ14-zeo_tsj0cWCQuxjpOs6cr5shMlwnQ6rKSNltx5yAw1PqGUyiosHE_n1rF82xnwSboA4XSU0u0g8CNhzBn51O6Fs-KjLT-XIgNp4b0YQnpe5Wjb2DwKKQpByzJ3mAYjI704OeKH85/s1600/Cardinals+Celebration+NLCS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJ14-zeo_tsj0cWCQuxjpOs6cr5shMlwnQ6rKSNltx5yAw1PqGUyiosHE_n1rF82xnwSboA4XSU0u0g8CNhzBn51O6Fs-KjLT-XIgNp4b0YQnpe5Wjb2DwKKQpByzJ3mAYjI704OeKH85/s400/Cardinals+Celebration+NLCS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">And if you don’t believe me, just do a search on Twitter and find out. They’ll tell you. Over and over and over again.  Oh, and a quick little congrats to the Cubs for finishing LAST in the Central Division …. AGAIN. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Be sure to check out this week’s IWS Radio as we get deep and introspective in “<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/10/20/who-am-i-and-why-am-i-here" target="_blank">Who am I and Why am I Here</a>” at 12 Noon ET or in the archives! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

St Louis Cardinals are the Person(s) of the Week!

The IWS Person(s) of the Week are the St. Louis Cardinals! The Cardinals just beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to earn their fourth trip to the World Series in the last 10 years … Their 19th National League Pennant … Proving once again that they are one …

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Caturday Again Already?

I'm overwhelmed with enthusiasm about the whole thing.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTZeaSubMt7C4Yjybx3L4eepPCjDkmfsTBGo677IhoMnM_n0e7e2tbJEofbJRdZ_57XHxmtL98kxyGoJIQXzOXwfuHg2sywrw7aVzC-KiZbVEtieQ1gCXArihi9yleIwfhPAKpEzsLcGb/s1600/1ddJG.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTZeaSubMt7C4Yjybx3L4eepPCjDkmfsTBGo677IhoMnM_n0e7e2tbJEofbJRdZ_57XHxmtL98kxyGoJIQXzOXwfuHg2sywrw7aVzC-KiZbVEtieQ1gCXArihi9yleIwfhPAKpEzsLcGb/s640/1ddJG.gif" /></a></div>

Caturday Again Already?

I'm overwhelmed with enthusiasm about the whole thing.…

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The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the A.D.H.D. Epidemic - NYTimes.com

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Between the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012, people across the United States suddenly found themselves unable to get their hands on A.D.H.D. medication. Low-dose generics were particularly in short supply. There were several factors contributing to the shortage, but the main cause was that supply was suddenly being outpaced by demand.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The number of diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has ballooned over the past few decades. Before the early 1990s, fewer than 5 percent of school-age kids were thought to have A.D.H.D. Earlier this year, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 11 percent of children ages 4 to 17 had at some point received the diagnosis — and that doesn't even include first-time diagnoses in adults. (Full disclosure: I'm one of them.)</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">That amounts to millions of extra people receiving regular doses of stimulant drugs to keep neurological symptoms in check. For a lot of us, the diagnosis and subsequent treatments — both behavioral and pharmaceutical — have proved helpful. But still: Where did we all come from? Were that many Americans always pathologically hyperactive and unable to focus, and only now are getting the treatment they need?</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Probably not. Of the 6.4 million kids who have been given diagnoses of A.D.H.D., a large percentage are unlikely to have any kind of physiological difference that would make them more distractible than the average non-A.D.H.D. kid. It's also doubtful that biological or environmental changes are making physiological differences more prevalent. Instead, the rapid increase in people with A.D.H.D. probably has more to do with sociological factors — changes in the way we school our children, in the way we interact with doctors and in what we expect from our kids.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Which is not to say that A.D.H.D. is a made-up disorder. In fact, there's compelling evidence that it has a strong genetic basis. Scientists often study twins to examine whether certain behaviors and traits are inborn. They do this by comparing identical twins (who share almost 100 percent of the same genes) with fraternal twins (who share about half their genes). If a disorder has a genetic basis, then identical twins will be more likely to share it than fraternal twins. In 2010, researchers at Michigan State University analyzed 22 different studies of twins and found that the traits of hyperactivity and inattentiveness were highly inheritable. Numerous brain-imaging studies have also shown distinct differences between the brains of people given diagnoses of A.D.H.D. and those not — including evidence that some with A.D.H.D. may have fewer receptors in certain regions for the chemical messenger dopamine, which would impair the brain's ability to function in top form.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">None of that research yet translates into an objective diagnostic approach, however. Before I received my diagnosis, I spent multiple sessions with a psychiatrist who interviewed me and my husband, took a health history from my doctor and administered several intelligence tests. That's not the norm, though, and not only because I was given my diagnosis as an adult. Most children are given the diagnosis on the basis of a short visit with their pediatrician. In fact, the diagnosis can be as simple as prescribing Ritalin to a child and telling the parents to see if it helps improve their school performance.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">This lack of rigor leaves room for plenty of diagnoses that are based on something other than biology. Case in point: The beginning of A.D.H.D. as an "epidemic" corresponds with a couple of important policy changes that incentivized diagnosis. The incorporation of A.D.H.D. under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act in 1991 — and a subsequent overhaul of the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 that allowed drug companies to more easily market directly to the public — were hugely influential, according to Adam Rafalovich, a sociologist at Pacific University in Oregon. For the first time, the diagnosis came with an upside — access to tutors, for instance, and time allowances on standardized tests. By the late 1990s, as more parents and teachers became aware that A.D.H.D. existed, and that there were drugs to treat it, the diagnosis became increasingly normalized, until it was viewed by many as just another part of the experience of childhood.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Stephen Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley, has found another telling correlation. Hinshaw was struck by the disorder's uneven geographical distribution. In 2007, 15.6 percent of kids between the ages of 4 and 17 in North Carolina had at some point received an A.D.H.D. diagnosis. In California, that number was 6.2 percent. This disparity between the two states is representative of big differences, generally speaking, in the rates of diagnosis between the South and West. Even after Hinshaw's team accounted for differences like race and income, they still found that kids in North Carolina were nearly twice as likely to be given diagnoses of A.D.H.D. as those in California.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Hinshaw, as well as sociologists like Rafalovich and Peter Conrad of Brandeis University, argues that such numbers are evidence of sociological influences on the rise in A.D.H.D. diagnoses. In trying to narrow down what those influences might be, Hinshaw evaluated differences between diagnostic tools, types of health insurance, cultural values and public perceptions of mental illness. Nothing seemed to explain the difference — until he looked at educational policies.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush, was the first federal effort to link school financing to standardized-test performance. But various states had been slowly rolling out similar policies for the last three decades. North Carolina was one of the first to adopt such a program; California was one of the last. The correlations between the implementation of these laws and the rates of A.D.H.D. diagnosis matched on a regional scale as well. When Hinshaw compared the rollout of these school policies with incidences of A.D.H.D., he found that when a state passed laws punishing or rewarding schools for their standardized-test scores, A.D.H.D. diagnoses in that state would increase not long afterward. Nationwide, the rates of A.D.H.D. diagnosis increased by 22 percent in the first four years after No Child Left Behind was implemented.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">To be clear: Those are correlations, not causal links. But A.D.H.D., education policies, disability protections and advertising freedoms all appear to wink suggestively at one another. From parents' and teachers' perspectives, the diagnosis is considered a success if the medication improves kids' ability to perform on tests and calms them down enough so that they're not a distraction to others. (In some school districts, an A.D.H.D. diagnosis also results in that child's test score being removed from the school's official average.) Writ large, Hinshaw says, these incentives conspire to boost the diagnosis of the disorder, regardless of its biological prevalence.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Rates of A.D.H.D. diagnosis also vary widely from country to country. In 2003, when nearly 8 percent of American kids had been given a diagnosis of A.D.H.D., only about 2 percent of children in Britain had. According to the British National Health Service, the estimate of kids affected by A.D.H.D. there is now as high as 5 percent. Why would Britain have such a comparatively low incidence of the disorder? But also, why is that incidence on the rise?</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Conrad says both questions are linked to the different ways our societies define disorders. In the United States, we base those definitions on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (D.S.M.), while Europeans have historically used the International Classification of Diseases (I.C.D.). "The I.C.D. has much stricter guidelines for diagnosis," Conrad says. "But, for a variety of reasons, the D.S.M. has become more widely used in more places." Conrad, who's currently researching the spread of A.D.H.D. diagnosis rates, believes that America is essentially exporting the D.S.M. definition and the medicalized response to it. A result, he says, is that "now we see higher and higher prevalence rates outside the United States."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">According to Joel Nigg, professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, this is part of a broader trend in America: the medicalization of traits that previous generations might have dealt with in other ways. Schools used to punish kids who wouldn't sit still. Today we tend to see those kids as needing therapy and medicine. When people don't fit in, we react by giving their behavior a label, either medicalizing it, criminalizing it or moralizing it, Nigg says.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For some kids, getting medicine might be a better outcome than being labeled a troublemaker. But of course there are also downsides, especially when there are so many incentives encouraging overdiagnosis. Medicalization can hurt people just as much as moralizing can. Not so long ago, homosexuality was officially considered a mental illness. And in a remarkable bit of societal blindness, the diagnosis of drapetomania was used to explain why black slaves would want to escape to freedom.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Today many sociologists and neuroscientists believe that regardless of A.D.H.D.'s biological basis, the explosion in rates of diagnosis is caused by sociological factors — especially ones related to education and the changing expectations we have for kids. During the same 30 years when A.D.H.D. diagnoses increased, American childhood drastically changed. Even at the grade-school level, kids now have more homework, less recess and a lot less unstructured free time to relax and play. It's easy to look at that situation and speculate how "A.D.H.D." might have become a convenient societal catchall for what happens when kids are expected to be miniature adults. High-stakes standardized testing, increased competition for slots in top colleges, a less-and-less accommodating economy for those who don't get into colleges but can no longer depend on the existence of blue-collar jobs — all of these are expressed through policy changes and cultural expectations, but they may also manifest themselves in more troubling ways — in the rising number of kids whose behavior has become pathologized.</p><nyt_author_id><div class="authorIdentification" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 15px !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; font-style: italic; ">Maggie Koerth-Baker is science editor at <a href="http://boingboing.net/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; font-size: 15px !important; line-height: 22px; ">BoingBoing.net</a> and author of "Before the Lights Go Out," on the future of energy production and consumption.</div><div><br></div></div></nyt_author_id><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/magazine/the-not-so-hidden-cause-behind-the-adhd-epidemic.html?pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/magazine/the-not-so-hidden-cause-behind-the-adhd-epidemic.html?pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

The Not-So-Hidden Cause Behind the A.D.H.D. Epidemic - NYTimes.com

Between the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012, people across the United States suddenly found themselves unable to get their hands on A.D.H.D. medication. Low-dose generics were particularly in short supply. There were several factors contributing …

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A Push to Sell Testosterone Gels Troubles Doctors - NYTimes.com

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The barrage of advertisements targets older men. "Have you noticed a recent deterioration of your ability to play sports?" "Do you have a decrease in sex drive?" "Do you have a lack of energy?"</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">If so, the ads warn, you should "talk to your doctor about whether you have low <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/testosterone/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Testosterone." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">testosterone</a>" — "Low T," as they put it.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In the view of many physicians, that is in large part an invented condition. Last year, drug makers in the United States spent $3.47 billion on advertising directly to consumers, according to<a target="_" href="http://FiercePharma.com/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">FiercePharma.com</a>. And while ever-present ads like those from AbbVie Pharmaceuticals have buoyed sales of testosterone gels, that may be bad for patients as well as the United States' $2.7 trillion annual health care bill, experts say.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Sales of prescription testosterone gels that are absorbed through the skin generated over $2 billion in American sales last year, a number that is expected to more than double by 2017. Abbott Laboratories — which owned AbbVie until Jan. 1 — spent $80 million advertising its version, AndroGel, last year.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Once a niche treatment for people suffering from hormonal deficiencies caused by medical problems like endocrine tumors or the disruptive effects of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/chemotherapy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about chemotherapy." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">chemotherapy</a>, the prescription gels are increasingly being sold as lifestyle products, to raise dipping levels of the male sex hormone as men age.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The market for testosterone gels evolved because there is an appetite among men and because there is advertising," said Dr. Joel Finkelstein, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who is studying male hormone changes with aging. "The problem is that no one has proved that it works and we don't know the risks."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and chief academic officer at Scripps Health in San Diego, is alarmed by the high percentage of patients he sees who use the roll-on prescription products, achieving testosterone levels that he described as "ridiculously high."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The gels are of questionable medical benefit for many of the millions of men who now take them, he and other doctors say, and their side effects may well prove dangerous.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"These medicines come with a risk of coronary artery disease," Dr. Topol said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"When I ask patients why they're on it, the instant response, is, 'I have low T.' I ask, 'Why would you even get tested for that?' There isn't really a normal," he said. Other side effects include an<a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/enlarged-prostate/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Enlarged prostate." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">enlarged prostate</a>, he added.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Nevertheless, many insurers cover the cost of the high-priced hormone treatments, requiring only a small co-payment from patients. AndroGel and another popular testosterone gel, Axiron, by Eli Lilly & Company, sell for more than $500 a month retail, and about $400 with pharmacy coupons.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Many experts say that pharmaceutical advertising promotes excessive and inappropriate drug use by convincing patients that they are ill — or have a more serious condition than is genuinely the case — and need medicine to treat it. While television viewers are barraged with advertising warning men they may have "low T," Dr. Finkelstein said, "There is no such disease."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Such advertising also leads patients to seek out more expensive treatments, rather than cheaper ones that are often equally effective. Drugs that are advertised are almost always the ones that are costly.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In response to an article Sunday in The New York Times <a title="Times article." href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/the-soaring-cost-of-a-simple-breath.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">on prescription drug costs for asthma medicines</a> in the United States, a number of readers complained about the high price of inhalers, and that the costs were inflated by the millions of dollars pharmaceutical companies spend on advertising for them.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Jack D. from Philadelphia, for example, wrote that he mail-ordered his prescription <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/steroids/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about steroids." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">steroid</a> nasal spray from overseas, for 20 percent of the price in the United States. "I refuse to pay for ads featuring talking bees with Spanish accents," he wrote. Merck spent $46.3 million last year advertising Nasonex, its popular steroid spray.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Patients of any age may benefit from testosterone replacement if their levels are severely low because of serious medical problems, experts say. But testosterone normally declines as men age — just as <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/estrogen/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about estrogen." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">estrogen</a> does in women.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The F.D.A. has approved the gels "for use in men who either no longer produce the male sex hormone testosterone or produce it in very low amounts." But that directive is ambiguous, and the F.D.A. office did not respond to questions because of the government shutdown.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Should testosterone be replaced in older men, and will it safely redress frequent ordinary symptoms of male aging, like decreased muscle mass and libido? And what constitutes a very low amount?</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Finkelstein said, "Until there are big long-term studies to address the issues of testosterone replacement, we're not ready to make recommendations on that."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But drug companies defend their efforts to reach out to potential users. Testosterone deficiency is "a recognized clinical condition, with signs/symptoms that can impact millions of patients," said Morry B. Smulevitz, a director of communications for Lilly, which makes Axiron. While he said the company did not condone the use of medicine for purposes other than those approved by the F.D.A., it "encouraged patients to talk to their physicians to weigh the risks and benefits."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">David Freundel, director of public affairs for AbbVie, which makes AndroGel, said the company's "low testosterone efforts" were "developed to educate men who may be at risk for, or have, low testosterone, so they can have the appropriate dialogue with their physician to determine if testing and treatment may be appropriate."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Studies are just beginning to yield results to address the appropriate use of the drug in older men. For example, scientists have found that age-related male changes in body fat depend on a different hormone, estradiol, which also decreases with age. Likewise, while strength and libido do decrease with falling testosterone levels, that effect may not be significant until testosterone levels are very low, Dr. Finkelstein said. Low testosterone is rarely the main cause of <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/erection-problems/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Erection problems." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">erectile dysfunction</a>.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Finally, he added, no one has really defined what is a "normal" or "physiological" testosterone level. And yet, physicians often order tests for "low T."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; "><a title="Link to study." href="http://worldofdtcmarketing.com/majority-of-physicians-believe-dtc-ads-should-be-cut-back/prescription-drug-dtc-marketing/attachment/cmi-compass-study/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">A survey this year by CMI/Compass</a> found that more than half of physicians felt that pharmaceutical advertising to consumers should be scaled back, and 63 percent said it misinformed patients.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"I really don't understand why it's tolerated at a time we're struggling with health care costs," Dr. Topol said. "A lot of people bounce their legs in meetings, but that doesn't mean you have <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/restless-leg-syndrome/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Restless leg syndrome." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">restless leg syndrome</a>, and you shouldn't be taking drugs for that."</p><div><br></div><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/a-push-to-sell-testosterone-gels-troubles-doctors.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/a-push-to-sell-testosterone-gels-troubles-doctors.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

A Push to Sell Testosterone Gels Troubles Doctors - NYTimes.com

The barrage of advertisements targets older men. "Have you noticed a recent deterioration of your ability to play sports?" "Do you have a decrease in sex drive?" "Do you have a lack of energy?"If so, the ads warn, you should "talk to your doctor abou…

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Unemployment Rate: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR41ViMp3yTt89GxVpeBJ1JFV8qoMnS7xatrmu-bZCBlHqE2gjeQwpMmQ0mpLOlAuq8K8r9zyN75Z1aifx1A9PjUQyXDZ_rdxr5VN8xZhM0NydPDW710ctPrQ4p3sBoY0ZSf3bW3kTQ_g/s1600/Unemployment+Rate.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR41ViMp3yTt89GxVpeBJ1JFV8qoMnS7xatrmu-bZCBlHqE2gjeQwpMmQ0mpLOlAuq8K8r9zyN75Z1aifx1A9PjUQyXDZ_rdxr5VN8xZhM0NydPDW710ctPrQ4p3sBoY0ZSf3bW3kTQ_g/s320/Unemployment+Rate.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br /><b>October 17, 2013</b><br /><a href="https://mninews.marketnews.com/index.php/chicago-feds-evans-unemp-cld-hit-6-fomc-raises-rates?q=content/chicago-feds-evans-unemp-cld-hit-6-fomc-raises-rates">Chicago Fed's Evans: Unemp Cld Hit 6% Before FOMC Raises Rates</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>WASHINGTON (MNI) - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Thursday he could "easily envision certain circumstances in which the unemployment rate could go below 6% before we moved the fed funds rate up."</i></div><br />As seen in the chart above, I could easily envision circumstances in which the unemployment rate never reaches 6%, not that you'd ever hear that from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President. At least not publicly.<br /><br />This is not investment advice.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=nxm">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Unemployment Rate: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Click to enlarge.October 17, 2013Chicago Fed's Evans: Unemp Cld Hit 6% Before FOMC Raises RatesWASHINGTON (MNI) - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Thursday he could "easily envision certain circumstances in which the unemploy…

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VIDEO: 50 Years Of Doctor Who Anniversary Trailer

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfrfiEJr1ZJsiBP0MlUuxkSXfg9frLC9THFuveHt7L_13cLJT1FKrJzKH0PTQpq5ETyeG25hJ_yeEfnnpAsNhUF2zM-iqr9qy4SK344Pc7ef2RBzhu0x9uLhxK2N8IsmhHyEAH_vRacW1/s1600/11DocsOct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfrfiEJr1ZJsiBP0MlUuxkSXfg9frLC9THFuveHt7L_13cLJT1FKrJzKH0PTQpq5ETyeG25hJ_yeEfnnpAsNhUF2zM-iqr9qy4SK344Pc7ef2RBzhu0x9uLhxK2N8IsmhHyEAH_vRacW1/s640/11DocsOct.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Earlier this evening BBC One aired a specially created one minute long trailer which celebrated fifty years of Doctor Who. The trailer features all eleven incarnations of the Doctor, along with companions and enemies. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“<i>Our future depends on one single moment of one impossible day. The day I've been running from all my life…The Day of the Doctor.</i>”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/loGm3vT8EAQ" width="480"></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The BBC have planned a selection of programming on both TV and radio in the run up to the 50th anniversary on the 23rd November. The celebration culminates with the special episode <i>The Day Of The Doctor</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The Day Of The Doctor</i>, starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt, Billie Piper and Jenna Coleman, will be simulcast by TV broadcasters around the world on Saturday 23rd November. The 75 minute special will also have a worldwide 3D cinematic release.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://david-tennant.com/2009/id205.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Find out more about the 50th Anniversary Special here</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

BBC One Doctor Who Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Matt Smith VIDEO: 50 Years Of Doctor Who Anniversary Trailer

Earlier this evening BBC One aired a specially created one minute long trailer which celebrated fifty years of Doctor Who. The trailer features all eleven incarnations of the Doctor, along with companions and enemies. “Our future depends on one singl…

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Your Weight-Loss Concerns Answered In This Article

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Daniel Will</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>It can be difficult and frustrating to lose weight you must be dedicated to this process. Integrate these tips into your way of life and employ it to motivate you with your weight-loss attempts. Each of them may well not meet your needs, and is particularly under your control to find the ones who do.<br /> <br /> A sensible way to start shedding weight would be to commence enjoying gourmet coffee. A lot of people consume coffee, but not many individuals recognize that it has great attributes for hitting the gym and keeping yourself fit. Caffeine supplies us with electricity and it likewise gives our metabolic process a properly-required increase.<br /> <br /> Change your time and effort on the telephone into a diet workout. In contrast to sitting down while talking, try out to maneuver when you're on the telephone. There is no will need to take part in calisthenics. When you stroll all around your property performing added tiny tasks, the energy you burn are likely to mount up.<br /> <br /> Search for reduce body fat variations of your own beloved snack treats, by way of example, choose a baked model of your own favorite potato french fries. They feature significantly less body fat and calories and flavor fantastic.<br /> <br /> You should add whole wheat grains and grain in your diet as a way to lose weight. To determine the simplest way to begin this, you can do your personal analysis or get guidance from your nutritionist. Will not get products which list their grain ingredients as processed or enriched. It is actually really well-known for food finalizing businesses to provide cereals in highly processed food products. Your objective is to discover the items flavor excellent for your needs and therefore fit into how you live.<br /> <br /> Make an effort to enjoy every milestone in weight loss, no matter what sizing. You could buy a compact present or take action special you have enjoyable performing but don't frequently reach do. Honoring tiny successes will keep you motivated with your continuous have a problem to lose weight.<br /> <br /> If you can, steer clear of becoming by yourself if you eat. Any time you consume alone, you are more likely to try to eat far more as you have hardly anything else to target.<br /> <br /> Use the stairs when you want to visit another surface. While it might not exactly seem considerable, you may burn a couple of calorie consumption by using the steps and it will accumulate after a while.<br /> <br /> When trying to lose weight, don't use sizeable dishes. You're more likely to by accident eat way too much if you are using large dishes. If at all possible, your meal must very easily fit on the dish that actions 9 " in size. Anything at all larger is way too major and needless.<br /> <br /> Weigh yourself frequently to find out the development you happen to be producing throughout your software. This will enable you to see how well weight damage attempts are functioning. You ought to keep an eye on your development within a notebook. People who keep this sort of information usually practical experience excess fat loss success.<br /> <br /> Should you be after the normal eating and working out strategy, but aren't creating any software, you might need to do more heavy exercises. Your body will get accustomed to exercising if you the same thing, mixture it up.<br /> <br /> Consuming whilst derailed really can allow it to be simple to wear unwelcome weight. Watching the vitamins and minerals and also the body fat and calories articles of your food intake will help you slim down. Pay attention to every single little food items you take in each and every food and soon you will see yourself eating far less.<br /> <br /> One particular diet program that works well swiftly for one particular person will not always job easily for someone in addition. Remember not to evaluate you to ultimately other individuals and to concentrate on your unwanted weight loss goals. When you give your very best adequate, over time, you are able to accomplish your weight loss objectives.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>To find out more resources about this, please click here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PopolnaPostava">kako shujsati v enem tednu</a>.</div><br /> </div><br />

Your Weight-Loss Concerns Answered In This Article

By Daniel Will It can be difficult and frustrating to lose weight you must be dedicated to this process. Integrate these tips into your way of life and employ it to motivate you with your weight-loss attempts. Each of them may well not meet your n…

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There's a Sucker Reborn Every Minute

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8IzA88jQmFV3KLfRFIQw-G5dEVGUGwpvqwtqxzR1MdJ5QRtJH_Qmm_OCP3tsrjigygjIUAmb9riqFsUJnsFEeLnZYp0UKFh9xiWWXL_dcWejWf8avnooZDejEbTXzxfJ_8UiwCprajw/s1600/Real+Home+Price+Index+for+Las+Vegas+and+Miami.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8IzA88jQmFV3KLfRFIQw-G5dEVGUGwpvqwtqxzR1MdJ5QRtJH_Qmm_OCP3tsrjigygjIUAmb9riqFsUJnsFEeLnZYp0UKFh9xiWWXL_dcWejWf8avnooZDejEbTXzxfJ_8UiwCprajw/s320/Real+Home+Price+Index+for+Las+Vegas+and+Miami.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />2019 or bust!<br /><br /><b>October 25, 2007</b><br /><a href="http://www.builderonline.com/economic-conditions/future-bright-but-a-ways-off.aspx">Future Bright, But A Ways Off</a><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><br /></div><div style="color: #666666;"><i>On the positive side, Moody's Economy.com chief economist <span style="color: red;">Mark Zandi strongly believes that the bottom in new-home sales is hitting now, the fourth quarter of 2007</span>.<br /><br />"It's going to be so bad, that it's going to be hard to be even worse in the first quarter of 2008," Zandi said at the National Association of Home Builders 2007 Fall Construction Forecast Wednesday in Washington.<br /><br />On the down side, <span style="color: red;">this comes from a guy who bought a house in Vero Beach, Fla., in the last year</span>, thinking that he was buying at or near the bottom of the market. Oops.<br /><br />"I caught the falling knife," Zandi said of his recent home purchase.</i></div><br /><b>October 11, 2013</b><br /><a href="http://cr4re.com/Zanditestimony.pdf">Written Testimony of Mark Zandi</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The private economy is on the verge of stronger growth, more jobs and lower unemployment.</i></div><br />That Mark Zandi, what a hoot!<br /><br /><b>See Also:</b><br /><a href="http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/zandi/">The Big Picture: The Abysmal Track Record of Moody’s Mark Zandi</a><br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=nx3">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

There's a Sucker Reborn Every Minute

Click to enlarge.2019 or bust!October 25, 2007Future Bright, But A Ways OffOn the positive side, Moody's Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi strongly believes that the bottom in new-home sales is hitting now, the fourth quarter of 2007."It's going…

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Limited Time Offer On How African Mango Extract Can Be Archived

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Sharon Patton</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>This comes after a long line of weight loss supplements that have preceded its arrival. Products such as Acai Berry, Hoodia Gordonil, Phen Phen, and Phaseolamin (Carb-Blocker) have had their day in the sun shine as the newest and best weight loss find. Unfortunately, some have been removed from the market due to side effects.<br /> <br /> With its arrival, on a popular syndicated TV show, hosted by a doctor, African Mango Supplements were first introduced to the public in September 2010. Mango fans have purchased the product in droves. It seems that all one needs to do is promote their products on one of the popular television talk shows and the product gets immediate attention.<br /> <br /> The scientific name of the tree it is found on is Irvingia Gabonesis. Natives of the area have been eating this fruit for taste and energy for centuries. However it is in recent times that scientists discovered some of its miraculous effects half the world is crazy about. Its Extracts for weight loss: it is effective? Though the fruit as a whole is good for taste and overall health, it the seed extract that will help you lose weight at a remarkable pace.<br /> <br /> The nut or seed harvested from the tree mentioned above can be either eaten plain or made into a powder which is added normal food. Obviously it is possible only for the natives of the place where it is found.<br /> <br /> How its Extract works Studies suggest that African mango seed extracts helps people make more sensitive to Leptin which is a hormone responsible for fat storage especially on the abdomen.<br /> <br /> Usually obese people become resistant to Leptin therefore start depositing fat on their midsection. African Mango extract based products help them overcome this resistance naturally. Once you start consuming it; your natural fat burning process is triggered.<br /> <br /> What do the Medical Professionals Say? The jury is still out with the medical professional community as they would like to see more extensive studies. However, the evidence from the clinical trials indicates that the supplements are effective for safety, and weight loss achievement. African Mango Extract helps to make the body feel full and helps the blood sugar levels by preventing fat storage in our bodies. (The dikki seed is an extreme form of fiber)<br /> <br /> And as we all know, the less fat stored in our bodies, the better our overall cholesterol levels especially the bad cholesterol (LDL).<br /> <br /> Getting the best African Mango Extract supplement requires some efforts and hardwork but you will find some of the best slimming products at one place by evolution slimming. Order the best African Mango weight loss supplement now.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>If you want to have a free bottle offer of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mKIsFq-yRU&feature=youtu.be">African Mango extract</a> to test then you have to watch the reviews first.</div><br /> </div><br />

Limited Time Offer On How African Mango Extract Can Be Archived

By Sharon Patton This comes after a long line of weight loss supplements that have preceded its arrival. Products such as Acai Berry, Hoodia Gordonil, Phen Phen, and Phaseolamin (Carb-Blocker) have had their day in the sun shine as the newest and …

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Perty! Party! Party!

One thing my Old Man was very insistent upon was that when he went tits up( one of the seemingly millions of little phrases he used), he wanted a party.<br /><br /> So we're gonna party.<br /><br />Today.<br /><br />There isn't supposed to be any booze there but I know my family and if there is one thing you can guarantee, someone is going to get as drunk as a piss boiled owl.<br />(See?)<br /><br />That used to be me.<br /><br /><br />I would have had a rolling bar in the rig and at least two pocket flasks on me but seeings how I finally quit the shit, someone else is going to have to pick up the slack.<br /><br />I'm sure I won't be disappointed.<br /><br />One thing <i>I DO NOT MISS</i> is waking up every morning puking my guts out and being still drunk from the night before.<br /><br />It was pretty common for me to get my hangovers at about eleven or noon.<br />The minute I got off work I was drinking again.<br /><br />When a skinny little dude that weighs a hundred and fifty pounds can pound down almost a full bottle of straight whiskey while drinking beer chasers all night,every night, you are looking at a serious individual.<br /><br />Seriously trying to kill themselves.<br /><br />So I finally wised up and had a little chat with myself and decided my marriage was more important to me than drinking myself to death or even possibly killing someone else.<br /><br />That being said, sometimes being sober sucks ass too but I just deal with shit now.<br /><br />So Someone is going to have to hoist one for me to the Old Man's memory but that's cool.<br /><br />There is gonna be a party, just like good old Dad wanted.<br />Heh, I will be telling some stories on his ass later.<br />He used to drink like a fish back in the day and I have some doozies, if my pickled brain can recall them.<br /><br />What can I say? We're Irish for fucks sake!<br />Both his parents were first generation Americans, both sides of that family came straight from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Antrim">County Antrim</a>.<br /><br />My Mothers side of the family has been traced back to the Revolutionary War and the trip across the pond before that.<br /><br />Either way, its' time to party!<br /><br />See ya's later.<br /><br /><br />

Perty! Party! Party!

One thing my Old Man was very insistent upon was that when he went tits up( one of the seemingly millions of little phrases he used), he wanted a party. So we're gonna party.Today.There isn't supposed to be any booze there but I know my family and if…

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Hitchcock Week...and more...at the San Francisco Symphony

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX-wczSvLpB0a9Gsuto9lXfJ38szFDfx6FUbKAeoWOMXZNtfjNcQlKsNa2TcqdSyrJ2nzX3sstbfCS1lTJ4y5tAXdu0fPW7azbr_9AwVaOPnnecvVvczFqymK1sTrkXwZVJ_W1HhVCuc/s1600/psycho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX-wczSvLpB0a9Gsuto9lXfJ38szFDfx6FUbKAeoWOMXZNtfjNcQlKsNa2TcqdSyrJ2nzX3sstbfCS1lTJ4y5tAXdu0fPW7azbr_9AwVaOPnnecvVvczFqymK1sTrkXwZVJ_W1HhVCuc/s400/psycho.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Just over two years ago I attended – and was astounded by - “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casablanca</i> with the San Francisco Symphony” at Davies Hall. Conductor Michael Francis led the orchestra in accompanying the beyond-iconic classic with Max Steiner’s unforgettable score. What an experience it was (<a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/07/casablanca-with-san-francisco-symphony.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">click here</span></span></a> for my reaction)...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Now the symphony is about to present a Halloween season series, <b>Hitchcock Week</b>, spotlighting several of the Master’s films with live musical accompaniment. The <span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pièce</i></span><i>de résistance</i><i><span style="font-style: normal;"> will be “World Premiere: </span></i><i>Vertigo</i><i><span style="font-style: normal;">” on Friday, November 1, with the symphony accompanying Hitchcock’s great masterpiece with Bernard Herrmann’s brilliant, haunting and, some would say, peerless score.</span></i> </span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Bay Area film lovers, get thee to a box office, online or otherwise! Hitchcock Week is about to begin…<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wednesday, October 30, 8pm, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psycho</i></b>, with Joshua Gersen conducting Herrmann’s legendary score<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thursday, October 31, 7:30pm, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog</i></b>, live organ music will accompany Hitchcock’s early silent thriller on Halloween night </span><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvVQAs_cYsBf2DoSIBAuEdLXgwqu55s0RN1LSGCmmalRlo-8MlogbNlUV1oN7FfCyAJLslAyS7DXNqhCFTJ7_n6l6rePCyH0FOPAebR8HrsdlZ5I_LnDt91C9UwmO4GgCpK2P5JCpMl4/s1600/vertigo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvVQAs_cYsBf2DoSIBAuEdLXgwqu55s0RN1LSGCmmalRlo-8MlogbNlUV1oN7FfCyAJLslAyS7DXNqhCFTJ7_n6l6rePCyH0FOPAebR8HrsdlZ5I_LnDt91C9UwmO4GgCpK2P5JCpMl4/s400/vertigo2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Kim Novak and James Stewart, </span><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Vertigo </span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(1958)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Friday, November 1, 8pm, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vertigo </i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-</i></span> <i>Vertigo </i>accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony…what more is there to say?<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday, November 2, 8pm, Hitchcock! Greatest Hits</b>, clips from several Hitchcock classics – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest</i> – to be hosted by Eva Marie Saint, with Joshua Gersen conducting</span><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdeqmiCwtJZxnDukC9UFY-DtbtdZSWKuX0AsOziij6YKZvD_IGcWQxH7zZyd38YNyKPjigyiQ5zxtPXaFSo9H5ZXPBCSsSmnu86M7aJkT2AvWVKfvmw6MN_744yC5F720hF9IV-h9HDTc/s1600/NxNW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdeqmiCwtJZxnDukC9UFY-DtbtdZSWKuX0AsOziij6YKZvD_IGcWQxH7zZyd38YNyKPjigyiQ5zxtPXaFSo9H5ZXPBCSsSmnu86M7aJkT2AvWVKfvmw6MN_744yC5F720hF9IV-h9HDTc/s400/NxNW.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in <i>North by Northwest </i>(1959)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The symphony has scheduled more classic films with orchestral accompaniment through the rest of its 2013/2014 season:<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Friday and Saturday, December 6 and 7, 7:30pm, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin’ in the Rain</i> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday, February 15, 8pm, A Night at the Oscars </b>will feature celebrated scenes and scores from memorable films<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday, April 12, 8pm, Charlie Chaplin's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">City Lights</i> </b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday, May 31 at 8pm and Sunday, June 1 at 4pm, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fantasia</i></b> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A “Compose Your Own Film Series” package offers savings to those who buy tickets to three or more of these film concerts: <a href="http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/Calendar.aspx"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</span></a> to go to the symphony website or call (415)864-6000.</span><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3vnW-q7jVEyRNX9kgQQ107VC1DTbYE1Lmqyx1W-JOp6ag73bSMT36AFmooLCYVYF9TAnUMKSlgQtdMGp0ZC3qDpltZMk4tN2al8uubTKwVuF57Xz49XHcw0dwnKpGEooAgB2apQmR-A/s1600/Fantasia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3vnW-q7jVEyRNX9kgQQ107VC1DTbYE1Lmqyx1W-JOp6ag73bSMT36AFmooLCYVYF9TAnUMKSlgQtdMGp0ZC3qDpltZMk4tN2al8uubTKwVuF57Xz49XHcw0dwnKpGEooAgB2apQmR-A/s400/Fantasia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Fantasia </span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(1940)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Alfred Hitchcock Psycho San Francisco Symphony The Lady Eve (author) The Lodger Vertigo Hitchcock Week...and more...at the San Francisco Symphony

Just over two years ago I attended – and was astounded by - “Casablanca with the San Francisco Symphony” at Davies Hall. Conductor Michael Francis led the orchestra in accompanying the beyond-iconic classic with Max Steiner’s unforgettable score. Wha…

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AFRICAN AND FRANCE, A NEW ERA?

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1JCiuoMI4ASzt2nCmXgWdeCE58tmvoNcFQoDbX9uWc5ZHvsDZVrxlvQZaBM0mL0-OM7ShzhWZamIvVmSvo-wrWPcWbrwO9v2a9YxEPFfl6_CxRj0LMrXNcIr7jSPVz14lwa9nBSzDLCf/s1600/01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1JCiuoMI4ASzt2nCmXgWdeCE58tmvoNcFQoDbX9uWc5ZHvsDZVrxlvQZaBM0mL0-OM7ShzhWZamIvVmSvo-wrWPcWbrwO9v2a9YxEPFfl6_CxRj0LMrXNcIr7jSPVz14lwa9nBSzDLCf/s400/01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRANÇAFRIQUE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Ruby Pratka</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When François Hollande's face flashed on their TV screens, the people of Yopougon rose and celebrated as if his presidential victory in France was their own. "It's a big party here," local journalist Stéphane Goué said on election night, from a friend's home in the working-class area of Abidjan, the largest city in COTE D'IVOIRE. "Groups of people have come out into the streets, and outside our house we hear horns honking."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SMOOTH TRANSITION TO INDEPENDENCE</span></b></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLn4TUU60fFe7eamEmkKel7-or39W7VMOvf4zyXphlX3RgatLtbcAF70yRAcZbFXVYhxgW6hxSytjCOAXd9eeb-pp2ulayj3aaWnWiatYh5Ict1JXmKbkANA-xoybPdUDeD3KoN4nDb0S/s1600/africa_pol00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLn4TUU60fFe7eamEmkKel7-or39W7VMOvf4zyXphlX3RgatLtbcAF70yRAcZbFXVYhxgW6hxSytjCOAXd9eeb-pp2ulayj3aaWnWiatYh5Ict1JXmKbkANA-xoybPdUDeD3KoN4nDb0S/s400/africa_pol00.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sahel and North African Hotspots</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Goings-on in the Elysée Palace have interested—and affected—WEST AFRICANS for decades. In FRENCH WEST AFRICA, the colonizer was not toppled in an uprising—no riots and protest marches as in BRITISH GHANA, no bloody guerilla wars as in ALGERIA. FRANCE divested itself of its AFRICAN colonies primarily to cut costs, due to the lingering effects of the Second World War and the country's disastrous exit from INDOCHINA in the 1950s. The leaders of the new independent states—MAURITANIA, NIGER, MALI and CHAD in the north, SENEGAL, GUINEA, COTE D'IVOIRE, BENIN BURKINA FASO and CAMEROON in the west, GABON and CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE in the southwest, the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC in the heart of the continent and the tiny foothold of DJIBOUTI on the eastern coast—were uniformly FRENCH-trained, and several had served in the FRENCH army during the Second World War. AFRICA'S first post-Independence leaders had deep personal and professional links with FRANCE. Before taking the reins of their own countries, SENEGAL'S Lépolod Sédar Senghor had been a minister in the FRENCH cabinet, and IVOIRIAN leader Félix Houphouet-Boigny a senator.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRENCH MILITARY PRESENCE IN AFRICA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE maintains military bases in GABON, CHAD and DJIBOUTI as well as a smaller military presence in COTE D'IVOIRE and in Bangui, the restive capital of the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Defense accords signed with former colonies give the FRENCH government priority in buying raw materials such as uranium. Economic links are also strong; 15 of the young states use currencies that were pegged to the FRENCH franc and are now linked to the Euro. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE AND THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FRANCE reluctant to be left alone to deal with another AFRICAN hotspot – MALI, CHAD and now the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/france-and-central-african-republic.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/france-and-central-african-republic.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">CHAD AND ITS OIL RESERVES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mounting border conflict with SUDAN may hinder economic development </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/chad-and-its-oil-reserves.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/chad-and-its-oil-reserves.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">FRENCH TELECOMMUNICATION FOOTHOLD ON THE CONTINENT</span> </span></b><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUDluTCEO6Cry4DZDyAXBUFmLfi2kQLw5WHiS7j9wrD8H0vNXjYzSUCXMd4wbwXW1WKjkhE_WdFdYux-YObDxPxwYu6FnpmExSi0oHhsBnJ81UU6g0y8N-QpktCUQ9LWUkPoBCxwWoZS0/s1600/orange-map.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUDluTCEO6Cry4DZDyAXBUFmLfi2kQLw5WHiS7j9wrD8H0vNXjYzSUCXMd4wbwXW1WKjkhE_WdFdYux-YObDxPxwYu6FnpmExSi0oHhsBnJ81UU6g0y8N-QpktCUQ9LWUkPoBCxwWoZS0/s200/orange-map.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French Telecom (Orange) </td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRENCH business conglomerates such as BOUYGUES, ORANGE and BOLLORÉ control large portions of the telecommunications and shipping markets in WEST AFRICA, and COTE D'IVOIRE in particular. "The FRENCH government is now an agent of FRENCH business interests in AFRICA," observes André Silver Konan, an IVOIRIAN journalist who covers WEST AFRICAN politics for the continent-wide newsmagazine <i>Jeune Afrique</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled COTE D'IVOIRE for 30 years with several FRENCH bureaucrats among his cabinet ministers, who coined the term "FRANÇAFRIQUE" to describe the friendly relations between FRANCE and its former AFRICAN empire.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AFRICAN NATIONS INFLUENCE IN FRENCH POLICIES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Houphouet-Boigny used the word in a positive sense, but it didn't remain that way. In the current FRENCH media, the word evokes a shadowy network of personal friendships and money transfers that influence policy on both sides of the Atlantic. "I give you your budget; I can do what I want," former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing apparently told Jean-Bédel Bokassa. D'Estaing had helped finance Bokassa's grandiose wedding ceremony—worth one-fourth of the annual budget of the country—before growing exasperated with his protegé's wasteful spending and flirtation with Muammar Gaddafi—and throwing FRENCH military support behind a 1979 student uprising that brought down the Bokassa regime. In FRANCE, political campaigns were financed by oil and even aid money that AFRICAN leaders—particularly longtime GABONESE President Omar Bongo—skim off and send back to Paris, therefore manipulating FRENCH policy in their own way.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xGa5RAayepHod2kxjBNysJKEe_ad1gqNOQnqbv5t0HNnj2iAYdnjt6NZd38Wn7nHBpnsZCnL319NIGWYgSgqLZTyi04xqjPYl_jKLoLB9_VGyROACXuYianYCwrWJ9XpmPCPT8dTiKD-/s1600/champs-armee-malienne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xGa5RAayepHod2kxjBNysJKEe_ad1gqNOQnqbv5t0HNnj2iAYdnjt6NZd38Wn7nHBpnsZCnL319NIGWYgSgqLZTyi04xqjPYl_jKLoLB9_VGyROACXuYianYCwrWJ9XpmPCPT8dTiKD-/s320/champs-armee-malienne.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MALI troops on parade with French troops</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since François Mitterand in 1990, FRENCH presidents have tried to distance themselves from the "old boys' club" of "occult networks" of FRANÇAFRIQUE. However, it was on Mitterrand's watch that the biggest disaster of FRANÇAFRIQUE occurred: a bungled military intervention in RWANDA—a former BELGIAN colony whose president had worked closely with FRANCE— that allowed some perpetrators of the 1994 genocide to escape across the CONGOLESE border.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PYROMANIAC </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Early in his presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy declared his desire to "break with" FRANÇAFRIQUE. But five years later, many AFRICANS don't see it that way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sarkozy "is a pyromaniac," says Chaibou Boubacar, editor-in-chief of <i>Alternative Espaces Citoyens</i></span><i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">magazine</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Based on a survey I did yesterday in the capital [Niamey, NIGER], we're glad to be rid of him." The fires to which Boubacar alludes are the FRENCH interventions in COTE D'IVOIRE and LIBYA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Our president [Mahamadou Issoufou] has traveled to Paris 14 times in a little more than a year," adds a resident of Niamey interviewed by <i>Jeune Afrique</i>. "What does he need to go there so often for? FRANCE needs to give us our independence back."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After a close, disputed election in Cote d'Ivoire in fall 2010, socialist incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo was widely believed to have lost but refused to give up power. After several months of slow-burning civil conflict, a FRENCH military intervention resulted in Gbagbo's arrest and installed his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, as president. Ouattara, a former IMF economist, is a friend and ideological ally of Sarkozy. His party, Rassemblement des Republicains, even signed a collaboration accord with Sarkozy's Unis pour un Mouvement Populaire shortly before the election.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"It's true that Hollande is a socialist, like Gbagbo, but people here are just happy to see Ouattara's puppet-master gone," says Goué.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FRANCE'S SUPPORT OF NATO INTERVENTION IN LIBYA,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">also left a bad taste in the mouths of many AFRICANS. Former LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi had invested millions in schools, mosques and infrastructure across AFRICA, in the name of Islam and his dream of a "UNITED STATES OF AFRICA."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Of course [Gaddafi] was a dictator and a terrorist," Stéphane Goué says. "But his assassination was a bad thing for all of us. He had helped us solve a lot of international crises, especially in NIGER and in MALI."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LIBYA A FAILED STATE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Volatile SAHEL region</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-failed-state.html"><span lang="ES-AR" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-AR;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-failed-state.html</span></a></span><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LIBYA THE WILD WEST OF NORTHERN AFRICA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Porous borders turn LIBYA into radical sanctuary</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-wild-west-of-northern-africa.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/libya-wild-west-of-northern-africa.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PRO GADDAFI FIGHTERS FLEEING LIBYA BROUGHT THEIR WEAPONS AND SEPERPATIST TO MALI AND TORN IT IN TWO </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In MALI, many blame FRANCE for an escalating internal crisis. Migrants who had worked in COTE D'IVOIRE and pro-Gaddafi fighters fleeing LIBYA brought their desperation, and their weapons, to MALI. Many veterans of the LIBYAN conflict joined the Tuareg separatist militias who have since torn MALI in two.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EU INVOLVEMENT IN MALI</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why the SAHEL is crucial to EUROPE'S neighborhood – and its security strategy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/eu-involvement-in-mali.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/07/eu-involvement-in-mali.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE URANIUM EQUATION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sarkozy's diplomatic record in AFRICA has not been all bad. He was the first FRENCH president to receive post-genocide RWANDAN leader Paul Kagame, turning the page on nearly 20 years of bad blood. Nor is Hollande everything AFRICA has been looking for. It is not clear that he would have acted any differently given the situations in COTE D'IVOIRE and LIBYA, and he plans to reduce FRENCH reliance on nuclear energy—a disappointment for uranium-exporting NIGER.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, Sarkozy has alienated many AFRICANS with his occasionally anti-immigrant rhetoric and what some see as a patronizing attitude toward the former empire—epitomized in a 2007 speech in Dakar urging a university audience to forgive the "mistakes" of well-intentioned colonists and calling AFRICAN farmers "peasants."</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_QTDKZ3UMKBp8gEHYN74vXhhyeAbizxnOVvyYlDs1sEzj-vax2tQOOGcy05sJX1R54uACBvw_5AIPl_xyMfb2VpuNeg2fvb6DfMH1Ik_lo_cy8ga3riGmQlK0axUcR7O8WZ0db30oM2d/s1600/FRANCAFRIQUE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_QTDKZ3UMKBp8gEHYN74vXhhyeAbizxnOVvyYlDs1sEzj-vax2tQOOGcy05sJX1R54uACBvw_5AIPl_xyMfb2VpuNeg2fvb6DfMH1Ik_lo_cy8ga3riGmQlK0axUcR7O8WZ0db30oM2d/s320/FRANCAFRIQUE.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With Hollande, AFRICAN leaders expect "more partnership and less condescension," in the words of a CONGOLESE government spokesperson. Time will tell if they get it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since President Hollande's took over the rains, it appears that FRANCE may be on the road to a new kind of presence in AFRICA. As Sarkozy left office, it became public that his government had renegotiated post-colonial defense accords in AFRICA, removing FRANCE'S prerogative to intervene in case of civil unrest. One of Hollande's first acts was to rename the Ministry of Cooperation (which largely handled relations with the ex-empire from Charles de Gaulle's time) the Ministry of Cooperation and Development. In an interview with Jeune Afrique, Hollande expressed his government's plan to "trust AFRICA to resolve the questions which concern them directly."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While Hollande himself has little experience in AFRICA, his appointed Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius knows Ouattara and has met with the presidents of TOGO, GABON and Benin. Fabius has said he would like to "finish with the coups, the announcements that are not followed up and all the convolutedness of FRANÇAFRIQUE."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read related articles: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/usa-china-and-africa.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/usa-china-and-africa.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/africa-and-usa.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/africa-and-usa.html</a></span></div></div>

AFRICAN AND FRANCE, A NEW ERA?

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