News for today's 2018

How unions make you safer on the road

10:34 AM Tukiyooo 0

Unionized drivers in the curbside bus industry are laying down rules that make the trip safer for everyone -- and more profitable for the company.<br /><br />After years of frustration with dangerous working conditions, low pay, and terrible healthcare, contract negotiations with Megabus workers in <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/02/woo-hoo-another-teamster-victory-in-nj.html">Chicago</a> at Local 777 and <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/02/woo-hoo-another-teamster-victory-in-nj.html">Springfield, N.J.,</a> at Local 102 have made their buses safer.<br /><br />Since organizing in 2011, Chicago Megabus drivers have better working conditions in a company that has <a href="http://www.kcrg.com/home/top-9/TV9-Investigation-Megabus-Has-Poor-Record-for-Driver-Fatigue-180788161.html">a history of ignoring driver fatigue.</a><br /><br />“If you are respected by your company, you have this sense that this is a profession,” said Courtney Bell, business agent for Teamsters Local 777.  “Drivers have enforceable safety standards (and) Megabus is held accountable to (that) contract.”<br /><br /><a href="http://atu.3cdn.net/2e6f3bbd046be7f383_nrm6bsrsc.pdf">Driver-related problems account for 60 percent of fatalities</a> in the curbside bus industry, according to a report published by the Amalgamated Transit Union.  Driver fatigue (38 percent) and driver medical condition (18 percent) head the list. <br /><br />The Chicago contract set a living wage standard, provided a choice of different affordable healthcare plans and added co-drivers for most drives so tired drivers can switch places.<br /><br />Legally, bus drivers aren’t required to receive overtime -- or, <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/public-transit/290565-transit-union-to-administration-address-bus-driver-fatigue">even minimum wage</a>.   Without union representation, many drivers are pressured to <a href="http://www.labornotes.org/2012/04/asleep-wheel">work up to 100 hours a week</a>.  ATU president Larry Hanley notes that:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The wages of most of these drivers are abysmally low. The website Glassdoor.com pegs the top wage of drivers at just $29,000 per year. The low wages often force workers to take a second job during their off hours—hours in which they should be resting before their next run. </blockquote>In order to save even more money, discount operators encourage or coerce their drivers to work overtime, thus avoiding the need to hire enough drivers to actually do the work.<br /><br />The prevalence of unsafe, non-union companies is such a huge concern that the National Transportation Safety Board actually <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/nyregion/federal-officials-shut-down-26-bus-operators.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0">shut down</a> <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130308/chinatown/feds-shut-down-another-chinatown-bus-company-over-safety-violations">a bunch of</a> <a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/03/02/rip_fung_wah_feds_pull_chinatown_bu.php">the unregulated death traps</a> over the past year.<br /><br />One of the non-union companies not only routinely falsified bus documents, but <a href="http://ohsonline.com/articles/2013/06/14/virginia-bus-company-shut-down-for-being-imminent-safety-hazard.aspx?admgarea=news">also racked up 39 safety violations </a>in just two months:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The company repeatedly dispatched another driver whose medical certificate had expired and had been falsified.  Drivers were not required by the company to turn in hours-of-service records or other required documentation such as driving itineraries and fuel receipts.</blockquote>Without strong union support, drivers aren’t the only people left vulnerable.  The public is safer with rested, healthy and professional drivers – and the reputation of the company has flourished because of it.<br /><br />Since Megabus drivers in the Chicago and New Jersey hubs become Teamsters two years ago, Megabus has almost doubled its total amount of customer trips.  Unlike other companies, the unionized Megabus hubs are doing more business than ever.<br /><br /> <br /><br />

How unions make you safer on the road

Unionized drivers in the curbside bus industry are laying down rules that make the trip safer for everyone -- and more profitable for the co...

USA AND RUSSIA: FULL SCALE WAR IN SYRIA IMMINENT?

10:08 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrzDLyD0Orvqq9u0PT8ZVZtiT0rYJklPJgwVzuSupqltP_X1ghnYj0Xl0NqR0RwAdrs0YOXs-U-bY83BZU7H5E-rxcGXRmmAZNxoAkIJgD8Wtbw92GNg-TDHCAUNZLbSbJGTRkipsb_oc/s391/arton172205-da5e8.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrzDLyD0Orvqq9u0PT8ZVZtiT0rYJklPJgwVzuSupqltP_X1ghnYj0Xl0NqR0RwAdrs0YOXs-U-bY83BZU7H5E-rxcGXRmmAZNxoAkIJgD8Wtbw92GNg-TDHCAUNZLbSbJGTRkipsb_oc/s400/arton172205-da5e8.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><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";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RUSSIA EVACUATES TARTUS, ALSO MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL FROM SYRIA. HIGH WAR ALERT IN ISRAEL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="DE-AT" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE-AT; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Via DEBKAfile </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><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";">RUSSIA announced that the evacuation of all military and diplomatic personnel from SYRIA was now complete, including the Russian naval base at Tartus.</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";">“RUSSIA decided to withdraw its personnel because of the risks from the conflict in SYRIA, as well as the fear of an incident involving the RUSSIAN military that could have larger consequences,” said a defense ministry official in Moscow. He stressed that a 16-ship naval task force in the eastern MEDITERRANEAN remains on post and arms shipments, including anti-air weapons, would continue to the SYRIAN government in keeping with former contracts.</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 another sign of an impending escalation in SYRIA, the ISRAELI GOLAN brigade staged an unannounced war maneuver on the Golan, attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and top army chiefs. In London, Prime Minister David Cameron called the government’s National Security Council into session in Downing Street on SYRIA. Opposition leader Ed Milliband was invited to attend the meeting, a custom observed only when issues of the highest security importance are discussed.</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="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5NQH9g17sJd9pyCl124IdwjZ-THnw-eXu0wXVoAmuZWyZkj4fkNCZqcfihhqTNo2aSNtKsSPqoCuSXrlmzKSG3r5Wuc1rWEqRAjm_pxsV1mAMKY3JCua52sp9JR2ixWib9XkyJ2jpR3t/s450/OPUTIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5NQH9g17sJd9pyCl124IdwjZ-THnw-eXu0wXVoAmuZWyZkj4fkNCZqcfihhqTNo2aSNtKsSPqoCuSXrlmzKSG3r5Wuc1rWEqRAjm_pxsV1mAMKY3JCua52sp9JR2ixWib9XkyJ2jpR3t/s320/OPUTIN.jpg" width="320" /></a></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";">The sullen confrontation between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama at the G8 Summit in NORTHERN IRELAND last week condemned SYRIA to five months of escalating, unresolved vicious warfare – that is until the two leaders meet again in September.</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";">For now, tempers are heating up between Washington and Moscow on SYRIA and other things too, notably the elusive AMERICAN fugitive Edward Snowden.</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;"><br /></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;"><br /></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;"><br /></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;"><br /></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;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">USA AND ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE WATCHERS SEE THE SYRIAN CRISIS ENTERING SEVEN OMINOUS PHASES</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;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />1. A five-month bloodbath centering on the battle for Aleppo, a city of 2.2 million inhabitants. The SYRIAN army plus allies and the fully-mobilized opposition will hurl all their manpower and weapons into winning the city. Military experts don’t expect the rebels to hold out against Assad’s forces beyond late August.</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";">2.  Neither side has enough manpower or game-changing weaponry for winning the war outright. That is, unless Presidents Obama or Putin steps in to retilt the balance.</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";">3. The US and RUSSIA are poised for more military intervention in the conflict up until a point just short of a military clash on SYRIAN soil – or elsewhere in the MIDDLE EAST. </span></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";">US intelligence analysts have judged Putin ready to go all the way on SYRIA against the US - no holds barred.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></span>The RUSSIAN president is meanwhile deliberately goading Washington and raising temperatures by playing hide-and-seek over the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, charged with espionage for stealing and leaking classified intelligence. At home, he is considered variously as a traitor and a brave whistleblower.</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";">For several hours Snowden vanished between Hong Kong and Moscow – until the RUSSIAN president admitted he was holed up in the transit area of Moscow airport and would not be extradited by RUSSIA to the UNITED STATES.</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;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.  IRAN, Hizballah and IRAQ will likewise ratchet up their battlefield presence.</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; 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";">5. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">A violent encounter is building up between Middle East Shiites flocking to SYRIA to save the Assad regime alongside RUSSIA, and the US-backed Sunni-dominated rebel forces.</span><br /></b>It could scuttle the secret US-IRANIAN negotiating track on its nuclear program, which was buoyed up by the election of the pragmatic Hassan Rouhani as President of IRAN.</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";">6.  The Geneva-2 Conference for a political solution for the SYRIAN crisis is dead in the water. Moscow and the US are divided by unbridgeable issues of principle, such whether Bashar Assad should stay or go and IRANIAN representation. </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";">7.  So long as the diplomatic remains stuck in the mud, the prospects of a regional war spreading out of the SYRIAN conflict are rising. IRAN, ISRAEL, JORDAN and LEBANON may be dragged in at any moment – if they have not already, like LEBANON.</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";">A small mistake by one of the SYRIAN warring parties in SYRIA could, for example, touch off ISRAELI retaliation and a wholesale spillover of violence.</span></div>

USA AND RUSSIA: FULL SCALE WAR IN SYRIA IMMINENT?

RUSSIA EVACUATES TARTUS, ALSO MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL FROM SYRIA. HIGH WAR ALERT IN ISRAEL Via DEBKAfile RUSSIA announced that the ...

High court is corporate America's best friend

9:01 AM Tukiyooo 0

The Supreme Court means business when it issues a decision. Big business, that is.<br /><br />The U.S. Chamber of Commerce during the just-ended court session won more cases than ever, prevailing in 13 of the 16 appeals in which it took a position. The latest examples came this week when the nation's top corporate lobbying group won three cases that shield big business from existing law.<br /><br />Two of the cases made it easier for companies to strike back at workers who allege they are victims of discrimination. The other granted legal immunity to a generic drug manufacturer whose product reportedly caused severe burns to a patient's body. <br /><br />In one instance, the high court went even further than the government officials who initially put the policy in place. Per <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/24/2205241/supreme-court-ruled-in-favor-of-americas-top-corporate-lobbying-group-in-13-of-16-cases-this-term/">Think Progress</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Notably the Court deferred so completely to the Chamber [this week] that it adopted a harsh rule limiting sexual and racial harassment claims even though the attorney arguing that case on behalf of the defendant — a former Solicitor General under George W. Bush — <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/06/24/2200681/the-scariest-pending-supreme-court-case-that-youve-probably-never-heard-of/">would not endorse the rule himself while he was arguing the case</a>. So the five conservative justices sided with the Chamber even though no party before the Court agreed with the Chamber’s position.</blockquote>That is not good news for the nation's workers. Fortunately, not everyone involved in the lawmaking process has it out for us. Rep. Alan Grayson introduced <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/174975/grayson-announces-bill-let-workers-personally-sue-bosses-who-retaliate#ixzz2XHInueLM">legislation</a> that would expand the legal remedies available to non-union workers who are punished for  workplace activism. Beyond seeking redress from the National Labor Relations Board, it would allow most employees to sue their boss in civil court for retaliating, and  the chance to seek an injunction to swiftly reverse the alleged retaliation.<br /><br />Sadly there is little chance the legislation will be taking up during the current Congress. The House Republican leadership ensures it. But we hail policymakers who take a stand on behalf of middle-class families. And we live to fight another day.

High court is corporate America's best friend

The Supreme Court means business when it issues a decision. Big business, that is. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce during the just-ended court ...

Don't Stop Believing: The Retiring Principal Flashmob you've gotta see

6:25 AM Tukiyooo 0

Don't Stop Believing: The Retiring Principal Flashmob you've gotta see

Principal Roger Boddie has led Hingham Middle School in Massachusetts for 36 years. On his last day on the job, the entire school surprise...

Book raises alarms about alternative medicine - USA Today

6:06 AM Tukiyooo 0

The 12-year-old girl arrived at the hospital wracked with abdominal pain.<br /><br><br /><br>Doctors diagnosed her with acute pancreatitis, in which pancreatic enzymes begin digesting not just food, but the pancreas itself.<br /><br><br /><br>The most likely cause of the girl's condition: toxic side effects from more than 80 dietary supplements, which the girl's mother carried in a shopping bag, says Sarah Erush, clinical pharmacy manager at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where the girl was treated last summer.<br /><br><br /><br>The girl's mother had been treating her with the supplements and other therapies for four years to treat the girl's "chronic Lyme disease," a condition that, experts say, doesn't actually exist. While some Lyme infections cause pain and other lingering symptoms, the infections don't persist for years. And, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America, the infections don't require years of antibiotics or other risky therapies given by some alternative medicine practitioners.<br /><br><br /><br>Doctors were able to control the girl's illness with standard therapies, Erush says, and she was discharged from the hospital after two weeks.<br /><br><br /><br>Although the child's story was unforgettable, Erush says, it wasn't unusual. Parents now "routinely" bring children to her hospital with a variety of alternative remedies, hoping that nurses will administer them during a child's stay.<br /><br><br /><br>There are an ever-growing number of supplements from which to choose: More than 54,000 varieties sold in stores and the Internet, according to the Food and Drug Administration.<br /><br><br /><br>About 50% of Americans use alternative medicine, and 10% use it on their children, notes Paul Offit, Children's Hospital's chief of infectious disease.<br /><br><br /><br>The girl's story illustrates the serious but often little-known risks posed by some forms of alternative medicine, a loosely regulated industry that includes everything from herbal supplements to crystal healing and acupuncture, says Offit, author of Do You Believe in Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine, (HarperCollins, $29.99), being published Tuesday<br /><br><br /><br>Many consumers view alternative medicine industry as more altruistic and home-spun than Big Pharma. But in his book, Offit paints a picture of an aggressive, $34 billion a year industry whose key players are adept at using lawsuits, lobbyists and legislation to protect their market.<br /><br><br /><br>"It's a big business," says Offit, best known for developing a vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal illness that killed 2,000 people each day, mostly children in the developing world.<br /><br><br /><br>"This is not just Mom and Pop selling herbs at the farmer's market," says Josephine Briggs, a physician and director of the National Center on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, who shares Offit's concerns.<br /><br><br /><br>Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who has long fought for stricter regulation of supplements, says the alternative medicine industry is "as tough as any industry I've seen lobby in Washington. They have a lot of money at stake. They want to maximize their profits and they want as little regulation as possible."<br /><br><br /><br>There's even a Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus, composed of legislators who look favorably on the industry.<br /><br><br /><br>Combined with alternative therapy research at the National Cancer Institute, the NIH spends a total of $233 million a year on this research, which has included everything from herbal supplements to acupuncture and aromatherapy.<br /><br><br /><br>Briggs notes that research conducted by her center and others shows real benefits to certain alternative therapies, which doctors describe as "complementary" if they are used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Last year, for example, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that people with Parkinson's disease can improve their balance and stability by practicing Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese exercise system. A study published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that intensive-care patients on ventilators experienced less anxiety, and required fewer sedatives, if they could listen to their choice of music.<br /><br><br /><br>Proponents of alternative medicine say there are clear reasons for its popularity, including frustration with mainstream doctors and people's desire to have more control over their health.<br /><br><br /><br>Only about one-third of alternative therapies have safety and efficacy data behind them, critics note. Yet conventional doctors don't always follow the evidence, either, says Adriane Fugh-Berman, an associate professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University in Washington and author of a textbook on herbs and supplements. Only about one-quarter of therapies used in conventional medicine are "evidence-based," she says.<br /><br><br /><br>Many Americans see modern medicine as increasingly bureaucratic and impersonal, says Deepak Chopra, a physician and one of the best known advocates for mind-body healing.<br /><br><br /><br>"Doctors spend more time filling in charts than they spend on seeing patients," Chopra says. "The average doctor stands in the door and does a ritual of examining patients for one or two minutes, then moves on to the next patient."<br /><br><br /><br>Arthur Caplan, the director of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, says alternative healers satisfy patients' needs for more personal attention.<br /><br><br /><br>"Medicine does a very poor job of addressing the emotional, spiritual and even psychological side of things," Caplan says. "When you are not good at doing important things, other people rush into that vacuum."<br /><br><br /><br>Yet people who put their faith in alternative healers and supplements may be putting themselves at risk, Caplan says.<br /><br><br /><br>The alternative therapy industry capitalizes on a number of common sentiments, Offit says, from a naïve belief in the safety of all things natural to distrust of government regulation.<br /><br><br /><br>"Just because it comes from a plant, doesn't mean it's not harmful," Chopra says.<br /><br><br /><br>About one-third of conventional drugs are derived from plants, Fugh-Berman says. Pharmaceutical companies still make Digoxin, a heart drug, from the foxglove flower, she says. And while some research suggests that kava, a plant in the pepper family, can relieve anxiety, it can also damage the liver.<br /><br><br /><br>In the best cases, Offit says, alternative remedies are ineffective but relatively harmless, functioning as expensive placebos that may appear to relieve symptoms such as pain, largely because people expect them to. An example of this is homeopathy, in which key ingredients are diluted to the point of oblivion, making these remedies basically sugar pills, Offit says.<br /><br><br /><br>Yet supplements aren't risk-free.<br /><br><br /><br>A 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office found supplements were being sold with deceptive marketing practices.<br /><br><br /><br>Tests have found heavy metals in ayurvedic medicines, used in India for thousands of years to treat a variety of conditions and also popular in the USA, Briggs says.<br /><br><br /><br>In some cases, dietary supplements are just prescription medications in disguise.<br /><br><br /><br>The most common offenders tend to be supplements claiming to aid weight loss, build muscles or boost sexual performance, Briggs says. Although such supplements may be marketed as "natural," the FDA has found hundreds of brands actually contain real drugs, from anabolic steroids to the active ingredient in Viagra. Several weight-loss supplements were found to contain the active ingredient in Meridia, a prescription diet drug pulled from the market due to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.<br /><br><br /><br>In April, the FDA announced that it had received 86 reports of illness and death due to body-building supplements that illegally contained a stimulant called DMAA. The FDA says DMAA, which is especially risky when combined with caffeine, can raise blood pressure, leading to problems such as shortness of breath and heart attacks.<br /><br><br /><br>In 2012, the FDA estimated that supplements cause 50,000 adverse reactions a year.<br /><br><br /><br>In the worst cases, scam artists masquerading as healers push bogus cures on desperate, vulnerable people, charging prices that patients can't afford, says Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, who compares these marketers to "snake oil salesman."<br /><br><br /><br>The consequences can be tragic.<br /><br><br /><br>Nissen says he's lost patients with serious cardiovascular disease because they opted to take alternative medicines instead of those he prescribed. The practice, Nissen says, is "a national catastrophe in the making."<br /><br><br /><br>Alternative medicine doctors sell patients on a variety of unproven therapies, such as chelation, a process of removing metals from the blood, Offit says.<br /><br><br /><br>Although chelation has real medical uses — treating acute heavy metal poisoning — doctors also promote the intravenous treatments as an alternative remedy for everything from Alzheimer's disease to cancer.<br /><br><br /><br>In 2005, a 5-year-old boy with autism died after treatment with chelation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<br /><br><br /><br>Many people with aches and pains are being misdiagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, Offit says, even though studies show that half of these patients really suffer from treatable conditions, such as depression or rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors who call themselves "Lyme literate" often prescribe years of intravenous antibiotics, a therapy with no proven benefits but serious side effects, including infections and the risk of developing antibiotic resistance.<br /><br><br /><br>Apple founder Steve Jobs' faith in alternative medicine likely cost him his life, says Barrie Cassileth, chief of integrative medicine at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.<br /><br><br /><br>Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. But Jobs, revered as one of the brightest minds on the planet, chose to delay surgery, the only treatment that had a chance to save his life, Cassileth says.<br /><br><br /><br>For nine months after his diagnosis, Offit writes, Jobs treated his cancer with acupuncture, herbs, bowel cleansings and a special diet of carrots and fruit juices.<br /><br><br /><br>Jobs eventually had surgery, and even a liver transplant. But it was too late.<br /><br><br /><br>He died in 2011, eight years after diagnosis.<br /><br><br /><br>"He had the only kind of pancreatic cancer that is treatable and curable," Cassileth says. "He essentially committed suicide."<br /><br><br /><br>Cancer patients have cashed in their life savings or children's college funds to pay charismatic charlatans, spending $20,000 or more for "absurd" treatments at fringe clinics in the USA, Mexico and Bahamas, Cassileth says.<br /><br><br /><br>"There are no viable alternatives to mainstream cancer care," Cassileth says. "We work very hard to dissuade patients who want to go that way, because they are going to die."<br /><br><br /><br>And while many in the alternative medicine industry are cashing in, Offit says there are few people looking out for the desperate patients whose hopes — and bank accounts — are being exploited.<br /><br><br /><br>"Quackery is an enormous concern," Briggs says.<br /><br><br /><br>Consumers are often taken in by outrageous claims, partly because they lack the scientific knowledge to spot phonies, and partly because they fall victim to a huckster's charismatic personality, Offit says.<br /><br><br /><br>"Our science literacy is terrible as a nation," Briggs says. "People like magic. I don't know why, but they do."<br /><br><br /><br>Many Americans are unaware that supplements, unlike drugs, don't need to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration — or tested for safety — before going on the market, Offit says. One study found that 58% of Americans believe that the FDA must approve herbal supplements before they're sold.<br /><br><br /><br>"When a consumer buys a food supplement or dietary supplement, they may think it's really going to do what it says on the label," Waxman says. "That's not necessarily the case. ... Consumers should know that when they buy a dietary supplement, they are really on their own."<br /><br><br /><br>And while manufacturers are responsible for making sure that products are safe, the FDA can typically take action only after products are on store shelves.<br /><br><br /><br>The FDA expressed frustration with these constraints in an April press release about DMAA.<br /><br><br /><br>In making the announcement, the agency said, "FDA is required to undertake what are usually lengthy scientific and legal steps in order to force the removal of dietary supplements that may be unsafe or are otherwise illegal if companies don't voluntarily comply. . . .FDA's response to the use of DMAA illustrates the challenges that the agency faces in addressing incidents involving potentially dangerous dietary supplements. "<br /><br><br /><br>Andrew Weil, one of the USA's best known advocates of holistic medicine, says he also favors closer regulation of supplements.<br /><br><br /><br>"I would love to see the FDA set up a division of natural therapeutic agents," says Weil, director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona,<br /><br><br /><br>But Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, notes that supplement regulations, while "not identical to pharmaceuticals" are "very rigorous."<br /><br><br /><br>"Consumers can have strong confidence in the products they're buying," says Mister, whose group represents the supplement industry. "There are lots of ways that the FDA oversees the safety of these products."<br /><br><br /><br>The FDA sets standards for good manufacturing processes, Mister notes.<br /><br><br /><br>While a supplement may claim to "support immune health," the FDA forbids supplement manufacturers from making specific claims about being able to "treat, diagnose, cure or alleviate the effects of disease." Supplement makers are also required to report "adverse events," such as serious side effects or reactions, to the FDA.<br /><br><br /><br>Waxman notes that the FDA has only banned one supplement: ephedra — an herbal stimulant taken off the market in 2004 after it was found to increase the risk of heart problems and death.<br /><br><br /><br>Because the FDA's authority is mostly "reactive," Waxman says "the agency must wait for people to get hurt or even die before they can remove an unsafe supplement from the market."<br /><br><br /><br>In his book, Offit singles out a number of popular alternative doctors for questionable practices:<br /><br><br /><br>• Joseph Mercola, an Illinois physician, sells a variety of supplements and alternative medical products on his web site. Although Mercola shuns vaccines, his website sells tanning beds — which have been found to increase the risk of skin cancer.<br /><br><br /><br>In 2011, the FDA sent Mercola a letter for marketing an alternative to mammography on his website — the Meditherm Med2000, a camera that measures skin temperature. Although Mercola's site describes its products as "natural," the FDA viewed the machine as an unapproved medical device.<br /><br><br /><br>• Rashid Buttar, a North Carolina physician, has used treatments that Offit calls outlandish. According to the North Carolina Medical Board, those treatments have included giving intravenous hydrogen peroxide to cancer patients and topical chelation creams to children with autism.<br /><br><br /><br>In a 2010 consent order with the medical board, Buttar explained that the hydrogen peroxide was intended for "detoxifying the patients and improving their immune systems." In the order, the medical board formally reprimanded Buttar and ordered him to inform all patients that his treatments "may not have been approved by the FDA."<br /><br><br /><br>In April, the FDA also sent Buttar a letter, claiming that the claims he made for some of his products showed he was marketing them as drugs, not supplements.<br /><br><br /><br>In a post on his website, Buttar noted that he has stopped selling the products mentioned in the FDA letter May 15. One of those products, Trans-D Tropin, previously had been marketed as "a clinically proven aging and longevity solution."<br /><br><br /><br>USA TODAY was not able to reach Mercola or Buttar by press time.<br /><br><br /><br>• Stanislaw Burzynski, who has spent decades promoting antineoplastons, an experimental cancer therapy not approved by the FDA. According to the National Cancer Institute, these drugs have never been proven effective against cancer in a definitive, randomized, clinical trial.<br /><br><br /><br>Last year, the FDA sent Burzynski a letter noting that his "websites violate the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act" because they promoted experimental cancer treatments as "safe and effective."<br /><br><br /><br>According to FDA spokesman Curtis Allen, responses to FDA letters are not posted on the agency's website, and are available only through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. USA TODAY filed a FOIA request but has not yet received a copy of the responses by Mercola, Buttar or Burzynski.<br /><br><br /><br>In a statement sent by his attorney, Burzynski said he has published 36 articles, presented papers at many international conferences and completed 14 phase 2 trials in brain tumors. Phase 2 trials consider safety and are a preliminary, but not definitive, look at effectiveness, according to the National Institutes of Health. In the letter, Burzynski wrote that, "based on the results of the phase 2 trials, the FDA has granted permission to proceed into two Phase 3 clinical trials in brain tumors."<br /><br><br /><br>Offit also criticizes Mehmet Oz, a respected heart surgeon and star of The Dr. Oz Show, for providing an audience for a variety of questionable guests, from Mercola to faith healers and even psychics.<br /><br><br /><br>"He gives a lot of good advice," including advice about diet and exercise, Offit says. "But he mixes that in with a lot of terrible advice."<br /><br><br /><br>In a statement, a spokesman for The Dr. Oz Show said the TV program is "a conversation about the many sensitive topics surrounding health care, including alternative medicine, and we remain committed to empowering our viewers with comprehensive information about these issues so they can take an active role in their health."<br /><br><br /><br>Yet Cassileth, author of The Complete Guide to Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care, says non-traditional approaches can have a place in medicine, when modern medicine has little to offer.<br /><br><br /><br>As opposed to "alternative," Cassileth prefers the term "integrative" medicine, which subjects nonstandard therapies to scientific tests. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, integrative health researchers focus on alleviating pain and other symptoms. But they would never claim that nontraditional therapies can cure cancer, she says.<br /><br><br /><br>For example, doctors have had promising early results using acupuncture to restore salivary gland function in patients who receive radiation to the head and neck. Without functioning salivary glands, these patients can't talk or swallow.<br /><br><br /><br>While critics counter that acupuncture treatments are simply placebos, Cassileth says, "if there is a placebo effect that brings back salivation to these people who can't eat or talk, who cares?"<br /><br><br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/book-raises-alarms-about-alternative-medicine/2429385/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/book-raises-alarms-about-alternative-medicine/2429385/</a>

Book raises alarms about alternative medicine - USA Today

The 12-year-old girl arrived at the hospital wracked with abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed her with acute pancreatitis, in which pancreatic...

Canadian health-care staff sometimes hide pills in patients’ food | Canada | News | National Post

6:03 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">When an elderly patient repeatedly refuses to take his medication, spitting it out or hiding it under his bedding, health-care staff decide to employ a little subterfuge.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">The next day, nurses conceal the drugs in the patient's scrambled eggs, doing covertly what the man would not let them do overtly.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">It is the kind of guile parents often use on small children, but administering medication by deception has become surprisingly common in Canada's health-care system, say some ethicists, lawyers and geriatric specialists. The practice is sparking debate over what is justifiable in treating unco-operative patients, especially those impaired by dementia.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">A bioethics professor and lawyer who discussed the issue at a recent conference warn that giving drugs without consent risks harming the relationship between patients and health workers, and could actually undermine the safety of treatment.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"If I as a family member found out that medication was being given this way … I would start raising questions about 'Well, what else are you doing?'," said Dr. Christy Simpson, head of Dalhousie University's bioethics department. "It becomes a broader question of trust, and all of us have an interest in trusting our health-care institutions."</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Doctors respond that the practice can be essential for ensuring the health and safety of those getting the drugs, as well as of other patients and staff, and is done with careful thought and planning.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">Patients could die if they failed to take hypertension, diabetes or heart pills — or cause themselves or others harm without psychiatric medication, they said.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"It's no different than deciding to give the patient medication orally or … giving it to them intravenously," said Dr. Nathan Herrmann, head of geriatric psychiatry at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. "It is not deception, it is a practical way of administering a medically indicated therapy."</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">The controversy seems a little manufactured, added Dr. Michael Gordon, both a geriatric expert and head of medical ethics at Toronto's Baycrest.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">"Even deception is a created paradigm," he said. "When someone has severe dementia, everything is deception."</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Regardless, the practice is likely to become more prevalent in coming years, as the population ages and hospitals and nursing homes become increasingly populated by old people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, doctors agree.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">No one has documented exactly how often medicine is given covertly to patients in Canada. A smattering of studies in Europe, however, suggests it is relatively routine, principally among those who are mentally incapacitated.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">A 2010 British review of previous research found that 43-71% of nursing homes surveyed gave pills secretly to residents. Incomplete documentation of the practice was common, and nursing staff alone often made the decision to do it, the review concluded.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Dr. Simpson and Martina Munden, a Halifax health-care lawyer, said they decided to talk about the issue at the Canadian Bioethics Society conference last month after hearing of several recent instances of covert drug administration in both hospitals and nursing homes.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Most cases were similar to one they outlined at the forum, said Dr. Simpson.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">It involved a long-term-care resident who stopped taking his medications, became agitated and unwell and had to be hospitalized. In response, nurses gave the drugs in his tea, the patient eventually growing calmer, more co-operative and healthier. Staff had not, however, determined that the man was incapable of consenting to treatment, the pair said.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">As well as potentially undermining trust, secreting drugs in food or hot drinks risks the dosage being altered or patients not taking the correct amount, said Ms. Munden.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">There are times when deception may be justified with mentally incompetent patients, but only as a last resort and after staff obtain consent from family members, said Dr. Simpson.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">Physicians specializing in geriatric care confirmed that the practice is relatively common with patients judged to be mentally incompetent, both for their own good and occasionally that of neighbours at risk from violent behaviour.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">"Sometimes we have to curtail the autonomy of an individual, so as not to harm the people around them," said Dr. Mireille Norris, a geriatrics professor at the University of Toronto.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); " class="">Family members would have to consent to particular drugs being given to the individual, though not necessarily to actually hiding it in food or drinks, said Doctors Herrmann and Gordon.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.83em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; " class="">Christine Taylor, a gerontologist who runs the <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/26/when-doctors-hide-pills-in-a-patients-food-is-it-a-breach-of-trust-or-a-practical-way-to-ensure-they-take-their-medicine/nursinghomeratings.ca" title="nursinghomeratings.ca" target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 102, 205); outline: none; text-decoration: none;" class="">nursinghomeratings.ca</a> website, said she has never received a complaint about covert drug administration, and doubts that any family member would mind, if it ensured their loved one received a needed drug.</div><br class=""><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/26/when-doctors-hide-pills-in-a-patients-food-is-it-a-breach-of-trust-or-a-practical-way-to-ensure-they-take-their-medicine/">http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/26/when-doctors-hide-pills-in-a-patients-food-is-it-a-breach-of-trust-or-a-practical-way-to-ensure-they-take-their-medicine/</a>

Canadian health-care staff sometimes hide pills in patients’ food | Canada | News | National Post

When an elderly patient repeatedly refuses to take his medication, spitting it out or hiding it under his bedding, health-care staff decide ...

U.S. House schedule for Thursday, June 27, 2013

5:21 AM Tukiyooo 0

<i>From Majority Leader Eric Cantor's office....</i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>THURSDAY, JUNE 27TH </b></u><br />On Thursday, the House will meet at  10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.  First votes expected: 2:00-3:00 p.m. Last votes expected: 5:30-6:30 p.m.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>One Minute Speeches</b><br /><br /><a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=343070-6846703" target="_blank"><b>H.R. 1613 </b></a>- Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement Authorization Act (Structured Rule) <i>(Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Duncan / Natural Resources Committee)</i><br /><blockquote>The rule provides for one hour general of debate and makes in order the following amendment:</blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><b>Rep. Alan Grayson Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)</blockquote></blockquote><b>Begin Consideration of <a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=343071-6846703" target="_blank">H.R. 2231</a></b> - Offshore Energy and Jobs Act, Rules Committee Print <br />(Structured Rule) <i>(Sponsored by Rep. Doc Hastings / Natural Resources Committee)</i><br /><blockquote>The rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:</blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><b>Rep. Bill Cassidy Amendment #1 </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Bill Cassidy Amendment #2</b> (10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Paul Broun Amendment</b> (10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Peter DeFazio Amendment</b> (10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Alan Grayson Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Reps. Hastings (FL) / Connolly (VA) Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Kevin Brady Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Reps. Capps / Brownley / Lowenthal Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Bill Flores Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Scott Riggell Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)<br /><b>Rep. Doug Lamborn Amendment </b>(10 minutes of debate)</blockquote></blockquote><b>Postponed Vote on <a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=343072-6846703" target="_blank">H.R. 1864</a></b> - To amend title 10, United States Code, to require an Inspector  General Investigation of allegations of retaliatory personnel actions  taken in response to making protected communications regarding sexual  assault <i>(Sponsored by Rep. Jackie Walorski / Armed Services Committee)</i><br /><br /><b>Special Order Speeches</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>COMMITTEE ACTIVITY OF THE DAY</b></u><br />Ways and Means Committee hearing on “<a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=343073-6846703" target="_blank">Status of Internal Revenue Service’s Review of Taxpayer Targeting Practices</a>” (Thursday, June 27th, at 10:00 a.m.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://republicanleaderforms.house.gov/Components/Redirect/r.aspx?ID=343074-6846703" target="_blank">Printable PDF</a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote>

From Majority Leader Eric Cantor's office.... THURSDAY, JUNE 27TH On Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 1...

Today's Teamster News 06.27.13

3:58 AM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2013/06/25/us_ceo_sets_a_record_with_159_million_pension.html">U.S. CEO sets a record with $159 million pension</a>  Associated Press   ...McKesson’s Chairman and CEO John Hammergren has set a new record in corporate America: Largest pension around...<br /><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-2012-extraordinarily-high/">CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners</a>  EPI   ...Average CEO compensation was $14.1 million in 2012...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/jeff-olson-california-banks_n_3499177.html?1372199922&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009">Jeff Olson, California Man, Faces 13 Years In Jail For Writing Anti-Big Bank Messages In Chalk</a> Huffington Post   ...a judge had decided to prohibit Olson's attorney from "mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial..."<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/24/independent-foreclosure-review-payments/2390073/">Foreclosure settlement a billion-dollar bust</a>  USA Today   ...The renegotiated settlement created a $3.6 billion pot to compensate borrowers for shoddy foreclosure practices that ran the gamut from wrongful foreclosures to lost consumer documents.About two-thirds of the recipients received $300 — the smallest possible amount. Fewer than 1,200 got $125,000, the most allowed...</span><br /><a href="http://www.zcommunications.org/trans-pacific-partnership-and-monsanto-by-barbara-chicherio">Trans-Pacific Partnership and Monsanto</a>  ZCommunications   ...Something is looming in the shadows that could help erode our basic rights and contaminate our food...<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2013/06/osha-citations-follow-fatal-explosion-at-cincinnati-hazardous-waste-plant.html">OSHA Citations Follow Fatal Explosion at Cincinnati Hazardous Waste Plant</a>  Waste Management World   ...Environmental Enterprises, an environmental services company specializing in industrial and hazardous waste management, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) with 22 safety and health violations following a fire and explosion at its Cincinnati waste treatment facility on December 28 last year...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/railroads/307719-amtrak-145b-senate-appropriation-workable">Amtrak: $1.45B Senate appropriation 'workable'</a>  The Hill   ...The safety and efficiency of Amtrak is at stake. The Senate is proposing to fund the railroad at $1.4 billion, which is simply too low. The proposed funding would jeopardize Teamster locomotive engineers and maintenance of way members...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/212856771.html">Nevada attorney general urges stronger service member protections</a>  KNTV-13   ...Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto urged the U.S. Department of Defense to strengthen regulations of the federal Military Lending Act, to protect service members and military families from abusive lending practices...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy/transportation-policy/us-transportation-policy/ny-legislature-oks-employee-driver-bill_20130625.html">NY Legislature OKs Employee-Driver Bill</a>   Journal of Commerce   ...The New York State Legislature gave final approval to a bill creating the presumption that commercial drivers are company employees unless they meet certain standards showing they are independent contractors...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-approval-national-ups-contract">Teamsters Approve National UPS Contract</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>IBT   ...The Teamsters Union announced yesterday that a majority of UPS Teamsters have voted to approve a new five-year national contract that contains significant wage increases and other improvements. However, the UPS Freight agreement was rejected in a separate referendum...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31833:lake-transit-workers-plan-july-1-2-strike-following-contract-negotiations-breakdown&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197">Lake Transit workers plan strike following contract negotiations breakdown</a>  Lake County (Calif.) News   ...The county's transit agency is preparing for a strike action by transit workers that's expected to take place early next week. The strike by members of Teamsters Local 665 is anticipated to take place on Monday, July 1, and Tuesday, July 2, in response to a breakdown in negotiations with Paratransit Services…</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://medinagazette.northcoastnow.com/2013/06/25/brunswick-city-council-oppose-%E2%80%98right-to-work%E2%80%99-legislation/">Brunswick City Council opposes ‘right-to-work’ legislation</a>  Medina-Gazette   ...City Council members in Brunswick, Ohio approved a resolution opposing “right-to-work” legislation Monday night, with the support of more than 30 union members and their families in attendance...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://ricksmithshow.com/june-24%2C-2013-show">The University of California – Teamster Strong!</a>  Rick Smith Show  ...On June 19, the Rick Smith Show visited Teamsters Joint Council 42 in Los Angeles and spoke with Don Thornsburg, labor historian about the origins of Los Angeles labor unions and the various industries that were essential for the growth of southern California. <a href="http://ricksmithshow.com/june-24%2C-2013-show">Listen here.</a> Visit the <a href="http://www.teamster.org/ricksmithtour">People’s Tour of America</a> page daily to hear the latest from Rick Smith’s road travels...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130626/NEWS06/130629415">Teamsters contract ratified, but dispute with Manchester teachers’ union continues</a>   New Hampshire Union Leader   ...The Manchester, New Hampshire Board of School Committee ratified two-year contracts with the district’s principals and the directors and coordinators, who are represented by Teamsters Local 633...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/270940/group/homepage/">County Board OKs labor agreement, pay raises</a>  Duluth News Tribune   ...St. Louis County commissioners on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to salary agreements for three categories of employees that include Teamster members...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/jun/26/teamsters-on-strike-at-rl-lipton/">Teamsters on strike at RL Lipton</a>  The Vindicator   ...Workers are on strike at RL Lipton Distributing Co. in Austintown, Ohio. The members of Teamsters 377 started picketing Tuesday morning at the company…</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oZDSAzqH0k&feature=youtu.be">Durham Driver Speaks Out About Poor Working Conditions</a>  Drive Up Standards   ...“My co-worker said, ‘I cannot afford to miss a day from work,’ even though she’s the one that found her mama dead that afternoon.” --Latrisha Pringle, a school bus driver, talks about poor working conditions at Durham School Services in S.C. The Teamsters are fighting for justice at Durham. Watch the video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oZDSAzqH0k&feature=youtu.be">here</a>...</span>

Today's Teamster News 06.27.13

U.S. CEO sets a record with $159 million pension Associated Press ...McKesson’s Chairman and CEO John Hammergren has set a new record in...

New Asus Transformer Pad With Strong Features So best To Buy

3:26 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style="text-align: justify;">Asus Transformer Pad  is the new generation gadget. It is the best like others received products of Asus. So it is appraised and where we find great features in it thats why we will like it.</div><br /><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/AVvXsEixd67KZEQncp2QCcwnw4Qr3qO-CFyg0gPRsQ9VwEojADW_APmjNK9xnHwQGvC9rABxfs8nQCtr7v_gdaEHgfbo3IWA1FeHkbplHaDoUyFMEWSUnn7xUMj4PHdDES8P3ZxvpVNG8vLJkBw/s1600/asus+pad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixd67KZEQncp2QCcwnw4Qr3qO-CFyg0gPRsQ9VwEojADW_APmjNK9xnHwQGvC9rABxfs8nQCtr7v_gdaEHgfbo3IWA1FeHkbplHaDoUyFMEWSUnn7xUMj4PHdDES8P3ZxvpVNG8vLJkBw/s1600/asus+pad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asus Transformer Pad</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span id="goog_1995652119"></span><span id="goog_1995652120"></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It is an interactive device in 10.1-inch IPS display. The device quality display, wide viewing angle and contrast ratio is very  good. This class is much better than other tablets. The device is 1280 * 800 pixels resolution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><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/AVvXsEju2ialOELeo0K096sgE_NxbXsIrFaKWbsUSio0Mah0mCyMdrQJ9h6AkwTsop1zwcVzhLInWcqZTo_bACPxvSA5TryV2EZ0XoCvMnC5STKeknmTctyTvBSb7NqC-7g5cM36qMhtOtAbaoo/s1600/asus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2ialOELeo0K096sgE_NxbXsIrFaKWbsUSio0Mah0mCyMdrQJ9h6AkwTsop1zwcVzhLInWcqZTo_bACPxvSA5TryV2EZ0XoCvMnC5STKeknmTctyTvBSb7NqC-7g5cM36qMhtOtAbaoo/s1600/asus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">asus hd pad</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><b>Operating System</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This device is based on Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and can be upgraded to <b>4.2 Jelly Bean.</b> Its home screen looks very impressive and comfortable. So we can say it is an  user friendly product. The application is loaded with great ease and speed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">And  this device is quite light and can be portable with its QWERTY board  through which is also made available whenever we  need to be attached.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><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/AVvXsEgRJ8nBCR-DR8nXeTZIU_YWU2bV5E4-kvu9svTlCSbLbiIX5XUBmvDOEJi4J-H7JdJPj5xG27vJ-wuuH1vNLiLXlGa85bIeBnw07LnUXpF1Aijm1INtSzEMCFJbYk3nP6Qds2fHgMhhcHo/s1600/asus+pad+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJ8nBCR-DR8nXeTZIU_YWU2bV5E4-kvu9svTlCSbLbiIX5XUBmvDOEJi4J-H7JdJPj5xG27vJ-wuuH1vNLiLXlGa85bIeBnw07LnUXpF1Aijm1INtSzEMCFJbYk3nP6Qds2fHgMhhcHo/s1600/asus+pad+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">asus T Pad</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Processor and Looks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Transformer pad is equipped with Nvidia tegra 3 quad-core processor. and its processing capacity is 1.2 GHz. The tablet has a 1 GB DDR3 RAM. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Device performance is very  good  in particularly in gaming fun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has a micro HDMI port so it can be connected to HD TV or monitor and a full-screen Android games can be enjoyed on it. It does not look like the iPad but it is not much lower the ipad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><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/AVvXsEimPGZzqYs7RXJ7aSC6TOkSy-cDB7jFlGhKsMUGaR757YTHEQX_0TBXU1yji8J3QNjPFYel_R3hx9Y617ILyEjHIimcDj-kacGSs0cwWznVl98fmD3rKDWHVLzrtWWS6wDP_zT4_kAKoss/s1600/asus+pad+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPGZzqYs7RXJ7aSC6TOkSy-cDB7jFlGhKsMUGaR757YTHEQX_0TBXU1yji8J3QNjPFYel_R3hx9Y617ILyEjHIimcDj-kacGSs0cwWznVl98fmD3rKDWHVLzrtWWS6wDP_zT4_kAKoss/s1600/asus+pad+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">asus</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is no problem even in multi-tasking. In Transformer pads there the WiFi, Bluetooth, accelerometers and GPS connectivity etc are present. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Camere</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The device has a 1.2 mp front facing camera and its performance is average.But there  is also 8 mp  rear camera which is very good  in terms of performance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><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/AVvXsEjPfPECezoIoEILo8M6I3qAc93_XvxUU5VW_tEn4hii4mQLKCqzdw5lVuI4ktLuASKpd2HaBGUd72gQEjfcwXJn6MZotxPrTdWTvaRWNyOXBwz4KYek0EP13awVQHZzx-iPm3mwh2ENW9I/s1600/asus4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfPECezoIoEILo8M6I3qAc93_XvxUU5VW_tEn4hii4mQLKCqzdw5lVuI4ktLuASKpd2HaBGUd72gQEjfcwXJn6MZotxPrTdWTvaRWNyOXBwz4KYek0EP13awVQHZzx-iPm3mwh2ENW9I/s1600/asus4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">asus HD Pad</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Battery Backup</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Asus Transformer Pad battery backup is very  good. After once full charging  the device can be run  up more than 10 hours. The device can be used upto 8 hrs in heavy use. In terms of overall backup pad transformer you will have no complaints.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br />Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/102418621855646948908" rel="author">Narendra Kumar</a>

New Asus Transformer Pad With Strong Features So best To Buy

Accessories android Asus asus hd pad Battery computer Dispaly gadget jelly bean Tablet Technology TV New Asus Transformer Pad With Strong Features So best To Buy

Asus Transformer Pad is the new generation gadget. It is the best like others received products of Asus. So it is appraised and where we fi...

Tayto Chocolate

1:10 AM Tukiyooo 0

Tayto is a famous brand of Irish made potato chips or as the Irish say "crisps".<div><br></div><div>A few months ago Tayto came out with a limited edition Crisp Chocolate bar.  I've been searching to buy one for ages for a colleague in work who loves Tayto.  It has been selling out instantly when it arrives in shops.</div><div><br></div><div>This morning when I was in the petrol station I saw it so I instantly bought a bar to take in to work to give my friend.  I wonder what it tastes like!!!</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sRjaTU0bRIpuvhnQdQy_QhUTT1ANQFEpzDEt_vCVBtfe3KADB5SHpKwhrtAdg1kT0FifDCcfcilavTG0Ek-fe3HO8zeQOnd3ydRMzmFnUEdhjIFXng_LqQmIdPx1lShq8o4dSRYVkndz/s640/blogger-image-583775312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sRjaTU0bRIpuvhnQdQy_QhUTT1ANQFEpzDEt_vCVBtfe3KADB5SHpKwhrtAdg1kT0FifDCcfcilavTG0Ek-fe3HO8zeQOnd3ydRMzmFnUEdhjIFXng_LqQmIdPx1lShq8o4dSRYVkndz/s640/blogger-image-583775312.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">By the way, have you ever eaten a crisp sandwich? 2 slices of white bread, butter and a packet if Tayto crisps.  Not my thing but plenty of Irish people (particularly students) love it.</div><br></div>

Tayto Chocolate

Tayto is a famous brand of Irish made potato chips or as the Irish say "crisps". A few months ago Tayto came out with a limited ed...