Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295707019?client_source=feed&format=rss
macauly culkin joe namath stefon diggs nazi ss andrej pejic steve jobs fbi safehouse
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Obama Calls for Infrastructure Spending ? for the Fifth Time in Five Years
Speaking Friday in Miami, President Obama called for $21 billion in new national infrastructure investment. This is a strong break from past years ? when he called for the creation of an infrastructure bank in the autumn.
RELATED: Five Best Wednesday Columns
In 2009, the newly elected president had his only success in getting Congress to approve money for infrastructure. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ??the stimulus bill ??allocated tens of billions to highways, rail, and transit improvements. At the time, The New York Times hailed the deal, but with a caveat.
By one measure, the public- works spending in the stimulus package exceeds the promises President Obama made as a candidate. But by another, it falls short. ?
[I]t does not create the national infrastructure bank he had called for to set national priorities and get big projects done.
That infrastructure bank is the key element of Obama's pitch for public investment. In short, it would create a new government entity to evaluate projects and issue bonds for their construction, leveraging an existing pool of money. But in 2009, Obama couldn't make the sale.
RELATED: We Have a Debt Limit Deal: Now What?
Nor could he in any year since. The infrastructure bank came up in September, 2010, as part of a request for $50 billion. He called for it in September 2011, as part of a Jobs Act proposal that would, again, put $50 billion into infrastructure. He called for it last February, when he revived the idea of the Jobs Act ??and, of course, last fall on the campaign trail.
RELATED: Who's Economy Is It Anyway?
During its election-year review of the president's campaign promises, Politifact labelled the infrastructure bank a "broken promise". Though that's not Obama's fault. It's Congress's fault. Only Congress can approve the creation of such an entity, much less authorize $21 billion in spending. And besides one fit of generosity in 2009, they've been reticent to do so since.
RELATED: Poll: A Slight Majority Still Blames George Bush for Economy
The ostensible reason Obama unveiled his initiative now is that he will unveil his complete budget on April 10, for which today was meant to act as a preview. But there may be another reason ? that he's hoping to capitalize on his reelection and on the surprising disarray and acquiescence that the GOP has shown so far this year on tax cuts and funding for Hurricane Sandy relief. At what CNN called a "campaign-style event", Obama brought pressure on the House Republicans. NBC reports:
On Friday, Obama dinged Republicans for disapproving of blanket ?government spending? but privately lobbying for infrastructure projects that create jobs ? and boost their political popularity ? at home.
?I know that members of Congress are happy to weclome projects like this in their districts,? Obama said. ?I know because I?ve seen them at the ribbon cuttings.?
Obama's used that joke a lot before, too.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-infrastructure-spending-fifth-time-five-years-185725316.html
new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo morris claiborne mothers day gifts clippers lisa lampanelli
Friday, March 29, 2013
Texas reviews school curriculum targeted by conservatives over alleged communist propaganda
CSCOPE.us
A social studies lesson synopsis from 2010 drew harsh criticism from parents and activists who said it labeled the Boston Tea Party a terrorist act. Program administrators said the lesson was outdated and had been withdrawn. Click the image for the full .pdf, which administrators posted as part of their response to the criticism.
By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
Texas authorities are beginning a sweeping review this week of the state's dominant public school curriculum under pressure from critics who charge that it indoctrinates the children of Texas with communist, pro-terrorist propaganda from behind a shield of secrecy.
The State Board of Education will hold the first of a series of public meetings to organize the review in Dallas on Friday, three days after the state attorney general's office told NBC News that it has been looking into "potential improprieties" that raise "significant legal concerns about the program's operations."
It didn't specify those concerns, but legislative hearings have questioned the program's nonprofit status and the locking of some materials behind passwords accessible only to teachers and other "authorized users."
The designers of the curriculum ? which is used in 875 of the state's 1,028 districts ? say the program is closely aligned with standards mandated by the State Board of Education and is based on educational principles proven over decades. Critics, they say, are taking isolated parts of lessons out of context, equating simply teaching a controversial issue with endorsing it.
Even so, the parent organization of the program, called CSCOPE, has agreed to several demands by opponents, including opening its board meetings to the public, allowing teachers to post curriculum materials online, dropping its nonprofit status and creating a new website so parents can learn about the lessons from home.
CSCOPE?? it's not an abbreviation for anything ? is a Web-only repository of 1,600 lesson plans, study materials and other curriculum components. It's supposed to help teachers make sure pupils are taught what they need to know for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills test.
"We live in a very mobile society," said Anne Poplin, chairwoman of the board of the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative, or TESCCC, which administers CSCOPE.
Watch the top videos on NBCNews.com
CSCOPE means children who move from one school or district to another can be confident they'll pick up where they left off in their old classrooms, she told NBC News.
But since it began in the 2006-07 school year, CSCOPE has been a target for activists and conservative websites. Pressure has grown in recent months as critics have published details of its lesson plans.
"CSCOPE Teaches ALLAH is God" and "CSCOPE Promotes Communism," proclaim two of several dozen articles on Texas CSCOPE Review.
Glenn Beck's TheBlaze has run at least five "expos?s" this year with headlines like "CSCOPE: Exposing the Nation's Most Controversial Public School Curriculum System," while Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller last month ran a story listing "egregious examples of the curriculum's inadequacies and absurdities."
'Design a flag for a new socialist nation'
Critics fall into two camps.
The first is teachers who say the curriculum is flawed in general and that their districts require them to rigidly follow the program, even though CSCOPE says it's meant to be revised and "refocused" to serve local needs.?
As part of a transparency agreement it worked out last month with Dan Patrick, the Republican chairman of the state Senate Education Committee, TESCCC said it would remind districts that lessons are simply resources for teachers, not meant to be taught verbatim.
The second group is larger and more vocal: parents, activists and lawmakers who say CSCOPE is a Trojan horse sneaking liberal ideals of socialism and cultural relativism into the classroom.
Several examples have circulated around Texas in the past few months. One asks pupils to design a flag for a new socialist nation, using "symbolism to represent aspects of socialism/communism." Texas Conservative News called that an "attempt at secretly indoctrinating Texas children."
Another unit depicts a hiker walking up a staircase of money. "Free enterprise (capitalism)" is the bottom step; "Communism" is at the top. Ginger Russell of the widely read blog Red Hot Conservative wrote that?the graphic was "all about portraying communism in a positive light."
Perhaps the most controversial lesson asks pupils to discuss this news report (PDF):
A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation's busiest port. Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed in disguise and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities.
Not until later, during a discussion period, do teachers reveal that the report describes the Boston Tea Party.
"Like our Founding Fathers at Concord, that was pretty much the opening shot that started this," Patrick said.
Critical thinking and perspective
Poplin said lessons like those under scrutiny are meant to challenge students to critically examine the world from others' perspectives?? not to adopt the beliefs the lessons?describe. With the Boston Tea Party unit ? which has since been removed as "outdated" ? the point was to teach sophisticated thinking and the existence of multiple viewpoints, she said.
"It might have been an act of terrorism in King George's mind, but it wasn't an act of terrorism in the minds of Americans," she said. "The lesson wasn't teaching the Boston Tea Party. The lesson was teaching perspective."
Mason Moses, a spokesman for 20 regional public school agencies that created TESCCC, said: "Down here in Texas, we're pretty patriotic. There is absolutely no way we would ever teach"?that the Boston Tea Party was an act of terrorism.
That may be true, Patrick said, but "what all of this underscores is how our education system is changing rapidly because of technology."
"In the old days, which weren't all that long ago, textbooks were reviewed by boards of education," he said, but?"today, as we move to this online learning, there are no checks and balances."
Keeping 'strategic decisions' private
And that is a big part of the problem, critics say ? CSCOPE has been secret, making it hard to get a clear picture of what it's really teaching. Before the transparency agreement, parents could see materials, but only by visiting their children's school; anyone else was barred unless they were cleared as an "authorized user."
Poplin said CSCOPE was tailored for teachers, which means it includes performance assessments, tests and answers, which shouldn't get into students' hands. As part of the agreement with Patrick, TESCCC is removing that information and hopes to have the instructional material online by the middle of April, she said.
More clarity could emerge from administrators' decision to relinquish nonprofit status.
As recently as December, TESCCC asserted that some of its records should be exempt from disclosure under state open records laws, both because it's an independent nonprofit entity and because it competes with for-profit curriculum companies.
In addition to proprietary business information like bidding data from vendors, the materials TESCCC wanted to keep private included "how strategic decisions are made with respect to the development of the CSCOPE product" itself.
Poplin said TESCCC has begun discussions to dissolve the nonprofit corporation, and she said she was eager to hear from the State Board of Education. Because the state school board has no formal connection to CSCOPE, however, the coming review is non-binding.
Patrick has an answer for that: His committee is holding a hearing next week on legislation that would give the school board oversight of CSCOPE.
More stories from Open Channel:
Search warrants in Newtown school massacre might reveal more on motive
Syria's chaos complicates task for chemical weapons investigators
Do child safety caps keep kids out of dangerous medications?
?
grapes of wrath silent house nfl mock draft project m colts colts big ten tournament 2012
Pope names successor in Buenos Aires
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? Pope Francis has made his first appointment of a bishop, naming Mario Poli on Thursday to succeed him as archbishop of Buenos Aires and the top churchman in Argentina.
Poli, 66, is a priest very much in Francis' vein, focused on pastoral work, and he made news recently when he publicly dressed-down a priest who had posted a Facebook greeting on the birthday of former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla.
Poli has been the bishop in Santa Rosa in the rural La Pampa province, and from 2002-2008 he served as one of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's auxiliary bishops in the Argentine capital, but he was not among the church officials rumored to be top candidates for the post.
He has a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of Argentina, but before he was ordained as a priest in 1978, he earned a degree in social work from the public University of Buenos Aires, known as UBA. That apparently impressed Bergoglio, who talked about the benefits of such training in a 2012 book, "On Heaven and Earth."
"It's no longer like it was. In the seminary, older people are coming in. This is a much better situation, because in the UBA you become acquainted with real life, the different points of view there are about it, the different scientific aspects, cosmopolitanism," Bergoglio said. "It's a way of having your feet well planted in the earth."
Poli was involved in the church's failed effort to prevent Argentina from becoming the first Latin American country to legalize gay marriage in 2010, writing lawmakers an open letter urging them to vote against it.
Poli also wrote a firm response after a priest in one of his parishes, Jorge Luis Hidalgo, posted a Facebook message praising the dictator Videla, whom human rights activists accuse of killing as many as 30,000 people in the 1970s "dirty war." ''They weren't 30,000, nor were they innocent. Happy birthday General! A soldier never asks for forgiveness for having saved his fatherland from a communist dictatorship," wrote the priest.
Poli said Hidalgo's gesture caused "confusion, sadness and a serious injury to the Church, and his expressions are far from who we are and our mission of love."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-names-successor-buenos-aires-111706310.html
Harlem Shake Miami Heat stephen curry dr seuss mariah carey Macklemore History Channel The Bible alex smith
Lean inventories hold back pending home sales
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell in February, held back by a shortage of properties, but there is little to suggest that the housing market's recovery is stalling.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Wednesday said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, slipped 0.4 percent to 104.8. Still, contracts last month remained at the second-highest level in nearly three years.
The Realtors group and private economists blamed the pullback in signed contracts, which typically become sales after a month or two, on the lack of homes available for sale.
"Rapidly shrinking inventories have held back home sales," said Celia Chen, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "All regions are tightening."
There were 1.94 million previously owned homes on the market in February, representing a 4.7 months' supply. The inventory of new single-family homes available for sale during the same period was 150,000, or 4.4 months' worth.
A six months' supply is normally considered as a healthy balance between supply and demand.
While the supply squeeze could dampen the spring selling season a bit, the housing market recovery appears intact. Pending home sales were up 8.4 percent from February last year.
"The spring selling season should still be good enough, but it is going to be very difficult for homebuilders to generate the same or near the same year-on-year sales growth as they did a year ago," said Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITG Investment Research in New York.
A very accommodative monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, which has held mortgage rates near record lows, is helping to lift the housing market off the floor and lending the economy much needed support. The U.S. central bank last week said it would maintain its monthly $85 billion purchases of mortgage and Treasury bonds.
HOUSING STARTS MUST RISE
The flow of foreclosed homes coming on to the market, which had been both a source of supply and a key obstacle to the sector's recovery, has dropped significantly in recent months, confounding both real estate professionals and economists.
CoreLogic on Tuesday said so-called shadow inventory - homes either in foreclosure or being held from the market - dropped 15.4 percent to 2.2 million in January from a year ago. That was well below the cycle peak of 3 million units in January 2010.
"We expect some of the positive momentum in housing activity to be surrendered in the near term," said Millan Mulraine, a senior economist at TD Securities in New York, citing the likelihood inventory will remain constrained.
But the supply squeeze is also helping to push up home prices, putting a solid foundation under the recovery.
Data on Tuesday showed home prices in 20 metropolitan areas tracked by S&P/Case Shiller soared 8.1 percent in January from a year ago, the biggest 12-month rise since June 2006.
In a positive sign for sales, demand for loans to buy a home rose last week after two straight weeks of declines, a separate report showed. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, increased 6.7 percent.
The rise in loan applications, which came as mortgage rates fell for the first time in three weeks, unwound the prior two weeks' declines. But with roughly a third of home resales being cash purchases and investors making up a fifth of all buyers, mortgage applications may not be a good predictor of home sales.
According to Moody's Analytics' Chen, supplies were the most tight in the West, while abundant in the Midwest.
That was reflected in the NAR report, which showed pending sales barely rising in the West and rising 0.4 percent in the Midwest last month. Signed contracts fell in the Northeast and South.
"Industry capacity constraints, however, will keep residential construction from ramping up as quickly as required to meet demand," said Chen. "Concurrently, homeowners will release existing homes on the market at a slow pace."
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio and Leslie Gevirtz)
rose parade bowl games rose bowl jenny mccarthy auld lang syne dick clark Happy new year
Metal Gear Solid V is Kojima's first next-gen FOX Engine game, developer reveals (update: video)
Kojima Productions head Hideo Kojima this morning announced that The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes combined is actually Metal Gear Solid V, the first next-gen game from Kojima Productions running on its powerful FOX Engine. The news was revealed today during a FOX Engine panel at the Game Developers Conference. Kojima announced the combination of the previously announced concepts in a dramatic fashion, with his head wrapped in bandages, presumably as his alter ego Joakim Mogren. They provided a sneak peek trailer at the game's opening sequence, where Snake is attempting to escape from a hospital -- the trailer previously teased in late 2012. As FOX Engine is a next-gen platform, we're assuming that the game is heading to next-gen consoles, but Kojima's not saying anything solid just yet.
Update: GamesHQMedia managed to snag a trailer of the game, which we've embedded below.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/sg7xe4wU0k0/
westminster kennel club dog show jeremy lin game winner chocolate covered strawberries shrimp scampi kate upton si cover lobster recipes hearts
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Lion Researchers Call for More Fences to Save the Big Cats
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new paper from nearly 60 top lion scientists and conservationists suggests that building more fences may be the best way to save African lions.
at the drive in alternative minimum tax modeselektor gran torino gloria steinem war of the worlds rock and roll hall of fame
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector
Epson's managed to cram two of most important facts about the Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector into its name. It's a 3D projector, and it's built around an LCD engine. The combination matters because, until now, one of the best arguments for choosing a DLP data projector has been precisely that if you need 3D, it's pretty much been the only way to go. Suddenly, that's no longer true, at least, not if what you need is a WXGA (1,280 by 800), 3,000-lumen projector, like the W16.
In many ways, the W16 is in competition with DLP projectors like the Editors' Choice ViewSonic PJD6683ws that I recently reviewed, and the more expensive Editors' Choice Optoma TW610ST. Unlike the W16, both of these DLP projectors offer short-throw lenses, which puts them in a slightly different category. However, the three models are comparable in almost every other way, with the same native resolution, similar brightness ratings, a similar level of portability, and, of course, 3D support. Where they differ primarily is in the technology they use: DLP or LCD.
The LCD engine gives the W16 two key advantages. First, it can't show rainbow artifacts, which are always a potential issue for single-chip DLP projectors because of the way they create colors. And second, its color brightness is the same as its white brightness, which isn't true for most DLP projectors. A difference between the two can affect both color quality and the brightness of color images. With most LCD projectors, you have to weigh these advantages against the disadvantage of not having 3D. With the W16, you don't.
Basics: Portability, Connections, and Setup
At six pounds, the W16 is in a weight class that often winds up permanently installed in one room or on a cart for moving from room to room. However, it's also light enough to carry, and Epson ships it with a soft carrying case, complete with a shoulder strap, so you can take it with you easily.
Setup is standard, with both manual focus and zoom controls plus a fairly typical set of connectors on the back, including the expected HDMI for a computer or video source, VGA for a computer or component video, and both S-Video and composite video ports. Also worth mention is a USB A port for reading files from a USB memory key and a USB B port for USB display and audio as well as for providing mouse control from the projector's remote.
Brightness and Image Quality
The W16's 3,000-lumen rating is in the typical range for the projector's price and weight class. In my tests, it was easily bright enough for the 92-inch diagonal image I used, or even a somewhat larger image, to stand up to the typical level of ambient light in a conference room or classroom.
The data image quality was near excellent, with the W16 handling most of our standard suite of DisplayMate tests without problems. Colors were fully saturated, vibrant, and eye-catching in all modes. Color balance was also good, with suitably neutral grays at all levels from white to black in all but the brightest mode, with a slight yellowish tint in the brightest shades in that mode. However that's not really an issue, since it's typical for projectors to have less than perfect color balance in their brightest modes.
A potential issue for data images is that the W16 doesn?t hold detail as well as it could. In my tests, black on white text was readable at 6.8 points, but not as crisp as it should be. White on black text wasn't as well formed, and was easily readable only down to 7.5 points. For most images, this won't matter, but if you need to show a lot of fine detail, it may.
Video quality is better than par for a data projector. In fact, it's good enough to let you watch a full-length movie comfortably. I saw some mild loss of shadow detail (details based on shading in dark areas) and just a hint of posterization (shading changing suddenly in areas that should change gradually). However, these showed only in scenes that tend to cause these problems, and the W16 handled those scenes far better than most data projectors. It also helps that, as an LCD-projector, it doesn't show rainbow artifacts.
3D and Other Issues
Like most 3D data projectors, the W16 doesn?t come with glasses. But the really bad news is that if you're replacing a DLP 3D projector, you can't use your old DLP-link glasses. You have to buy Epson's, at $99 (direct) each. As with most other data projectors, if you need enough for an audience of more than a few people, you'll wind up paying more for the glasses than for the projector.
Keeping that in mind, it's still worth mention that even though Epson says the projector doesn't fully support HDMI version 1.4a, it can connect directly to a 3D Blu-ray player, game console, or other video device for full 1080p 3D input (with the projector scaling it to 720p).
Also note that although Epson says that the 3D will work with a 3D computer equipped with a Quad-buffered, Open GL 3D-compatible graphics card, it doesn't support the 3D format that computers typically use, and it doesn't support 3D with a VGA connection. To get the right 3D format, according to Epson, you have to add third-party software on the computer and connect by HDMI.
For my 3D tests, I connected the projector to a Blu-ray player. The 3D video image quality was reasonably good overall, despite some minor 3D-related motion artifacts I saw in scenes that tend to bring out the problem. I didn't see any crosstalk.
A last important note is that if you need sound, you shouldn't count on the W16's anemic audio system. The 2-watt mono speaker offers reasonably good sound quality, but only if you're close enough to hear it. If you need sound, plan on using an external audio system, even for a small room.
The Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector falls short of getting an Editors' Choice, with good, but not great, image quality for both data and video, and underwhelming audio. Even so, it may well be your preferred choice, especially if you're bothered by rainbow artifacts in DLP projectors but need 3D now or want to future-proof your purchase for later. The Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector lets you have it both ways, so you can get your rainbow-free cake and 3D too.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/0ouXkgi_TbI/0,2817,2417118,00.asp
football score ron paul nevada buffalo chicken dip super bowl 2012 soul train nevada caucus ufc 143
You don't 'own' your own genes: Researchers raise alarm about loss of individual 'genomic liberty' due to gene patents
Mar. 25, 2013 ? Humans don't "own" their own genes, the cellular chemicals that define who they are and what diseases they might be at risk for. Through more than 40,000 patents on DNA molecules, companies have essentially claimed the entire human genome for profit, report two researchers who analyzed the patents on human DNA.
Their study, published March 25 in the journal Genome Medicine, raises an alarm about the loss of individual "genomic liberty."
In their new analysis, the research team examined two types of patented DNA sequences: long and short fragments. They discovered that 41 percent of the human genome is covered by longer DNA patents that often cover whole genes. They also found that, because many genes share similar sequences within their genetic structure, if all of the "short sequence" patents were allowed in aggregate, they could account for 100 percent of the genome.
Furthermore, the study's lead author, Dr. Christopher E. Mason of Weill Cornell Medical College, and the study's co-author, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and a member of the High Performance and Research Computing Group, found that short sequences from patents also cover virtually the entire genome -- even outside of genes.
"If these patents are enforced, our genomic liberty is lost," says Dr. Mason, an assistant professor of physiology and biophysics and computational genomics in computational biomedicine at the Institute for Computational Biomedicine at Weill Cornell. "Just as we enter the era of personalized medicine, we are ironically living in the most restrictive age of genomics. You have to ask, how is it possible that my doctor cannot look at my DNA without being concerned about patent infringement?"
The U.S. Supreme Court will review genomic patent rights in an upcoming hearing on April 15. At issue is the right of a molecular diagnostic company to claim patents not only on two key breast and ovarian cancer genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- but also on any small sequence of code within BRCA1, including a striking patent for only 15 nucleotides.
In its study, the research team matched small sequences within BRCA1 to other genes and found that just this one molecular diagnostic company's patents also covered at least 689 other human genes -- most of which have nothing to do with breast or ovarian cancer; rather, its patents cover 19 other cancers as well as genes involved in brain development and heart functioning.
"This means if the Supreme Court upholds the current scope of the patents, no physician or researcher can study the DNA of these genes from their patients, and no diagnostic test or drug can be developed based on any of these genes without infringing a patent," says Dr. Mason.
One Patented Sequence Matched More Than 91 Percent of Human Genes
Dr. Mason undertook the study because he realized that his research into brain and cancer disorders inevitably involved studying genes that were protected by patents.
Under U.S. patent law, genes can be patented by those researchers, either at companies or institutions, who are first to find a gene that promises a useful application, such as for a diagnostic test. For example, the patents received by a company in the 1990s on BRCA1 and BRCA2 enables it to offer a diagnostic test to women who may have, or may be at risk for, breast or ovarian cancer due to mutations in one or both of these genes. Women and their doctors have no choice but to use the services of the patents' owner, which costs $3,000 per test, "whereas any of the hundreds of clinical laboratories around the country could perform such a test for possibly much less," says Dr. Mason.
The impact on these patents is equally onerous on research, Dr. Mason adds.
"Almost every day, I come across a gene that is patented -- a situation that is common for every geneticist in every lab," says Dr. Mason.
Dr. Mason and his research partner sought to determine how many other genes may be impacted by gene patents, as well as the overall landscape of intellectual property on the human genome.
To conduct the study, Dr. Mason and Dr. Rosenfeld examined the structure of the human genome in the context of two types of patented sequences: short and long fragments of DNA. They used matches to known genes that were confirmed to be present in patent claims, ranging from as few as 15 nucleotides (the building blocks of DNA) to the full length of all patented DNA fragments.
Before examining the patented sequences, the researchers first calculated how many genes had common segments of 15 nucleotide (15mer), and found that every gene in the human genome matched at least one other gene in this respect, ranging from as few as five matches 15mer to as many as 7,688 gene matches. They also discovered that 99.999 percent of 15mers in the human genome are repeated at least twice.
"This demonstrates that short patent sequences are extremely non-specific and that a 15mer claim from one gene will always cross-match and patent a portion of another gene as well," says Dr. Mason. "This means it is actually impossible to have a 15mer patent for just one gene."
Next, researchers examined the total sequence space in human genes covered by 15mers in current patent claims. They found 58 patents whose claims covered at least 10 percent of all bases of all human genes. The broadest patent claimed sequences that matched 91.5 percent of human genes. Then, when they took existing gene patents and matched patented 15mers to known genes, they discovered that 100 percent of known genes are patented.
"There is a real controversy regarding gene ownership due to the overlap of many competing patent claims. It is unclear who really owns the rights to any gene," says Dr. Rosenfeld. "While the Supreme Court is hearing one case concerning just the BRCA1 patent, there are also many other patents whose claims would cover those same genes. Do we need to go through every gene to look at who made the first claim to that gene, even if only one small part? If we resort to this rule, then the first patents to be granted for any DNA will have a vast claim over portions of the human genome."
A further issue of concern is that patents on DNA can readily cross species boundaries. A company can have a patent that they received for cow breeding and have that patent cover a large percentage of human genes. Indeed, the researchers found that one company owns the rights to 84 percent of all human genes for a patent they received for cow breeding. "It seems silly that a patent designed to study cow genetics also claims the majority of human genes," says Dr. Rosenfeld.
Finally, they also examined the impact of longer claimed DNA sequences from existing gene patents, which ranged from a few dozen bases up to thousands of bases of DNA, and found that these long, claimed sequences matched 41 percent (9,361) of human genes. Their analysis concluded that almost all clinically relevant genes have already been patented, especially for short sequence patents, showing all human genes are patented many times over.
"This is, so to speak, patently ridiculous," adds Dr. Mason. "If patent claims that use these small DNA sequences are upheld, it could potentially create a situation where a piece of every gene in the human genome is patented by a phalanx of competing patents."
In their discussion, the researchers argue that the U.S. Supreme Court now has a chance to shape the balance between the medical good versus inventor protection, adding that, in their opinion, the court should limit the patenting of existing nucleotide sequences, due to their broad scope and non-specificity in the human genome.
"I am extremely pro-patent, but I simply believe that people should not be able to patent a product of nature," Dr. Mason says. "Moreover, I believe that individuals have an innate right to their own genome, or to allow their doctor to look at that genome, just like the lungs or kidneys. Failure to resolve these ambiguities perpetuates a direct threat to genomic liberty, or the right to one's own DNA."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Weill Cornell Medical College.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Jeffrey Rosenfeld, and Christopher E Mason. Pervasive sequence patents cover the entire human genome. Genome Medicine, 2013 (in press) DOI: 10.1186/gm431
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/jAfUr59mL1E/130326101614.htm
nfldraft asante samuel salton sea arizona immigration law aubrey huff the killers julianne hough
Monday, March 25, 2013
Finally Someone Stepped Up and Designed A Way To Not Lose MagSafe Adapters
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Activists report Syria clashes near Jordan border
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) ? Syrian rebels pressed ahead with their offensive in a restive southern province that borders Jordan on Sunday, as Israel's military said its forces responded to fire by shooting at a target inside Syria.
The heightened tension in the borderlands could add further strain to a Syrian army already stretched in its fight against rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.
A rebel victory on the frontier with Jordan would be significant. It would deprive Assad of control over a supply lifeline also used by refugees fleeing his military onslaught, and could facilitate the entry of arms and equipment to the rebels.
In the past few months, rebels have seized control of much of the western border with Turkey and made significant gains along the eastern border with Iraq.
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said heavy clashes raged in three towns in the restive southern Daraa province, where the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful demonstrations calling for Assad's ouster.
"The rebels are trying to take over more army checkpoints and installations in Daraa," he told the Associated Press. He said reports from the ground show fighting in at least three towns in the province. He said the army "is responding with heavy artillery fire."
A Jordanian border official said he heard heavy artillery and saw smoke rising from areas in the province's Yarmouk Valley, a route used by Syrian refugees fleeing the fighting to Jordan. The official insisted on anonymity, citing standing army regulations.
On Saturday, rebels seized several army checkpoints, clearing a 25-kilometer (15-mile) stretch along the Syrian-Jordanian border.
Meanwhile, Israel's military said its soldiers were on routine patrol in the Golan Heights Sunday when they were fired upon and responded. It did not say what weaponry was used on either side.
A military spokesman said the soldiers responded with "accurate fire toward the Syrian post from which they were fired upon." He could not say whether regular Syrian forces or rebels fired. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Syrian rebels have been moving on and capturing Syrian territory at the foot of the Golan over the past week. Israel captured the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.
The Syrian Observatory also reported clashes in two districts in the Syrian capital, including near Damascus international airport. It said the army, backed by warplanes, struck at rebel targets in the northern city of Hama.
Clashes were also reported in the northern cities of Aleppo, Idlib and Homs, according to the Observatory. It said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-report-syria-clashes-near-jordan-border-120202914.html
madden cover obama slow jams the news metta world peace ron artest gladys knight private practice deion sanders
Monday, March 18, 2013
UM researcher revolutionizing scientific communication, one tweet at a time
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 18-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Annette Gallagher
a.gallagher1@umiami.edu
305-284-1121
University of Miami
UM doctoral student at the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy tweets updates from International Scientific Conference reaching thousands around the world
CORAL GABLES, FL (March 18, 2012) -- University of Miami (UM) doctoral student in Environmental Science and Policy, David Shiffman was invited to tweet updates in real-time, at the International Congress of Conservation Biology, New Zealand, 2011. As a result, more than 100,000 twitter users worldwide saw at least one tweet from the conference, and nearly 200 people from more than 40 countries, on six continents shared at least one tweet from the conference -- greatly exceeding the number of conference attendees.
"While live-tweeting is not a new phenomenon, to my knowledge this was the first time that anyone has ever been invited to a conference specifically for this purpose," says Shiffman, a doctoral student at the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, at UM. "Due to twitter's instantaneous nature, I was able to relay my follower's questions to the presenters who were in the room with me. In one case, a presenter was discussing his study site in Brazil, and I received a question from someone in that town interested in his research," says Shiffman.
Shiffman shares the findings of this project in a paper titled "Twitter as a tool for conservation education and outreach: what scientific conferences can do to promote live-tweeting" published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. The report includes an introduction to the use of twitter for science, general advice for other scientific conferences to facilitate a similar discussion and analysis of the impact of live-tweeting. The study is available online at: http://rjd.miami.edu/assets/pdfs/pubs/Shiffman%202012%20conference%20live-tweeting.pdf.
"Twitter is particularly well suited for sharing information from conferences," the report states. "[It] allows users to share easily categorized and searchable information instantly with another user around the world."
Shiffman is studying marine conservation policies and outreach, focusing on shark research which he carries out through the UM RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program. He was recently named one of the top biologists to follow on twitter (@WhySharksMatter) by the Huffington Post. Shiffman also writes for an ocean science blog called Southern Fried Science.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 18-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Annette Gallagher
a.gallagher1@umiami.edu
305-284-1121
University of Miami
UM doctoral student at the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy tweets updates from International Scientific Conference reaching thousands around the world
CORAL GABLES, FL (March 18, 2012) -- University of Miami (UM) doctoral student in Environmental Science and Policy, David Shiffman was invited to tweet updates in real-time, at the International Congress of Conservation Biology, New Zealand, 2011. As a result, more than 100,000 twitter users worldwide saw at least one tweet from the conference, and nearly 200 people from more than 40 countries, on six continents shared at least one tweet from the conference -- greatly exceeding the number of conference attendees.
"While live-tweeting is not a new phenomenon, to my knowledge this was the first time that anyone has ever been invited to a conference specifically for this purpose," says Shiffman, a doctoral student at the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, at UM. "Due to twitter's instantaneous nature, I was able to relay my follower's questions to the presenters who were in the room with me. In one case, a presenter was discussing his study site in Brazil, and I received a question from someone in that town interested in his research," says Shiffman.
Shiffman shares the findings of this project in a paper titled "Twitter as a tool for conservation education and outreach: what scientific conferences can do to promote live-tweeting" published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. The report includes an introduction to the use of twitter for science, general advice for other scientific conferences to facilitate a similar discussion and analysis of the impact of live-tweeting. The study is available online at: http://rjd.miami.edu/assets/pdfs/pubs/Shiffman%202012%20conference%20live-tweeting.pdf.
"Twitter is particularly well suited for sharing information from conferences," the report states. "[It] allows users to share easily categorized and searchable information instantly with another user around the world."
Shiffman is studying marine conservation policies and outreach, focusing on shark research which he carries out through the UM RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program. He was recently named one of the top biologists to follow on twitter (@WhySharksMatter) by the Huffington Post. Shiffman also writes for an ocean science blog called Southern Fried Science.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uom-urr031813.php
hanley ramirez Christian Bale visits victims Christian Bale Sherman Hemsley Olympics Opening Ceremony Katherine Jackson Olympics Opening Ceremony Time
Sunday, March 17, 2013
J.C.Penney places a bet on Joe Fresh
Can a Canadian clothing company that's little-known in the U.S. help revive an American company that's in the doldrums? J.C. Penney seems to think so.
J.C. Penney Company, Inc., on Friday opened 681 Joe Fresh stores-within-a-store in hopes of reinvigorating its revenues and retail image by attracting new customers without alienating its long-time loyal shoppers.
Industry analysts warn the financial turnaround may take longer and cost more than investors like, however.
On Friday morning, Lara Raskin of Brooklyn was one of the first shoppers at the Penney's Manhattan Mall location on 33rd Street in New York City. She works nearby but had never set foot in the store until she came in specifically for the Joe Fresh launch. ?I saw this dress online and I wanted to try it on,? she said of a sleeveless black-and-white striped dress. ?It?s $39 and it looks like a good dress.?
She?s exactly the first-time shopper Penney is trying to lure with the new brands.
"I knew that as I walked in,? Raskin said, laughing. ?They?ve got me.?
Nearby, Ndeye Seydi of the Bronx had two Joe Fresh patterned blouses in her hand. She?s a long-time Penney shopper who said she?s noticed the big changes at the store lately and is impressed.
?I love it,? she said about the renovation, adding she had no complaints about the prices. She didn?t know Joe Fresh was launching today, but was glad she found the new shop.
?It?s good. I grabbed these already. I like the style. It feels like it?s going to be good,? Seydi said, touching the fabric.
In their hands, both Seydi and Raskin had $10 coupons, which were being handed out by employees.
Joe Cardamone, the Manhattan store leader, said Joe Fresh is the third store-within-a-store launch within the past two weeks that is geared to attracting new shoppers.
Cardamone said that, based on discussions with shoppers, they are ?big time first timers,? in Penney's new sections: Pearl by Georgina Chapman of Marchesa formalwear and Duro Olowu patterened apparel, home and accessories.
He has equally high expectations for Joe Fresh, a popular Canadian brand which had limited availability in the United States before its Penney deal.
Joe Fresh was created by Club Monaco co-founder Joseph Mimran. ?This is going to create so much energy and excitement,? Cardamone said of the Joe Fresh offerings.
Penney?s Joe Fresh line launched online during the Oscars and in the days after became the store?s most popular apparel brand and 61 percent of those shoppers were first-time jcp.com customers, CEO Ron Johnson said during a call with analysts Feb. 27.
The company does not plan to offer more specific numbers relating to shop performance until a full year?s worth of sales history is available.
The company has more partnerships lined up, including Michael Graves, Jonathan Adler, Terrance Conran, and a Martha Stewart deal that has been tied up in courts as Macy?s asserts it had an exclusive deal with her company. There are currently a dozen brand shops inside Penney stores, including Sephora cosmetics which was the first in 2006.
On Feb. 27, Penney reported a net loss of $985 million for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2.
Calls have been made for Johnson to resign. Johnson started at Penney at the end of 2011 after 11 years at Apple Inc as the senior vice president of retail.
While upbeat during his earnings call with analysts, Johnson admitted ?big mistakes? and laid out a plan to change.
?We worked really hard and tried many things to help the customer understand that she could shop any time on her terms,? he said. "But we learned she prefers a sale. At times, she loves a coupon. And always, she needs a reference price. Whether there's a manufacturer suggested price on a branded item, a comparison on a private-label item, or a sale, she needs to feel she added value to her family through the savings she got from being a savvy shopper. So we have brought back sales. We have brought back coupons for our rewards members, although we still call them gifts, and we will offer sales each and every week as we move forward.?
Wall Street analysts remain cautious about the execution of the strategy, with almost none recommending the stock as a buy, according to Thomson Reuters data.
?Our view has been and remains that over the longer term the combination of better merchandising and a more cohesive pricing and marketing message together with improved cost controls will lead to a significantly improved profit and return profile for JCP,? Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. analyst Brian Nagel wrote in his March 6 report downgrading the stock to perform from outperform. ?Near-term risks for JCP are severe, and we believe turning more treacherous for the company.?
Although he notes the shops-within-shops strategy is doing well ? in the third quarter they were tracking 30 percent ahead of pre-reset levels, he said ? lingering concerns include disruptions as the new home-goods areas are installed; an overall decline in foot traffic; and his forecasted cash burn of $900 million in the first quarter and $400 million in the second.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/j-c-penney-places-bet-joe-fresh-1C8881220
south carolina primary squirrel appreciation day billy beane road conditions newt gingrich wives at last al green
Friday, March 15, 2013
Pope Francis signals core mission ? returning Catholics to the church (+video)
In his first blessing from the Vatican balcony, Pope Francis spoke of the 'evangelization' of Rome, a clear sign he would carry on the 'New Evangelization' legacy of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday night.
Courtesy of L'Osservatore Romano/AP
EnlargeAs Pope Francis appeared on the Vatican balcony Wednesday night and prepared to offer his first blessing as pope, he signaled a priority for his pontificate: renewing Catholic faith in places where it?s lost much of its luster.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
?My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today ? be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city,? Pope Francis said, speaking in Italian.
It was no offhand remark, observers say. They expect Francis to vigorously champion the New Evangelization, which involves bringing lapsed and inactive Catholics back into the rhythms of church life, including regular mass attendance. Doing so would carry on a legacy of Popes John Paul II, who coined the term ?New Evangelization,? and Benedict XVI, who made it a priority in a bid to counter secularization in the West.
?The election of this pope represents the determination of these cardinals [to make] the New Evangelization the great priority of our time,? says Matthew Bunson, a Catholic journalist, historian, and author of a forthcoming biography of Pope Francis. The new pope has been a champion of the New Evangelization, Mr. Bunson says, as a key to overcoming materialism and other spiritual deficiencies of these times.
But questions of interpretation remain to be sorted out as the church moves to practice the New Evangelization in vastly diverse settings, from Paris to New York, Manila to Nairobi. Guiding the process is no longer a German scholar deeply familiar with academic challenges to faith, as Benedict was, but instead an Argentine who?s watched his continent?s religious landscape be transformed by Catholic migration to Pentecostalism.
The new pope?s sensibilities will be tested, observers say, on the matter of how much latitude to give local bishops for interpretation. John Paul II and Benedict XVI insisted that all settings proclaim Christ as the universal savior, for instance, even though Asian churches resisted the teaching on grounds that it was offensive in their cultures, according to Rev. Thomas Rausch, a Jesuit theologian at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
?As these churches of Asia, Latin America, and Africa begin to find their own voices, there?s going to be more tension with the Roman center,? Professor Rausch says.
Catholic communities are sorting out how and where to reengage the faithful. The Archdiocese of Boston, for instance, is currently reorganizing its 275 parishes into clusters. The idea: by sharing priests and staffs among two, three, or four parishes, churches can free up resources for reaching out to inactive Catholics and for encouraging more boys and men to explore the priesthood as a vocation. In this model, parishes become centers for the New Evangelization.
Catholic colleges and universities are being called upon to play a larger role as well. At The Catholic University of America on March 16, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops? Committee on Doctrine will lay out its vision for how Catholic universities can help evangelize Catholic students who might be wandering away from their faith roots. Among the potentially controversial issues is whether theologians will see evangelism as consistent with their roles as teachers.
Wherever outreach efforts are focused, indifference poses challenges. In America, only 23 percent of Catholics attend mass weekly or more often, according to a 2008 survey by the Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate. In another measure, just 27 percent of American Catholics claim a strong religious identity, down from 46 percent four decades ago, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of General Social Survey data.
Pope Francis is aware, Bunson says, that faith-eroding forces have taken a toll on spiritual formation worldwide. He?s apt to take the New Evangelization to the ends of the Earth and sort out details along the way.
?If consumerism and other aspects of secularism are becoming global phenomena, then the New Evangelization has to have a global component,? Bunson says. ?Benedict was concerned with the impact of evangelization in Europe in particular, [but] Francis is going to have a more global approach to the issue.?
sarah shahi rutgers dharun ravi george clooney arrested ravi leigh espn
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tips for Public Speaking in a Second Language
Giving a presentation or speaking in public in your native language can be nerve wracking. Presenting in a second language can seem like an insurmountable task. But the reality is, with a little time and preparation you can give a successful presentation in English and impress your audience.
- Give yourself extra time: If you are presenting in a second language, procrastination is not going to be helpful. If possible, give yourself an extra week or two to prepare for the presentation. (The extra time will also allow you to follow the rest of our suggestions.)
- Write the speech out: While you don?t want to read your speech, writing it out in advance, in the language you will be presenting in will help you clarify your thoughts and boost your confidence in your presentation. Avoid writing the speech in your native language and then translating it. Direct translation often leads to incorrect sentence structure and awkward phrasing.
- Read it out loud: Reading your speech out loud will help you become more comfortable with pronunciation and sentence structure. It will also help you feel more confident presenting from your notes if you have read the speech out loud a number of times before the presentation.
- Create simplified notes: After you have written your speech and read it out loud, create a set of simple notes or an outline to help you stay on track and remember key points. Avoid using full sentences in your notes as they can be difficult to read and process during a presentation.
- Practice: If it is at all possible, we encourage you to practice your speech in front of a native speaker or two. They can help you identify and correct pronunciation issues and let you know if you are talking too fast or too slow. The practice will also give you an additional boost of confidence, knowing you had a native speaker?s feedback and were able to make some changes.
- Be confident: Remember, everyone gets nervous during presentations but your audience is rooting for you to succeed. Don?t apologize or draw attention to errors you make, chances are the audience didn?t notice.
With these tips we hope you will feel more confident speaking in public. Ultimately, the only way to improve your public speaking skills is to get out there and keep trying. So, if the opportunity arises, go for it.
Source: http://onlinelaw.wustl.edu/tips-for-public-speaking-in-a-second-language/
rimm pauly d project adrienne rich autism cesar chavez day raspberry ketone ron burgundy
The Romneys, The Family That Just Can?t Quit Politics
Mitt Romney won?t be running for public office again after the shellacking he took in the?2012 presidential race. But that doesn?t mean his family is through with politics, too.
Romney?s niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, is considering a Senate run in Michigan, making her the fourth member of the extended Romney family to be connected to a congressional race since the 2012 election.
"It's something I'm going to consider (after) what I saw around the state with how frustrated people were with what's happening in D.C.," Romney McDaniel told?The Detroit News. "Maybe this is a time where we can bring a new voice and get a Republican senator from our state."
Romney McDaniel?s announcement came after her father Scott, Mitt?s older brother, initially flirted with a run to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Carl Levin. He eventually opted against it and urged his daughter to run instead. It wouldn?t be unprecedented for her; her mother and grandmother both unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Michigan.
She joins other Romneys floated as possible congressional candidates, including Mitt?s son, Tagg Romney, who considered a Massachusetts Senate bid before passing on the race to fill John Kerry?s seat. Mitt?s wife, Ann, had also been touted as a potential candidate by the Boston Herald, but she later told FOX News that she never was interested.
So who is the Romney with the best chance of winning political office? Look to Josh Romney, one of Mitt?s five sons. Utah party leaders talked to him in 2008 about challenging Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, and he later?eyed the lieutenant governor position. Unlike Massachusetts, the thoroughly red state would be very welcoming to a Romney political foray; Mitt Romney won Utah by nearly 48 points, the widest margin in the country.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romneys-family-just-t-quit-politics-142412956--politics.html
Devon Walker Tom Cruise ryan reynolds Star Trek: The Original Series Carlton Morgan Freeman Dead Stand Up to Cancer
MosquitoNix? Casts a Wider Net to Eliminate ... - Franchising.com
New Business Model Expands Franchise Opportunities to Existing Outdoor Businesses
CARROLLTON, TEXAS - (March 12, 2013) - MosquitoNix?, the nation?s leader in?mosquito control and mosquito misting systems, announced today that it is offering franchise opportunities for the first time in five years, primarily to existing outdoor service business owners. MosquitoNix? is expanding nationwide as part of a strategic plan to double its size in 2013, and open as many as 50 new franchises in 2013. With a nationwide surge in demand for mosquito control, MosquitoNix? projects opening upwards of 200 franchisees by 2015.
"We have changed our franchise model to capitalize on a rise in demand for MosquitoNix? all around the country," said Dan O'Neal, chairman & CEO of FEMO Group Franchise System, MosquitoNix's parent company. "Now an existing outdoor service business can 'add on' MosquitoNix? in an easy and affordable way to help their customers get rid of mosquitoes and other flying insects. MosquitoNix? will help businesses compete in this profitable fast growing business. A minimum investment and being licensed in the state in which you operate is all it takes to join our team."
MosquitoNix? offers installed mosquito misting systems and ongoing barrier treatments called QuickNix?. MosquitoNix? eliminates flying, biting insects such as mosquitoes, no-see ums, flies, fleas, and ticks. MosquitoNix? misting system nozzles are placed every ten to twelve feet around the perimeter of a home, and on average mist three to four times per day, each lasting 20 to 45 seconds. Pyrethrum, permethrin, and essential oils are the active ingredients used in our mosquito control systems. QuickNix? is a three-step program that includes fogging, granules and larvicide (Bt-israelensis (Bt-i)) applications. ?MosquitoNix? franchises are exclusive to each market. Franchise partners get brand affiliation, comprehensive training, and ongoing sales and marketing support. MosquitoNix? discounts (up to 30%) on products and operational efficiencies, allows franchisees to show a greater profit margin and continue to grow their business. Qualified franchisees can receive up to fifty-percent financing of the Initial Franchise Fee (IFF).
Mosquito control is a fast growing industry due to changing weather patterns across North America and the emerging threat of mosquito borne illnesses. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), West Nile virus (WNV) is now endemic to the United States and peak time for the spread of the virus will be from July through October, surging in August. In 2012, forty-eight states reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. As of December 11, 2012, a total of 5,387 cases of West Nile virus disease in people, including 243 deaths, had been reported to CDC. Of these, 2,734 (51%) were classified as neuroinvasive disease (such as meningitis or encephalitis) and 2,653 (49%) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease. The 5,387 cases was the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to the CDC through the second week in December since 2003. Eighty percent of the cases were reported from 13 states. A third of all cases were reported from Texas.
"It may be winter but now is the time for families to prepare for mosquito season, which starts in the spring and ends in the late fall. MosquitoNix? empowers people with the best mosquito control to enjoy the outdoors safely without flying insects and the ongoing threat of mosquito borne illnesses like West Nile virus, Dengue Fever and Encephalitis. We are looking for pest control professionals, landscapers, pool & spa and any other outdoor service business owners to take advantage of the current high demand for mosquito control in the marketplace," said Josh Ingram, Vice President of Operations at MosquitoNix?.
MosquitoNix? franchise expansion will initially focus on regions in North America most affected by the West Nile outbreak, like Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska and Virginia.
About?MosquitoNix?
MosquitoNix?, a division of FEMO Group Franchise System, is the nation's leader in mosquito misting systems, servicing tens of thousands of customers in more than 400 U.S. cities and 14 countries. MosquitoNix? uses effective solutions to eliminate flying, biting insects such as mosquitoes, no-see ums, flies, fleas, and ticks. MosquitoNix? empowers customers to protect their families against mosquitoes and enjoy their outdoor lifestyles. An industry expert, MosquitoNix? focuses on customer service and manufacturers its own systems.
SOURCE?MosquitoNix?
Contacts:
MosquitoNix??
Josh Ingram
(972) 934-3131
jingram@MosquitoNix.com
www.MosquitoNix.com
FEMO Group Franchise System
Dan O'Neal
(972) 934-3131
dano@MosquitoNix.com
###
Social Reach:
Viewer Response:
Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130313_mosquitonixreg_casts_a_wider_net_to_eliminate_mosq.html
egoraptor gisele bundchen turbotax the bourne legacy roland martin suspended lake vostok montgomery county public schools
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)