Prescriptions Drugs More Deadly Than Car Accidents, Guns, and Suicide

You don't need drugs if your are healthy.

From The Daily Beast

Prescriptions Drugs More Deadly Than Car Accidents, Guns, and Suicide
By Charlotte Lytton

America, we’ve got a problem: More than 100 people die each day in the U.S. because of prescription drugs.

America is in the throes of a prescription drug epidemic. More people die every day from that addiction than gunshot wounds, car accidents, or suicide—with 100 people losing their lives daily as a result of misusing medication.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has some pretty shocking statistics detailing just how bad America’s addiction has become. For example: the US, which holds 5 percent of the world’s population, is responsible for 75 percent of global prescription drug use; 52 million people over the age of 12 have used this medication for purposes outside of what they are intended for; enough painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult every four hours for a month; over half of these pills are obtained for free from a friend or family member; there are 5.1 million abusers of painkillers, 2.2 million who illegitimately take tranquilizers, and 1.1 million needlessly popping stimulants.

America, we’ve got a problem.

Painkiller addiction is also a well-known celebrity health hazard, with the likes of Winona Ryder, Jamie Lee Curtis, Matthew Perry, Charlie Sheen, and dozens more attributing their downward spirals to dependence on drugs including OxyContin, oxycodone, and Vicodin. There’s also a major concern that Hollywood’s predilection for prescription drugs in some way glamorizes their use, making it seem as though this is a trend people should be jumping on the back of and subsequently pushing their doctors for unnecessary pills in a bid to emulate their screen idols.

Read more from The Daily Beast >>

Cisco CEO: 'Brutal' Times Are Coming For The Tech Industry

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, is well know on Wall Street as the person who has the pulse on the US economy. From where he sits, he is also has a bird's eye view of the world economy.

To hear him say, "Brutal times are coming...," one has to sit up and listen:

From Business Insider

Cisco CEO: 'Brutal' Times Are Coming For The Tech Industry

JULIE BORT | MAY 20, 2014

Cisco CEO and walking global economic barometer John Chambers believes that the rapid pace of change in the technology industry is going to create a bloodbath for the major tech players, and every other company on the planet.

"You are going to see a brutal, brutal consolidation of the IT industry where out of the top five players, only two or three of us will be meaningful in as quick as five years," he said on Monday, during the opening keynote of Cisco's annual customer conference, Cisco Live. "We know we have to change."

He suggests that those top players are Cisco, IBM, HP, Microsoft, and Oracle. And although he doesn't predict which ones will go by the wayside, he did diss competitors HP and IBM by name, saying, "When we talk about the top five IT players, watch how disastrous the last 2.5 years have been where an HP and an IBM haven't had revenue growth for two to three years."

This is the chart he showed, documenting how many quarters of growth each have had. It shows Microsoft, not Cisco, doing the best with 14 quarters of 3% or better revenue growth.

                                                                                                                                                                 Cisco

Read mode from Business Insider >>

Minimum Wage Workers at a Glance

Power Profile: Lisa & Edward Grant (2)

....."As you get older, you really realize that you've got one trip down this road and it's meant to be lived,  life is meant to be lived, not to just try to go through it.
At the end of our lives, people don't go, oh geez, you know I wish I could've gone down that store just one more day. The reality is they think about the vacation they spent with their family, with their friends. They think about those special moments. You know the reality is that the richest in the world are right here, its
when you have the right person by your side, when your families are healthy. Those moments that we enjoy together from. This company allows that to happen for everybody. Market America so special and unique in so many ways, the list is endless."

Power Profiles: Dan and Pam Witkowski

M-commerce sales on smartphones soar 116% in April

Market America is well positioned in Mobile Commerce, a very important e-Storefront.

“You’re either in the mobile game, or you’re not. And if you’re not in the game, you’re not going to last. You need to go where your people are, and you need to be connected to them as much as possible.”
                                       - Steve Ashley, VP of Mobile and Social Products for Market America.

From Internet Retailer

May 7, 2014

M-commerce sales on smartphones soar 116% in April

BY BILL SIWICKI | Managing Editor, Mobile Commerce

Plain and simple, more consumers are getting comfortable buying goods on smartphones, Branding Brand says. In addition to the sales jump, 18 of the mobile platform vendor’s retailer clients saw visits on smartphones rise 84%. And the iPhone continues to dominate.

Chris Mason, co-founder and CEO of mobile commerce platform vendor Branding Brand, is an m-commerce veteran. He’s seen it all. And closely analyzing the latest data on a subset of his retailer clients, he says one thing is quite clear: Consumers are becoming much more comfortable making purchases on their smartphones. Hence the 116% jump in mobile sales on smartphones to $11.9 million in April 2014 compared with $5.5 million in April 2013 at 18 major retailer clients in various product categories, including apparel, health and beauty, and home goods.

“Increased comfort means increased orders; mobile commerce is simply exploding,” Mason says. “Part of this is due to technology—we have faster connections, better browsers and better phones--which results in better mobile experiences. Gone are the days of trying to shop on old BlackBerrys without JavaScript, technological limitations that resulted in drab, dumbed-down mobile versions of a retailer's desktop site.”

But there also is a cultural shift driving the growth of m-commerce on smartphones, Mason says.

“For many Americans, smartphones are now the primary way to access the Internet,” he says. “Just like previous e-commerce adoption trends, m-commerce is rapidly becoming a part of our daily lives. Part of this is due to convenience and mobile’s ability to reinvent the way we do things; another reason is because smartphones are the one device we have with us at all times.”

Mason adds that the growing number of retailers optimizing their sites for smartphones is engendering trust among those smartphone users formerly hesitant to complete a transaction on a phone.

“That trust is critical to eliminating safety concerns and increasing orders,” he says. “Branding Brand’s goal has been to avoid the ‘Checkout later on desktop’ mentality among many mobile consumers and make it easier for people to checkout on their phones. We’re spending a lot of time redesigning traditional checkout flows: Reducing required data fields and auto-populating content are doing wonders to improve conversion.”

Read more from Internet Retailer >>

To reduce your risk of cancer: Eat a Mediterranean-style diet and cut back on sources of animal protein.

From Cleveland Clinic

To reduce your risk of cancer: Eat a Mediterranean-style diet and cut back on sources of animal protein.

April 28, 2014

At Cleveland Clinic Wellness, for most people, we recommend eating a Mediterranean-style diet comprised of fresh fruits and vegetables, heart-healthy fats like olive oil, some fish and 100 percent whole grains. (For some, with more established disease, a diet of no added sugars and very low fat may be preferred.) Fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as heart-healthy fats like those found in avocados, are nutritious and delicious, which is an important part of sticking with a healthful diet. After all, eating is a joy and a celebration, not a test of willpower or deprivation. And now there’s even more support for a plants-based diet. In a new study of 6,300 people ages 50 to 65, those who ate a diet rich in animal protein were more than four times as likely to die of cancer during the study period than those who ate a low-animal protein diet (comparable to the risk from smoking!). Eating a Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, can make you look and feel younger, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (including some types of cancer), and help you maintain a healthy body weight. Our Go! Foods for You plan will help you learn how to cook and eat the Mediterranean way, delicious recipes included.

Global Megatrend: Online Shoping

Global Megatrend: Online Shopping

If you had been sleeping like Rip Van Winkle, no one can blame you. Things are moving so fast, sometimes things come as a blur and before you know it....it is game over!

You have probably heard by now, ad nauseam, almost daily that Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves are coming to town. Pun intended.

Alibaba, the online shopping behemoth from China is seeking to IPO (initial public offering) in the US equities markets. It has earnings exceeding the combined income of Amazon and Ebay. Imagined that!

Online shopping is on an upward spiral, globally. And if you had not noticed,the chart below will give you an idea of its trajectory:




Successful retailers in search of sales growth are increasingly going global by expanding their online-shopping operations in foreign countries, with China offering the choicest opportunity, says management consultancy A.T. Kearney.

So, now that you know what the megatrend is, prepare yourself to be a participant, not as a bystander. Wait for an opportune time to invest in Alibaba after its IPO in the US. If you had done the same when social media's darling, Facebook IPO'ed, waited and bought shares of FB, you would have done quite well today.

If investing in the stock market is not your cup of tea.....what and why are you waiting for?

Check out Market America already! JR Ridinger, CEO and President of this private company has grand plans to make Market America / Shop.com a global online brand as well as a global online destiny. It is already doing business in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, HK, Taiwan, Great Britain, Spain, Bahamas, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Panama, Singapore and New Zealand with Costa Rica, Chile and the Philippines coming soon.

Join the Global Megatrend - Online Shopping! Join Market America's growing family of shopping Consultants! 

Market America will take off with you or without you.

- Jack Chang

Power Profiles: Petrina Cheng

From the PowerProfiles

Petrina Cheng
National Supervising Coordinator

"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe!"

'Having Market America in my life is the best choice I have ever made. This amazing business opportunity has rescued me from a rut that I had no way of escaping.'

'I was a traditional business owner for 26 years, managing a travel agency started by my parents. The daily operation of running my agency was stressful to say the least; I had to deal with daily problems resulting from poor decision-making from my staff, dealing with unforeseen events, competition from other travel agencies and an unstable economy. I was absorbing all the pressure and stress, investing my time and health in exchange for a so-called comfortable income. I started to realize the huge price and sacrifice that a traditional business owner has to pay.

Even though I was not happy about the situation, I considered this to be the norm. I started to rationalize with myself that this is what a traditional business is all about. I am so thankful for my sister Pauline, who brought Market America to me and gave me the opportunity to realize there is a better way out. She showed me that I don't need to trade time for money! Our brilliant compensation plan and the power of leverage allow anyone who is willing to follow the proven system to reach time and financial freedom!

After building the business for six years, I have retired and am enjoying.......

Read more from the PowerProfiles >>

The Simple Secret to My Success in Life

From Daily Wealth

The Simple Secret to My Success in Life
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

What's my secret?

Friends at home in Florida think that I have some sort of "Golden Touch."

They want to know my secret to repeatedly making great investment decisions.

Usually, I just shrug off their questions without much of an answer. "Just good luck," I'll say. Or something like that.

The thing is, I do have a "secret" that helps guide my investment choices. Even better, it is not hard to understand or to put into action. Today, I'll show you what I do... And I hope you will always remember it.

My friends at home have seen me succeed over and over again. Usually, it appeared from the outside that what I was doing was a bit crazy. I wasn't. I was simply following the secret...

For example:

•   My friends looked at me like I was crazy in the mid-2000s. Back then, they were all buying real estate. I was buying gold coins. As you can guess, my friends were clobbered in real estate, but I came out ahead.
 
•   My friends know that when the financial world looked like it was ending in 2008, I took out a home-equity loan to buy stocks. (That was the first and only time I've ever done that.) I doubled that money pretty quickly and used those profits to pay off that loan. I've been saying "buy stocks" ever since.
 
•   In recent years, I've been buying large properties in Florida for 80%-90% less than what they sold for at their peaks. It's already working out well... One of these properties – a few hundred acres – is currently listed for a price more than five times what I paid for it. (That price was suggested by the realtor, not by me.)

So what is my secret?

Read more from Daily Wealth >>

Life in Canada, Home of the World’s Most Affluent Middle Class

From The Upshot, NYTimes

Life in Canada, Home of the World’s Most Affluent Middle Class
APRIL 30, 2014

The Canadian middle class may now be the world’s richest, but it has its anxieties, too.

Members of the middle class in Canada worry about whether they can afford college for their children and whether their children will find jobs afterward. Housing costs are a major concern, as are everyday costs for transportation and mobile-phone plans. Middle-class Canadians worry about inequality.

Yet many also believe that they’re better off than their American counterparts.

We reported last week that median income in Canada appears to have surpassed median income in the United States, based on more than three decades of international income surveys analyzed by LIS, a research group, and by The Upshot. As recently as 2000, median income in the United States was significantly higher. The data also show that lower-income families in Canada and much of northern Europe now make more than their American counterparts.

To get a sense for how these trends are affecting Canadians, we set out to interview members of the middle class. Most, of course, have no firsthand way of comparing their experiences with American ones, and they were quick to acknowledge as much. Yet in a globalized world, people do know about more than just their own neighborhood.

And interviews suggest that many members of the Canadian middle class prefer the situation on their side of the border.

“When you have a family to raise and you are middle class, you are on a treadmill,” said Deborrah Mustachi, a 52-year-old educational assistant for the Catholic school board in Markham, a Toronto suburb. “It’s very difficult to save when you have to live for today.”

Yet, Ms. Mustachi added, “I think people in the U.S. seem to struggle more.”

Canadians have little doubt that they face less financial stress about medical costs than Americans. Many also credit their labor unions for the size of their paychecks; union membership rates are higher in Canada. Canadians also know that the American housing bubble and bust were more severe than their version.

Hope for aging brains, skeletal muscle

“We all wonder why we were stronger and mentally more agile when young. And these two unusually exciting papers actually point to a possible answer: the higher levels of the protein GDF11 we have when young. There seems to be little question that, at least in animals, GDF11 has an amazing capacity to restore aging muscle and brain function.”
                                                - Dr. Douglas Melton, co-chair of HSCRB and co-director of HSCI


From Harvard Gazette

Hope for aging brains, skeletal muscle

Harvard stem cell researchers say protein can make those body parts function in old mice much as they did when younger.

May 4, 2014

By B. D. Colen, Harvard Staff Writer

Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have shown that a protein, which they previously demonstrated can make failing hearts in aging mice appear more like those of young and healthy mice, similarly improves brain and skeletal muscle function in aging mice.

In two papers released online early today by the journal Science (which will formally publish the papers on Friday), professors Amy Wagers and Lee Rubin of Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB) report that injections of a protein known as GDF11, which is found in humans as well as mice, improved the exercise capability of mice and improved function of the olfactory region of the brains in the older mice.

Rubin and Wagers, who also has a laboratory at the Joslin Diabetes Center, said that, barring unexpected developments, they expect to have GDF11 enter initial human clinical trials within three to five years.

Postdoctoral fellow Lida Katsimpardi is the lead author on the Rubin group’s paper, and fellows Manisha Sinha and Young Jang are the lead authors on the paper from the Wagers group.

The studies examined the effect of GDF11 in two ways. First, they used a parabiotic system, in which two mice are surgically joined and the blood of the younger mouse circulates through the older mouse. Second, they injected the older mice with GDF11, which in an earlier study by Wagers and Richard Lee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital was shown to be sufficient to reverse characteristics of aging in the heart. Lee is also an author on the two new papers.

Doug Melton, co-chair of HSCRB and co-director of HSCI, reacted to the papers’ findings by saying he could not recall “a more exciting finding to come from stem cell science and clever experiments. This should give us all hope for a healthier future.

Read more from Harvard Gazette >>

The Jobs Report Isn’t as Good as It Looks

From TheUpshot, NYTimes

The Jobs Report Isn’t as Good as It Looks
MAY 2, 2014

Rarely does a monthly report on the United States job market look so terrific on the surface while being so disappointing underneath.

At first glance, the new reading on the nation’s employment situation is shout-from-the-roof-tops, pop-the-Champagne fantastic. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent, and employers added a whopping 288,000 jobs, the most in two years. Those types of numbers, if sustained, would signal something better than just the humdrum, sluggish recovery of the last few years, and something far more robust.

But where the last couple of months have had disappointing top-line numbers with some excellent trends bubbling beneath the surface, this one pairs the excellent surface news with a soft underbelly.

The most promising trend in the labor market in the first three months of 2014 had been workers returning to the job market. Some 1.3 million more Americans counted themselves as either having a job or looking for one in March than in December. That represented the strongest three-month gain in the size of the labor force since the boom times of early 2000.

A dynamic that seemed — maybe, possibly — to be taking shape for 2014 was that of some of the millions of people who had given up on even looking for a job during the recession and the slow recovery were finally returning. That trend might have acted as a floor underneath the overall unemployment rate. People returning to the work force might not find a job immediately, joining the rolls of the unemployed, but it would be good news for the long-term prosperity of the American economy.

Read more from TheUpshot, NYTimes >>