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By Eun Kyung Kim, TODAY contributor
A family vacation in Peru turned into a vicious nightmare for three Americans who say they were brutally attacked by residents of a countryside village.?
The Jackson, Wyo., residents were abducted while looking for a place to camp for the night. Eventually, they were freed after their captors forced them at gunpoint to sign a document blaming their injuries on a drunk-driving accident.
?We begged for mercy. We thought we were going to die for 11 hours,? Jed Wolfrom recalled for NBC in a TODAY segment that aired Friday.?
Wolfrom and his wife, Meghan Doherty, had been celebrating the 30th birthday of Wolfrom?s sister, Jennifer Wolfrom, on Dec. 29. The three had gone on a mountain hike and were settling for the evening in the village of Palca before heading to their next destination, Machu Picchu.
?We asked the first initial two people that came down, we asked, ?Do you think this would be okay if we camped here???And they said, ?Yes, it should be fine,?? Jennifer Wolfrom said.
But then, the men started blowing whistles and using their cell phones to call people. Within minutes, the Americans were surrounded by villagers demanding their passports. The trio refused and got back in their car.
They tried to drive off, but the villagers had blocked the road. Jed Wolfrom tried to steer around a blockade of rocks they had created, but the truck tipped and rolled into a ditch.
?And that's when the big rocks start coming in. And the windows are starting to smash,? he said.
His wife got hit in the back of the head with one of the rocks.
?At that point, we're yelling at each other, ?We have to run away. These people are trying to kill us,?? Meghan Dougherty said.
The group was stranded, surrounded by villagers who continued to stone them, as well as beat them with sticks.
?All of our clothing is covered in blood. It?s just dripping off of us,? Jennifer Wolfrom said.
The group was marched to the village center, where more residents appeared, shouting, beating and even whipping them.
?I was like, I?m going to see my sister and my wife probably get beaten to death with stones right in front of me right now,?? said Jed Wolfrom, who still bears a bruised left eye and busted teeth from the night of the attack.
Suddenly, some of the villagers began pointing guns at the tourists. Thinking they were about to die, the threesome turned to each other and "we just said we loved each other,? Jennifer Wolfrom said.
But one of their captors instead fired a shot over their head and made some demands.
?They basically said, ?We'll let you go if you sign this document that says that you were drinking and you crashed the car into the ditch and that's why your car is so damaged and that's why you have these injuries,?? Jennifer Wolfrom said.
The group signed the document and were taken back to their ransacked vehicle. They eventually met up with police who took them in for medical treatment. The trio received more than 100 stitches between them.
Elizabeth Power, the consul general for the U.S. embassy in Lima, Peru, expressed surprise over the attack.
?We have not seen anything like this in Peru before. This appears to be a very isolated incident,? she said.
The mayor who oversees the Peruvian village where the attack took place insisted to NBC that the events stem from a misunderstanding. He said the villagers thought the Americans were delinquents, but couldn?t explain why the residents responded so violently. He said the event is being investigated.
Meanwhile, Peruvian tourism officials have met with the Wolfroms to apologize.
?We really sorry and surprised because this is not common at all?here in Peru," said Andrea Martinez, the country?s tourism deputy director. ?We hope this won?t happen again.?
More:?Prince Harry: Killing Taliban was a 'job that needed to be done'?
Rossen: Webcam hackers can spy on you in secret?
Readers sue Lance Armstrong for drug-use denials in books?
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Check out Dana White's video blog, and ponder that he had to turn all of his waterfalls on so the pipes at his house wouldn't burst. Don't they insulate pipes in Las Vegas? Also, notice which fighter he doesn't say hello to before the UFC on Fox 6 press conference.
Enjoy, and don't forget to follow Cagewriter on Twitter for the latest from UFC on Fox 6. Today, it's Jon Jones' fan Q and A, and the weigh-ins.
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As Skype becomes more and more integrated with Microsoft's other products, privacy advocates around the world have asked it and its parent company to come clean on how, when and why the widely used?video chatting program?complies with government requests for information.
The request comes in the form of an open letter?Thursday,?addressed to Skype's president and Microsoft's chief privacy officer and general counsel, and ?is?signed by dozens of?organizations, including?the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Digital Rights Foundation.
People all over the world use Skype, including not just distant friends and family members, but journalists and activists for whom the secure and private chat platform is indispensable, the organizations say. And since Skype's takeover, there hasn't been a clear line on whether the service would remain that way.
Since 2011, when Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion, there have been relatively few bugs and breaches in the service. But at the same time, no information has been publicized that details what information Skype?collects, how it protects it, and with whom that information is shared.
In the letter, the signers ask for regular reports, like those put out by Google and Twitter, describing requests for information made by the government or private individuals. Details on what information is vulnerable to (or protected from) network providers and hackers are also suggested, and a statement on how Skype plans to cooperate with certain information-collection and wiretapping laws in the U.S. and China.
A Microsoft spokesperson declined to address the questions of the letter specifically, but offered the following statement to NBC News:
We are reviewing the letter. Microsoft has an ongoing commitment to collaborate with advocates, industry partners and governments worldwide to develop solutions and promote effective public policies that help protect people's online safety and privacy.
The letter can be read in its entirety here; references and links are at the bottom of the page.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Danica Patrick's personal life is no longer a secret ? she's dating a fellow driver.
Patrick revealed to The Associated Press she and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are a couple, ending widespread speculation about the nature of their relationship.
"I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard," she said during an exclusive telephone interview with AP.
"I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this," Patrick laughed, sounding almost giddy as she said the two-time Nationwide champion's middle name is Lynn and he prefers she use his first name.
The couple waited until the end of Charlotte Motor Speedway's weeklong annual media tour to go public with their relationship, which started as a friendship as they raced each other the last two seasons in the Nationwide Series. Stenhouse became a mentor of sorts to the 30-year-old Patrick, who left IndyCar after the 2011 season to make the full-time switch to NASCAR.
"We are dating, and I know there's been a bit of a runaround this week at the media days and poor Ricky got grilled (with questions)," she said. "It was out of respect to NASCAR, to all the manufacturers, the new cars, the teams, the sponsors, just to allow the news of the day to be about racing and not let anything interfere with that. So, it's Friday now, so that's why we waited until the end of the week to be up front about each other."
Stenhouse confirmed the relationship.
"Yes we are dating," he said. "I don't normally say too much about my private life, always been focused on the track. I didn't want to confirm at media day so that we could keep the focus on the season, the Gen-6 (car), my sponsors and team. That's what it's all about for me."
Patrick remains one of the most recognizable drivers in auto racing, even if wins have been hard to come by. There was speculation that her appeal with advertisers had waned, but sponsor Go Daddy said Patrick will again appear in the website domain provider's commercials during the Super Bowl next month.
Patrick announced in November she and husband Paul Hospenthal were divorcing after seven years, and said in the Jan. 3 filing that her marriage to the 47-year-old Hospenthal was "irretrievably broken."
Speculation immediately shifted toward her relationship with the 25-year-old Stenhouse, who has never been married. While her policy has always been not to talk about her personal life, Patrick said she made an exception this time to end the gossip and so the two could be open about their relationship.
"I think that moving forward into the year, it's a matter of do you say anything at all, or do you just carry on?" she said. "As opposed to speculation and people making up their own stories or talking amongst themselves or us feeling uncomfortable walking into each other's (motorhomes) moving forward, or around our teams or anything, it's just easier to be up front and get it out of the way then to have any kind of awkward speculation."
Stenhouse was asked during the media tour's stop at Roush Fenway Racing if he was dating Patrick. He dodged the question, saying "we've got a great relationship" and then turned attention back to racing.
The subject will be hard for the two to avoid as they compete against each other this season for rookie of the year honors in NASCAR's top Sprint Cup Series. Both are moving up from the second-tier Nationwide Series at the same time.
Patrick said she won't race Stenhouse any differently.
"Obviously, we've been racing together for a couple years now, him and I have always gotten along, we've always had a lot of respect for each other on the track, there's never been an issue out there," she said. "I always say I'll race people how they race me until they do something to make me change my mind. I don't anticipate that changing at all, or us having any issues on the track."
Stenhouse echoed that attitude.
"It won't affect how I race on the track. I want to go out and win, I race everyone hard," he said.
Patrick rocketed to worldwide prominence when she challenged for the Indy 500 win as a rookie, becoming the first woman to lead laps while finishing fourth in 2005. She finished a career-best third in 2009. She began dabbling in NASCAR in 2010 in the Nationwide Series, and moved full-time last year leaving IndyCar and the 500 behind.
Patrick has struggled in stock cars, notching just seven top-10s in 58 Nationwide races since 2010. Still, she was voted by fans the series' most popular driver last year.
In the Sprint Cup Series, where she'll drive this season for Stewart-Haas Racing, team co-owner Tony Stewart handpicked 10 of the hardest tracks for Patrick last season to force her to learn on the fly in preparation for this year. Her average finish in the 10 races was 28th and her best finish was 17th in her season finale at Phoenix.
Stenhouse has won eight races over the last two seasons to become the first driver since Martin Truex Jr. in 2004-05 to win consecutive Nationwide titles. He was promoted this year by Roush Fenway to the Cup Series to replace 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-danica-says-shes-dating-stenhouse-113138371--spt.html
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TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Thursday in choppy trade, as positive Chinese manufacturing data was eclipsed by North Korea threatening a nuclear test and on below-view results from Apple Inc .
"Markets see a global economic recovery trend but there is no consensus on the strength of growth, capping many markets. Equities have been clearly benefiting from accommodative monetary conditions," said Koichiro Kamei, managing director at financial research firm Market Strategy Institute.
China's HSBC flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 51.9 in January to a two-year high, signaling a rebound in manufacturing activity and confirming a recovery in the world's second largest economy was on track.
However, while the data briefly spurred markets higher, geopolitical uncertainty on the Korean peninsula and Apple's disappointing earnings dented overall demand.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was down 0.4 percent after rising as much as 0.2 percent earlier. The index briefly touched a fresh 17-1/2-month high the day before, exposing many bourses to profit taking pressures ahead of the regional earnings season set to start in earnest later this month.
The pan-Asia index's technology sector <.miapjit00pus> and the region's Apple suppliers fell after the world's largest technology company missed revenue forecast for the third straight quarter after iPhone sales undershot expectations, sending its shares down over 10 percent in after-hours trading.
A sharp drop in Apple's component suppliers such as South Korea's LG Display and Taiwan's Hon Hai dragged South Korean shares <.ks11> down 0.9 percent and Taiwan stocks <.twii> down 0.6 percent.
China shares <.ssec> surrendered strong early gains, weighing on Hong Kong <.hsi>, after North Korea said it would carry out a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy".
Bucking the trend, Australian shares rose 0.5 percent <.axjo> to a fresh 21-month high after reversing morning losses after the data from China, Australia's top export market.
The data also helped push Japan's Nikkei stock average <.n225> up 1.3 percent, as firms with high exposure to the Chinese economy notching up gains. Most Japanese suppliers to Apple also recouped earlier losses.
"The underlying tone is still bullish, so even bad news about Apple or whatever doesn't hit stocks too hard," said Masato Futoi, head of cash equity trading at Tokai Tokyo Securities, adding that three days of losses spurred dip-buying. <.t/>
European markets are seen easing, with financial spread-betters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> would open down as much as 0.1 percent. U.S. stock futures were down 0.3 percent, pointing to a softer Wall Street start. <.l><.eu><.n/>
YEN BUYING HALTED
The two-day yen buying spree came to a pause. The currency's recent rebound came after the Bank of Japan's latest policy easing steps on Tuesday failed to provide immediate stimulus as expected by some investors. The BOJ pledged to achieve a 2 percent inflation target and promised to start open-ended asset buying from 2014.
The dollar rose 0.8 percent to 89.33 yen while the euro also advanced 0.8 percent to 118.93 yen. The yen is still down 12 percent from its mid-November levels, when markets began pricing in strong monetary accommodation from the BOJ.
Many market players believe the yen's weakness will persist due to widespread expectations the BOJ will continue pursuing aggressive monetary easing policies to beat the country's stubborn deflation.
"I think we will struggle to break 91, but I will still keep looking for us to trade above 90 in the short-term," said Jesper Bargmann, Asia head of G11 spot FX for RBS in Singapore, referring to the outlook for the dollar versus the yen over the next week or so.
Data on Thursday confirming a deteriorating Japanese trade balance also encouraged yen selling, traders said. Japan logged a record annual trade deficit in 2012.
Investors were aalso reminded of the challenges facing the global economy on Wednesday when the International Monetary Fund predicted that an unexpectedly stubborn euro zone recession and weakness in Japan will hurt world growth. A Reuters poll also showed Asian economies will see weaker growth this year despite expected policy easing by central banks.
U.S. crude rose 0.4 percent at $95.57 a barrel while Brent steadied at $112.78.
London copper was down 0.3 percent at $8.076 a tonne and spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,678.81 an ounce, slipping from a recent one-month high.
(Additional reporting by Sophie Knight in Tokyo and Masayuki Kitano in Singapore; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-recover-improved-china-pmi-044816888--finance.html
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Reports concerning an Irish county council's proposal to allow rural inhabitants to drive after drinking have been greatly exaggerated.
Reported around the globe as a license to drive drunk, an Irish council's motion to permit rural pub-goers to get behind the wheel not only lacks force of law, it's also a slightly odd solution to a serious issue.
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It's not often that a vote by five county councilors in rural west Ireland makes headline news, but Danny Healy-Rae managed it this week when he and four colleagues passed a motion to allow drinkers to drive home ? albeit at a severely restricted speed and only on barely-used backroads.
The political response? The same as that of the Irish public: bafflement and embarrassment.
Leo Varadkar, minister for transport, said he disagreed with the council's motion and stressed the affect of the story spreading across the globe. "It doesn't really send out a good message internationally about Ireland," he said.
One fact that has barely been reported in the scramble to play-up rural Irish alcoholic clich?s: It's not going to happen. As a county council motion, the proposal has no legal status.
Irish people are keenly aware of the country's drink-sodden image, with many feeling Mr. Healy-Rae's motion plays to outdated prejudices about the country.
The move may not seem so out of the blue as it first sounds, though. Not quite, anyway.
Healy-Rae proposed the motion as a response to isolation in rural areas, particularly among the elderly and would help to counter "depression and suicide." He said permits could be issued allowing holders to have "two or three drinks" and then still drive home.
"They're traveling on very minor roads, often on tractors, with very little traffic and it's not right they're being treated the same as the rest of the traveling public and they have never killed anyone," he said.?"The only outlet they have then is to take home a bottle of whiskey," he says, "and they're falling into depression, and suicide for some of them is the sad way out."
To be sure, pubs in country areas of Ireland are at the center of community life and are more than just drinking dens, which is something even the motion's critics acknowledge. And going to the pub and drinking nonalcoholic drinks is already an option, as is the option of hiring a bus.
Healy-Rae is a member of a colorful County Kerry political dynasty known for rural populism ? and occasional support for strange causes including, most recently, removing the number 13 from vehicle license plates.
He is also a pub owner ? as are three more of the total five councilors who supported the idea. Three voted against the idea, seven abstained, and 12 were absent from the meeting.
Despite widespread criticism, the motion has attracted some support. Independent Galway councilor Michael Fahy says he will raise the idea at the next council meeting.
The chances of the government agreeing to the idea? Less than the amount of alcohol in a glass of tap water. The country has worked hard in recent decades to reduce road deaths, both by upgrading the road network and by stricter enforcement of the rules of the road.
Ireland's road death rate hit an all-time low in 2012, with 161 lives lost, 25 fewer than the previous year. It is has the sixth lowest road death rate the in EU.
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Jan. 23, 2013 ? New research suggests that lowering excessive levels of a protein in immune system cells could be a strategy to clear an infection that is deadly to patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).
Researchers determined that normalizing levels of the protein, called p62, in cells from mice carrying the most common mutation that causes CF will jump-start a natural cellular process that clears away the offending bacteria.
The scientists had previously determined that in cells from mice and humans carrying the CF mutation, the bacteria that cause this infection interfere with an important survival process in immune system cells; they also attributed this interference to elevated levels of p62.
The survival process, called autophagy, allows a cell to digest parts of itself to produce energy when it is experiencing starvation. In many infections, autophagy also helps digest pathogens and clear them away.
The bacterium, Burkholderia cenocepacia, causes a severe and persistent lung infection in patients with CF and is resistant to nearly all known antibiotics. Various types of chronic lung infection are responsible for about 85 percent of deaths in CF patients.
"Autophagy also controls inflammation, so when you decrease p62 levels in a CF mouse model and that improves autophagy, you are controlling inflammation produced by Burkholderia cenocepacia. And that's what we are trying to do for patients -- save them from inflammation," said Amal Amer, associate professor of microbial infection and immunity and internal medicine at Ohio State University and senior author of the study.
While relatively rare, B. cenocepacia infection is highly transmissible in patients with cystic fibrosis. By causing either severe sepsis or massive inflammation that damages lung tissue, the infection amounts to a death sentence for CF patients.
To lower p62 levels, the researchers introduced a small interfering RNA molecule, or siRNA, to silence a specific gene and reduce the protein's activation. Amer plans to next test this protein-lowering technique in mice that are models for cystic fibrosis. Designing a similar strategy in humans would require many years of additional study, she noted.
The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The cells that can use autophagy to clear infection are macrophages, which are first responders in the immune system that consume offending pathogens.
In previous work, Amer and former Ohio State doctoral student Basant Abdulrahman showed that in macrophages isolated from both mice and humans that carried the most common CF mutation, the bacterium would invade the macrophage and thrive instead of being digested and cleared away as it was in cells without the mutation.
The research group showed that rapamycin, an existing drug known to stimulate autophagy, helped control B. cenocepacia infection in mice that serve as a model for cystic fibrosis.
"Rapamycin worked well as a proof of concept, but it has so many side effects that it's hard to imagine giving it to small children with CF for an extended period of time. That's why we looked for another method," said Amer, also an investigator in Ohio State's Center for Microbial Interface Biology (CMIB).
For this study, the researchers conducted experiments in macrophage cells derived from mice carrying the CF mutation and compared them to macrophages from normal, healthy mice.
The researchers observed in macrophages with the mutation that when p62 is elevated, other cell components clump together, causing disruption to the autophagy process.
"p62 is a sticky protein, so high levels of it lead to the formation of aggregates. Once we get rid of that sticky protein -- the glue -- these protein aggregates will be able to go where they are supposed to go and allow the autophagy process to work properly," Amer said.
Abdulrahman observed that in cells with the CF mutation, a key molecule gets caught up in those clumps. This molecule, beclin1, has a critical autophagy job, essentially escorting foreign particles to the cell parts that digest them and clear them away.
"Our hypothesis was that if we downregulate p62, this will release beclin1 from the aggregates. Once it's available, we will have active autophagic machinery that is able to control the infection," said Abdulrahman, first author on the paper.
In contrast, lowering p62 in macrophages from normal mice allowed the B. cenocepacia bacteria to grow. This confirmed that p62 actually controls the infection in cells from healthy animals but has the opposite effect when the CF mutation is present, she said.
This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health, Cystic Fibrosis Canada and an Egyptian Bureau of Education fellowship.
Additional co-authors are Arwa Abu Khweek, Kyle Caution, Mia Tazi, Hoda Hassan, Yucheng Zhang; Sankalp Malhotra and Patrick Rowland of the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, Department of Internal Medicine and CMIB; and Famke Aeffner and Ian Davis of the Medical Scientist Training Program and Department of Veterinary Biosciences, all at Ohio State; and Miguel Valvano of the University of Western Ontario and Queen's University.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Emily Caldwell.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/nXyOa3KHrek/130123114226.htm
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Jan. 13, 2013 ? Researchers at McGill University and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have discovered the molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein. This key protein enables the human immune system to detect viruses and prevent infection by acting as foot soldiers guarding the body against infection. They recognize foreign viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) produced by the virus and act as defender molecules by potentially latching onto the genome of the virus and preventing it from making copies of itself, blocking infection. The findings are a promising step towards developing new drugs for combatting a wide range of immune system disorders.
The discovery was made by teams led by Bhushan Nagar, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill's Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Giulio Superti-Furga at the CeMM. Building on the 2011 CeMM discovery by Dr. Andreas Pichlmair that IFIT proteins unexpectedly interact directly with the viral RNA to inhibit its replication, the group's latest discovery reveals the molecular mechanism behind how IFIT proteins capture only the viral RNA and distinguishes it from normal molecules belonging to the host. Their research will be published on January 13 in the journal Nature.
"Infection by pathogens such as viruses and bacteria are caught by a layer of the immune system that consists of guard-like proteins constantly on the lookout for foreign molecules derived from the pathogen," explains Prof. Nagar. "Once the pathogen is detected, a rapid response by the host cell is elicited, which includes the production of an array of defender molecules that work together to block and remove the infection. The IFIT proteins are key members of these defender molecules."
When a virus enters a cell, it can generate foreign molecules such as RNA with three phosphate groups (triphosphate) exposed at one end, in order to replicate itself. Triphosphorylated RNA is what distinguishes viral RNA from the RNA found in the human host. During this time, the receptors of the innate immune system are usually able to detect the foreign molecules from the virus and turn on signaling cascades in the cell that leads to the switching on of an antiviral program, both within the infected and nearby uninfected cells. Hundreds of different proteins are produced as part of this anti-viral program, which work in concert to resist the viral infection.
In the Nagar lab, McGill graduate student Yazan Abbas used an arsenal of biophysical techniques, most notably X-ray crystallography, to capture the IFIT protein directly in the act of recognizing the foreign RNA. The work shed light on the interaction between IFITs and RNAs. The researchers determined that IFIT proteins have evolved a specific binding pocket, chemically compatible and big enough to fit only the triphoshorylated end of the viral RNA. Human RNA is not able to tightly interact with this pocket, thereby circumventing autoimmune reactions.
"Once the IFIT protein clamps down on the viral RNA, the RNA is then presumably prevented from being used by the virus for its own replication," says Superti-Furga, "Since many viruses, such as influenza and rabies, rely on triphosphate RNA for their lifecycle, these results have widespread implications in understanding how our cells interact with viruses and combat them."
This work could help advance the development of new drugs for combating a wide array of immune system disorders. "Our findings will be useful for the development of novel drugs directed at IFIT proteins, particularly in cases where it is necessary to dampen the immune response, such as inflammation or cancer therapy," says Nagar.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/BPAZ73rnvcA/130113144927.htm
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Neither Treasury nor Federal Reserve believes its legal to use platinum coins to avoid debt-limit increase, Treasury spokesman says. With $1 trillion platinum coin out, administration ponders other debt-limit strategies.
The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing building, which falls under the U.S. Treasury Department, is seen in Washington in this 2012 file photo. A Treasury spokesman says law cannot and should not be used to produce platinum coins to avoid bumping against the debt limit.
Gary Cameron/Reuters/File
EnlargeEzra Klein?reports an official statement from Anthony Coley, a Treasury spokesperson, killing the platinum coin strategy:
Skip to next paragraph Donald MarronDonald B. Marron is director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. He previously served as a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and as acting director of the Congressional Budget Office.
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?Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit.?
So R.I.P. platinum coins of ?unusual size.
The administration has previously ruled out another oft-discussed debt-limit safety valve, overriding the limit based on the 14th amendment. So ?Plan B? discussions will now move to two other alternatives that have been bandied about: prioritizing payments or, as?Ed Kleinbard suggested the other day, issuing scrip like California did a couple years ago. Of course, issuing scrip *is* prioritizing payments, but with the added feature (or complication) of a written, transferable IOU.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on dmarron.com.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/pDwXw2G-1c4/Treasury-nixes-1-trillion-platinum-coin
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KING5.com
Posted on January 8, 2013 at 10:48 AM
Updated Tuesday, Jan 8 at 6:23 PM
SEATTLE ? On Tuesday morning in Boston, Japan Air Lines flight 7, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner,? spilled 40 gallons of fuel onto a taxiway before it could take off.? Maintenance crews at Logan International Airport quickly cleaned it up. ?
KING 5 news has learned the problem involved a leaking refueling valve in the wing,? and the problem was fixed and the plane continued onto Tokyo.
On Monday, the problem was much bigger. JAL flight 8, another 787 inbound from Tokyo to Boston, caught fire 15 minutes after the passengers and crew got off.
?? ?
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board was busy inspecting the rear electrical bay behind the wing, where the lithium ion battery involved in yesterday?s fire was stored.? A photo released by the safety agency showed investigator Robert Swaim inspecting the area,? showing fairly limited smoke damage to the floor where the battery is secured, and nearby electrical racks holding other equipment.?? When firefighters arrived on the scene Monday, smoke could be seen pouring out of the rear baggage hold door.
? ?
But the NTSB says the battery, which works in conjunction with the auxiliary power unit, which keeps the planes electrical system functioning while at the gate, was severely damaged.
? ?
The NTSB is now sending in additional investigators to look at ?airworthiness and fire and emergency response.? ?
Boeing has a small team, and the Japan Transport Safety Board has a representative.? The cause of the fire has not been determined, but right now the battery is where the investigation is focused.
?
Source: http://www.king5.com/news/cities/everett/Japan-Airlines-787-fuel-at-Boston-airport-186053282.html
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San Francisco, CA, January 11, 2013 --( PR.com )-- Ampush is pleased to announce the recent hiring of Mark Weiler as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Geoff Shenk as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Ampush, founded in 2009, is a social...
San Francisco, CA, January 11, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Ampush is pleased to announce the recent hiring of Mark Weiler as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Geoff Shenk as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Ampush, founded in 2009, is a social technology company that helps brands and agencies advertise on Facebook. These new additions mark Ampush?s first C-level hires and the company expects both to be key contributors in continuing to drive Ampush forward during a period of expansion and investment.
Mark Weiler, Ampush?s new CTO, is a seasoned, results-driven technology executive who brings to the company over 20 years of experience using software to solve problems. He was most recently the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations at MyBuys, a ?big data? company recognized by Internet Retailer as the Top Personalization Vendor between 2010 and 2012. Prior to MyBuys, Mark was VP Engineering at NorthStar Systems where he was part of the founding team responsible for the first several versions of the company?s leading Wealth and Asset Management solutions. He managed the B2B Channels team at Extricity and developed several pioneering products at Microsoft including the Exchange Server and LAN Manager.
Mark will provide technical and visionary leadership to the Ampush Engineering team and drive the architecture, design, and implementation of all products going forward. ?I'm excited about joining the team at Ampush as everyone is client focused, analytically-oriented and experienced in optimizing real-time data. That background, mixed with our talented, innovative and nimble engineering team is a powerful combination to bring to the table in the evolving social targeting marketplace,? explains Mark. ?I'm especially enthusiastic about how Ampush will be leveraging Open Graph with authenticated identity and declarative consumer actions and interests to catalyze the adoption of social."
Geoff Shenk, joining as CRO, brings Ampush over 15 years of experience in digital media, including social media marketing, search engine marketing, and analytics. Prior to Ampush, Geoff helped launch premier search engine marketing platforms at Kenshoo, where he was Managing Director and Chief Evangelist of Kenshoo North America, as well as DoubleClick, where he helped launch the DART search product. Geoff has also held senior positions at Google and Walt Disney Internet Group.
?I?ve been impressed watching Ampush take their performance-marketing experience and pivoting to a pure social play, leveraging service and technology for the social sphere,? says Geoff. ?I chose Ampush because they came to the Facebook advertising space early and operate with high integrity, always working to achieve the maximum value for clients.?
Geoff is a respected thought leader with a broad understanding of global technology markets. He often presents at media events and is a guest lecturer at Berkeley?s HAAS School of Business. Since 2009, he has held the position of Chairman North America of SEMPO, a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry.
?Each Mark and Geoff brings invaluable experience to Ampush during our time of growth,? shared Jesse Pujji, CEO and Co-Founder of Ampush. ?We are excited to have them join our leadership team as our new technology and business development experts.?
About Ampush:
Ampush is a social technology company helping enterprises leverage the social graph for marketing success. An early member of Facebook?s Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program, Ampush drives billions of social ad impressions per month for large-scale brand marketers and agency partners across a range of verticals including technology, financial services, gaming, retail, travel, and consumer packaged goods.
Contact Information:
Ampush
Meghan Prober
415-342-6076
Contact via Email
www.ampush.com
Click here to read the full story: Facebook Advertising Startup Ampush Welcomes New CTO and CRO
Press Release Distributed by PR.com
Source: http://news.brothersoft.com/facebook-advertising-startup-ampush-welcomes-new-cto-and-cro-63164.html
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An Israeli ultra-orthodox Jewish man walks past an election campaign billboard of Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. A strikingly apocalyptic tone has emerged in Israel's hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others desperately warning that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily favored right wing might actually destroy the Jewish state. The idea is that by holding onto the lands Palestinians want for their state -- avoiding negotiations and continuing to sill them with Jewish settlers -- the Israeli right is marching blindly toward a future in which Arabs could outnumber Jews in the country and ultimately take over. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
An Israeli ultra-orthodox Jewish man walks past an election campaign billboard of Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. A strikingly apocalyptic tone has emerged in Israel's hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others desperately warning that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily favored right wing might actually destroy the Jewish state. The idea is that by holding onto the lands Palestinians want for their state -- avoiding negotiations and continuing to sill them with Jewish settlers -- the Israeli right is marching blindly toward a future in which Arabs could outnumber Jews in the country and ultimately take over. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
FILE In this Jan. 8, 2013 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the electronic accelerator lab in the Ariel University Center which had recently been formally upgraded to university status, becoming the first university in the West Bank Jewish settlements. A strikingly apocalyptic tone has emerged in Israel's hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others desperately warning that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily favored right wing might actually destroy the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, Pool, File)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? An apocalyptic tone has crept into Israel's hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others sounding increasingly desperate warnings that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily favored right wing might well destroy the Jewish state.
The idea is that by holding onto the lands Palestinians want for their state ? and continuing to settle them with Jews ? the Israeli right is marching blindly toward a future in which Arabs could outnumber Jews in the country and ultimately take over.
Perhaps the most strident proponent of this message is former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who four years ago led peace talks with the Palestinians and recently founded a new party whose primary message is that the Zionist project is in danger. "Netanyahu is leading us toward the end of the Jewish state," she said in a statement Friday. "Israelis must choose between extremism and Zionism. Israel is in great danger and everyone must wake up now."
Outgoing opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, a former military chief and defense minister, warns at campaign appearances that Arabs will soon outnumber Jews in the Holy Land and the main strategic priority must be to partition the land to prevent the emergence of a "binational state." Leaders of the main center-left Labor Party say much the same.
Netanyahu's majority depends on his Likud party in coalition with other nationalist and religious groups known as the "right." Despite all its bewildering complications, the political spectrum ultimately resembles something of a two-party system.
The prime minister and his supporters have argued that Israel must not act in haste and many on the right stridently oppose any territorial concessions on the lands Israel captured in 1967 ? the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinians want to set up their state.
The author Amos Oz, who has long been viewed as an oracle of sorts in Israel, called the governing coalition "the most anti-Zionist in the history of Israel" for ignoring the demographic issue.
"If there will not be two states here, neither will it (even) be a binational state ? it will be an Arab state," he was quoted by Haaretz as saying on Friday. "They believe Jews can rule an Arab majority (but) no apartheid nation in the world survived without collapsing in a few years."
Netanyahu himself has at times conceded the logic of the argument: Israel proper has 6 million Jews living alongside almost 2 million Arab citizens; with the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza thrown into the mix, the populations divide about evenly and the Arab birthrate is higher. Hence, if Israel insists on ruling the entire Holy Land, Jews will be in the minority.
Even as the tipping point approaches, Israel continues to add to the Jewish settler population in the West Bank, which together with the Israelis who live in adjacent east Jerusalem now number a half million. Israelis on the left fret that too many settlers will make a partition impossible in a few years. Under this narrative, partition is not an Israeli "concession," which must await Palestinian promises of peace ? but rather a life-saving surgery for the Zionist enterprise.
The demographic message resonates with many Jewish Israelis who ? like the founding fathers of Zionism a century ago ? view themselves as an ethnic group and consider Israel its nation-state. And it seems widely supported among the country's secular elites ? in academia, the business world, major media organizations and even in the senior echelons of the security establishment.
Israel's security chiefs must generally clam up while in office, but outbursts by the recently retired have been striking: Yuval Diskin, who headed the Shin Bet security police, excoriated Netanyahu for missing a chance to pursue peace with the moderate Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas; Meir Dagan, who headed the Mossad spy agency, has portrayed the premier as a dangerous adventurer who might drag Israel into war with Iran; and former military chief Gabi Ashkenazi was so widely touted as a leader-in-waiting for the left that a law was passed freezing security officials out of politics for just long enough to keep him out of the current election season.
In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Diskin warned that the current lull in Palestinian violence was in danger because it depends on the Palestinian Authority's security cooperation with Israel ? and Palestinian leaders "will not be able to be seen over time as the protectors of the Israeli interests while Israel, from their perspective, every day steals more lands, builds more (Jewish) settlements, and pushes away their dream of a state, chopping up the territory into parts that it will be very difficult to connect."
"I don't know whether it is possible to achieve peace, but with these moves we are certainly diminishing even the small chance that is left," Diskin said.
Yaron Ezrahi, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said it was "not surprising that in Israel the officers are more moderate ... as men of war who lost (friends) they become pragmatists because they all sense very clearly the limitations of power." But he warned that the broad support of a country's elites for a given political argument would not necessarily translate into a persuasion of the masses.
Indeed, most polls show the right-wing bloc led by Likud as likely to win perhaps 65 of the 120 seats, enough to keep Netanyahu in power ? even though studies suggest most Israelis would support a formal two-state solution if one were offered.
There are several reasons that account for this contradiction and compel so many Israelis to put the demographic issue aside.
First, Israel pulled out of the tiny but crowded Gaza Strip in 2005, removing all settlers and soldiers and cutting off its almost 2 million people from Israel with a fence. Thus many Israelis feel they won some "demographic time" and dumped the troublesome territory ? yet the Palestinians see Gaza as linked to the West Bank and they consider it still occupied because Israel controls air and sea access to it.
Second, the vast majority of West Bank Palestinians live in autonomous zones set up in negotiations during the 1990s. There the Palestinian Authority enjoys a measure of self-rule, with its own services to citizens, its own police and various trappings of quasi-statehood ? enabling Israelis to view this population as not exactly under occupation and already somewhat separated from Israel. They note that Israel has not formally annexed the West Bank, the implication being that even though the territory has Jewish settlers who can vote in Israeli elections ? it is not Israel.
But the reality is messy: dozens of islands of autonomy surrounded on all sides by the 60 percent of the West Bank still fully controlled by Israel, with Jewish settlements dotting the territory and Israel controlling Palestinians' movements between the zones and into and out of the West Bank. With the settlements in place, a reasonable-looking map is already difficult to envision.
Perhaps most damaging for the left, Israelis appear to have lost faith that the lands can be traded for peace, because even when their leaders proposed what they considered far-reaching offers no deal was reached. That happened under Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2001, and again when the government of Ehud Olmert proposed a state on almost all the Palestinian territories in 2008.
One poll conducted several weeks ago showed 60 percent of Israeli Jews support a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians ? but 67 percent believe that "no matter which parties prevail, the peace process with the Palestinians will remain at a standstill for reasons not connected to Israel." The poll of 601 people had a 4.5 percent margin of error.
Some ? like columnist Elia Leibowitz ? argue for a unilateral pullout from at least part of the territory, if a deal is unattainable. "The fateful question now facing Israel is Hamlet's: To be or not to be," Leibowitz wrote in Haaretz. "The option of Israel 'being' exists only if it withdraws from all the occupied territories."
But the unilateral model has been discredited in the eyes of many by the example of Gaza where the Israeli handover was followed by a takeover by the Islamic militant group Hamas and years of cross-border rocket barrages.
"As opposed to the voices that I have heard recently urging me to run forward, make concessions (and) withdraw, I think that the diplomatic process must be managed responsibly and sagaciously and not in undue haste," Netanyahu said last week. He notes that he has offered peace talks but the Palestinians insist on a settlement freeze, which is politically difficult for a right-wing government.
The sense that they have run out of options ? and yet that something has to give ? has some on the left predicting the world will step in.
"Maybe we need to hit rock bottom, to be on the verge of international sanctions or a (foreign) military intervention before change can happen," said Liora Norwich, a 30-year-old in a Tel Aviv cafe, concluding that in this sense a Netanyahu victory could be for the best.
And critically, the demographic argument alienates the Israeli Arabs who are crucial to any hopes of assembling a majority in the electorate against the right. Unlike the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, they are citizens of Israel who can vote. But about half don't bother ? a much lower participation level than that of the Jews ? greatly diminishing the chances of the left to prevail.
Among that group as well, the idea that a separation is no longer possible is increasingly heard.
"Every day that passes, with the expansion of settlements ... closes the window of opportunity and sends people thinking about another option: the one-state solution," prominent Arab legislator Ahmed Tibi said.
Contemplating such as Arab-majority state, Tibi added: "That's probably the only option in which I will be prime minister."
___
Dan Perry has reported on the Middle East for two decades and currently leads AP's coverage in the region. Follow him on www.twitter.com/perry_dan . Associated Press writer Ariel David in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
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NETGEAR BRINGS LIVE TV TO NEOTV STREAMING PLAYERS
WITH SLINGPLAYER
Addition of SlingPlayer to NeoTV means you can extend your living room TV viewing experience to any TV in your home
LAS VEGAS ? January 7, 2013 ? NETGEAR?, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR),
(www.netgear.com), a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, announced today at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES?) the addition of Sling Media's SlingPlayer? to the NETGEAR line of NeoTV Streaming? Players. SlingPlayer software ensures that you will never miss your favorite programming by extending the live TV experience to any TV enabled by a NeoTV Streaming Player, whether NeoTV (NTV300), NeoTV PRO (NTV300S), NeoTV MAX (NTV300SL) or the just-announced NeoTV PRIME with Google TV? (GTV100).
With the combination of a NETGEAR NeoTV Streaming Player and a Slingbox?, you can now easily enjoy streaming of your favorite live TV shows, sporting events, recorded programming and even premium movies on any TV using your Internet connection. The living room TV experience can now be extended to a second or third TV and even remotely to a TV outside of your home using SlingPlayer on a NeoTV, without having to lease additional set-top boxes from your cable or satellite service provider.
In addition to SlingPlayer, NETGEAR has also added TuneIn Radio and ShopNBC to a growing list of hundreds of existing NeoTV streaming channels including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Pandora, Rhapsody, YouTube, Intel? Wireless Display (WiDi) and many more. TuneIn Radio offers streaming music, sports and news from every corner of the earth, with over 70,000 radio stations and 2 million on-demand programs, while the ShopNBC channel gives you access to live streaming feeds from one of the most popular home shopping networks. Another enhancement to the international content available via NeoTV is WKNTV, which offers Korean programs that include both live streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) content.
"The line between broadcast live TV and broadband streaming continues to narrow," said Damir Skripic, product line manager for connected entertainment at NETGEAR. "With the addition of SlingPlayer, Slingbox owners can now use their Internet connection to stream live or recorded TV programming to NeoTV Streaming Players connected to any TVs at home or even remotely."
NeoTV Streaming Player (NTV300) is a simple-to-use device that's an ideal solution for streaming thousands of movies, TV shows or songs to TVs in full 1080p HD and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. In addition to all core NeoTV features, NeoTV PRO (NTV300S) also offers Intel? WiDi, giving consumers the ability to wirelessly display their compatible laptop screens on their TVs at up to 1080p full-HD resolution. Building on the features of NeoTV PRO, NeoTV MAX (NTV300SL) extends the home theater experience a step further by offering a two-sided remote control with a full keyboard, and giving you the ability to play your personal media files from a range of external devices, including USB hard disk drives, USB thumb drives, and DLNA Certified? media servers. NeoTV MAX is an honoree in the 2013 CES? Innovations for Design and Engineering Awards program.
Pricing and Availability
The entire NETGEAR NeoTV Streaming Player line is available now in the United States from major retailers in stores and online. The suggested retail price of NeoTV Streaming Player (NTV300) is USD $49.99; NeoTV PRO Streaming Player (NTV300S) is USD $59.99; and NeoTV MAX Streaming Player (NTV300SL) has a suggested retail price of USD $69.99.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/netgear-adds-channels-to-neotv-lineup/
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Risk mitigation has become a common buzz-phrase? thrown around offices; it?s up there with ?synergy?, ?cross-departmental
Andrew Bulmer
problem-solving?, and ?paradigm-shifting?.?Enterprise risk management:?what does it really mean?
Budgeting, forecasting, and company-planning revolve around our ability to accurately predict market reactions. Will our current products continue to do well next year? Can we expect the same kind of success with our new product lines? What about our competitors?
Even the most successful companies can?t predict all market variables and thus enters the need for enterprise risk management strategies, to reduce the negative effects of unforeseen circumstances.
Enterprise risks can come in a number of forms. However let?s focus our attentions on one particular area of risk, inventory management and turnover.
The concept of supply and demand is old as business itself, and although computer simulations, complex algorithms, and the brightest analytical minds on the planet have become incredibly accurate at predicting demand, no method is 100%.
A current example could be the recent NHL lockout. Perhaps there were signs in the summer that there could be a lockout, but none of the hockey merchandise retailers could have predicted that there would be such an extended lockout months ago when they were ordering their inventory for this year. Now those retailers are stuck with storerooms of inventory that is hard to sell.
So what?s a business to do? For manufacturers, having just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is one way to ensure that only the needed amount of product to meet the current demand is created at any given time. Although this can be a complicated process, those companies that have successful applied this type of manufacturing avoid unnecessary spoilage and holding costs associated with incorrectly predicting demand.
Dell is a great example of a company that revolutionized the way tech companies manufacture products. A problem inherent in the technology sector is high inventory turnover rates. Within months of a product hitting the market something newer, faster, or more advanced emerges. Dell had been able avoid its products becoming outdated by only building a computer once it?s been order by a consumer.
Perhaps JIT manufacturing isn?t an option for your company or perhaps your main area of enterprise risk management lies more in the uncertainly involved with launching a new product into the market. You?ve done you market research, you?ve tested in consumer groups, and you?re completed a detailed SWOT analysis. But still, there are risks.
Do you remember Pepsi AM? Me neither. Pepsi had wanted to try to enter the morning caffeine market, selling Pepsi AM as a substitute for coffee. Well, needless to say Pepsi AM failed to win over coffee drinkers, thus showing that even one of the most successful companies in the world can misread the market.
So how else can your company plan for inventory risks that you can?t predict? Consider using Corporate Trade (also known as corporate barter) as a contingency plan. Excess inventory sitting in your warehouse incurs carrying costs and can ultimately spoil, causing you to take a loss on the books. ?Using Corporate Trade is one way you can avoid incurring a loss.
Corporate barter companies like Active International allow you to realize the full market-value of any excess or unwanted stock. Instead of cash, Active will give you Trade Credits for the inventory. Those Trade Credits are then used to offset the cash expense on things like media, freight and logistics, and retail merchandising. Using Corporate Trade allows you some breathing room when making inventory predictions for the next year knowing that excess inventory won?t become a source of worry. This peace of mind allows more room for product and innovation without failure of total financial loss if the new idea doesn?t take.
So if your company?s new product launch doesn?t quite excite the public as you had predicted it would, consider Corporate Trade as a risk mitigation technique to realize the full economic value of your inventory. Your CFO will thank you.
By Andrew Bulmer
SVP and Managing Director
Active International Canada
Be the first to like this.
Source: http://activecanada.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/enterprise-risk-management-through-corporate-trade/
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Activist Faith co-founder, pastor, and author Daniel Darling recently posted a great article on a group called Three Avocados who are changing the world through one of my favorite things?coffee. Read and be inspired as you find your own creative ways to change the world!
-Dillon
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When you think of all the social need in this world?poverty, war, disease, HIV/AIDS, malaria, you?re head spins and you almost give up at the sheer size of the task God has called us to remedy. But one man, Joe Koenig decided to be part of the solution by employing a unique form of activism. He launched Three Avocados Coffee Company, which sells delicious coffee and funds the drilling of wells in Uganda.
I like coffee. I really like digging wells in Uganda. So I asked Joe to stop by for a chat for today?s Friday Five:
What prompted you to start a coffee company?
I went to Uganda in January of 2010 with a mission group from church. Two things happened on this trip. One day, while our bus was stopped, I saw a young man on the side of the road, sitting under a tree with his bicycle. He was exhausted. At that very moment, I realized that I could easily be that young man. I had done nothing to deserve to be born in the United States with so many opportunities in front of me. Just as he had done nothing to deserve to be born into a life of extreme poverty and hardships. I only had what I had by the grace of God. I had been blessed with so much, and it was my duty to do everything I could with what I?d been given to help those in need.
Second, while worshiping with a congregation in the village of Bulopa, literally under a tarp strung across a few sticks in the ground, I saw a poor widow place three avocados in the offering basket. For this woman, those three avocados were virtually everything she had. In Uganda, the pastors are not paid. They travel from village to village and rely on God to provide for them. One way they are provided for is through food given in the offering. This poor widow had given all she had, solely to God and for the benefit of others. It was truly an amazing gift.
With some of the others on the trip, I began kicking around different products that could be produced in Uganda and sold in the United States in order to raise money for projects in Uganda. Upon further research, it became pretty clear to me that coffee was the best choice. It was already produced in large quantities and high quality in Uganda, and since it?s consumable, we had potential to build a repeat customer base.
?
Most people don?t realize that many people groups around the world don?t have access to clean water. How pervasive is the problem?
About 1 billion people do not have access to clean water. And many that do have access have to travel miles to get it. I can honestly say that I had no idea this problem existed until my first trip to Uganda. it?s truly staggering to think that more people do not have access to clean water than live in the United States. I challenge you, for one day, to always walk to the furthest water source in the building when you need water. And then imagine that walk was 4 miles. And that?s not to mention the numerous bacteria and parasites that exist in much of the water these people are forced to drink and to give to their children daily. There are children dying everyday from something as simple as diarrhea, caused by dirty water. The same water they need to consume to live is killing them. It?s such a preventable problem.
How does me in Chicago buying coffee from you in St. Louis help?
The concept behind Three Avocados was simple ? we?re not asking you for new money, we?re simply asking you to redirect money you?re already spending. You?re going to buy coffee anyway, so why not buy coffee that supports a greater cause than paying dividends to shareholders? We use 100% of the profits we generate to provide clean water in Uganda.
What was the biggest challenge in establishing Three Avacados?
It?s a lot harder to sell coffee than you?d think! Seriously, the biggest challenge is getting the word out on a shoestring budget. We are really relying on word of month to help us grow right now. We?re also constantly seeking new retail partners in order to get the coffee in front of more people. Once we get it in front of people, it does very well and people really like the product.
What piece of advice would you give someone who wants to get get active, possibly even start a nonprofit and fight an issue like the lack of drinking water?
I would say that you need to constantly keep your focus on why you?re doing it. It?s easy to get discouraged, or feel like maybe it?s not worth it. For me, I think about the people I met in Uganda that are hard working, but just don?t have as many opportunities as we do here. If you stay persistent, you can make a difference. If you change one life, you?ve changed the world.
I encourage you to go right now and order some delicious coffee from Three?Avocados?and help make a difference.
Originally posted here.
+++
DILLON BURROUGHS is an author, activist, and co-founder of Activist Faith. Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has investigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books include Undefending Christianity, Not in My Town (with Charles J. Powell), and Thirst No More. Discover more at ActivistFaith.org.
Source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/activistfaith/2013/01/drinking-coffee-to-change-the-world-3.html
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