Ready To Grow Your Company Online? Try These Great Internet ...

It may seem relatively easy to jump in with Internet marketing without researching, but it?s vital that you understand the way to do it right. Look through the contents of this article to learn a thing or two.

Complement your online marketing campaign with direct marketing techniques. You could call, email or send a fax to your customers to advertise a special offer. You may find their contact information in the phone book or online, but it?s even better if they have trusted you with their numbers so they will not feel like you are spamming them.

TIP! Always pay attention to your competitors to be successful in an internet business. Check out what other businesses are doing, and see what improvements they need to make.

Hosting an section on your site where people can create reviews is a powerful marketing tool. User reviews can help boost sales as well as increase your online presence.

An Internet marketing trick everyone should know, is to give people the choice of paying wholesale or retail, according to how much they buy. You should still be making a profit on wholesale items you sell but this is a great way to increase the amount of product you sell.

Design your emails so that they create a sense of urgency to act in your customers. These actions could be anything from visiting your website to purchasing a product from you. Since you can track these actions, you will be able to see how effective your marketing efforts are.

TIP! Use tools that can determine how many of your visitors become paying customers so that you can see if your marketing efforts are working. There are a variety of companies that offer website evaluations and reporting.

Never simply give up on an approach if it does not immediately produce the desired results. A niche that did not spark then, might now! The Internet regularly changes every day, and people are always coming up with new ways to utilize it. So don?t spend too much time on the plans and ideas that don?t work, but understand that you may be able to use them later.

If you intend for it to be a marketing tool, your website has to meet your customers? needs. Just providing a one page website that gives your hours and address is not going to attract customers. Provide accurate content that will make you become the authority in the eyes of your customers.

To grab the right domain name, you should be willing to spend some money. It is extremely unlikely you?ll be able to register a domain name exactly matching your company name. You can get any domain name you want if you have over a thousand dollars to spend. You should definitely weigh the pros and cons of this investment.

TIP! If you have free products to offer, get them listed in directories of freebies so more visitors will come to your site. If you are offering just a free e-zine, try submitting it to multiple directories that specialize in free e-zines on the net.

Your website can be marketed as a club or other social gathering instead of a business website. Visitors are more likely to return to your site to keep in touch with other customers, thereby increasing the traffic to your website. It also helps increase engagement with you website visitors, so they?ll view your brand as more than a company. Include graphics that people can copy and use on their sites to advertise yours.

If you want to get the most out of your Internet marketing efforts today, they need to include social media sites. Creating a Facebook page allows your customers to provide you with feedback that you can use and that other customers can see. A good site that will let you have interaction with customers is Twitter.

Avoid believing that Internet marketing is going to replace your day job right from the get go. If you are skilled with Internet marketing, you can consider turning it into a career.

TIP! Always try to keep your content fresh and current on your website. Outdated information will make you look lazy and unprofessional, reducing your chance at a sale.

Consider adding special promotions on every check-out order page. For example, give customers the option to add similar items at a discounted price as a kind of ?thank-you.? You can really thin out your extra merchandise and boost your sales by doing this while simultaneously promoting goodwill from your customer who will feel he or she is getting a really great deal.

Developing a high-quality website is the first step to securing high ranking on search engines? results pages. This must be your first step in starting an online business. The better your site looks and operates, the less work you will have to do going forward.

With most cell phone companies, it is possible to get a second number linked onto a single device. So get that new number today.

TIP! If your potential or current customers seem interested in making donations to charity, offer to give profits to that charity every time they buy. You need to make a point to note this on your site so your customers feel they are contributing.

On all emails you send out add your own personal signature. This is your business card in the cyber-world, and you should spread it far and wide. You can increase traffic and revenue to your site by offering to show people your business via email.

When you look at successful internet marketers, one thing you will find in common is that they carry a high level of enthusiasm for the business. Make sure you communicate your confidence in your products. If you are believable, you will get them as excited as you are. This can boost sales and profits for your business.

Good advertising is the key to growing your business fast. When you market your niche, you will see how much of a success it will create. This is a great tool to reach customers who may not have found you otherwise.

TIP! Stay abreast of what your competition is doing. Make the effort to look at the websites and social networking accounts belonging to your competition.

The most important thing about a website is clear, solid content. You must be able to know how to present information within a short amount of time. This way your customer will be able to make a decision based on your information. Do not use the same content or fill your site up with useless data that does not catch the fancy of the reader.

Try and implement emotional descriptors in your ads as a means of selling more products. If people can attach a product directly to you and your website, your company will began to increase in brand recognition. Utilize language like ?security,? ?relief? and other desirable description words.

It might seem useful to have 256 different social media accounts, but if you let them stagnate, they could become liabilities. No one is interested in visiting a profile that has not been updated in months.

TIP! Give something away. A download of information relevant to your niche can be very effective.

If your website looks and works well it will give you a better online experience. Test ads, graphics, links and your checkout system on a regular basis. Think of your website as a store; help people shop around by providing them with the information they want and making your products easy to find.

Be sure to back up any claims about your business or products that you make with cold hard facts. If you can prove the effectiveness of your product through videos or testimonials, your customers will be more apt to believe in your products and services. Real life videos and images can be a great boost to your Internet marketing campaign.

Internet marketing should lead to further Internet marketing. This is counter intuitive, but the ideas is to build a feedback loop of customers generating business which generates more customers.

TIP! Always use clear, high quality pictures that show off the products your site is selling. Clients generally like to be able to see the product in detail so that they know what they are getting.

Ponder what strategies you will use to promote your site. Excellent sources of advertising your site include blog promotion, posting to them, and hanging around all the social networking sites. There are quite a few ways to drive traffic to your website. The more creative you are, the more likely you are to get their interest.

To increase your income, you must generate more subscribers. You can do a split test, where you try different versions of an ad on different groups, to see which ad is best. Then you choose the best one based on new subscriptions.

A tip that needs consideration when marketing on the Internet is to try different ideas and strategies constantly. This is critical because your income may be slow when you start, and not pick up until you are already established. Hold on to your current job until you start to make considerable profits.

TIP! A 500 error page that is user-friendly is an important tool to have. Visitors will see this page when something goes haywire with your site?s automated database code.

Upload a viral video. Be sure you include appropriate tags, too. Also put a link back to your site within the description of the video. You can significantly increase your website traffic by using this strategy.

Give your business more legitimacy by using your real name along with a title. If you?re a business owner, become CEO. If you are not owner, try finding a good title that shows power and authority. Always sign any emails and articles with your title and your name.

Internet marketing has some characteristics common to most other markets, but also has big differences. For example, what if search engines suddenly stopped using title tags as a means of determining search ranking? If this happened, you?d have to quickly shift your focus to something else, like video marketing.

TIP! To encourage people to visit your site over others, work to offer something unique. Relevant articles will also improve your visibility to the major search engines.

Internet marketing is a very complex topic, but you will learn more as you develop your own strategies. The more you open yourself up to learning, the better your odds are of ultimately profiting in this game. Use every tip to your utmost advantage

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5. Make A Difference With These Great Internet Marketing Tips!

Tags: boost sales, internet marketing, marketing tool

Source: http://chadarrington.com/ready-to-grow-your-company-online-try-these-great-internet-marketing-tips

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NASA's pioneering astronauts: Where are they now?

In this July 20, 2009, photo, Buzz Aldrin, left, Michael Collins, center, and Neil Armstrong stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Neil Armstrong was a quiet self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step on to the moon. The modest man who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter million miles away has died. He was 82. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In this July 20, 2009, photo, Buzz Aldrin, left, Michael Collins, center, and Neil Armstrong stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Neil Armstrong was a quiet self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step on to the moon. The modest man who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter million miles away has died. He was 82. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - In this 1969 photo provided by NASA the crew of the Apollo 11 mission is seen. From left are Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander, Michael Collins, Lt. Col. USAF, and Edwin Eugene Aldrin, also known as Buzz Aldrin, USAF Lunar Module pilot. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

As space exploration has become more common and the number of astronauts has risen past 300, many names have faded into the background. But some will forever be associated with the golden age of space exploration. Some examples:

From 1969's Apollo 11, the first manned moon landing mission:

? Buzz Aldrin: Lunar module pilot for Apollo 11. Second man on the moon after commander Neil Armstrong. Left NASA in in 1971 and returned to Air Force. Wrote several books including "Return to Earth" and "Men from Earth." Advocate for future U.S. space exploration and frequent lecturer. Age: 82.

? Neil Armstrong: Commander of Apollo 11 mission and first human to set foot on the moon. Left NASA in 1971, taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and later became chairman of electronic systems companies. Died Aug. 25 at age 82.

? Michael Collins: Command module pilot on Apollo 11 and circled the moon while colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed. Left NASA in 1970 and became first director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Wrote "Carrying the Fire," considered one of the best insider space books. Age: 81.

Some other notable astronauts:

? Scott Carpenter: Second American to orbit the Earth in 1962. With John Glenn, surviving member of NASA's original Mercury 7 astronauts. Gave the famous send off ? "Godspeed, John Glenn." Involved in Navy's SeaLab program, and spent 30 days under the ocean in 1965. Left the Navy in 1969. Age: 87.

? Eugene Cernan: Commander of Apollo 17 in 1972; last astronaut to walk on the moon. Second person to walk in space in 1966 as a pilot on Gemini 9. Retired from the Navy in 1976 and later started an aerospace consulting company in Houston. Age: 78

? John Glenn: First American to orbit the Earth in 1962, circling three times in five hours. Left NASA in 1965 and retired from the Marine Corps the next year. Became a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio and ran briefly for president in 1984. Return to space in 1998 for a nine-day mission aboard space shuttle Discovery, becoming at age 77 the oldest person in space. Turned 91 in July.

? Jim Lovell: Commander of Apollo 13 in 1970, his fourth space flight. Oxygen tank in the spaceship exploded and the moon mission was aborted. Left NASA in 1973 and became a business executive. Age: 84.

? Edgar Mitchell: The sixth man to walk on the moon in 1971 after maneuvering the landing module from Apollo 14. Made two excursions to collect lunar samples with Alan Shepard. Left NASA in 1972 and went on to become an educator, lecturer and consultant. Age: 81.

? Alan Shepard: First American in space; made a 15-minute suborbital flight in 1961. Returned to space as commander of Apollo 14 in 1971; used a lunar sample scoop with an attached golf-club head to hit a ball on the moon. Retired from NASA in 1974 and went into private business in Houston. Died in 1998 at age 74.

? Jack Swigert Jr.: Pilot for Apollo 13 in 1970, a last-minute replacement after another astronaut came down with the measles. Mission to moon was aborted after an oxygen tank on the spaceship exploded. Left NASA in 1977. Elected to Congress in November 1982; died of bone cancer the next month at age 51.

? John Young: First person to fly into space from Earth six times ? seven times counting his lunar liftoff in 1972. Flew two Gemini and two Apollo missions. Commander of the first space shuttle flight, aboard Columbia in 1981. Final space flight in 1983 aboard Columbia. Retired from NASA in 2004. Age: 81.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-08-26-Neil%20Armstrong-Famous%20Astronauts/id-b6baa1632ad74d75b7d4f736a94ccbb7

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Cambodia creates safe zones for Mekong dolphins

The Cambodian government on Friday said it will limit fishing in a zone in the Mekong River to protect critically endangered freshwater dolphins.

The Irrawaddy dolphin conservation area will cover a 180-kilometre-long (110 miles) stretch of river from eastern Kratie province to the border with Laos, the government said after the measure was approved in the weekly cabinet meeting.

Fishing will still be allowed inside the zone but the use of floating houses, fish cages and gill nets will be banned as they risk endangering the dolphins.

The government estimates there are between 155 and 175 Irrawaddy dolphins left in Cambodia's stretch of the Mekong River, while WWF last year put the figure at just 85.

The newly created zone "will serve the eco-tourism sector and sustainably preserve dolphins," the statement said.

Entanglement in gill nets is seen as the leading cause of death in adult Irrawaddy dolphins, according to conservation group WWF. The animals also suffer from high calf mortality rates, the cause of which remains unclear, and from habitat degradation.

Acting WWF-Cambodia country director Michelle Owen said the creation of the protection zone was "welcome news" that "demonstrates the commitment of the Cambodian government to conserve this iconic and endangered species".

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin has been listed as critically endangered since 2004, according to WWF.

Irrawaddy dolphins are also found in coastal areas in south and southeast Asia, in the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar and in the Mahakam river in Indonesia.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cambodia-creates-safe-zones-mekong-dolphins-173503562.html

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Opinion: Dying with Dignity

Warning: This piece talks about suicide and death, and may be upsetting to some.

On Wednesday Tony Nicklinson died, and that?s a tragedy. Of course it?s a tragedy for his friends and family, as any death is, but in Tony?s case it?s especially tragic because he was a man who wanted to face the end on his own terms; a man who even welcomed death. And the British courts said no.

Tony suffered from Locked-in Syndrome,?a result of a stroke in 2005 which almost completely paralysed him and left him trapped in what he described as ?a living nightmare?. Although his mind was as sharp as ever, Tony could only communicate by blinking and was utterly dependant on others to care for him. With the prospect of (as he described it) dribbling his way through the next 20 years before him, completely unable to do anything for himself and barely able to communicate with his loved ones, he made the decision to end his own life.

Tony Nickilson?was not suffering from passing depression, he was not being pressured by anyone and he was completely lucid.

Suicide is never an easy topic to talk about and it?s an especially difficult one to legislate on, but given the number of recent cases like Tony?s, it?s a conversation that needs to be had. Tony, as a clear-minded and intelligent individual, made the decision to take his own life. He was not suffering from passing depression, he was not being pressured by anyone and he was completely lucid. The decision to take your own life is not one to be made lightly, but after living with Locked-in Syndrome for seven years he knew that he wanted to have the option. He insisted that he didn?t want to go yet but he did want to know that, when the time came, his doctor and his family would not be in danger of prosecution if they helped him to die comfortably. With that in mind, he went to court to argue his case and get an assurance that his family would be safe when he was gone.

Tony?s desire to face death on his own terms isn?t a new idea. It was somewhat run-of-the-mill for the Victorians, who had such cocktails of drugs sloshing around in their society that choosing to die without pain, in the comfort of your own home, was a relatively straightforward option. Ironically, it?s our recent medical advances that have made life so unliveable for some. Go back 100 years and the stroke that locked Tony inside his own body would surely have killed him, and when asked ?Do you regret the surgeons saving your life??, he admitted that if he?d known the end result he would never have called for an ambulance. That?s not to say that stroke victims shouldn?t be helped; of course we should do everything we can to save people. Modern medicine has improved the lives of countless people and we should be incredibly proud of what science has achieved. However, we have to acknowledge that with our responsibility to save lives we, as a society, must also take responsibility for the state that those lives are left in.

Not all of the problems that drive someone to take their own life can be helped.

In 1993 we changed the law so suicide would be decriminalised in Ireland. We didn?t do it because we thought that suicide was no longer a problem, we did it because it?s a huge problem and we need to acknowledge that victims of suicide are just that: victims who should be helped, not punished. But not all of the problems that drive someone to take their own life can be helped. Tony?s decision was one that he spent years thinking over and, with no hope of recovery or improvement in his condition, he decided that that was not the kind of life he wanted to live.

Unfortunately, those with (arguably) the best reasons to want to die are the ones who are least able to carry out their own wishes. Victims of total paralysis, motor neuron disease and other conditions are trapped not only within their own bodies but within a legal system which does not grant them the same right to end their life that a more able-bodied person has. They cannot fulfil their wishes to die painlessly without outside help, and they cannot get outside help without running the risk that those who assist them, often family and friends, could be charged with murder. So Tony stopped eating.

When he heard that the English High Court had denied his request for an assurance that his family and doctor would not be prosecuted if they helped him end his life, he took the only course of action left to him and refused food. Over the next week Tony starved himself, weakening his body before he contracted pneumonia and passed away days later. He eventually succeeded in killing himself in one of the most drawn-out and painful ways possible because the government and the courts both refused his request for permission to die the relatively painless, dignified death that he wanted.

The court cases referred to in this article took place in England, but the law in Ireland is exactly the same, and we have people living (and dying) in exactly the same circumstances. The legal system puts families who are already going through incredibly difficult circumstances in the impossible situation of respecting the wishes of a loved one and easing their pain or obeying the law. It?s an incredibly complex issue and it?s certainly not an easy subject to legislate on, but the advent of modern medicine means we?re not playing the same game that we were when these laws were drafted. We?ve changed the rules, and it?s time we acknowledged that.

If you?ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and wish to talk to someone, you can contact Samaritans on 1850 60 90 90.

Source: http://ramp.ie/index.php/opinion/opinion-dying-dignity/

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Taiwanese artists represented at Japan?s 2012 International Art Exhibit ??????? ???????

The Japan, Asian, African and Latin American Artist Association (JAALA) invited Taiwanese painter Kuo Tung-jung and calligrapher Chen Shih-hsien to take part in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum?s week-long 2012 International Art Exhibit from Aug. 12 to Aug. 19, which received excellent reviews within the Japanese art community.

Kuo, an 85-year-old oil painter, had four works on display, including his huge 200cm-wide painting The World is Changing, which was well-liked by visitors. Five of Chen?s calligraphy works were on display along with eight of his Taiwanese-style schoolbags. On Sunday, Chen also wrote a poem in Chinese calligraphy at the museum that described the gorgeous scenery of Taiwan, winning endless accolades from museum visitors.

This year?s JAALA exhibit included works from China, Taiwan, Australia and Korea. Works from Taiwan and China were located in separate display areas, allowing them the clarity of distinction they deserve.

(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)

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Source: http://libertytimes.feedsportal.com/c/33098/f/535597/s/22b3fb87/l/0L0Staipeitimes0N0CNews0Clang0Carchives0C20A120C0A80C250C20A0A35410A99/story01.htm

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&#39;Art Envoy&#39; @ LVAA ? EventHorizon

Aug. 24-Oct. 7

Louisville Visual Art Association
3005 River Road ? 896-2146
louisvillevisualart.org
$3 ($2 members)

It?s sad news that the Louisville Visual Art Association will be vacating its beloved Water Tower location in October. As a goodbye, it?s doing a modern version of ?Art Envoy,? its first major show at the Water Tower. In a celebration of the past and the present, 18 artists from the original 1981 exhibition have been paired with 18 young contemporary artists. The free opening reception is Friday, from 6-10 p.m. If ?Art Envoy? is the goodbye exhibition, then ?ORANGE ? Night of Art? is the farewell shindig. The gala is on Sept. 8 with visual and performing art, food and entertainment. Tickets are $175, with the proceeds benefiting LVAA?s Children?s Fine Art Classes and OPEN DOORS art education programs. ?Art Envoy? will be on display during ?ORANGE.? ?Jo Anne Triplett

Source: http://events.leoweekly.com/2012/08/23/art-envoy-lvaa/

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Paw Paw's football team proves it means business with 62-21 season-opening victory over South Haven (with photo gallery)

Scott DeCamp | sdecamp1@mlive.com, August 23, 2012 11:28 p.m.

Paw Paw's Kyle Williams turns upfield, shaking South Haven's Marquiz Dixon on the way to a touchdown run after a reception during Thursday night's game at Paw Paw's Falan Field. Both of Williams' receptions went for TDs, covering 158 total yards. - (Erik Holladay | MLive.com)

Justin McCauley

PAW PAW ? Paw Paw has finished at the top of the Wolverine Conference football standings three of the past four seasons.

It's a different Wolverine now, though, with the addition of three schools and the conference splitting into two six-team divisions.

The more things change, the more Paw Paw looks the same.

The Redskins hit the ground running during Thursday night's season opener, scoring four touchdowns in each of the first two quarters en route to a 62-21 running-clock victory over visiting South Haven at Falan Field.

RELATED:?Photo gallery from Paw Paw's victory over South Haven

"Everyone's been saying, 'Oh, you lost so many good players, you're not going to be good this year,'" said Paw Paw senior quarterback Justin McCauley, referring to the loss of players such as Marquis Gill and Andrew Buskirk, the Kalamazoo Gazette's Divisions 1-4 players of the year in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

"But this pretty much made the statement that we're going to be good no matter what team we face."

McCauley had a big say Thursday and did all his damage in the first 24 minutes, as the Redskins roared to a 53-14 lead during an opening half that took 1 hour, 29 minutes to complete.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder completed 8 of 12 passing attempts for 210 yards and two long touchdown strikes (87 and 71 yards, both to junior Kyle Williams in the first quarter), and rushed six times for 115 yards and one score (55-yard gallop).

"Paw Paw is probably one of the better teams in our league over the last few years," South Haven coach Cory Cunningham said. "We missed some opportunities, we laid the ball on the ground a few times, we dropped some opportunities (for possible) touchdowns."

Paw Paw amassed 629 yards of offense, including 395 rushing yards on 35 attempts. Junior Timmy Wielenga scored on a 13-yard TD run, junior Caleb Hall crashed in from the 1-yard line twice for scores and classmate Caleb Schley sprung free for a game-high 105 yards on two carries, including a 60-yard scoring scamper, in a reserve role.

Redskins senior Cody Small caught a 13-yard TD pass from sophomore Jay Doll. Hall led the defense with six tackles, and senior Sammy Rice had an interception.

"We've lost a lot of skill the past two years, and the kids have gotten a little upset about it that everybody talks about it like that, but our kids have worked so hard," Paw Paw coach Brad Hessler said. "They're great kids, in the weight room, our summer workouts, 7-on-7; we've worked hard here, we had a pretty decent scrimmage.

"You never know what's going to happen the first game, but wow, what can you do? (South Haven has) some pretty good skill kids out there."

South Haven showed some potential, particularly in sophomore QB Trenton Smiley, who was making his first varsity start, and receivers Marquiz Dixon and Kamron Ferguson. Smiley finished 17-for-31 passing for 204 yards with three TDs.

Dixon, a 6-1, 180-pound senior, had six receptions for 106 yards, highlighted by a 60-yard score. Ferguson (6-2, 160), a junior, hauled in seven passes for 87 yards (22-yard TD). Sophomore Alec Washegesic caught an 18-yard scoring pass.

"We're going to be at the top of the heap as far as our athletes," Cunningham said. "We've got to get tougher both mentally and physically, and (then) I think we'll be able to compete.

"(Smiley) went from a freshman quarterback last year to Friday night lights," Cunningham said. "He's a sophomore, I mean, the kid's a gamer. He can throw the football for us."

Paw Paw piled up 458 yards of offense in the first half alone. The Redskins opened the game with an onside kick, recovered by senior DeMarcus Leak, and marched down the field to take an 8-0 lead 2:05 into the contest.

Paw Paw led 26-0 at the end of the first quarter and 41-0 four minutes into the second frame before the Rams, coming off a 1-8 season, got on the board.

McCauley credited Paw Paw's big boys up front.

"Our line hasn't been very good in practice, but when they got out here, they really kicked it up and that's pretty much all I can say ? the line helped so much more," he said. "When the line was blocking, it was there and you could do whatever. I have to thank the line for that."

Email Scott DeCamp at sdecamp1@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ScottDeCamp.

Source: http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/news/article/-4946576383275255346

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Not RSVPing or "no showing" to a kids birthday party - Typepad

Your current identity is:
Anonymous

Author	Message
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad my DC's have aged out of this. Both attended private schools, there were major, birthday productions every other weekend. We had simple, family birthday parties at home. I guess, my poor kids felt so unloved. Just curious, are there any Dads responding to this thread or is this just a Mom thing? I think your post is way off point. Rsvping yes then not showing up without any explanation happens at smaller casual parties too. I don't think anyone on this thread has advocated for having huge party events or implied that is neccessary for your kids to feel loved.
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote:So glad to know that this has happened to others. It happened to us, and for a while I wondered if it had something to do with my child. Upon further reflection, I realized my son has many friends and is generally well-liked, and that iour bad luck was due to a busy season (soccer, baseball, Easter) and inconsiderate invitees. If you think about it, we do more parties now than we ever did; I don't think I had my first real birthday party until I was 8. With all these outside activities, it's impossible to attend everything. For this reason, we don't do large birthday parties anymore. We invite a small number of kids over to do something fun, and that's it. It's much more meaningful, I think. Yes I agree with this (the part I've underline and highlighted from your post, OP). That is one of the reasons we have not done a "friends" bday party yet. DD will be 5 in the Fall and last year she just had cake and ice cream at home with us and my parents (and a little cupcake party at her school) and this year, as a "step up," she'll have a little party with her cousins. She thinks this is just about the most exciting idea she has ever heard of and is already counting down the days!
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote: Anonymous wrote:"Calling someone and trying to give a guilt trip on behalf of the birthday parents is more obnoxious than not RSVPing. You never know which family is dealing with true adversity and hadn't even checked their email because they are so overwhelmed. " Totally disagree. Odds are against the tragedy situation and the best way around that is a message that could be read either way but that if you blew it off you KNOW it's a guilt trip..."Hi, X, I just wanted to check up on kiddo A since we heard you guys had to miss birthday kid's party at the last minute. it was a nice but very small party. I really hope everything is ok with you." The "not checking email" scenario may work for no RSVP but doesn't for those who RSVP yes and then just inexplicably bail. Bingo. And frankly, you shouldn't give out your email address if you don't check it. When you give your email you are telling people this is how to get in touch with you. If you prefer the phone or snail mail, tell them at the outset, don't just let them feel ignored. (Although I highly doubt most people are THAT overwhelmed that they go weeks without checking email.)
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote: Anonymous wrote:So glad to know that this has happened to others. It happened to us, and for a while I wondered if it had something to do with my child. Upon further reflection, I realized my son has many friends and is generally well-liked, and that iour bad luck was due to a busy season (soccer, baseball, Easter) and inconsiderate invitees. If you think about it, we do more parties now than we ever did; I don't think I had my first real birthday party until I was 8. With all these outside activities, it's impossible to attend everything. For this reason, we don't do large birthday parties anymore. We invite a small number of kids over to do something fun, and that's it. It's much more meaningful, I think. Yes I agree with this (the part I've underline and highlighted from your post, OP). That is one of the reasons we have not done a "friends" bday party yet. DD will be 5 in the Fall and last year she just had cake and ice cream at home with us and my parents (and a little cupcake party at her school) and this year, as a "step up," she'll have a little party with her cousins. She thinks this is just about the most exciting idea she has ever heard of and is already counting down the days! PP here. The hard part is when their very best friends at school have huge "event" parties, your child starts to ask why they can't have the same. That was our mistake, when we attempted to do the same for my son (lesson learned!) We now tell the kids that we simply prefer to hold small parties with close friends and to be sure, my kids enjoy them as much as any other party they've been to.
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote: Anonymous wrote: Anonymous wrote:So glad to know that this has happened to others. It happened to us, and for a while I wondered if it had something to do with my child. Upon further reflection, I realized my son has many friends and is generally well-liked, and that iour bad luck was due to a busy season (soccer, baseball, Easter) and inconsiderate invitees. If you think about it, we do more parties now than we ever did; I don't think I had my first real birthday party until I was 8. With all these outside activities, it's impossible to attend everything. For this reason, we don't do large birthday parties anymore. We invite a small number of kids over to do something fun, and that's it. It's much more meaningful, I think. Yes I agree with this (the part I've underline and highlighted from your post, OP). That is one of the reasons we have not done a "friends" bday party yet. DD will be 5 in the Fall and last year she just had cake and ice cream at home with us and my parents (and a little cupcake party at her school) and this year, as a "step up," she'll have a little party with her cousins. She thinks this is just about the most exciting idea she has ever heard of and is already counting down the days! PP here. The hard part is when their very best friends at school have huge "event" parties, your child starts to ask why they can't have the same. That was our mistake, when we attempted to do the same for my son (lesson learned!) We now tell the kids that we simply prefer to hold small parties with close friends and to be sure, my kids enjoy them as much as any other party they've been to. Yes, all her friends have these big event parties too. So far she has been fine with the explanation, "This is how our family does it," but I know she won't be as easy as she gets older. It helps that her cousin closest in age also has a family b'day party at the beach every summer, so she has just come home from seeing that, and therefore is excited about it and thinks she is cool and gets to have a cousins party "just like _____." Whew!
Anonymous	Anonymous wrote:I think this may stem from the practice of inviting all the kids in the class, and people feeling like b-day parties have to be such a production. I was just thnking this! I feel so bad for the child and the parents who spent the time and money planning - I really do. But, as I read this I am thnking this has never happened to us ( not because we are overly popular, social, fun, throw great parties, etc.) but because I have never invited ( or let the kids invite) guests who were not " real" friends. And by this I mean kids they play with at least once or twice a week, all the time, in our home or theirs. My one child is well-liked and often gets invited to things but he is an introvert and perfers not to go so with him we even pre-check and say to his 3 or 4 closest pals " billy's birthday is on a tuesday this year does that work ." Other parents do that too since again it is only close friends and who else do you want at your party then your real pals. Now, if this is for the 5 and under set, I do get why people want to include the class, playgroup, soccer team as they are just starting to make friends and maybe don't have a group. This was us and I get it but even then I only invited the kids we had weekly playdates with. It is rude and I am appalled with you. He or she will have their group soon enough. I promise you so hang in there.
Anonymous	If you are invited, you respond yes or no. It's not hard. No one is too busy to take this simple, easy, courteous step.
Anonymous	I also think this carries over from adult behavior re: RSVPing to non-child events. We used to like entertaining, but haven't done much lately. Part of that was people who would rsvp and then not show. If 20 people rsvp, I plan (and pay for!) food for 20. At our last event probably a half dozen people just didn't show. No one contacted us in advance. Only one contacted us immediately afterwards. The others, it came out in conversation much later, and the excuses were of the "something came up" variety.

Source: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/preList/255022/2696765.page

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Source: http://abbottbarrett.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/not-rsvping-or-no-showing-to-a-kids-birthday-party.html

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Nokia announces In-Location, 22-strong industry alliance for mobile indoor positioning

With most of the great outdoors pretty well mapped within an inch of its life, indoors is the final navigation frontier. Today Nokia has announced "In-Location" an alliance of 22 companies with the goal of driving and unifying industry innovation in mobile indoor positioning. Names on the list include Broadcom, Samsung, Sony Mobile and Qualcomm, but there are some notable exceptions. The technologies mentioned include Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi, which we've already started to see being explored, and members are encouraged to share data of their own existing pilots. We can apparently expect pre-commercial work and business model verifications this year, with handset-based implementations said to be finding their way out in 2013. Full PR can be found, assistance free, after the break.

Update: Sony has issued a press release celebrating the launch also. Find it after the break along with Nokia's

Continue reading Nokia announces In-Location, 22-strong industry alliance for mobile indoor positioning

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/23/nokia-announces-in-location-22-strong-industry-alliance/

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Spending missteps make Brown tax plan a hard sell

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown gestures as he campaigns for Proposition 30 at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown gestures as he campaigns for Proposition 30 at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown tours James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012 as he campaigns supporting Proposition 30. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown listens to other speakers as he campaigns supporting Proposition 30 at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown gestures as he campaigns supporting Proposition 30 at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown campaigns supporting Proposition 30 at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? California Gov. Jerry Brown has made austerity a hallmark of his administration, telling state workers they must turn in their cellphones, selling off state vehicles, severely reducing employee travel and cutting billions from the general fund.

Brown was counting on that record to help him sell his November ballot initiative seeking to boost the state sales and income taxes temporarily to close what was a $15.7 billion budget deficit and avoid further cuts to education.

Yet a summer of headlines about state spending scandals and Brown's own push for some of the nation's most expensive infrastructure projects has threatened to undermine that carefully crafted message and jeopardize the success of his tax initiative.

Opponents are mocking his message that voters can be assured their money will be handled responsibly if the higher taxes are passed. The critics also pounced on a scandal in which state parks employees hid millions of dollars while threatening to close dozens of parks.

One group opposing his initiative asked in a radio ad this week: "What else are they keeping from us?"

The bad news for Brown also includes a disclosure of pay raises to legislative staffers already making six figures. And at a time when he says the state does not have enough money for schools, he approved the first stage of a $68 billion high-speed rail system and announced plans for a $24 billion tunneling system to move water from north to south.

His initiative also faces several competing tax questions, including a well-financed campaign to raise state income taxes for education and dozens of tax increases pushed by local governments.

It all adds up to a tough sell for a governor who says he wants to end the state's cycle of crippling budget deficits.

As Brown kicked off his campaign for Proposition 30 at a Sacramento high school last week, he sought to emphasize that most of the revenue from the tax increases would come from Californians who are among the wealthiest; an extra $4,500 a year for millionaires, he said.

"This is not about any other issue. It's not about pensions, it's not about parks. It's about one simple question," the Democratic governor told reporters outside the school. "Shall those who've been blessed beyond imagination give back 1 or 2 or 3 percent for the next seven years, or shall we take billions out of our schools and colleges to the detriment of the kids standing behind us and the future of our state?"

Brown continued his campaign tour Wednesday at a San Francisco school, where he acknowledged that the tax initiative is a tough sell. Yet he urged voters not to take out their frustrations with politicians on children.

"There's a lot of naysayers out there saying, 'Oh, there's something wrong in government,' or 'These politicians are doing something, therefore, punish the kids,'" Brown said.

The budget Brown signed into law this summer includes about $6 billion in automatic cuts to schools, higher education and other state programs that could take effect if voters reject the tax increases ? a tactic intended to help sell it because voters are more inclined to raise taxes for education than any other cause. Some school districts could cut three weeks from the school year if the tax initiative fails.

Proposition 30 calls for higher tax rates on incomes of more than $250,000 for seven years and a quarter-cent increase in the statewide sales tax for four years.

Brown is keeping a campaign promise not to raise taxes without a public vote, but has been forced to defend himself against problems not of his making.

Legislative leaders were compelled to acknowledge that they had handed out hefty pay raises to staffers, including some who already had six-figure salaries.

Then it was revealed that a bureaucrat in the state parks department had authorized a secret vacation buy-back program for senior staffers, netting them thousands of dollars each, and Brown's administration revealed that state parks officials kept $54 million hidden for more than a decade as Californians were being asked to help save 70 parks.

That led to an investigation into accounting irregularities in hundreds of other special funds, many of them financed by voter-approved fees and taxes.

"Convincing voters to tax themselves is always an uphill fight, but every one of these incidents over the summer makes his path a little bit steeper," said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California and a former Republican consultant.

The high-speed rail plan, which has come under intense criticism, already has been targeted by the opposition campaign, which seized on the summer's missteps as evidence that politicians can't be trusted with more tax revenue.

The No on 30 campaign released an Internet video coinciding with the end of the Legislature's summer recess to "welcome politicians back from vacation," using television coverage of the scandals and misspending.

"All of these issues speak to the management of our tax dollars in Sacramento ... and that is a part of this discussion on Prop. 30," said Joel Fox, president of the Small Business Action Committee and a spokesman for the opposition campaign.

California voters are generally not inclined to support tax increases and have rejected the last eight statewide measures on the ballot, including a June proposal to raise taxes on cigarettes to fund cancer research.

They are far more likely to support taxes on the rich rather than themselves, but Brown's initiative includes a sales tax hike that undercuts that selling point. This year, he persuaded union supporters to drop a more popular "millionaire's tax" in favor of his plan.

Still, the opposition campaign has anemic funding from business groups that back it compared with the millions from Brown's union allies.

Backers of Proposition 30, which had a slim lead in summertime polls, have raised more than $10 million to date, with millions more pledged by independent supporters. Opponents have collected less than $500,000.

The governor said if voters reject the taxes, he'll follow their will and make deep spending cuts. But he hoped they will be able to focus on the risk to schools if his initiative fails.

"Proposition 30 is only one thing: it's either a yes or a no," he said. "And it's about schools, it's about money, it's about balancing the budget, it's about public safety. And people will decide."

___

Associated Press writer Terry Collins in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-08-22-Jerry%20Brown's%20Tough%20Sell/id-4506491e4a274f98872f434a43fb44fb

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Lawfare ? Julian Sanchez on the Origins of the FISA Amendments Act

I have refrained so far from commenting on this fascinating article by Cato?s Julian Sanchez?to which Raffaela linked yesterday?which outlines a new theory as to how the crisis developed in 2007 that led to, first, the Protect America Act and later to the FISA Amendments Act. I refrained because it took a while for me to figure out what I think of it. Or, rather, it has taken me a while to decide that I still don?t know what I think about. But it seems like a very plausible theory to me, so I thought I would draw some attention to it and perhaps stir some discussion among Lawfare readers. To put the matter simply, Sanchez hypothesizes that there may be a link between cable deregulation and the still-mysterious ruling by the FISA court that spurred Congress to enact the PAA. And he has a tantalizing public source for his theory.

The history here is dense, but here?s the barest of outlines. The Bush administration had its warrantless wiretapping program, which initially circumvented FISA. Some time after the New York Times disclosed the existence of the program, however, the government announced that it had reached an understanding with the FISA court as to how to bring the program?the details of which are still classified?under the auspices of the FISA. This arrangement, however, did not last long. In 2007, something spooked the FISA court, and it issued a ruling that triggered a crisis?in which the intelligence community asserted that important areas of collection would grind to a halt if Congress did not act. That provoked Congress first to pass a temporary measure (the PAA) and later a more permanent bill: The FAA, which is now up for renewal.

Sanchez, writing in Wired and drawing on the new edition of a treatise on national security law by David Kris and J. Douglas Wilson, has developed an intriguing theory of what happened:

Thanks to whistleblower Mark Klein, formerly an engineer at AT&T, we know that the NSA maintained a series of secret rooms at the offices of major telecommunications companies, where the entire stream of Internet traffic was copied and diverted into a sophisticated piece of surveillance equipment: the Narus Semantic Traffic Analyzer. The NSA could then program the device to filter out and record particular communications for human review according to selected criteria, such as e-mail or IP addresses, and probably also particular keywords in the e-mails themselves.

Initially, this almost certainly would have been classified as ?electronic surveillance? of a ?wire communication? under FISA, one of four somewhat complicated categories of ?electronic surveillance? defined by the statute. Specifically, it would have been covered by 50 U.S.C. 1801(f)(2), which requires a warrant for the ?acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any wire communication to or from a person in the United States.? Crucially, FISA?s definition of a ?wire communication? covered any communication? telephonic or digital ? in transit over facilities operated by a ?common carrier.? This is actually a bit of an anachronistic holdover specific to FISA: The statutes governing criminal wiretap investigations were amended in 1986 to make a provider?s ?common carrier? status irrelevant, but the language in FISA remained.

Then, in 2005, came the Supreme Court?s decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Services vs. Brand X Internet Services. On its face, the case had nothing to do with surveillance, but with the contentious debate over ?net neutrality.? In 2002, the Bush-era FCC issued a controversial deregulatory ruling stating that broadband Internet over cable wires should be classified as an ?information service,? rather than a ?telecommunications service? (like traditional telephone service).

Small ISPs like Brand X, as well as supporters of government-enforced ?net neutrality,? argued that federal law required broadband to be classed as a ?telecommunication service? subject to ?common carrier? requirements ? just as phone companies are. That designation means, in part, that they had to make their infrastructure available at low cost to competitors.

The Supreme Court ultimately rejected that argument, finding that the FCC had discretion to decide how cable broadband should be categorized, even if there were grounds to question that choice. The FCC promptly acted on that ruling, but provided for a one-year transition period before those common carrier requirements entirely expired.

This gives us a conspicuous coincidence: The mysterious FISC decision described by Boehner would have happened shortly after broadband providers were freed of the last vestiges of ?common carrier? status.

?If FISA?s reference to ?common carrier? were interpreted in accord with the Communications Act,? Kris and Wilson explain, explicitly citing the Brand X decision, ?information (such as e-mail) being carried on a cable owned and offered by a cable modem service provider would not be a ?wire communication? under FISA, and acquisition of such information would not be ?electronic surveillance? under? the definition that applies to traditional phone calls.

But then, what would it be?

The most likely answer, as Kris and Wilson argue, is that such digital eavesdropping would now be covered by 50 U.S.C. 1801(f)(4), which was originally primarily intended to cover surveillance using hidden microphones or cameras, but now also governs the acquisition of stored e-mails and documents from U.S. servers. This definition explicitly excludes surveillance of a ?wire communication,? which means it would not have applied so long as Internet providers were considered ?common carriers,? but otherwise covers any ?installation or use? of a surveillance device ?for monitoring to acquire information under circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes.?A surveillance system that targets known foreigners or foreign IP addresses could run afoul of that definition even if it scrupulously avoided intercepting their communications with Americans, because it departs from the standards that apply to ?wire communications? in several important ways. Instead of specifically requiring a warrant to intercept the ?contents? of a message, it covers any kind of ?monitoring to acquire information.? Instead of turning on the location of the senders or recipients of a communication, it applies whenever ?a person? ?not limited to the parties to the communication, and so potentially including also the provider itself ? has some reasonable expectation of privacy.

Finally, it depends on whether comparable surveillance for law enforcement purposes would require a warrant, and in many cases it?s clear that the statutes governing both ?live? interception and acquisition of stored communications for criminal investigations would require a warrant, regardless of the user?s location.

In other words, a regulatory change having no obvious connection to NSA surveillance could have suddenly knocked out the legal basis for the NSA?s ongoing Internet surveillance program, and left the telecoms with serious doubts about whether the law allowed them to continue providing technical assistance with that program.

I am not prepared to endorse this theory, but I do think Sanchez?s article is well worth a close read?particularly since the inclusion of a discussion of Brand X in the new edition of the Kris-Wilson treatise is at least suggestive. Kris, of course, ran the Justice Department?s National Security Division until last year, so surely knows the classified underpinnings of the controversy. As Sanchez notes, ?Though the authors repeatedly stress that their analysis never relies on classified information, it seems unlikely Kris would devote substantial time and space to an issue he knew to be an irrelevant tangent.?

I would be very interested in hearing from people with expertise in this area as to whether Sanchez?s theory may have legs.

UPDATE: Sanchez writes in an email:

I should clarify: A substantially similar discussion of Brand X was also in the earlier 2007 edition. What?s new in the 2012 edition is the discussion of reasons for the FAA "modernization," which alludes to the problem of obtaining stored email under the (f)(4) definition, but conspicuously avoids saying anything about "live" Internet communications. But the discussion makes very little sense if email were still available "off the wire" under the (f)(2) standard, and but for Brand X, it seems clear it would be.

Source: http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/08/julian-sanchez-on-the-origins-on-the-fisa-amendments-act/

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What If We Brought Education Reform to the Military? | Education In ...

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Source: http://educationinpuertorico.org/2012/08/21/what-if-we-brought-education-reform-to-the-military-2/

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Quackademic medicine versus cancer quackery ? Respectful ...

Since I seem to be on a roll the last few days discussing cancer quackery, I thought I?d just go with it at least one more day. Frequently, when I get on these rolls laying down the Insolence, both Respectful and not-so-Respectful, over antivaccine quackery I start whining about how I need to change topics, but not this time around, not this topic. It takes a lot more than what I?ve posted lately to make me feel as though I need a change of pace. Besides, for whatever reason, the blog fodder is flying at me fast and furious, whether it be the dubious testimonial I discussed yesterday, yet another deconstruction of the moral bankruptcy that is Stanislaw Burzynski, or my take on the sheer quackery that is ?naturopathic oncology.? The first rule of blogging is that you don?t talk about blogging. Oh, wait. That?s not it. I talk about blogging all the time. The first rule of blogging is: When the world is throwing easy blogging material at you, for cryin? out loud, go for it. Yeah, that?s it.

So I?m going for it.

The blog fodder this time around comes in the form of three articles that appeared in ONCOLOGY: Perspectives on Best Practices, an open-access journal about?well, oncology. All three of them are about cancer quackery. Shockingly, in the first article, by Barrie Cassileth, director of all woo integrative oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and IIan R. Yarett, actually uses the word ?quackery? in its title: Cancer Quackery: The Persistent Popularity of Useless, Irrational ?Alternative? Treatments. In it, Cassileth provides a rather standard discussion of bogus cancer treatments that almost could have been written by Orac, were it not for the complete and utter lack of snark, even the subtle snark that academics sneak into papers. She does, however, complain that quacks have appropriated the term ?complementary? in order to ?use it incorrectly.? This complaint derives from how many of these cancer quacks don?t actually advocate using their nostrums in addition to conventional therapy but rather in lieu of science-based medicine. Personally, I find this amusing, given that quackademics have no one to blame but themselves for this, given the specific modalities they have tried to ?integrate? with science-based medicine. It rather reminds me of the ?intelligent design? creationists, craving respectability and crowing to high heaven that they aren?t pseudoscientists but real ?scientists,? taking umbrage at being lumped together with fundamentalist creationists who believe that the earth was created 6,000 years ago with all animals in their current forms. No, Cassileth seems to be saying, we don?t associate with that riff-raff. They?re fundamentalist loons. We?re scientists!

I?ll give her some credit for this article, though, and why not? Cassileth lists a fairly standard bunch of quack treatments, the majority of which have been covered on this blog at one time or another, and rips into them. The litany should be familiar: laetrile, shark cartilage, Entelev/Cantron (which I recently discussed, with the comment thread afterward having swollen as of this writing to nearly 1,100 entries), various oxygen therapies (such as hyperbaric oxygen or various means of administering hydrogen peroxide, ?energy therapies,? which Cassileth admits have no evidence to support them. Given that admission, one wonders why reiki, which is a form of ?energy therapy,? is offered at MSKCC. Come to think of it, acupuncture is also a form of ?energy healing? as well, given its claim to be able to manipulate the flow of qi through the body to healing intent, and MSKCC offers acupuncture as well. That doesn?t stop Cassileth from making the dubious claim that acupuncture and other woo have ?been shown to be safe and effective as adjunctive treatments for managing pain, nausea, stress, and many other symptoms, and for supporting patient well-being in general,? whatever ?supporting patient well-being in general? means.

There are other weaknesses. For instance, no mention is made of Gerson therapy, and it is that particular form of quackery, as well as its many variants (such as the Gonzalez protocol and other treatments that loosely fall under the rubric of ?metabolic therapies? and often include such lovely interventions as coffee enemas), that is arguably the cancer quackery most heavily promoted right now; that is, unless high dose vitamin C, which never seems to stay dead no matter how many scientific stakes are driven into its heart, isn?t the most common quackery. One could only wish that, like the vampires on True Blood, such quackeries would explode into a disgusting blob of blood and tissue when the stake of science is driven through their hearts, but sadly this never seems to happen. Her omissions aside, I can?t be too hard on Cassileth. Her article is actually pretty good, by and large, if you can ignore that she is in charge of bringing quackademic medicine into one of the greatest cancer centers in the world. She also makes this statement:

Many alternative approaches to healing are premised on the concept of the mind/body connection, and specifically on the theory that patients can harness the power of their mind to heal their physical ills.[4] Many mind/body techniques, such as meditation and biofeedback, have been shown to reduce stress and promote relaxation, and are effectively and appropriately used as complementary therapies today. However, some proponents of these techniques overpromise, suggesting that emotional stress or other emotional issues can cause diseases like cancer and that correction of these deficiencies through mind-body therapies can effectively treat major illnesses. Such claims are unsupported.

Many of these ideas were promoted by a former Yale surgeon, a popular author who advocated special cancer patient support groups in his books. The importance of a positive attitude was stressed, as was the idea that disease could spring from unmet emotional needs. This belief anguished many cancer patients, who assumed responsibility for getting cancer because of an imperfect emotional status. Among alternative modalities, the mind/body approach has been especially persistent over time, possibly in part because it resonates with the American notion of rugged individualism.[4]

Of course, none of this stops MSKCC from offering ?mind-body? services. I guess it?s OK to Cassileth because she doesn?t promise that such woo will cure the cancer. OK, I?ll stop with the snark (at least the snark directed at Cassileth). She?s basically correct that there is no evidence that these therapies can impact the natural history of cancer and produce a survival benefit, and I give her props for carpet-bombing the quackery that is the German New Medicine.

Cassileth?s article was accompanied by not one, but two, additional commentaries, both of which didn?t take issue with the criticism of specific cancer quackeries, such as Entelev, but rather with her statement above about mind-body ?healing.? Neither of the commentators were happy that Cassileth had questioned the central dogma of alternative medicine, which is what I?ve been discussing the last couple of days. That central dogma is that if you wish for it hard enough your mind can heal you of anything. The corollary of this central dogma is that if you are ill it is your fault for not having the right ?intent,? attitude, and thoughts and therefore not doing the right things and/or not believing hard enough. It?s not for nothing that I have likened alternative medicine to religion or the New Age woo that is The Secret, and these authors simply reinforce that view. First up is radiation oncologist and practitioner of ?integrative oncology? Brian D. Lawenda, MD, who pens Quackery, Placebos, and Other Thoughts: An Integrative Oncologist?s Perspective.

In the first part of his article, Lawenda protests loudly, arguing that ?not all therapies categorized as ?alternative,? ?nonconventional,? or ?unconventional? are completely ineffective.? I suppose it depends on what you mean by ?completely ineffective.? Personally, when I say ?completely ineffective,? I mean ?indistinguishable from placebo.? That?s the usual definition of ?ineffective? in medical circles, and it is a description that applies to the vast majority of ?integrative oncology,? including acupuncture, therapeutic touch, reiki, and the like. In the case of acupuncture, for instance, it doesn?t matter where you stick the needles or even if you stick the needles in at all (a toothpick twirled against the skin will do as well or better). In other words, in the case of acupuncture, the effects are entirely nonspecific. Indeed, Lawenda?s claim that these therapies are being used in an ?evidence-based? manner is almost as overblown as the claims that quacks make; real ?evidence-based? use of the vast majority of these modalities would be not to use them at all. They don?t work. That doesn?t stop Lawenda from advocating placebo medicine. But first he has to remonstrate with Cassileth over her characterization of ?mind-body? medicine:

One area of controversy that comes up often in integrative oncology circles is whether or not there is an association between chronic stress and cancer-specific outcomes. Dr. Cassileth asserts that the association between chronic stress and cancer development, progression, and recurrence has not been definitively established. Those who support this view might categorize as quackery the claim that stress reduction (eg, through lifestyle changes, mind-body therapies, etc) can improve cancer-specific outcomes.

Those who believe that chronic stress and cancer are linked cite data that support this claim. In particular, there are clinical studies[7] that report improvements in cancer-specific outcomes in patients who are taught stress management techniques. Furthermore, researchers continue to identify chronic stress as a causative factor in numerous pathophysiologic processes that are known to be associated with the development, progression, and recurrence of various cancers (eg, stimulation of systemic inflammation and oxidation, impairment of immune function, increases in insulin resistance and weight gain, etc).[8]

Lawenda overstates his case massively. The evidence that improving ?attitude? improves cancer-specific survival is of shockingly low quality. There?s just no ?there? there. As I?ve said before, that?s not to say that psychotherapy and other modalities designed to improve a patient?s mood and mental state might not be useful. Certainly, they can improve quality of life, used in the proper situation. However, there just isn?t any evidence that is even mildly convincing that such modalities can improve a patient?s chances of surviving his cancer.

I also know that Lawenda is laying down pure, grade-A woo when I see him retreating into the favorite alt-med trope, ?absence of evidence is not evidence of absence? and claiming that ?many alternative therapies, once believed by conventional medical practitioners to be merely placebos, have now been shown to have proven therapeutic value (eg, acupuncture, numerous botanical extracts, meditation).? Well, no. Acupuncture has not been convincingly shown to have therapeutic value for any condition, and it?s no surprise that botanical extracts might be effective for some things; they are, after all, drugs. Adulterated drugs with lots of impurities whose potency can vary widely from lot to lot, but drugs nonetheless. He even attacks antidepressants based on more recent evidence suggesting that they might not be as effective as previously thought and in some cases might not be better than placebo, an idea ably countered by James Coyne.

Lawenda?s rebuke, however, is nothing compared to what comes next. Remember Cassileth?s dismissal of the findings of a ?Yale surgeon? who claimed that support groups improved cancer survival? Here comes that Yale surgeon! Yes, indeed. It?s Bernie Siegel, and he?s pissed, proclaiming that The Key to Reducing Quackery Lies in Healing Patients and Treating Their Experience. Of course, his carefully cultivated image of being the ultimate nice guy and caring physician can?t be endangered; I only infer his annoyance from the tone of his response. I also infer a lot from the fact that, unlike Lawenda and Cassileth, who at least include some references taken from the peer-reviewed scientific literature to support their points, Siegel cites exactly one reference, and one reference only, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?s Cancer Ward. Lawenda cites mostly poor quality studies, but at least he tries by citing studies. Siegel, on the other hand, seems to think he is the Great and Powerful Oz (Dr. Oz or the Wizard of Oz, take your pick) and that you should just take his pronouncements on faith because he is so awesome. I will admit that Siegel probably has a point when he says that better communication could potentially reduce the incidence of cancer patients turning to quackery, but even making this reasonable point he overstates his case when he says that quackery would ?diminish greatly? if doctors would just learn to communicate better. There?s a lot more to the appeal of quackery than having a doctor who can?t communicate, much of which wouldn?t even come close to disappearing, even if every doctor turned into a Bernie Siegel clone with respect to showing incredible empathy to patients.

Siegel then dives right in, relying on the sheer force of that awesome empathy of his to rip Cassileth a new one for daring to criticize his work:

Our emotions govern our internal chemistry, and hope is therapeutic. We know that laughter enhances survival time in cancer patients, while loneliness has a negative effect. When a Yale graduate student did a study on our support group members and it showed increased survival time for the group?s members, his professor told him that couldn?t be true and made him change the control group so that everything came out equal. Doctors don?t study survival and the power of the mind.

Which is, of course, utter nonsense, leavened with more than a little conspiracy mongering. Doctors have been studying the ?power of the mind? and survival for a very long time. What Siegel doesn?t like is that they haven?t found that the mind is nearly as powerful as Siegel would like to believe. It?s a topic I?ve been writing about since the very beginning. There?s a reason for the central dogma of alternative medicine; it?s very appealing to believe that sheer force of will or thinking happy thoughts can heal us of serious diseases. Talk about the ultimate form of ?empowerment?!

Siegel then goes completely off the deep end:

The mind and energy will be therapies of the future. I know of patients who were not irradiated because the therapy machine was being repaired and no radioactive material was reinserted. The radiation therapist told me about it because he was feeling terrible. I told him he didn?t know what he was saying to me. ?You?d have to be an idiot to not know you weren?t treating people for a month?so obviously they had side effects and shrinking tumors, which was why you assumed they were being treated.? He said, ?Oh my God, you?re right.? I couldn?t get him to write an article about it. I also have patients who have no side effects because they get out of the way and let the radiation go to their tumor.

Yes, an unsubstantiated anecdote about an apparently incompetent radiation oncology tech who didn?t notice that his radiation machine wasn?t actually delivering radiation trumps evidence, apparently. (One wonders how the machine still functioned if its source wasn?t re-inserted. Most such machines have a warning light or won?t turn on if the source isn?t properly in place.) Siegel?s article is so full of alt-med tropes and a heaping? helpin? of what can best be described as pure woo. Besides recommending his own books (one of which I actually have on my shelf but have not gotten around to reading), Siegel recommends The Energy Cure: Unraveling the Mystery of Hands-On Healing by William Bengston, The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by Bruce Lipton, and The Psychobiology of Gene Expression by Ernest Rossi. Lipton, as you recall, is a cell biologist who abandoned ?conventional? biology after having some sort of mystical revelation about cells that led him to conclude that God must exist and that ?holistic? therapies work. I hadn?t heard of the other two, but Siegel describes Bengston thusly:

Bengston cured mice of cancer in a controlled study with the energy conducted through his hands. I was healed of an injury in the same way by healer Olga Worral many years ago. We definitely need to test potential therapies to verify whether or not they are useful, but we also have to keep an open mind to what might be possible, and we must understand that we are treating a patient?s experience and not just a disease.

It turns out that Bengston preaches exactly the sort of quackery that Cassileth quite correctly castigated, namely that energy healing can cure cancer! From his own website:

Can energy healing really cure cancer? Is it possible for you to heal someone?s terminal illness with your bare hands? Is the Western medical community ready for a fundamental change in its approach to treatment??Dr. William Bengston invites you to decide by taking a journey with him into the mystery and power of hands-on healing. Drawing on his 30 years of rigorous research, unbelievable results, and mind-bending questions, Bengston challenges us to totally rethink what we believe about our ability to heal.

As there so frequently is after a book advertisement, there are blurbs with people saying how great Bengston?s book is. Guess who gave Bengston a plug. Yes, Bernie Siegel. I must say, I had no idea that Siegel was so deep into woo. Elsewhere in his article he says he had chronic Lyme disease and was helped by homeopathic remedies. He even says that he ?knows they work? because of his ?experience of having the symptoms of the disease alleviated.? It doesn?t get much quackier than energy healing and homeopathy. They are the two most ridiculous quackeries out there, and Bernie Siegel is promoting them both.

Siegel concludes:

I was a pediatric surgeon and a general surgeon, and I know how powerful my words were to the children?and adults?who believed in me. I had no problem deceiving children into health by labeling vitamin pills as medications to prevent nausea and hair loss, or telling them the alcohol (Drug information on alcohol) sponge would numb their skin (and of course, sharing this with their parents, who helped empower their child?s belief). The mind and attitude are powerful healing forces. The mind and body do communicate, so I work with patients? dreams and drawings and have diagnosed illnesses from them. I have yet to meet a physician who was told in medical school that Carl Jung correctly diagnosed a brain tumor by interpreting a patient?s dream.

This may not seem related to the subject of quackery, but it is?because it is about how to train doctors so that they know how to provide hope and potential to patients and how to use the mind and placebo effects. Doctors? ?wordswordswords? can become ?swordswordswords? and kill or cure patients. I know a man who had cancer and needed cataract surgery so he could enjoy the life that remained to him with restored vision. His health plan denied the surgery because they expected him to die within 6 months and didn?t want to spend the money. He died in a week. The Lockerbie Bomber was released by the Scottish authorities because he was dying of cancer. He went back home to the Middle East and survived for over 3 years? and that is no coincidence.

Note the mind-body dualism (?the mind and body do communicate?). Of course they do, because the mind is the brain, and the brain is in constant communication with the body! That doesn?t mean you can think yourself healthy. Remember how I discussed some time ago the way that this increasing emphasis on placebo medicine among promoters of ?integrative medicine.? As I?ve said so many times before, the reason IM fans have taken this position is because they?re finally being forced to accept that high quality evidence shows that most alt-med nostrums rebranded as ?CAM? or ?integrative medicine? produce nonspecific effects no better than placebo. So these nonspecific effects get relabeled as the ?powerful placebo,? as proponents of ?integrating? quackery into real medicine pivot on the proverbial dime and say that?s how their favored therapies worked all along, by firing up placebo effects! It?s pure paternalism, as well, as I have discussed multiple times.

Siegel claims he?s ?unleashing the healing power? in each of us, but what he is really doing is advocating a return to the paternalistic, unquestioned, shaman-healer so common in so many societies in pre-scientific times. In ancient Egypt, physicians were also priests; both functions were one, which made sense given how little effective medicine there was. Praying to the gods for patients to get better was in most cases as good as anything those ancient physicians could do. Also notice how, to Siegel, apparently the end justifies the means. Siegel can deceive patients about vitamins and alcohol sponges because he thinks it?s all for a greater good, really believing that he is so all-powerful a shaman-healer that his words alone can have a huge effect in curing or killing patients. That?s how he appears to be justifying the deception. He needs to get a clue (and some humility) and realize that, although placebo effects are important confounders in clinical trials, it?s a huge stretch to ascribe such awesome power to their effects. What Siegel is describing is magic, not science; religion, not medicine. Thinking does not make it so.

Unfortunately, Cassileth doesn?t seem to realize that, at their core, the ?unconventional? aspects of the ?integrative medicine? that she is promoting are little or no different than what Siegel promotes. In essence, ?integrative medicine? is all about ?integrating? magical thinking into scientific medicine. Acupuncture, ?mind-body? interventions, reiki, and all the various quackademic medicine that has infiltrated medical academia relies on the same ideas, the same magical thinking, that we see on display from Bernie Siegel. Cassileth might think herself so much more rational and ?evidence-based? by attacking the most egregrious cancer quackery, but she?s only fooling herself.

Source: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/08/22/quackademic-medicine-versus-cancer-quackery/

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