Clipmarks | Consumers Clips

House passes health care bill

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:29:53 GMT

clipped by: infidel70
clipper's remarks: FTA: The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government's mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price gouging, bid rigging and market allocation.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.

The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.

In the run-up to a final vote, conservatives from the two political parties joined forces to impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups. They prevailed on a roll call of 240-194.

Ironically, that only solidified support for the legislation, clearing the way for conservative Democrats to vote for it.

kitchenaid dealers

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:46:58 GMT

clipped by: harry111

Clip Source: shared.whirlpoolcorp.com

Renwes Sales
25741 Commercentre Dr
Lake Forest, CA 92630

Lowes
30481 AVENIDA DE LAS FLORES
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA 92688

Gill Appliance Corp
24251 Avenida De La Carlota
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Saddleback Appliance
23201 Del Lago
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Sears
24300 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Lowes
26501 ALISO CREEK ROAD
ALISO VIEJO, CA 92656

Best Buy
6171 Lake Forest Drive
Irvine, CA 92618

The Great Indoors
71 Technology Dr
Irvine, CA 92618

Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath
2592 White Rd
Irvine, CA 92614

Lowes
13300 JAMBOREE ROAD
IRVINE, CA 92602

Phone: (714)368-1665
Web site: http://www.lowes.com

United Consumers Club
1271 Puerta Del Sol
Suite A
San Clemente, CA 92673

Phone: 949-366-1460

Phone: (949)616-7725
Web site: http://www.lowes.com

Phone: 949-206-4700
Web site: http://www.sears.com

Phone: 949-830-6910

Phone: 949-581-5700

Phone: (949)589-5005
Web site: http://www.lowes.com

Verão é tempo de ToTTal Merchandising e Promoções

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:11:09 GMT

clipped by: tottalmarketing
clipper's remarks: Vem chegando o verão e as cores coloridas vão tomando as areias pintando com barracas de praia, ou guarda sol, que refletem o sol que muito brilha para todo o mundo e para todas as marcas da paixão.

Clip Source: www.tottalmarketing.com

Verão é tempo de ToTTal Merchandising e Promoções

Vem chegando o verão e as cores coloridas vão tomando as areias pintando com barracas de praia, ou guarda sol, que refletem o sol que muito brilha para todo o mundo e para todas as marcas da paixão.

Isto porque, na praia um lindo mosaico de marcas disputam cada espaço na areia de um modo sempre democrático, dando preferência a aquele que chegou primeiro.

Assim, determinados espaços já estão tomados pela marca A ou B oferecendo

sombra a quem quer se guardar do sol e ou oferecendo um ponto referencial para os encontros.

Mas, tudo isso não importa porque o que importa mesmo é que vem chegando o verão e com ele muito sorvete Garoto, Kibon e de marcas locais, o MaTTe Leão o Rei da Praia, a cerveja Brahma que todo mundo ama e o famoso protetor solar Sundown, que todos os anos contrata o São Pedro para maneirar com as chuvas.

É Marketing é Tudo e é ToTTal até meteorologia.

ToTTal Marketing tem twiTTer.

Marketing é Tudo e é ToTTal

Tags: clipmarks, noticia marketing, summer consumers, products, advertising, promotion, merchandising, passion, fashion

Consumer Reports finds BPA in most canned foods

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:41:49 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: More:

…our findings are notable because they indicate the extent of potential exposure: Consumers eating just one serving of the canned vegetable soup we tested would get about double what the FDA now considers typical average dietary daily exposure…

A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from our sample, which averaged 123.5 ppb, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than our experts' recommended daily upper limit. And children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies… Drinking three servings per day of canned apple juice with BPA levels comparable to the levels found in our samples could result in a dose of BPA that is more than our experts' daily upper limit.
Clip Source: www.consumerreports.org
The chemical Bisphenol A, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because of potential health effects.
Now Consumer Reports' latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods we tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled "BPA-free."
Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. But that level is based on experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating serious health risks could result from much lower doses of BPA.

Tags: food, food-safety, chemicals, bpa, consumer-reports

Is the Economy Recovering? The Curious Case of 1920 vs. 1929

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:05:52 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The basic questions we need to ask here are:

1. Why do economies recover?

2. Are we recovering?

Q. Why do economies recover?

A. They recover because bad investments made during the bubble are liquidated, valuable capital is no longer being wasted on them, new capital is formed from savings, and profitable enterprises attract new capital to expand. Low real interest rates caused by increased savings encourage borrowing, manufacturers use the capital to make new machines, producers of consumer goods buy them, cash goes through the system, consumers see things are getting better, more consumer goods are produced, and consumers buy them. It has to happen this way or the recovery will fail.

The difficult part of a recovery is ugly. Bankrupt firms need to fail so that valuable capital resources are not wasted on their continuing activities. This means that unemployment rises (10.2% now) and business bankruptcies are high. Trillions of dollars of asset values are wiped out.

Clip Source: www.zerohedge.com

By Jeff Harding
The Daily Capitalist

In order to understand the present state of the U.S. economy you have to understand that there are two things happening at once. For the most part they are in conflict with each other, in that one track can negatively impact the other.

Here are some of the economic data that have come out this week, in no particular order:

PositiveNegative The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose 3.1 points to 55.7, the third straight month of growth and the highest level since April 2006. A reading above 50 indicates expansion for the sector.Current-dollar personal income decreased $15.5 billion (0.5 percent) in the third quarter, in contrast to an increase of $19.1 billion (0.6 percent) in the second.

The ISM's employment index rose for the first time in 15 months as manufacturers sought to recall workers or enlist temporary help.

Consumer confidence fell to 47.7 in October, from 53.4 in September.

Tags: austrian economics, economic crisis, recovery, fed policy, fiscal stimulus, free market economics, keynesian economics, stimulus, obama administration, krugman

WHAT are those Cows Eating?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:48:00 GMT

clipped by: Uniec
clipper's remarks: The cattle that end up as our burgers may have eaten things we don't want to know about, but which may endanger our health.

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

This simple fact would shock most consumers if they knew about it. People assume that beef found to be contaminated with E. coli must be thrown out or destroyed (or even recalled), but in reality, it's often just pressed into hamburger patties, cooked, and sold to consumers. This practice is openly endorsed by the USDA.

But E. coli may not be the worst thing in your burger: USDA regulations also allow chicken feces to be used as feed for cows, meaning your hamburger beef may be made of second-hand chicken poop, recycled through the stomachs of cows.

Now, you might wonder how chicken feces could pose a mad cow infection risk to cows. And if you're not already grossed out by what you've read so far, you will be when you read the answer to this question: It's because chickens are fed ground up parts of other animals such as cows, sheep and other animals. Some of that chicken feed spills out and gets swept up as chicken litter, then fed to cows.

Tags: health, burgers

NHL Drives Buzz with Tweetups

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:03 GMT

clipped by: nealstewart
clipper's remarks: This is a pretty cool casy study on how the National Hockey League (who haven't always been the best marketers) stimulated buzz and interest around the playoffs last year by holding tweet-ups in NHL cities. They did this in both playoff and non-playoff cities - so it was really targeted toward the hard-core fan who just enjoys the sport.

When I was with Flying Dog Brewery, we had good success creating tweetups to build stronger awareness and relationships with our consumers. But the cool thing is that loyal consumer who would come to the event would almost always bring someone who was less familiar with the brand, so we got to talk to a partially new audience.

The great thing about tweetups is that you can really build the event around any theme because the objective is to come and meet like-minded people. Whether it's the love of hockey, beer or charity event if you get the word out to the right people and throw out an interesting offer for their attendance, people will come

Clip Source: blogs.forrester.com

The NHL spent only a few weeks and a few thousand dollars planning and supporting the tweet-ups, but the results were fantastic:

Big in-person attendance. More than 1200 people attended tweet-ups in 23 cities (including events in New Zealand and Northern Ireland) for the opening night of the playoffs. Many fans organized further tweet-ups as their teams progressed through the playoffs as well

Bigger online chatter. Those attendees talked a lot about the events on Twitter: On the opening night of the playoffs, the term "NHL" was mentioned on Twitter more than twice as often as on a normal day. And #NHLtweetup became a trending topic for the day.

Enormous total reach. According to the league's research, as many as 240,000 people could have heard about the event on Twitter. And the tweet-ups also generated press coverage that reached millions, including a story in USA Today.

Tags: marketing, nhl, tweet ups

Uncle Sam’s Collections Continue Their Steep Drop

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:16:02 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: It is ironic to say the least that Congress and the Obama administration are glorifying the idea of a “public option” that would ultimately lead to government-run health care while Treasury receipts continue to shrink. If the private health insurance market disappears, so will its taxes.

To name just one example, Aetna’s recorded income tax expense on its financial statements for 2005-2008 (including state and local taxes) averaged roughly $900 million per year. Put the company’s health insurance segment out of business, and a large portion of those taxes would stop coming in, digging the country’s and various states’ debt holes that much deeper.

The establishment press has paid very little attention to fiscal 2009’s drop of 19.5% in receipts from economic activity, so I expect similar treatment of October’s continuation of the trend. It would appear that they don’t want any unsettling news getting in the way of the statist agenda.

Clip Source: www.bizzyblog.com

Cash Crunch, Press Silence: As ObamaCare Advances In Congress

Though it won’t be official until Tim Geithner’s crew releases its Monthly Treasury Statement next week, it’s virtually certain that the government’s collections will open the year in a deep hole compared to last year, and probably well behind what CBO expects.

Take a look at this compilation of key items from October’s final Daily Treasury Statement, compared to the actual results from October 2008 and 2007:

This downward spiral continues a trend that began in the summer of 2008, as the public and especially businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors began comprehending the horrid economic implications of a Barack Obama electoral victory

In the intervening year since the election, fear and uncertainty have spread to consumers in general, which of course has significantly suppressed economic activity and federal collections resulting from it.

Tags: economy, msm biz/other bias, msm biz/other ignorance, taxes & government

Overspending on Debit Cards Is a Boon for Banks

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:45:57 GMT

clipped by: harrymorris
clipper's remarks: Banks have long pitched debit cards as a convenient and prudent way to buy, but a growing number now allow consumers to exceed their balances for a price.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Tags: nytimes, debit cards, credit and debit cards, debit card trap, overspending

The Celebrity Cafe reviews The Leakey Collection

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:04:27 GMT

clipped by: INKinc

Clip Source: thecelebritycafe.com

The Leakey Collection of Contemporary Jewelry

Written by: TheCelebrityCafe.com Staff

This prestigious collection, which is now available for purchase at LeakeyCollection.com, was founded in 2002 by Katy and Philip Leakey.

Those who are in the market for stunning, handcrafted jewelry that is made from natural elements will be blown away by The Leakey Collection of contemporary jewelry. This collection was founded seven years ago by world-renowned designers Katy and Philip Leakey, who have carried out their dream of preserving the environment and creating economic opportunity for rural men and women from Kenya who make each piece of jewelry by hand.

Zulugrass Jewelry from The Leakey Collection is immensely popular amongst consumers due to its naturally elegant appearance that is generated from strands of vibrantly colored grass beads that are strung along with dazzling Czech glass beads.

pay a visit to LeakeyCollection.com

Tags: celebrity cafe, the leakey collection

Hosting photo finishing

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:54:54 GMT

clipped by: DevidCook
clipper's remarks: More information visit at:
Hosting

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

[edit] Online photo finishing

Because printing at home for consumers is potentially time consuming, costly, or low quality, a number of providers offer the ability to create high quality prints from digital photos, printed digitally on photographic paper. Typically the customer uploads their digital photos to the site and then orders prints and gifts which are then delivered by mail. To facilitate the sale of prints and gifts to family and friends, these sites typically offer a limited form of photo sharing. Because the primary revenue model is to sell the consumer back their digital information in the form of prints and gifts, the online albums typically do not allow friends and family to download the full size original images, and the images may be deleted if no purchases are made. Nevertheless, because the primary revenue model of the printing sites is to sell prints and gifts, the photo sharing service is free and hence attractive to many consumers.

Tags: hosting

Greg Matthews, Director, Consumer Innovation, Humana

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:55 GMT

clipped by: rmacksoud

Clip Source: www.e2conf.com

Greg Matthews, Director, Consumer Innovation, Humana

Does Social Media and Marketing Matter?

Greg Matthews is Director of Consumer Innovation at Humana. After spending a career helping to build and operate businesses, his current work is focused on using social media to create different kinds of interactions with consumers ï¿½ with the goal of supporting a social revolution in health. During his tenure at Humana, he has had responsibility for the start-up HR operations for joint venture companies like Green Ribbon Health and Sensei, and in Humana's first European subsidiary in London. Most recently he led the design and launch of CrumpleItUp.com, where he blogs regularly.

Prior to joining Humana, Greg spent his career in technology-oriented consulting firms. At Accenture, Greg worked in the Financial Services and Technology lines of business both in Chicago and in Frankfurt, Germany.

Groundbreaking LAWSUIT to Expose Mercury Fillings Poisoning

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:37:18 GMT

clipped by: leevardi

Clip Source: www.naturalnews.com

Mercury Fillings Shattered! FDA, ADA Conspiracy to Poison Children with Toxic Mercury Fillings Exposed in Groundbreaking Lawsuit

Today, that reign of toxicity is about to end. Thanks to the tireless, multi-year efforts of people like Charles Brown, National Counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice (www.ToxicTeeth.org), the FDA has now been forced to acknowledge a fact so fundamental that, by any measure of honest science, it should have adopted the position decades ago. What position is that? Simply that mercury is toxic to humans.

Why the FDA has to be sued to do its job of protecting consumers

Compost Pile Friends

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:07:12 GMT

clipped by: adosuzano
clipper's remarks: they may not look nice but they are big helpers (most of the time). However, if you are concerned about the food web in your compost pile "breaking out," try the following tips:

1. Create a barrier by spreading a line of wood ash (not barbecue ash because of fat residues) or crushed egg shells around your compost pile. This will keep the activity contained within the pile.
2. A similar, but more lethal technique, is to sink small margarine containers full of stale beer, molasses and water, or yeast and water in the ground around the compost pile. Unsuspecting slugs, sow bugs, and earwigs will be attracted to the liquid, crawl inside, and drown.

Earwigs can be sprayed with a solution of one tablespoon of liquid soap detergent combined with one quart of water. This will kill the earwigs that are doing damage and spare the helpful bugs that are eating dead organic material.
(information from California Integrated Waste Management Board)

Clip Source: www.ciwmb.ca.gov

Compost Pile Critters

The food web decomposition process is divided into three levels:

Level One (primary consumers) is comprised of the organisms that shred organic matter and the microscopic organisms that eat the shredded organic residues.
Level Two (secondary consumers) is comprised of the organisms that eat level one organisms.
Level Three (tertiary consumers) is comprised of the organisms that eat level two organisms.

Clip Source: www.ciwmb.ca.gov

Level One—Primary Consumers

Psychrophilic bacteria

Mesophilic bacteria

Thermophilic bacteria

Actinomycetes

Molds and fungi

Snails, slugs, millipedes, sow bugs, pill bugs, mites and earthworms

Snails

Slugs

Millipedes

Sow bugs

Pill bugs

Mites

Earthworms

Clip Source: www.ciwmb.ca.gov

Level Two—Secondary Consumers

Nematodes

Protozoa

Rotifers

Flatworms

Springtails

Feather-winged beetles

Clip Source: www.ciwmb.ca.gov

Level Three—Tertiary Consumers

Centipedes

Mites

Rove Beetles

Ants

Spiders

Pseudoscorpions

Earwigs

Tags: waste management, compost, insects, recycle, gardening, garden

Draft of secret copyright treaty should give you chills

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:16:18 GMT

clipped by: HansWobbe
clipper's remarks: ...

Clip Source: blogs.siliconvalley.com

Draft of secret copyright treaty should give you chills

As the latest round of talks on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement go on in secret (for unspecified national security reasons), some information on the U.S.-written draft of the Internet chapter has begun to leak out, and, as feared, the heavy hand of the entertainment industry is readily apparent and the implications for Internet service providers, consumers and innovation in general are grim. Being rendered near speechless, I’ll let others summarize: