Category: News

There were some great comments on my post from Sunday titled Being Syndication Agnostic.  One of them was from Kevin Vogelsang – he asked the following question:

What are the downsides to syndicating a round of financing for the entrepreneur/startup (assuming the relationship with all investors is a good fit of course)? By syndicating a deal, the entrepreneur gains access to a larger network. This seems to be a big positive. However, there must be downsides (less attention, more interest groups, etc.) Love to hear more on the topic.

While there are plenty of downsides, I’m going to take on five common ones in this post. 

Too Many VC’s on the Board: Most VC’s want a board seat when they invest in a company. At the early stages this is usually manageable (although not necessarily desirable).  However, once a company has raised several rounds of financing and built increasingly large syndicates, this can quickly get out of control.  The largest board of a VC backed company I’ve ever been on was 11 (8 VCs, CEO, founder, one outside director).  It was a completely ineffective board.  Now, the board size problems can be dealt with by a strong CEO and a strong lead investor who will help the CEO organize the board in a manageable way, but it has to be done proactively.

Too Many People in the Room: This is a corollary to “too many VCs on the board.”  If the VC doesn’t get a board seat, they’ll want an observer seat.  In addition, most later stage VCs or strategic investors want observer seats.  Suddenly even though you’ve managed the size of the board effectively, there are a bunch of people in the room.  I’ve been in board meetings with over 20 people in them (I don’t know the exact max, but I’m going to guess it’s around 25 since eventually you run out of chairs.)  Not surprisingly, these tend to be weak or inefficient board meetings with separate “executive committee meetings” where the real board meeting happens, and then another three hour song and dance for the benefit of the 15 other people.

Both of these are a natural result of most investors in private companies wanting to have a seat at the table.  While a reasonable expectation, it’s important for the CEO and founders to set an appropriate tone and expectations with their investors early on so that there’s actually an effective board, investor, and company dynamic as the syndicate gets large.

Misalignment of Interests: With each round of investment and each new investor comes new expectations.  As the syndicate size grows, the chance of interests between parties getting out of alignment increases.  This is especially true when each round has different dynamics beyond price (such different preference structures, protective provisions, voting thresholds by class of stock, and various participation caps.)  When everything is going well this isn’t an issue, but the minute the business goes sideways (or worse) strange things start to happen.  As the situation degenerate, the knives (or flamethrowers) come out.  I’ve been involved in situations that resulted in the destruction of companies that deserved to live another day because the investors around the table (which included me) couldn’t get their collective shit together.

Decision Vacuum: This is a corollary to “misalignment of interests.”  It’s similar to when I lived in a fraternity at MIT and a dozen of us would stand in the hallway trying to figure out where to go out to eat.  This drill could go on for a while, especially if we had a keg of beer (or, er, something else) nearby.  Eventually someone stepped into the decision vacuum and said “I’m going to Mandarin – come with me if you want” (well – that was what I usually said – others had different choices).  Whenever you’ve got at least four VCs sitting around a table, you run the risk of a decision vacuum forming (queue snarky jokes here).  If you are a CEO of a company and you see a decision vacuum developing, grab a bunch of matter and get in the middle of it.

Lame Duck Syndrome: There has been plenty of personnel changes in the “VC business” in the past five years, including plenty of firms that are winding down, have shrunk in size (and let partners go), and have disbanded.  However, they are still investors in your company and some of them still sit on your board.  In some cases they are just hanging around to “protect their investment” although they have no ability or interest in putting additional capital into your company.  Now – some folks in this position are incredibly helpful, but many don’t do much more than show up.  And – the more of them like this around the table, the less fun it can be.

Now, there are plenty of other downsides as well as plenty of advantages of large syndicates.  If you’ve got additional ideas, or stories to share (especially horrifying ones showing the downside), comment away even if you change the names to protect the not so innocent.

Aptly-named consumer trend blog TrendsSpotting just released its poll from more than 30 social media influencers. The market research presentation identifies six trends that will change social media in 2010. In accordance with Ustrategy co-founder Ravit Lichtenberg’s predictions, the experts believe that 2010 will be the year that social media ROI is effectively measured. The question is, how do you measure a dollar value from Tweets and status updates?

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I’ve been at the receiving end of enough agency pitches to understand that few public relations firms will promise a dollar or registration-based return for their time. In the words of one pro, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” In other words, PR can get eyeballs to your site, but it can’t guarantee revenue or members. That’s the job of a well-designed product. With social media, it’ll be interesting to see how return on investment will be measured. Below are some possibilities.

PROSPECTING: Connie Benson, Director of Social Media and Community Strategy for Alterian says, “Social media monitoring will provide insight across all channels, as well as making social media an active outbound marketing channel.” In this case Benson alludes to the idea that ROI on social media may entail leads generation. In other words, here social media ROI might be measured in the number of social media-based pitches against the number of deals closed.

STEWARDSHIP: Says President of New Marketing Labs Chris Brogan, “I see velvet rope networks where some kind of gating to keep out the commons will occur.” In the case of enterprise groups engaging in social media, this may mean establishing channel partnerships, enacting a service provider’s network and building self-moderating customer service programs. ROI in this case might correlate to return business via an enterprise-based social media channel.

ADVOCACY: Rosetta’s Adam Cohen exclaims, “Marketing programs [will] focus more on activating brand advocates than general customers.” Whether this is measured through click-thru sales on embedded brand badges or the number of clients you receive through an advocate’s promo code, advocacy ROI is easily measured.

Says Lichtenberg, “While the definition of ROI is evolving to better fit the world of relationships and networks, the ability to demonstrate ROI in hard numbers — not in followers or fans — will become a baseline business requirement in 2010.” If this is true, then many would argue that social media experts should have no problem measuring their retainer and hourly wage against a dollar value added. In reality though, there is more to social media than a simple dollar value, just as there is (hopefully) more to your company than making a sale.

We’ve only just scratched the surface on social media ROI and we know there are more models out there. If you’ve got a good method for measuring your programs, let us know in the comments below.

Discuss

Filed under: Aftermarket, Frankfurt Motor Show, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Aston Martin, Luxury

Besides talking to the cute blond at the Audi booth, your Autobloggers spent the most time at this year’s Frankfurt show arguing in front of the Mansory booth. Why? Some of us simply loved the all carbon fiber Cyrus, while others thought reskinning an Aston Martin DB9 in unpainted CF wasn’t the best possible use of all that sci-fi plastic. Also (of course) there was the matte pink Vitesse Rose, which… no comment.

Anyhow, Mansory just released a plethora of images showing the world what the Cyrus looks like when it’s on the road. The naysayers among us will no doubt be forced to admit that the Cyrus does look better at speed, though we’re still quite anti- fake roof scoop, as well as the glued-on rear quarter panels. Is $600,000ish too much to spend on top of a DB9’s based price for all that baked plastic goodness? You be the judge.

[Source: Mansory]

Pics Aplenty: Mansory Cyrus goes out and about originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arbitron is moving up its target date to start including more “cell-phone-only” households as part of its media measurement diary system. The researcher currently measures about 10 percent of homes that use a mobile phone instead of a landline in its diary markets. It had initially planned to raise that number to 15 percent of the homes in each its 268 diary markets by the end of next year; it now expects to get to that point by next spring. It’s not clear how many cell phone homes Arbitron expects to include. Overall, the researcher has 800,000 diarists each year. It also measures markets electronically, which amounts to another 50,000 panelists. Release

The fall survey was the first to include some cell phone homes across all 50 states. The increased focus on these homes is designed to ensure that the 18-34 year-old demo doesn’t fall off Arbitron’s map, as cell-phone-onlys tend to be at the younger end of the spectrum and one of the primary segments that advertisers want to reach.

With the media landscape in greater flux, the audience measurement business finds itself scrambling to provide ever-granular data. Established companies like Arbitron and Nielsen are finding themselves challenged like never before, as a range of new companies with a heavy focus on digital have resulted in greater demands from media companies, advertisers and agencies. Nielsen, for example, has been ramping up its combined coverage of traditional TV and online viewing lately. Also, the clients themselves have gotten together under the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to try to push companies to develop better tools for audience measurement, especially in the area of DVRs.

There comes a time in every science writer’s career when one must write about glass duck vaginas and explosive duck penises.

That time is now.

To err on the side of caution, I am stuffing the rest of this post below the fold. My tale is rich with deep scientific significance, resplendent with surprising insights into how evolution works, far beyond the banalities of “survival of the fittest,” off in a realm of life where sexual selection and sexual conflict work like a pair sculptors drunk on absinthe, transforming biology into forms unimaginable. But this story is also accompanied with video. High-definition, slow-motion duck sex video. And I would imagine that the sight of spiral-shaped penises inflating in less than a third of second might be considered in some quarters to be not exactly safe for work. It’s certainly not appropriate for ducklings.

So, if you’re ready, join me below the fold.

This story is actually a sequel. Back in 2007, I wrote in the New York Times about the work of Patricia Brennan, a post-doctoral researcher at Yale, and her colleagues on the weirdness of duck genitals. The full story is here. (Brennan also appeared in a Nature documentary, starting at about minute 38:35.)

In brief, Brennan wanted to understand why some ducks have such extravagant penises. Why are they cork-screw shaped? Why do they get so ridiculously long–some cases as long as the duck’s entire body? As Brennan dissected duck penises, she began to wonder what the female sexual anatomy looked like. If you have a car like this, she said, what kind of garage do you park it in?

Brennan discovered that female ducks have equally weird reproductive tracts (called oviducts). In many species, they are ornamented with lots of outpockets. And like duck penises, duck oviducts are corkscrew-shaped. But while male duck penises twist clockwise, the female oviduct twists counterclockwise.

Brennan speculated that all this bizarre anatomy is the result of a peculiar form of evolution known as sexual conflict. A strategy that allows females to reproduce the most offspring may not be so good for males, and vice versa. For example, male fruit flies inject their mates with lots of chemicals during sex, and those chemicals make her less receptive to other males, thereby boosting his chances of fathering her eggs. But those chemicals are harsh and will make female flies sick. Females, in turn, have evolved defenses against those chemicals, blunting their effects.

With many examples of sexual conflict in nature, Brennan wondered if sexual conflict between male and female ducks was giving rise to their weird genitals. Female ducks pair off with male partners for the breeding season, but they also get harrassed by other males, sometimes being forced to have sex (and sometimes dying from the attacks). A third of all duck matings are forced.

And yet only 3 percent of the ducklings that female ducks produce come from such forced matings. Brennan speculated that the female ducks can block forced copulations with their mismatched spirals. And they might also be controlling which drake got to fertilize their eggs by socking away the sperm of different mates in different pockets. And the extravagant penises of males might be the result of an evolution around those defenses.

As I reported in 2007, Brennan discovered a pattern that supported this hypothesis. Among 16 species of water fowl, species in which the males grew long phalluses also had females with more turns in their oviduct and more side pockets. The ducks were escalating an arms race, genital for genital.

But Brennan didn’t actually know how duck penises actually moved through the labirynthine oviduct, and how the oviduct’s shape might affect the drake’s delivery of sperm. So she traded calipers and rulers for high-speed video.

Brennan and her colleagues traveled to a California duck farm, where workers are expert at collecting sperm from drakes. The first step in the collection is to get a drake excited by putting a female duck in his cage. The drake climbs on top, and then the penis emerges. Before its emergence, a drake’s penis is usually completely hidden from view, tucked inside his body like an inside-out sock. Drakes unfurl their pensises differently than male mammals. In mammals, the penis becomes erect as blood flows into the spongy tissue. Ducks pump lymph fluid instead. And as the fluid enters the penis, it does not simply become engorged. It flips rightside-out.

Here’s how it happens, in slow motion. A Muscovy drake everts his penis in about a third of a second, at speeds of 1.6 meters per second.

Of course, drakes don’t mate with the air. Having made this video, Brennan still needed a way to see how a duck penis actually performs its appointed task. Unable to film duck penises in a real female oviduct, she built a fake oviduct out of silcone. She then managed to get a drake to mate with it. But the overwhelming force of the explosive penis broke the fake oviduct.

So Brennan turned to glass. Her new fake oviducts were strong enough to handle the drakes, and she started filming. Here’s what she saw.

As Brennan had predicted, the counterclockwise turns of an oviduct slow down the expansion of the duck penis, compared to a straight tube or a clockwise one. Brennan suspects that female ducks slow down males trying to force a mating, but they can also let their partner’s penis move faster through the oviduct. They have been observed to relax and contract their muscles arond the oviduct.

Female ducks can’t stop an unwanted male from delivering his sperm, but the obstacles in their oviducts may give them control over what happens to that sperm. The female ducks may use their oviducts to slow down the expanation of the penis, so that by the time the drake ejaculates, the sperm are delivered in the lower reaches of the oviduct. A female ducks’s partner, with her cooperation, can deliver sperm further up the oviduct. With the wanted and unwanted sperm delivered to different places in the oviduct, a female duck may be able to store the sperm in different pockets. And then she can choose which drake will father her duckling. For all the explosiveness male ducks may display, it’s the female ducks that get the final say.

[Postscript: I tell Brennan’s story in more detail in my new book, The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution. It opens the chapter on sex–where I show how the same processes that explain these strange genitalia explain many other things in the natural world.]

Reference: Patricia L. R. Brennan et al, “Explosive eversion and functional morphology of the duck penis supports sexual conflict in waterfowl genitalia,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2139

[Update: 12/23–a couple misspellings fixed]

For nearly all of the history of copyright law, the law itself has been designed by and for a certain group of middlemen — even as it was officially supposed to be about creating incentives for the creation of new, quality content. For this reason, copyright law has changed radically over the past three centuries, as those middlemen repeatedly strove to ratchet up and increase their monopoly rents. However, with the introduction of the internet and the personal computer, something unfortunate happened to the middlemen. They discovered that suddenly this cozy process of middlemen and politicians constantly ratcheting up monopoly protections ran into a bit of a speedbump: that ratcheting up interfered with the daily lives of millions of people online.

Because of that, over the past few years, a growing group of people have become increasingly vocal, in pointing out that the true purpose of copyright law should be to make sure it actually does increase the incentives for the creation of new works, rather than taking it on faith (and the sworn word of the middlemen). This has upset the middlemen greatly — for historically they faced little to no opposition to their ongoing efforts to continually increase the monopoly rights granted to them.

Now facing serious opposition to these efforts for the first time, it appears that some of those involved in the cozy process of constantly ratcheting up copyright law (in one direction only) have decided that rather than present evidence as to why this is actually needed, they will simply break out two favorite mechanisms of the copyright maximalist arsenal: scream about “international obligations” over and over again… and when that fails, start the name calling.

Both are evident in an angry rant from Dr. Mihaly Ficsor, the President of the Hungarian Copyright Experts Council, and a former Assistant Director General of WIPO (i.e., the “old boys club” of folks who ratchet up copyright at every turn possible, based on faith alone, but not evidence of its need). Dr. Ficsor is particularly peeved at Michael Geist, for pushing back on the demands of other countries to radically change Canada’s copyright laws. Dr. Fiscor’s rant was posted to the blog of Barry Sookman, a Canadian copyright lawyer and lobbyist for the recording industry who has been a strong defender of secretive processes like ACTA negotiations and other attempts to change Canadian copyright laws on the whims of foreign middlemen, rather than any evidence of necessity.

I had thought that perhaps Dr. Ficsor’s response would raise substantive issues concerning changes to copyright law, or perhaps (and this would be wonderful) present the actual evidence of why such changes are necessary. Tragically, there is none of that. It is blind faith-based pronouncements instead — insisting that it’s necessary because it’s necessary, and then falling back on the mantra of “international obligations” for pretty much every other issue. Even on the one claim that he makes which he insists is substantive (that, despite not clearly saying so, these treaties do in fact require anti-circumvention clauses), he seems to purposely misrepresent history, pretending that he didn’t lose this battle over a decade ago already.

At the end, it moves on to the pure insult phase:

I am sure that the policy makers of Canada do not allow being misled and frightened by the noisy group of these “free-access” “revolutionaries” (I hope so since, here in the former “socialist” countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we have had quite bad experience of certain “free access” “revolutionary” collectivist systems constrained on us for several decades). I am sure that they will not let Canada to become an isolated hostage and victim of demagogue campaigns organized in the hatred-driven style of Maoist Guards as during that other brilliant “cultural revolution.”

Now, if you’re at all familiar with the Maoist Cultural Revolution, to compare that to those who are simply pushing for their own consumer rights on copyright issues or asking for actual evidence of the need for increasingly draconian copyright system changes, is downright ridiculous and insulting. No one is acting as a revolutionary, demanding “free access” or any sort of “Maoist” revolution. To make such a claim is pure ignorance. While some may disagree with the position Geist and others have taken, they have presented a position based on consumer and individual rights and an understanding of basic legal principles and economics. You can disagree with the conclusions, but to mischaracterize them in such a ridiculous manner raises all sorts of questions about what the copyright “old guard” has to hide. If they cannot respond to basic questions with actual evidence or actual answers, and instead resort to name calling like Dr. Ficsor does above, it seems only reasonable to conclude that there is no evidence to support their position. And when hundreds of thousands of Canadians spoke up to point out the emperor has no clothes, perhaps it’s not surprising that the emperor would lash out in anger, but it simply demonstrates how the “faith-based” nature of those pushing for ever more stringent copyright laws means that they cannot engage in reasoned debate on a position that has no reason behind it.

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Happy Holidays to all my friends, business associates, and blog members.

May 2010 be a great year for all! – BC

about currencies – The Debt Spiral – Debt begets debt until it doesn’t. I have watched a noticeable change in the mood of many investment banks (yes, they are all technically commercial now), money managers, and large institutions as market values have rebounded and the edge of the cliff seems like a distance memory. The reflation has occurred with a vengeance and it seems that the calm has returned. The real question to ask is, “Now what?” – Surly Trader

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a collection of great articles – What will be the status of the dollar in 2025 — and does it matter? – What Matters @ McKinsey 

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WILL THE DOLLAR CONTINUE TO RALLY? – The US Dollar index has made a nice move higher since the end of November with a gain of about 5%.  The important part about this rally is that the index has broken the long-term downtrend that it had been in since early 2009 – Bespoke Investment Group
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Richard Bernstein’s 10 Predictions For 2010 – Richard Bernstein – 
1. Stock and bond market returns in the US will again be positive.
2. The US dollar is likely to meaningfully appreciate once market-driven short-term rates begin to rise.
3. US dollar “carry trades” could get killed as 2010 progresses and the US dollar appreciates.  Once accounting for leverage, hedge fund performance will likely trail long-only equity performance.

Read them all at  Business Insider The Money Game

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Barry Ritholtz – still bullish on stocks, but not for the long term – Posted by Prieur du Plessis – … Ritholtz expects the market to continue to go higher in the first part of 2010, suggesting 1,250-1,300 as an upside target for the S&P 500, but still thinks we are in a cyclical (short-term) bull market within a secular (long-term) bear market, which began in 2000.  “The goal from now until let’s call it 2015 is to preserve capital – see if you can make a little money here or there – but be ready for the next 15-to-20 year bull market,” he said. … – Investment Postcards from Cape Town 

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Thoughts on PIMCO:

Risk Reversal Continues – Since one of the top Bloomberg stories today focused on Bill Gross’ highest cash position … The article focused on the idea that Bill Gross foresees largely rising rates in the United States in 2010.  That idea might have some merit, but it would probably be more likely that Gross expressed that view by shorting treasury futures and interest rate swaps.  I believe the reason that he is getting cautious is the same reason that I have focused on the rapid decline of Greece and rapid rise of the dollar. – Surly Trader

Pimco lightens up on U.S. debt – Tim Iacono – … The folks at Pimco are generally early on calls like this, but they’re almost always right (remember how they pleaded for Bernanke to cut rates in 2008-2009?) all the more reason to lighten up on both Treasuries and the modern day equivalent – mortgage backed securities. … – The Mess That Greenspan Made

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Thoughts from the Frontline Weekly Newsletter – The Age of Deleveraging – by John Mauldin – … While Obama is urging banks to lend, bank regulators are telling banks to raise capital and shore up their balance sheets. One way they do that is to lend less to consumers and businesses and invest in US government bonds. … 

Filed under: Hybrid, Geneva Motor Show, Nissan

If we told you there was a variant of the iconic Nissan GT-R putting out around 600 horsepower, gobs of weight-saving technology and fuel economy that can hit 25-30 mpg on the highway would you be interested? What if we told you that the added power came via the same 160 hp electric motor that rested beneath the beautiful sheetmetal of the Infiniti Essence concept at last year’s Geneva Motor Show?

The crew at Inside Line are reporting that the hybrid-powered Nissan GT-R is a real possibility for production, complete with the current model’s 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and a battery pack for greenification. Weight savings is of paramount importance, and Nissan plans to throw every trick in the book at the hybrid GT-R, although we’d wager that the gas-electric variant will still weigh more than the deceptively porky model in showrooms now. Of course, Nissan wouldn’t be interested in a vehicle with less performance than the current model so any hybrid-equipped GT-R would have to at least match Godzilla’s numbers.

With all that power comes great fiscal responsibility, so what would a GT-R hybrid cost? IL guesses $100,000 could be the price of entry, though Nissan could be looking for a little more coin than that. After all the GT-R Spec-V was rumored to cost quite a bit more and if you add a hybrid powertrain to Spec-V weight loss techniques, we could be looking at one very expensive green machine.

[Source: Inside Line]

More details on rumored 2013 Nissan GT-R hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: 2010 Subaru Outback adds size, power and refinement for a big wagon winner

It’s longer, wider and heavier than the outgoing Outback, but Subaru’s all-new pseudo-SUV proves that bigger and better aren’t mutually exclusive.

Ford goes open source, gets students to develop phone apps for Sync

We get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Ford’s efforts to bring apps to its class-leading Sync system.

Aston Martin One-77 closes in on being fastest car in marque’s history, breaks 220 mph

The One-77 tops out at 220 mph during another round of shakedown runs before the bespoke coupe enters production early next year.

Also of interest:

• Chrysler to bring electric Fiat 500, hatchback concept to Detroit
• VIDEO: New spots from Ken Block prove he’s got more skills, better drugs
• Track-focused, budget-oriented Toyota FT-86 on the way
• Mysterious Dutch billionaire behind Spyker’s renewed Saab bid?
• Even more Honda CR-Z leakage, this time with interior shots

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 12.22.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA

An artist’s conception created for NASA in the 1970s shows a double-barreled space colony in action. Today’s visions of the future are different, but just as grandiose.

Cloud science? Solar-power primacy? Affordable clean-energy cars? Space colonies? Super-centenarians galore? These are some of the visions put forward for the next 50 years in science and technology.

During doctor’s appointments, you’re probably too busy discussing your health to ask your doctor about healthy gifts. Plus, doctors tend to be a little busy to give out gift suggestions!

However, Dr. Bradley Bale, co-founder of the Bale/Doneen Method, has taken up the cause of healthy giving with his article below. And he has also explained the science behind some of his picks. Most of these gifts can be arranged or bought in a snap, so check your last-minute gift list.

Top 5 Healthy Holiday Gifts for the Ones You Love
By Dr. Bradley Bale,
co-founder of the Bale/Doneen Method and the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center

Make certain your family and friends start the year off healthy. These gifts are an easy way to give the gift of health in 2010!

1. Gym Membership
Put an extra spring in someone’s step. Offer to cover a friend or family member’s gym membership for a month or a year. According to The Mayo Clinic, individuals who exercise daily find it helps maintain consistent sleep patterns, a consistent body weight, and mental alertness. Check out your local gym for yearly and monthly membership packages.

2. Offer to Attend a Doctor’s Appointment with a Loved One
It can be overwhelming for people to visit the doctor, especially older folks who may have multiple health issues. Use your knowledge about the latest diagnostics and treatments for prevalent conditions to make sure your loved one is getting the best possible care. For example, the PLAC Test is relatively new and goes beyond traditional risk factors in identifying risk for heart attack and stroke. By accompanying your loved one on their next doctor’s visit you can be sure to ask about this test, among others, that might not come up otherwise.

3. Healthy Cookbook
Compile or buy a book of your favorite healthy recipes. Kathleen M. Zelman of WebMD.com recommends Fit Food – Eating Well for Life by Ellen Haas, Healthy Homestyle Cooking by Evelyn Tribole and The Phytopia Cookbook by Barbara Gollman and Kim Pierce for healthy cooking.

4. A Monthly Bottle of Red Wine
Sign up to have a monthly bottle of wine sent to your loved one. According to the Yale-New Haven Hospital, drinking one four-ounce glass of red wine a few times a week can reduce blood clotting, boost HDL (good cholesterol) and reduce LDL (bad cholesterol).¹ Please keep in mind one or more alcoholic beverages a day does increase cancer risk in women.² Also there is evidence individuals who harbor the apoE 4 genotype may have a worsening of their HDL and LDL with daily alcohol.³ Visit wineinsiders.com to find 3 month, 6 month and 12 month wine packages. Or visit wine.com and click on wineclubs for prices.

5. Fruit Basket
What’s healthier than mother nature’s wide variety of desserts that are chock full of antioxidants that help ward off diseases like cancer?

¹ “A glass of red wine a day keeps the doctor away”. March 10, 2005. http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/red_wine.html
² Allen NE, Beral V, Casabonne D, et al. Moderate alcohol intake and cancer incidence in women.J Natl Cancer Inst 2009; 101:296-305
³ ApoE genotype information. Berkeley HeartLab, Inc. www.bhlinc.com

(Image via stock.xchng)

Post from: Blisstree

Doctor’s Choice for Holiday Gifts

Here is an interesting question for anyone who sells a loan to an investor/servicer: If the loan is modified, are you, as the seller, still “on the hook” for the reps and warranties you gave when you sold the original loan? Servicers use the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other non-HAMP modification efforts to avoid foreclosure whenever possible and keep the borrowers in their homes. Some servicers, such as Wells Fargo, may have a policy that states “we consider loan modification activities intended to keep borrowers in their homes, and pursuit of remedies for a breach of Representations and Warranties under the Loan Purchase agreement, to be distinct and independent events.” So if a loan undergoes loss mitigation (like a modification of unpaid principal balance, interest rate, etc.), the servicer treats that process as a separate issue then when a defect is identified in a loan which results in a contract remedy. So check with your servicer – you may not be “off the hook” for your obligations.

One of the best statements that I have heard regarding the RESPA changes in 9 days came from a top mortgage banker, who simply said,“We don’t know how much we don’t know.” Broadly speaking, on 1/1 companies should know about a new Good Faith Estimate, new HUD-1/HUD-1A Settlement Statement, tolerance limits, and changes to the disclosure of Yield Spread Premium. Franklin American Mortgage Company told clients that they will adhere to the new requirements and will purchase loans that are in compliance with the requirements of the RESPA Act, and will enforce the requirements of the new RESPA regulations effective with January 1^st applications.

Who says deals aren’t done during the week leading up to Christmas? Mason Dixon Funding, out of Maryland, was purchased by Embrace Home Loans.

More news on Wells Wholesale, Indiana and appraisers, rates going up, the economy, and joke of the day … <<< CLICK HERE

Filed under: Budget, Government/Legal, Specialty, Electric

When automotive talk turns cheap, the most common vehicle that comes up is the Tata Nano, which currently holds the title as the Cheapest New Car in the World and is only available in India. So, Americans, how would you like to snag a brand-new electric car for the low, low price of just $865, right here in the United States? If you happen to live in Oklahoma, you can do just that… sort of.

There’s plenty of fine print, naturally. For instance, the electric car in question, the Kandi Coco, is really a Low Speed Vehicle (or LSV) capped by law to a top speed of 25 mph and restricted to roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less. And yes, it’s made in China and looks something like half a Smart Fortwo. Still, the Coco carries an MSRP of $10,599 and you may be able to score one dirt cheap thanks to a couple of state and federal rebates.

The first deduction comes from the federal government and cuts the price by $4,435. Next, the State of Oklahoma deducts another $5,299 from the starting price for a total rebate of $9,734. Do the math, and that equals one Kandi Coco for $865 – but only if you live in Oklahoma, and only if you make the purchase before the end of the year. Now… go out and get that giant red bow before it’s too late.

[Source: Kandi via Automobile Magazine]

Forget the Tata Nano, Oklahomans can get a new electric car for $865! originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From China to Iran to Cuba, 136 journalists were jailed worldwide this year — a dozen more than last year. China comes in at the top for the 11th year running, with 24 people jailed this year, but was almost pipped by Iran’s 23 imprisoned journalists. In Africa, Eritrea’s relatively small size hasn’t kept it from imprisoning more journalists than the rest of the continent combined, a census by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals. Even the U.S. makes the list, holding a freelance photographer without charge in Iraq.

CPJ’s work has led to the release of 45 journalists this year. But their work must continue to be supported: since the December 1st report, a Liberian journalist and a printer were jailed for “maneuvering against the state,” a frighteningly broad term to which any oppositional activity can be applied. Freelancers increasingly find themselves imprisoned, a trend likely to grow as more journalists work independently on the internet. Already, web-based reporters constitute half of those jailed — they find themselves more exposed to abuses by a repressive government because they lack the financial or legal support contracted journalists enjoy, a Nazret article explains.

Many journalists have been jailed this year and subsequently released (like the Daily Show / Newsweek journalist jailed in Iran). And, of course, this number doesn’t reflect thhe threats, intimidation, violence, and laws being passed around the world continuing to make journalists’ jobs harder. Also this year, a record number of journalists have been killed. So it’s not just prison that they have to fear.

Photo credit: BCCF

Thirty thousand years is a long time to hang out in any one place, much less stuck inside a tiny salt crystal. But microbiologist Brian Schubert says he found just that in a crystal from sediments in Death Valley—bacteria-like archaeans that have lived inside the tiny enclosure for all those years.

The researchers announced in a paper in Geology that they could culture the archaeans in the liquid from inside the crystal, liquid they estimate to be 22,000 to 34,000 years old. Previous studies suggesting even longer lives for microbes stuck in salt crystals (one even getting up to an insane-sounding 250 million years) have been met with skepticism. But even doubters of those studies say Schubert’s could have more validity, as the Death Valley area wouldn’t have allowed recrystallization (which would permit the liquid to escape and fresh microbes to get in) for 10,000 years at the least.

From New Scientist:

Moreover, Schubert thinks he can explain how his microbes managed to stay alive so long. Every crystal that contained live archaeans also contained dead cells from a salt-lake alga known as Dunaliella, which contain high concentrations of glycerol. The team suggest that the glycerol had seeped out of the cells, and that the archaeans lived off this.

Dunaliella cells are such good fodder that the microbes could live much longer than 30,000 years, says Schubert. He calculates that a single Dunaliella cell contains enough glycerol to meet an archaean’s minimal needs for 12 million years. “We have inclusions with dozens of these algal cells inside and just a couple of archaeans, so they have basically a limitless supply,” he says.

Related Content:
Discoblog: Glowing Green Bacteria vs Deadly Hidden Land Mines
80beats: Better Than a Battery? Here’s a Microbe That Could Help Store Clean Energy
DISCOVER: Triumph of the Archaea
DISCOVER: Archae Tells All

Image: flickr / Shayan (USA)

Arthur Rosenfeld–

James Cameron’s new film, Avatar, tells the fairly linear and predictable story of a handicapped ex-Marine who ships off to a faraway mining planet, where new technology temporarily transplants his consciousness into a whole and working body. And what a body it is! Alien, blue, tall, svelte and athletic, it provides the young man with the longed-for feeling of running and jumping, while at the same time serving his military masters with a way to infiltrate local aliens, gain their trust, learn their secrets, and then betray them.

The movie’s pure cinematic technology seems to command the lion’s share of critical attention to the film, and perhaps it should. I’ve never been so thoroughly and compellingly transported to another world, not even in The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars or Star Trek. If Cameron’s use of 3D technology does provide a blunt instrument for overtaking the senses, he is to be commended for using the club like a scalpel, creating worlds of tendrilous trees, giant mushrooms that shrink away from the slightest touch like anemones, and myriad monsters who claw, bite, jump and glide their way across a world so visually compelling and thematically cohesive that one you won’t even notice those thick, cheap plastic 3D glasses putting a dent on the bridge of your nose for a couple of hours.

Yes, the story is somewhat predictable, and yes we’ve seen the villains before. Yes the action is non-stop to the point that my nine-year-old son at one point quipped “enough killing already”, and yes this is a love-story and a morality play we’ve seen a thousand times. And yet…  Avatar is an environmentalist tale, pure and simple. It’s a plea for Mother Earth done up in such exotic garb that Earth isn’t even Earth anymore, but a far-away, multi-mooned sphere of rock called “Pandora,” and the plea thuds in the gut of a dyed-in-the-wool conservationist like me, a writer who would see people as a plague upon the planet if spiritual tendencies did not command me.

I’ve often written and spoken about evolution’s pressures on us leading inexorably to a spiritual leap that saves us, and Earth, from what otherwise appears, technology notwithstanding, to be certain demise. Cameron’s feast for the eyes embraces this idea, and revels in a non-dual philosophy (we’re all part of the web of life) as the film’s primary principle. I’m hoping that while the audience out there is fixated on the film’s technological candy, the medicinal message will go down all but unnoticed, and take root in young minds.

Then we’d really have a film worth $300,000.000.

Arthur Rosenfeld is an authority on the spiritual dimensions of Eastern thinking for a Western world. A novelist, martial arts master and philosopher, Rosenfeld is a contributor to national magazines, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Parade, has been seen on national tv and radio networks. The author of eleven acclaimed books and the creator of the fiction genre “Kung Fu Noir,” he combines stories with Eastern wisdom drawn from nearly 30 years of martial arts study. His latest title is Quiet Teacher.

A Yale graduate, Rosenfeld combines scientific background and communication skills gained through post-graduate studies at the University of California with real-world savvy gleaned from high-level corporate positions. Drawing on his background in medicine and science he has been cited in national media, including Newsweek, Ebony, and Parade. He has also written The Truth About Chronic Pain.

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