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(Reuters) – Real-estate private-equity giant Lone Star Funds is cutting some of its fees as it tries to raise $20 billion to buy pools of troubled mortgages and other kinds of distressed debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

Lone Star, led by John Grayken, reduced the minimum management fee it will charge in the two new funds to 0.35 percent from 0.75 percent in its previous fund, in a move to win new commitments from big investors like the state of Oregon, the paper said.

Oregon’s board, which oversees $51 billion public-employee pension fund’s investments, recently agreed to put $400 million into two new Lone Star funds after the firm agreed to reduce its fees, the Journal said.

Lone Star could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Valerie Lee)

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(Reuters) – Private equity firm BC Partners is staking up to $331 million on strong growth in U.S. career training, buying Texas-based ATI Enterprises from middle-market rival The Riverside Company.

BC will invest the money from its current fund, alongside roughly $250 million of debt, to buy ATI, which offers courses in subjects such as welding, dental assisting and personal training.

London-headquartered BC said on Tuesday said it saw an “attractive market opportunity supported by underlying demographics, economics and government attention on education.”

It expected ATI to generate revenue of $245 million in 2009.

The deal is the fourth undertaken by BC this year, after it invested $350 million in Office Depot (ODP.N), bought and merged two laboratory testing companies, and put new money into Baxi as part of a merger of the boiler-maker with a Dutch rival.

Goldman Sachs advised BC Partners and arranged the financing. Robert W Baird and Piper Jaffray advised the Riverside-led consortium.

Based in Dallas, ATI Enterprises operates vocational schools and training centers in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.

Management will keep a 12 percent stake and the deal is expected to close around the end of this year, BC said.

(Reporting by Quentin Webb; additional reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Hans Peters)

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Norvestor has agreed to sell Intelecom Holding AS, a Norway-based provider of communications solutions in Western Europe, to Carrot Communications AS. No financial terms were disclosed. Norvestor acquired Intelecom in December 2008, taking it private from the Oslo Stock Exchange. This represents the first exit for Norvestor’s fifth fund.

PRESS RELEASE

Opplysningen 1881 AS, through its wholly owned subsidiary Carrot Communications AS, has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Intelecom Holding AS (the acquisition vehicle) for the acquisition of all shares in Intelecom Group AS (“Intelecom”).

Since the acquisition of Intelecom by Norvestor V, L.P., and the delisting of the company from the Oslo Stock Exchange in December 2008, Intelecom has continued its strong growth in revenue and profitability. The delisting has enabled the management to focus entirely on growth factors and strategic issues, and by doing so, the company has demonstrated its value potential. The conditions precedent for the Closing of the transaction includes approval by the Norwegian Competition Authorities.

Intelecom Group AS is a leading company in development, integration, delivery and operation of communication solutions to the enterprise market. The group has subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the UK and supplies services and solutions that are adapted to the individual customer’s business and requirements. Intelecom customers regard communication as business critical and Intelecom addresses this by combining business understanding with advanced communication technology.

Norvestor Equity AS is a leading private equity company with the most experienced private equity team in Norway. The team has worked together since 1991 and has a combination of operational and private equity backgrounds. Norvestor Equity provides investment advice to funds that invest in growth companies in Norway and the Nordic region with the potential to become leading players in the Nordic market or internationally. Read more at www.norvestor.com

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The Prime Minister revealed the next stage of NHS reforms at his regular press conference this morning.

Gordon Brown was joined by Health Secretary Andy Burnham to outline key changes which aim to create a “patient-centred service”.

The plans include a guarantee that everyone between 40 and 74 will have the legal right to a five-yearly NHS Health Check. Patients will also be legally entitled to treatment within 18 weeks of referral by their GP and will be able to see a specialist within two weeks if they have suspected cancer.

Gordon Brown said that the new reforms will give power back to patients:

“It is part of the move away from a target-led approach that was needed to raise standards and to give more power to patients and frontline staff. But now frontline staff who are essential to deliver these reforms are able to be held to account by the general public with the guarantees.”

During the press conference the Prime Minister also paid tribute to the nation’s fallen soldiers and answered questions on topics such as the economy, a letter that the PM sent to the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan and climate change.

Speeches and transcripts: Prime Minister’s Press conference

Catherine Lewis La Torre has been named a partner with Fondinvest Capital, a French fund-of-funds manager. She previously was a founding partner of Proventure, a fund-of-funds manager focused on the European middle markets. www.fondinvest.com

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SandForce Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of flash solid-state drive processors, has raised $21 million in Series C funding. TransLink Capital led the round, and was joined by fellow new investors UMC Capital, LSI Corp., Red Maple Ventures, Darwin Ventures and A-Data Technology. Return backers included DCM, Storm Ventures and unnamed “tier-1 storage OEMs.”

PRESS RELEASE

SandForce. Inc., the pioneer of SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors that enable commodity NAND Flash deployment in enterprise and client computing applications, today announced that it has closed $21 million in Series C funding. Led by new investor TransLink Capital, the round also included new investors UMC Capital, LSI Corporation, Red Maple Ventures, Darwin Ventures, and A-Data Technology as well as all of the existing SandForce investors .DCM, Storm Ventures, and Tier-1 storage OEMs.

“We have made rapid progress into the marketplace since our launch just six months ago, and we are now shipping silicon to top-tier SSD OEM customers,” said Alex Naqvi, president and CEO of SandForce.“ This new funding will help us through our expansion phase as well as accelerate our new products development that will help us maintain our market leadership.”

The patent-pending SandForce DuraClass. technology is a set of flash memory management features that enable MLC-based SSDs that deliver world-class reliability, performance, and power efficiency. Current SandForce SSD Processor products include the SF-1500 for Enterprise applications and the SF- 1200 for Client applications.

“SandForce has a breakthrough product that has enabled it to rapidly secure top-tier OEM customers in the enterprise and client computing markets for SSDs,” said Jackie Yang, managing director of TransLink Capital and new member of the SandForce Board of Directors.“ We believe that the SandForce DuraClass technology will open the door to high-volume use of SSDs in business computing, and we are very bullish about the company’s future.

“SandForce is making it practical to use low-cost multi-level cell flash memory in enterprise-class devices,” said Ross Katchman, head of corporate development at LSI. ” As a leading provider of storage and networking technologies, we believe that flash has an important role to play in the enterprise and that SandForce is well positioned to further the deployment of flash-based solutions.”

We’re Hiring Exceptional Talent Today!

SandForce is actively expanding its technical, business, support and operations staff with qualified individuals looking to transform data storage in a world-class organization. If you’re looking to further your career in a dynamic start-up environment with significant growth opportunities, please view our current list of openings and apply at: http://www.sandforce.com/go/careers.

About SandForce

SandForce is transforming data storage by pioneering the use of commodity flash memory in enterprise and client computing applications with its innovative SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors. By delivering unprecedented reliability, performance, and energy efficiency, SSDs based on patent-pending SandForce DuraClass technology unleash the full potential for mass-market adoption of SSDs using NAND flash

memory. Founded in 2006, SandForce is funded by leading venture capital investors and first tier storage companies.

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As the focus of health overhaul efforts move to the Senate, abortion issues have become hot topics. 

Current ‘Death Panel’ Uproar Echoes Decades-Old Controversy
It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills — documents that can convey patients’ wishes about when to end life support — could help curb health-care costs. The memo leaked to the media. By August, a New York Times’ column said the official “likes euthanasia.” Sound like this year’s angry August? Well, this story unfolded in 1977, and the official in question was Robert Derzon, the first administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Kaiser Health News).

Democrats Raise Alarms Over Costs Of Health Bills
As health care legislation moves toward a crucial airing in the Senate, the White House is facing a growing revolt from some Democrats and analysts who say the bills Congress is considering do not fulfill President Obama’s promise to slow the runaway rise in health care spending (The New York Times).

Effort To Assist Older Voters May Raise Costs For The Young
A provision in the House health-care bill sets up a stark choice for Democrats between the interests of younger voters and older ones (The Wall Street Journal).

Political Memo: Trick For Democrats Is Juggling Ideology And Pragmatism
Democrats have displayed a striking degree of pragmatism in seeking to push the health care bill through Congress, embracing or rejecting ideological considerations as needed to keep the legislation moving (The New York Times).

For Left, House Bill May Be As Good As It Gets
Saturday night’s House vote on health care reform was the most significant liberal legislative triumph in years, and progressives are now scrambling to capitalize on the fast-fading momentum. There’s only so much they can do (Politico).

Senate Abortion Foes Take Aim At Overhaul
A key Democratic senator said Monday he will follow House colleagues in insisting on tough antiabortion language before he votes for a health overhaul bill, causing new headaches for Senate leaders even before debate on a final bill begins (The Wall Street Journal).

Senate Faces Abortion Rights Rift
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found his health reform efforts seriously complicated Monday by the explosive issue of abortion, as key centrist senators said they wanted to see airtight language in the bill blocking federal funding for the procedure (Politico).

Obama Seeks Revision Of Plan’s Abortion Limits
President Obama suggested Monday that he was not comfortable with abortion restrictions inserted into the House version of major health care legislation, and he prodded Congress to revise them (The New York Times).

Abortion Battle Moves To The Senate
Liberals furious over a last-minute deal that secured passage of healthcare legislation in the House by restricting abortion coverage threatened Monday to derail the massive overhaul bill (Los Angeles Times).

Breaking Down Abortion Language In Health Bill
The health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend was almost scuttled by one issue: abortion (NPR).

Liberals Threaten To Sink Health Bill Over Stupak Abortion Amendments
More than 40 lawmakers vowed to oppose the final healthcare bill if the House language on abortion is not removed (The Hill).

Coakley Decries Health Care Bill
Opening up a major fissure in the US Senate race, Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday that she opposes the landmark health care bill approved by the House Saturday because it contains a provision restricting federal funding for abortion (The Boston Globe).

Groups Redirect Health-Care Ads To Cheer And Jeer Democrats
The House’s passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes (The Washington Post).

Five Flash Points As Healthcare Reform Move To The Senate
Passing comprehensive healthcare reform in the House on Saturday took a lot of sweat – and a few tears. But passage in the Senate will be even tougher, raising questions about the effort’s ultimate viability (The Christian Science Monitor).

Senate Democrats Look To Start Health Reform Debate Next Week
Senate Democratic leaders expect their long-awaited healthcare bill to hit the chamber floor as early as Monday (The Hill).

Bill Clinton Meets With Senate Dems On Health Care
Former president Bill Clinton knows just how high the political stakes are in the fight to overhaul America’s health care system. His failed attempt to revamp the delivery of medical care contributed to the Republican takeover of the House and Senate in 1994. Now, with the fate of health care legislation in the Senate’s hands, Clinton is heading to Capitol Hill where he’s expected to speak to Senate Democrats about health care legislation during their weekly caucus on Tuesday, officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his schedule (The Associated Press/USA Today).

For Doctor, The Senate Is A Bitter Pill
Tom Coburn is a Southern Baptist deacon, a family man married to a former Miss Oklahoma, a white-coated physician back in Muskogee who has delivered more than 4,000 babies and sees patients free of charge every Monday. But there’s a darker side of the story, something that Coburn, a Marcus Welby type in ostrich-skin boots, confesses is his less honorable side. He’s a member of the United States Senate (The Washington Post).

Med Schools Offer Doses Of New Reality
When Aaron Laviana started medical school at Georgetown University in 2007, he dissected a cadaver in his first week, in anatomy class. Today, classes such as “Physician-Patient Communication” and “Social and Cultural Issues in Health Care” come first. Dissection doesn’t begin until month four at Georgetown — as part of a unit on limbs — and anatomy class no longer exists (The Washington Post).

Dutch View Of Choice In U.S. Care: It’s Limited
The health system in the United States may be twice as expensive as those in Europe, and the population may be less healthy, but at least Americans have access to many more choices of doctors and insurers. Right? (The New York Times).

Sign up to receive this list of First Edition headlines via email. Check out all of Kaiser Health News’ email options including First Edition and Breaking News alerts on our Subscriptions page. 

Lee Scott, former president and CEO of Wal-Mart, has joined Solamere Capital as an operating partner and member of the firm’s investment committee. He had joined Wal-Mart in 1979 as an assistant director in the company’s logistics division, and served as president and CEO for nine years until leaving this past February.

PRESS RELEASE

Lee Scott, former Wal-Mart CEO, has joined the private equity firm Solamere Capital as an Operating Partner and as a member of its Investment Committee. Mr. Scott will assist Solamere Capital in the evaluation of investment opportunities and will play a key role in contributing to the growth of its portfolio companies.

“I am excited to be working with Solamere’s management team and founding investors,” said Lee Scott. “I believe that Solamere Capital and its network of partners are uniquely positioned to help a broad range of businesses add topline growth. I am encouraged about Solamere’s distinctive approach to private equity and I am looking forward to being a part of the long-term development of this firm.”

“Lee’s leadership experience and his ability to identify growth opportunities will greatly benefit our investors, partner funds and future portfolio companies by adding substantial value to our investment process. We are honored to be working with Lee in this capacity,” said Managing Partners Tagg Romney, Eric Scheuermann and Spencer Zwick and Operating Partner John Miller in a joint statement.

Lee Scott is chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. From January 2000 to February 2009, he served as president and CEO of Wal-Mart. Mr. Scott joined Wal-Mart in 1979 as an assistant director in the Logistics division, rising through the ranks to executive vice president of Logistics in 1993 and executive vice president of Merchandise in 1995. He became president and chief executive officer of the Wal-Mart U.S. division in 1998, chief operating officer and vice chairman for the corporation in 1999, and president and CEO in 2000.

Mr. Scott is a native of Baxter Springs, Kansas, and resides in Rogers, Arkansas, with his wife Linda.

About Solamere Capital:
Solamere Capital was founded to serve as a unique investment vehicle for a small number of families and industry leaders with broad networks that aspired to aggregate their access to top-tier private equity firms, proprietary deal flow, management resources and industry insight.

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The much-awaited version 7 of Autonomy/Interwoven TeamSite finally seems to have been released by Autonomy. While we will cover the details shortly for our Web Content Management subscribers, the key changes come in a new Unified Administration Console for TeamSite and OpenDeploy, enhanced UI features including the ability to do in-context editing in a wiki-like fashion, and various other improvements. Autonomy has also deprecated Crystal Reports (a bummer, since some customers spent real money there) as well as iLog JRules. There’s a substantial new emphasis on employing Autonomy IDOL throughout, including as a persistence tier for LiveSite. So if you are upgrading, these changes will impact you.

I say "seems to have been released" because Autonomy has been strangely quiet about it. Typically, when vendors release a new product or a major upgrade, there’s a lot of noise: press releases, demos, conferences and so on. Nothing of this sort happened when Autonomy released upgrades to version 7.0 of TeamSite, LiveSite, and OpenDeploy.  This is not typical of Autonomy Marketing and so the question emerges….have they actually released it? The new version is available, but many customers as well as partners aren’t even aware of it.

So whether you are a prospective customer planning to evaluate new products or an existing customer planning an upgrade, we would recommend that instead of moving to a dot zero release you hold on for a while or at least till the next point release of version 7 is announced. We’ll have more to share in the coming months with our research subscribers.

Following on from the popular Droid Does and Stealth commercials, Verizon have added another three tv commercials to their YouTube channel.

Unlike the first two ads, these new commercials focus more on the Android platform and its functionality. These new ads are expected to air across the US soon.

The Motorola Droid is now available from Verizon priced at priced at $199 as part of a 2-year service contract.

If you’re looking for more info on the new Verizon Android phones, then be sure to check out Droid Forums & Droid Eris Forums

3 New Verizon Droid TV Commercials

Many countries are pouring millions into orders for swine flu vaccine from pharmaceutical companies. But one country is taking a different approach.
The Irish Independent reports that the some Canadian provinces have suspended the ‘normal’ seasonal flu shots for anyone under 65 in response to a recent study there. However, the vaccine suspensions do not apply for people over 65.
The study suggests that people vaccinated against seasonal flu are actually twice as likely to catch swine flu.
But plans vary across the provinces of Canada. Last month, British Columbia announced it is suspending seasonal flu shots for anyone under 65 years old, joining Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia in halting the immunizations.
Quebec’s Health Ministry announced it would postpone vaccinations until January, clearing the autumn months for health professionals to focus on vaccinating against H1N1, which is expected to the more severe influenza strain this season.
“By the time the H1N1 wave is over, there will be ample time to vaccinate for seasonal flu,” said Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, head of adult infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.
Other provinces, including Manitoba, are still pondering a response to the research. New Brunswick, one of the lone holdouts, made an announcement in September that it would forge ahead with seasonal flu shots for all residents in October, as originally planned.
Yet according to an even more recent posting by PreventDisease.com, some provinces are still recommending co-administration of both vaccines in as little as 60 days, according to a staggered schedule.
An international panel is currently scrutinising the controversial study’s data. Dr Ethan Rubinstein, who has read the study, said it appeared sound.
“There are a large number of authors, all of them excellent and credible researchers,” he said. “The sample size is very large, at 12 or 13 million people.”
It was back in 1981 that R. Edgar Hope Simpson proposed that a principal cause of seasonal influenza is linked with the deficiency of solar radiation which triggers the production of vitamin D in the skin. Vitamin D deficiency is common in the winter, and vitamin D is crucial in allowing your immune system to defend itself against invading organisms.
In addition to vitamin D, studies have suggested that people who exercise moderately suffer fewer and less severe colds and flu infections.
In a new study, researchers found that when they had a group of mice regularly run on a treadmill over 3.5 months, the animals developed less-severe symptoms when infected with the flu virus.
Additionally, mice that exercised right before flu infection, but not regularly over the preceding months, also showed some protection against severe symptoms — which in mice means dampened appetite and weight loss. Those benefits, however, were only apparent in the couple days after infection, whereas regular long-term exercise reduced flu symptoms over the whole course of infection.

From: Swine Flu

Erik was the first of a bunch of you to send in the story about how BMW is supposedly applying for a patent on a method using technology to solve problems. You can read the patent application for a Method for Systematically Identifying Technology-Based Solutions if you’d like. It’s not quite as broad as the claim on Autoblog that it’s a patent application on “technological creative thinking,” but it is ridiculously broad. Read through the actual claims, and it’s difficult to see how this deserves a patent at all. There shouldn’t be a monopoly on a method for how you solve problems.

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KDDI did it as early as last month, and today it was NTT Docomo’s and SoftBank’s turn to unveil their line-ups of new cell phones for the Japanese market. Here are all of SoftBank’s 17 future models [JP], which will be sold in Japan from this fall through spring 2010.

Air Products on 9 November announced a long-term supply contract and plans to build a new world-scale hydrogen production plant to serve ExxonMobil’s (Esso) Rotterdam refinery in the Netherlands and additional customers in the region.

The plant will feature technology advancements to maximize facility energy efficiency and emission reductions. It will be connected to Air Products’ extensive Rotterdam hydrogen pipeline network system and is expected to be on-stream in the second half of 2011. “We are proud to strengthen our relationship with ExxonMobil with this new contract in Europe and to build a new state-of-the-art hydrogen production facility,” said Howard Castle-Smith, vice president–Tonnage Gases, Equipment and Energy for Air Products in Europe and the Middle East. “This project enhances Air Products’ existing operations and pipeline network system in the Netherlands where we have a number of hydrogen facilities in the Rotterdam region supplying the refining and chemical industries. This new project demonstrates our commitment to a region which has made hydrogen a key to its continued development.” “The new hydrogen facility will use cutting edge processes and technology to maximize energy efficiency and significantly reduce overall plant emissions,” said Denis Deheusch, general manager–Tonnage Gases for Air Products in the Benelux. “We will be able to achieve this through an enhanced plant design which targets minimal loss of heat to the environment and a reduced natural gas requirement.”

The Rotterdam project builds on two previous announcements in the past year involving Air Products and ExxonMobil in the United States. Air Products is building a new world-scale hydrogen production facility which will supply ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge, Louisiana facility, and also announced a hydrogen pipeline supply agreement from Air Products’ Gulf Coast network to ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas refinery. Both projects are to come on-stream in 2010.

More information here

After many attempts to block or delay the release of info on who lobbied the federal government last year for telco immunity in lawsuits involving the fed’s warrantless wiretapping program, the government has finally agreed to hand over some of the information requested. Of course, since the administration had already won a longer delay, and only some of the info is being revealed, I’m guessing that there isn’t much surprising in what’s being released — though it makes you wonder why the administration went to such lengths to hide it.

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GamersGate has a virtual currency I might actually want to earn
Excellent idea: flat outlet pulls out to allow extra plug
USB-powered gloves that keep your fingers warm (but why?)
Finally, Roombas enacting a game of Pac-Man
Star Trek Blu-ray release earns a perfect score at Blu-ray.com
Trillions: a short film on the future of computing

(NaturalNews) Dr. Mehmet Oz is a huge promoter of vaccines. He’s been on television reinforcing fear about H1N1 swine flu and telling everyone to get vaccinated. But what he didn’t tell his viewing audience is that he holds 150,000 option shares in a vaccine company that could earn him millions of dollars in profits as the stock price rises. It is in Dr. Oz’s own financial interest, in other words, to hype up vaccines and get more people taking them so that his own financial investments rise in value.

Evidence describing these facts was delivered to NaturalNews by a private investigator. That evidence includes an SEC document detailing how Dr. Oz. bought options on stocks for SIGA Technologies in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. SIGA Technologies (stock symbol SIGA) is a vaccine technology company with many advanced developments whose success depends on the widespread adoption of vaccines. According to SEC documents, Dr. Mehmet Oz. currently holds 150,000 option shares on SIGA Technologies, purchased for as little as $1.35 back in 2005.

At the time of this writing, SIGA Technologies is trading at $7.10, making those options bought in 2005 worth $5.75 in profits today. If all the 150,000 options purchased by Dr. Oz. were exercised today, they would be worth roughly $180,000 in profits (they were bought at different prices, not all at $1.35). This is all revealed in what the SEC website calls an “insider transaction” document (link below).

These options won’t expire until the years 2015 – 2019, and the higher the stock price of SIGA gets before then, the more profit can be realized when these options are cashed out. You can see the 2019 expiration date in this “insider transaction” form: http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1010086/000114036109012259/xslF345X03/doc1.xml

If the stock price of SIGA Technologies could be pumped up even more — say, from someone hyping up vaccines in front of a national audience — these options could mathematically be worth millions of dollars.

Dr. Oz. isn’t merely a holder of SIGA stock options, by the way: He’s on the Board of Directors! As SIGA’s own website explains, Dr. Oz has served on the board since 2001 and continues his role there today. This brings up the obvious question:

Is it right for someone talking about whether vaccines are safe on television to also be carrying stock options and serving on the board of directors of a vaccine company at the same time?

Just to make things a little more interesting, SIGA Technologies recently received a $3 million grant in taxpayer dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of the grant money? To fund the study of a chemical adjunct named ST-246 to be used in future vaccines. So taxpayer money is now being used to fund a vaccine technology company whose stock price increases will financially benefit the very celebrity doctor who is hyping up vaccines to a national audience.

Something sounds fishy here…

Conflict of interest?
To my knowledge, Dr. Oz. has never disclosed to his viewing audience the fact that he owns 150,000 option shares of SIGA Technologies. And yet, with an audience of millions, Dr. Oz has continued to beat the drum of the vaccine industry, urging people to get vaccinated while implying that vaccines protect people from swine flu (even though there is absolutely no scientific evidence to back up that claim).

Here’s a link to the SEC document detailing Dr. Oz’s ownership of these 150,000 option shares:
http://sec.gov/cgi-bin/own-disp?action=getowner&CIK=0001139299&sortid=period-of-report-ASC

The current value of SIGA shares can be verified here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SIGA

Information about SIGA Technologies and their vaccine technology can be found on their website:
http://www.siga.com/index.php?ID=2

The press release announcing SIGA’s receipt of $3 million from the NIH is available here:
http://www.siga.com/?ID=120

The RealAge Big Pharma front group
In addition to holding stock options in a vaccine technology company, Dr. Oz. is also a front man for the RealAge website, a sort of “health front group” for the pharmaceutical industry that uses information provided by RealAge members to solicit consumers with pro-pharma marketing message targeted by age or health condition.

Corporate sponsors of RealAge include most of the major drug companies and their most profitable pharmaceutical products such as Adderall, Ambien and Celebrex. The companies sponsoring RealAge include GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, Wyeth and many others. RealAge is essentially a marketing platform for Big Pharma, disguised to look like a consumer health information service.

The New York Times calls RealAge “a window for drug makers” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/internet/26privacy.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=dr.%20oz&st=cse) and explains, “The test has received widespread publicity because of its affiliation with Dr. Mehmet Oz.”

This NY Times article goes on to explain how the RealAge scheme operates:

People come to the site, then provide an e-mail address to take [the RealAge test]. They are asked throughout the test if they would like a free RealAge membership. If people answer yes to any of the prompts, they become RealAge members, and their test results go into a marketing database.

RealAge allows drug companies to send e-mail messages based on those test results. It acts as a clearinghouse for drug companies, including Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, allowing them to use almost any combination of answers from the test to find people to market to, including whether someone is taking antidepressants, how sexually active they are and even if their marriage is happy.

RealAge sends the selected recipients a series of e-mail messages about a condition they might have, usually sponsored by a drug company that sells a medication for that condition.

The RealAge ads seen all over the internet do not openly disclose that taking the RealAge test gets you signed up to be solicited by Big Pharma for medication advertisements. Dr. Oz’s continued promotion of this service has exposed tens of millions of health consumers to this deceptive marketing front for Big Pharma.

How much has Dr. Oz earned from his affiliation with RealAge? He isn’t saying.

Front man for Big Pharma?
In my view, Dr. Mehmet Oz. is a front man for Big Pharma and the vaccine industry. He’s pushing vaccines for his own personal financial gain while championing one of the largest internet Big Pharma marketing scams yet concocted.

Dr. Oz. stands to profit millions of dollars from helping creating demand for vaccines, and yet he does not disclose to his audience this huge, blatant conflict of interest. Sadly, by catapulting his career from her own show, Oprah has inadvertently unleashed a vaccine pusher onto the general public and given him influence over millions of people who may now be corralled into services like RealAge that seek to sell more drugs to unsuspecting consumers.

I respect Oprah. She’s an amazing achiever. But I don’t respect all the wannabe celebrity leeches who use her to launch their own careers and then exploit their newfound popularity for financial gain at the expense of the public.

Shame on Dr. Oz. for his financial conflicts of interest and his strong affiliation with the deadly pharmaceutical industry. Through his actions, Dr. Oz. has aligned himself with precisely the evil corporations that are destroying health in America today. Does the man have no shame?

He may not have any shame, but he does have 150,000 stock options that could be worth millions in the years ahead.

(NaturalNews) The results of the decade-long Interphone study on cell phone safety are that heavy cell phone use increases the risk of developing brain tumors later in life. The study, which focused on three types of brain cancer and tumors of the parotid gland, found a significant increase in cancer after a decade or more of cell phone use.

When a cell phone tower connects with a cell phone, electromagnetic radiation is created. When the cell phone is held against the ear, this radiation penetrates the brain, particularly in children.

According to the Daily Telegraph in London, the World Health Organization (WHO) will soon publish the results of the Interphone study, which was conducted in 12 countries by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC).

Head researcher Dr. Elisabeth Cardis told the Telegraph, “In the absence of definitive results and in the light of a number of studies which, though limited, suggest a possible effect of radio frequency radiation, precautions are important. I am therefore globally in agreement with the idea of restricting the use by children, though I would not go as far as banning mobile phones as they can be a very important tool, not only in emergencies, but also maintaining contact between children and their parents and thus playing a reassurance role. Means to reduce our exposure (use of hands-free kits and moderating our use of phones) are also interesting.”

These results from the Interphone study follow closely on research published in the Oct 13 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which reviewed existing research on the association between cell phones and brain tumors. It found that when just the well-done studies were included, there was an 18% increased risk of brain tumors in cell phone users, and that they tended to occur on the side of the head that the cell phone was used most.

In the United States, which did not participate in the Interphone study, there are 270 million cell phones in use. Senator Tom Harkin, now head of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has promised to probe more deeply into the question of a link between cell phones and brain cancer.

There’s no argument that cell phones emit an electromagnetic field, a form of microwave radiation, that enters the brain when the cell phone is held against the ear, and there’s good research showing that the field does affect brain function. Although research has not shown that short term cell phone use causes cancer, a large population study from Sweden has shown that people who use cell phones for more than ten years on the same side of the head have a 40% higher risk of certain types of brain tumors. The Interphone study adds to this evidence.

Cell phone users can distance the brain from electromagnetic fields by using the speaker phone function, a headset, or by texting.

Sources:

“Long-term use of mobile phones may be linked to cancer,” by Martin Beckford and Robert Winnett, Daily Telegraph, London, 24 Oct 2009: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/6420093/Long-term-use-of-mobile-phones-may-be-linked-to-cancer.html

“Cancer Cell Phone,” by Tom Pettifor, Mirror.co.uk News, Oct 26, 2009: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/10/26/cancer-cell-phone-115875-21774016

“Mobile Phone Use and Risk of Tumors: A Meta-Analysis,” Seung-Kwon Myung, Woong Ju, Diana D. McDonnell et al, Journal of Clinical Oncology, published online October 13, 2009, DOI:10.1200/JCO.2008.21.6366

About the author

http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com

Virginia Hopkins is a best-selling author and co-author of books about women’s hormones, nutrition, prescription drugs and more, including What Your Dr. May Not Tell You About Menopause with Dr. John Lee, and Prescription Alternatives.

Virginia is currently editor of the Virginia Hopkins Health Watch newsletter, at http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/hopkinshealth.html

(NaturalNews) High intake of foods containing the natural plant compound apigenin might decrease a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School have found.

Apigenin is a class of flavonoid, a phytonutrient (plant compound) family known for its high antioxidant activity. Antioxidants are renowned for removing cell-damaging free radicals from the body, thereby reducing the symptoms of aging and the risk of chronic disease such as cancer and heart disease.

Foods high in apigenin include celery, parsley, tomato sauce and red wine. The compound is widely believed to be safe when consumed in plant foods, with no toxic or mutagenic effects.

In a study funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health, and published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers gave questionnaires to 1,141 ovarian cancer patients and 1,183 women of similar age to assess the content of their diets over the course of one week. The average participant age was 51. Women with ovarian cancer were more likely to be heavier and have a higher daily calorie intake, with a less healthy diet than the healthy women.

The researchers used the questionnaires to calculate the participants’ intake of five different, common flavonoids: apigenin, kaempferol, luteolin, myricetin and quercetin. The bulk of these antioxidants in the women’s diets came from tea, red wine, apples, blueberries, celery, kale, lettuce, oranges and tomato sauce.

Higher intake of certain rich-rich foods such as cauliflower, raisins and tomato sauce was associated with a decreased risk of ovarian cancer, though this correlation was not statistically significant. There was no correlation between total flavonoid consumption and cancer risk after adjusting for known cancer risk factors such as age, physical activity, use of oral contraceptives, and history of childbirth, breastfeeding and tubal ligation. There was also no correlation between cancer risk and any of the flavonoids except for apigenin.

Women with the highest apigenin intake, however, had a “borderline significant” 28 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer than women with the lowest intake, after adjusting for other risk factors and intake of the other four flavonoids.

Ovarian cancer is among the most lethal forms of cancer in women. There are 20,000 new cases in the United States each year, leading to 15,000 deaths per year. According to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, the disease affects one in 69 women and kills one in 95.

This study is not the first to indicate a connection between apigenin and decreased cancer risk. Previous research has found that apigenin decreases the structural stability and inhibits the expression of a protein that is involved in the migration of ovarian cancer cells to other parts of the body. It has also been more directly observed to interfere with the movement of ovarian cancer cells. Apigenin has also been shown to inhibit the expression in ovarian cancer cells of a protein linked to the development of blood vessels in tumors, as well as overall tumor growth.

Other studies have found that apigenin inhibits the growth of some breast cancers and may induce programmed cell death. Higher intake of other flavonoids has also been shown to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.

The researchers in the current study speculated that flavonoids may also help reduce ovarian cancer risk simply by functioning as antioxidants, eliminating free radicals that have been linked to DNA damage. More specifically, apigenin and other flavonoids might inhibit the effect of estrogen in the body either by reducing circulating levels or by blocking estrogen receptors.

“These mechanisms could be important in inhibiting ovarian carcinogenesis, due to the estrogen-rich environment within the ovaries and the proliferative effect of estrogen on ovarian epithelial cells,” the researchers wrote.

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; www.nutraingredients.com.

(NaturalNews) Until early 2009, Silk brand soy milk was made using organic soybeans. But earlier this year, Dean Foods (owner of the Silk brand) quietly switched to conventional soybeans, which are often grown with pesticides. But they kept the same UPC barcodes on their products, and they kept the product label virtually the same, only replacing the word “organic” with “natural” in a way that was barely noticeable. They also kept the price the same, charging consumers “organic” prices for a product that was now suddenly made with conventionally-grown soybeans.

Many retailers and consumers never noticed the bait-and-switch tactic, so they kept buying Silk, thinking it was still organic. The shift on the product label from “organic” to “natural” wasn’t well understood by consumers, either. Many consumers continue to think that the term “natural” is basically the same as “organic,” when in fact they are almost opposites. The term “natural” is entirely unregulated, and almost anything can be claimed to be “natural” even when it’s sprayed with pesticides or treated with other chemicals.

This bait-and-switch ploy continued throughout 2009 until a few watchdog organizations started to catch on to the covert switch. In late October, the Cornucopia Institute (www.Cornucopia.org) accused Target stores of misleading consumers by advertising Silk products using the old “organic” labeling even though the product being sold in stores was not organic. Cornucopia’s Mark Kastel accused Target and Dean Foods for “blurring the line between organic and natural,” thereby confusing consumers while boosting profits from the more lucrative sales of non-organic products sold at organic prices. (http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/10/off-target-major-retailer-accused-of-organic-improprieties-state-and-federal-complaints-allege-mislabeling/)

Meanwhile, a Sunflower health food store in Texas also found itself caught up in the bait-and-switch tactic. It had been reordering Silk for months, thinking the product was still organic. But now, after discovering the scam, the store posts a hand-written sign in front of the Silk products, warning consumers with this message: “Silk is no longer organic.”

“We don’t want to be part of customer deception,” said the store owner in a Star-Telegram interview.

According to that same story, food retailers in California, Delaware and Texas were also duped by Silk’s bait-and-switch scheme, only discovering the switch to conventional soybeans months after the switch was covertly made. Dean Foods, you see, never bothered to tell retailers they had switched from organic to conventionally-grown soybeans. They just quietly made the switch but kept the same box design and UPC codes, perhaps hoping no one would notice. And the ploy worked!

“Dean has only added to the marketplace confusion between ‘natural’ and ‘organic,’ as they definitely do not mean the same thing, and ‘natural’ requires no verification whatsoever,” said Consumer Reports senior scientist Urvashi Rangan (see Star-Telegram article link below).

Labeling deception
Dean Foods is one of the big food giants that serves processed, factory-made foods and beverages to the American people. It’s the parent company of Horizon Organic, the so-called “organic” milk maker that’s been caught up in a web of deception exposed by the Organic Consumers Association (http://www.naturalnews.com/021763_organic_standards_organic_milk_Dean_Foods.html).

The company has pushed hard to lower organic standards so that it could market products as “organic” even though they might contain questionable ingredients. When Dean Foods bought out WhiteWave, the creator of Silk soy milk, WhiteWave founder Steve Demos soon left the company in disgust, saying that “green” values had been abandoned for the sake of profit.

Dean Foods even refused to participate on a “soy scorecard” investigation undertaken by the Cornucopia Institute (http://www.naturalnews.com/026294_soy_food_foods.html). The last thing this company wants is scrutiny of its business practices, it seems. For example, in 2002, Dean Foods cut off U.S. soybean farmers and switched to soybeans grown in China (http://www.cornucopia.org/silk-whitewavedean-foods/). And for years, the company has waged attacks on the Cornucopia Institute itself.

In my opinion, Dean Foods is the Enron of the food industry. It has no ethics, no moral code and no hesitation about deceiving consumers or hurting American farmers in order to maximize profits.

In America today, the big food companies are all about disinforming consumers. Rather than telling the truth on product labeling, they seek to confuse consumers with misleading information. That’s why they want to weaken the definition of “organic” — so that they can essentially grow conventional foods with pesticides, then misleadingly position them as “near-organic” products that are sold at organic prices.

Consumers end up buying products they think are organic but really aren’t. And because the products are misleadingly positioned as “organic” products, they command a higher price. This, in turn, generates more profits for the food companies.

Lying about being organic pays well in the food industry today. Perhaps that’s why so many companies continue to do it.

Dean Foods facts
From: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dean_Foods_Company

• Dean Foods investors include Pfizer, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart.

• Dean Foods controls 70% of all “organic” milk products sold in the U.S.

• Dean Foods brands include Hershey’s, Folgers, Borden, Horizon milk, Stroh’s ice cream and Silk soy milk.

• Dean Foods spent over $1 million on lobbyists in 2006.

• The CEO of Dean Foods, Gregg Engles, was paid $3.4 million in salary and nearly $58 million in exercised stock options in 2006 alone.

Additional sources for this story include:

Cornucopia Target complaint (PDF)
http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/TargetComplaint_10-09.pdf

Star-Telegram
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1746193.html