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2011-10-11T04:30:00.000-07:00

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Credit Card

2011-01-06T21:51:00.001-08:00

The concept of using a card for purchases was described in 1887 by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel Looking Backward. Bellamy used the term credit card eleven times in this novel.^[2]

The modern credit card was the successor of a variety of merchant credit schemes. It was first used in the 1920s, in the United States, specifically to sell fuel to a growing number ofautomobile owners. In 1938 several companies started to accept each other's cards. Western Union had begun issuing charge cards to its frequent customers in 1921. Some charge cards were printed on paper card stock, but were easily counterfeited.

The Charga-Plate was an early predecessor to the credit card and used in the U.S. from the 1930s to the late 1950s. It was a 2½" × 1¼" rectangle of sheet metal, similar to a military dog tag, and embossed with the customer's name, city and state. It held a small paper card for a signature. In recording a purchase, the plate was laid into a recess in the imprinter, with a paper "charge slip" positioned on top of it. The record of the transaction included an impression of the embossed information, made by the imprinter pressing an inked ribbon against the charge slip.^[3]Charga-Plate was a trademark of Farrington Manufacturing Co. Charga-Plates were issued by large-scale merchants to their regular customers, much like department store credit cards of today. In some cases, the plates were kept in the issuing store rather than held by customers. When an authorized user made a purchase, a clerk retrieved the plate from the store's files and then processed the purchase. Charga-Plates speeded back-office bookkeeping that was done manually in paper ledgers in each store, before computers.

The concept of customers paying different merchants using the same card was implemented in 1950 by Ralph Schneider and Frank McNamara, founders of Diners Club, to consolidate multiple cards. The Diners Club, which was created partially through a merger with Dine and Sign, produced the first "general purpose" charge card, and required the entire bill to be paid with each statement. That was followed by Carte Blanche and in 1958 by American Express which created a worldwide credit card network (although these were initially charge cards that acquired credit card features after BankAmericard demonstrated the feasibility of the concept).

However, until 1958, no one had been able to create a working revolving credit financial instrument issued by a third-party bank that was generally accepted by a large number of merchants (as opposed to merchant-issued revolving cards accepted by only a few merchants). A dozen experiments by small American banks had been attempted (and had failed). In September 1958, Bank of America launched the BankAmericard in Fresno, California. BankAmericard became the first successful recognizably modern credit card (although it underwent a troubled gestation during which its creator resigned), and with its overseas affiliates, eventually evolved into the Visa system. In 1966, the ancestor of MasterCard was born when a group of California banks established Master Charge to compete with BankAmericard; it received a significant boost whenCitibank merged its proprietary Everything Card (launched in 1967) into Master Charge in 1969.

Early credit cards in the U.S., of which BankAmericard was the most prominent example, were mass produced and mass mailed to bank customers who were thought to be good credit risks; that is, they were unsolicited. These mass mailings were known as "drops" in banking terminology, and were outlawed in 1970 due to the financial chaos that they caused, but not before 100 million credit cards had been dropped into the U.S. population. After 1970, only credit card applications could be sent unsolicited in mass mailings.

The fractured nature of the U.S. banking system under the Glass-Steagall Act meant that credit cards became an effective way for those who were traveling around the country to move their credit to places where they could not directly use their banking facilities. In 1966 Barclaycard in the UK launched the first credit card outside of the U.S.

There are now countless variations on the basic concept of revolving credit for individuals (as issued by banks and honored by a network of financial institutions), including organization-branded credit cards, corporate-user credit cards, store cards and so on.

Although credit cards reached very high adoption levels in the US, Canada and the UK in the mid twentieth century, many cultures were more cash-oriented, or developed alternative forms of cash-less payments, such as Carte bleue or the Eurocard (Germany, France, Switzerland, and others). In these places, adoption of credit cards was initially much slower. It took until the 1990s to reach anything like the percentage market-penetration levels achieved in the US, Canada, or UK. In some countries, acceptance still remains poor as the use of a credit card system depends on the banking system being perceived as reliable. Japan remains a very cash oriented society, with credit card adoption being limited to only the largest of merchants, although an alternative system based on RFIDs inside cellphones has seen some acceptance. Because of strict regulations regarding banking system overdrafts, some countries, France in particular, were much faster to develop and adopt chip-based credit cards which are now seen as major anti-fraud credit devices. Debit cards and online banking are used more widely than credit cards in some countries.

The design of the credit card itself has become a major selling point in recent years. The value of the card to the issuer is often related to the customer's usage of the card, or to the customer's financial worth. This has led to the rise of Co-Brand and Affinity cards - where the card design is related to the "affinity" (a university or professional society, for example) leading to higher card usage. In most cases a percentage of the value of the card is returned to the affinity group.

[edit]Collectible credit cards

A growing field of numismatics (study of money), or more specifically exonumia (study of money-like objects), credit card collectors seek to collect various embodiments of credit from the now familiar plastic cards to older paper merchant cards, and even metal tokens that were accepted as merchant credit cards. Early credit cards were made of celluloid plastic, then metal and fiber, then paper, and are now mostly plastic.

[edit]How credit cards work

Credit cards are issued by a credit card issuer, such as a bank or credit union, after an account has been approved by the credit provider, after which cardholders can use it to make purchases at merchants accepting that card. Merchants often advertise which cards they accept by displaying acceptance marks – generally derived from logos – or may communicate this orally, as in "Credit cards are fine" (implicitly meaning "major brands"), "We take (brands X, Y, and Z)", or "We don't take credit cards".

When a purchase is made, the credit card user agrees to pay the card issuer. The cardholder indicates consent to pay by signing a receiptwith a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid or by entering a personal identification number (PIN). Also, many merchants now accept verbal authorizations via telephone and electronic authorization using the Internet, known as a card not present transaction (CNP).

Electronic verification systems allow merchants to verify in a few seconds that the card is valid and the credit card customer has sufficient credit to cover the purchase, allowing the verification to happen at time of purchase. The verification is performed using a credit card payment terminal or point-of-sale (POS) system with a communications link to the merchant's acquiring bank. Data from the card is obtained from amagnetic stripe or chip on the card; the latter system is called Chip and PIN in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is implemented as anEMV card.

For card not present transactions where the card is not shown (e.g., e-commerce, mail order, and telephone sales), merchants additionally verify that the customer is in physical possession of the card and is the authorized user by asking for additional information such as thesecurity code printed on the back of the card, date of expiry, and billing address.

Each month, the credit card user is sent a statement indicating the purchases undertaken with the card, any outstanding fees, and the total amount owed. After receiving the statement, the cardholder may dispute any charges that he or she thinks are incorrect (see 15 U.S.C. § 1643, which limits cardholder liability for unauthorized use of a credit card to $50, and the Fair Credit Billing Act for details of the US regulations). Otherwise, the cardholder must pay a defined minimum proportion of the bill by a due date, or may choose to pay a higher amount up to the entire amount owed. The credit issuer charges interest on the amount owed if the balance is not paid in full (typically at a much higher rate than most other forms of debt). In addition, if the credit card user fails to make at least the minimum payment by the due date, the issuer may impose a "late fee" and/or other penalties on the user. To help mitigate this, some financial institutions can arrange for automatic payments to be deducted from the user's bank accounts, thus avoiding such penalties altogether as long as the cardholder has sufficient funds.

[edit]Advertising, solicitation, application and approval

Credit card advertising regulations include the Schumer box disclosure requirements. A large fraction of junk mail consists of credit card offers created from lists provided by the major credit reporting agencies. In the United States, the three major US credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) allow consumers to opt out from related credit card solicitation offers via its Opt Out Pre Screen program.

[edit]Interest charges

Credit card issuers usually waive interest charges if the balance is paid in full each month, but typically will charge full interest on the entire outstanding balance from the date of each purchase if the total balance is not paid.

For example, if a user had a $1,000 transaction and repaid it in full within this grace period, there would be no interest charged. If, however, even $1.00 of the total amount remained unpaid, interest would be charged on the $1,000 from the date of purchase until the payment is received. The precise manner in which interest is charged is usually detailed in a cardholder agreement which may be summarized on the back of the monthly statement. The general calculation formula most financial institutions use to determine the amount of interest to be charged is APR/100 x ADB/365 x number of days revolved. Take the Annual percentage rate (APR) and divide by 100 then multiply to the amount of the average daily balance (ADB) divided by 365 and then take this total and multiply by the total number of days the amount revolved before payment was made on the account. Financial institutions refer to interest charged back to the original time of the transaction and up to the time a payment was made, if not in full, as RRFC or residual retail finance charge. Thus after an amount has revolved and a payment has been made, the user of the card will still receive interest charges on their statement after paying the next statement in full (in fact the statement may only have a charge for interest that collected up until the date the full balance was paid, i.e. when the balance stopped revolving).

The credit card may simply serve as a form of revolving credit, or it may become a complicated financial instrument with multiple balance segments each at a different interest rate, possibly with a single umbrella credit limit, or with separate credit limits applicable to the various balance segments. Usually this compartmentalization is the result of special incentive offers from the issuing bank, to encourage balance transfers from cards of other issuers. In the event that several interest rates apply to various balance segments, payment allocation is generally at the discretion of the issuing bank, and payments will therefore usually be allocated towards the lowest rate balances until paid in full before any money is paid towards higher rate balances. Interest rates can vary considerably from card to card, and the interest rate on a particular card may jump dramatically if the card user is late with a payment on that card or any other credit instrument, or even if the issuing bank decides to raise its revenue.

[edit]Benefits to customers

The main benefit to each customer is convenience. Compared to debit cards and cheques, a credit card allows small short-term loans to be quickly made to a customer who need not calculate a balance remaining before every transaction, provided the total charges do not exceed the maximum credit line for the card. Credit cards also provide more fraud protection than debit cards. In the UK for example, the bank is jointly liable with the merchant for purchases of defective products over £100.^[4]

Many credit cards offer rewards and benefits packages, such as offering enhanced product warranties at no cost, free loss/damage coverage on new purchases, and points which may be redeemed for cash, products, or airline tickets. Additionally, carrying a credit card may be a convenience to some customers as it eliminates the need to carry any cash for most purposes.

[edit]Detriments to customers

[edit]High interest and bankruptcy

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Low introductory credit card rates are limited to a fixed term, usually between 6 and 12 months, after which a higher rate is charged. As all credit cards charge fees and interest, some customers become so indebted to their credit card provider that they are driven to bankruptcy. Some credit cards often levy a rate of 20 to 30 percent after a payment is missed; in other cases a fixed charge is levied without change to the interest rate. In some cases universal default may apply: the high default rate is applied to a card in good standing by missing a payment on an unrelated account from the same provider. This can lead to a snowball effect in which the consumer is drowned by unexpectedly high interest rates. Further, most card holder agreements enable the issuer to arbitrarily raise the interest rate for any reason they see fit. As of December 2010, First Premier Bank is reportedly offering a credit card with a 79.9% interest rate.^[5]

[edit]Inflated pricing for all consumers

Merchants that accept credit cards must pay interchange fees and discount fees on all credit-card transactions.^[6]^[7] In some cases merchants are barred by their credit agreements from passing these fees directly to credit card customers, or from setting a minimum transaction amount (no longer prohibited in the United States).^[8] The result is that merchants may charge all customers (including those who do not use credit cards) higher prices to cover the fees on credit card transactions.^[7] In the United States in 2008 credit card companies collected a total of $48 billion in interchange fees, or an average of $427 per family, with an average fee rate of about 2% per transaction.^[7]

[edit]Grace period

A credit card's grace period is the time the customer has to pay the balance before interest is assessed on the outstanding balance. Grace periods may vary, but usually range from 20 to 50 days depending on the type of credit card and the issuing bank. Some policies allow for reinstatement after certain conditions are met.

Usually, if a customer is late paying the balance, finance charges will be calculated and the grace period does not apply. Finance charges incurred depend on the grace period and balance; with most credit cards there is no grace period if there is any outstanding balance from the previous billing cycle or statement (i.e. interest is applied on both the previous balance and new transactions). However, there are some credit cards that will only apply finance charge on the previous or old balance, excluding new transactions.

[edit]Benefits to merchants

An example of street markets accepting credit cards. Most simply display theacceptance marks (stylized logos, shown in the upper-left corner of the sign) of all the cards they accept.

For merchants, a credit card transaction is often more secure than other forms of payment, such as cheques, because the issuing bank commits to pay the merchant the moment the transaction is authorized, regardless of whether the consumer defaults on the credit card payment (except for legitimate disputes, which are discussed below, and can result in charges back to the merchant). In most cases, cards are even more secure than cash, because they discourage theft by the merchant's employees and reduce the amount of cash on the premises.

Prior to credit cards, each merchant had to evaluate each customer's credit history before extending credit. That task is now performed by the banks which assume the credit risk. Credit cards can also aid in securing a sale, especially if the customer does not have enough cash on his or her person or checking account. Extra turnover is generated by the fact that the customer can purchase goods and/or services immediately and is less inhibited by the amount of cash in his or her pocket and the immediate state of his or her bank balance. Much of merchants' marketing is based on this immediacy.

For each purchase, the bank charges the merchant a commission (discount fee) for this service and there may be a certain delay before the agreed payment is received by the merchant. The commission is often a percentage of the transaction amount, plus a fixed fee (interchange rate). In addition, a merchant may be penalized or have their ability to receive payment using that credit card restricted if there are too many cancellations or reversals of charges as a result of disputes. Some small merchants require credit purchases to have a minimum amount to compensate for the transaction costs.

In some countries, for example the Nordic countries, banks guarantee payment on stolen cards only if an ID card is checked and the ID card number/civic registration number is written down on the receipt together with the signature. In these countries merchants therefore usually ask for ID. Non-Nordic citizens, who are unlikely to possess a Nordic ID card or driving license, will instead have to show their passport, and the passport number will be written down on the receipt, sometimes together with other information. Some shops use the card's PIN for identification, and in that case showing an ID card is not necessary.

[edit]Costs to merchants

Merchants are charged several fees for the privilege of accepting credit cards. The merchant is usually charged a commission of around 1 to 3 per-cent of the value of each transaction paid for by credit card. The merchant may also pay a variable charge, called an interchange rate, for each transaction.^[6] In some instances of very low-value transactions, use of credit cards will significantly reduce the profit margin or cause the merchant to lose money on the transaction. Merchants must accept these transactions as part of their costs to retain the right to accept credit card transactions. Merchants with very low average transaction prices or very high average transaction prices are more averse to accepting credit cards. In some cases merchants may charge users a "credit card supplement", either a fixed amount or a percentage, for payment by credit card.^[9] This practice is prohibited by the credit card contracts in the United States, although the contracts allow the merchants to give discounts for cash payment.

In certain countries, merchants are required to pay the acquiring banks a monthly terminal rental fee^{[citation needed]} if the terminals are provided by the acquiring banks. Merchants can apply to the acquiring banks for waivers of the fees, which the banks usually agree to for merchants with a high volume of sales, but not for smaller ones.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Parties involved

Cardholder: The holder of the card used to make a purchase; the consumer.
Card-issuing bank: The financial institution or other organization that issued the credit card to the cardholder. This bank bills the consumer for repayment and bears the risk that the card is used fraudulently. American Express and Discover were previously the only card-issuing banks for their respective brands, but as of 2007, this is no longer the case. Cards issued by banks to cardholders in a different country are known as offshore credit cards.
Merchant: The individual or business accepting credit card payments for products or services sold to the cardholder.
Acquiring bank: The financial institution accepting payment for the products or services on behalf of the merchant.
Independent sales organization: Resellers (to merchants) of the services of the acquiring bank.
Merchant account: This could refer to the acquiring bank or the independent sales organization, but in general is the organization that the merchant deals with.
Credit Card association: An association of card-issuing banks such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, etc. that set transaction terms for merchants, card-issuing banks, and acquiring banks.
Transaction network: The system that implements the mechanics of the electronic transactions. May be operated by an independent company, and one company may operate multiple networks.
Affinity partner: Some institutions lend their names to an issuer to attract customers that have a strong relationship with that institution, and get paid a fee or a percentage of the balance for each card issued using their name. Examples of typical affinity partners are sports teams, universities, charities, professional organizations, and major retailers.

The flow of information and money between these parties — always through the card associations — is known as the interchange, and it consists of a few steps.

This section requires expansion.

[edit]Transaction steps

Authorization: The cardholder pays for the purchase and the merchant submits the transaction to the acquirer (acquiring bank). The acquirer verifies the credit card number, the transaction type and the amount with the issuer (Card-issuing bank) and reserves that amount of the cardholder's credit limit for the merchant. An authorization will generate an approval code, which the merchant stores with the transaction.

Batching: Authorized transactions are stored in "batches", which are sent to the acquirer. Batches are typically submitted once per day at the end of the business day. If a transaction is not submitted in the batch, the authorization will stay valid for a period determined by the issuer, after which the held amount will be returned back to the cardholder's available credit (see authorization hold). Some transactions may be submitted in the batch without prior authorizations; these are either transactions falling under the merchant's floor limit or ones where the authorization was unsuccessful but the merchant still attempts to force the transaction through. (Such may be the case when the cardholder is not present but owes the merchant additional money, such as extending a hotel stay or car rental.)

Clearing and Settlement: The acquirer sends the batch transactions through the credit card association, which debits the issuers for payment and credits the acquirer. Essentially, the issuer pays the acquirer for the transaction.

Funding: Once the acquirer has been paid, the acquirer pays the merchant. The merchant receives the amount totaling the funds in the batch minus either the "discount rate," "mid-qualified rate", or "non-qualified rate" which are tiers of fees the merchant pays the acquirer for processing the transactions.

Chargebacks: A chargeback is an event in which money in a merchant account is held due to a dispute relating to the transaction. Chargebacks are typically initiated by the cardholder. In the event of a chargeback, the issuer returns the transaction to the acquirer for resolution. The acquirer then forwards the chargeback to the merchant, who must either accept the chargeback or contest it. A merchant is responsible for the chargeback only if she has violated the card acceptance procedures as per the merchant agreement with card acquirers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Secured credit cards

A secured credit card is a type of credit card secured by a deposit account owned by the cardholder. Typically, the cardholder must deposit between 100% and 200% of the total amount of credit desired. Thus if the cardholder puts down $1000, they will be given credit in the range of $500–$1000. In some cases, credit card issuers will offer incentives even on their secured card portfolios. In these cases, the deposit required may be significantly less than the required credit limit, and can be as low as 10% of the desired credit limit. This deposit is held in a special savings account. Credit card issuers offer this because they have noticed that delinquencies were notably reduced when the customer perceives something to lose if the balance is not repaid.

The cardholder of a secured credit card is still expected to make regular payments, as with a regular credit card, but should they default on a payment, the card issuer has the option of recovering the cost of the purchases paid to the merchants out of the deposit. The advantage of the secured card for an individual with negative or no credit history is that most companies report regularly to the major credit bureaus. This allows for building of positive credit history.

Although the deposit is in the hands of the credit card issuer as security in the event of default by the consumer, the deposit will not be debited simply for missing one or two payments. Usually the deposit is only used as an offset when the account is closed, either at the request of the customer or due to severe delinquency (150 to 180 days). This means that an account which is less than 150 days delinquent will continue to accrue interest and fees, and could result in a balance which is much higher than the actual credit limit on the card. In these cases the total debt may far exceed the original deposit and the cardholder not only forfeits their deposit but is left with an additional debt.

Most of these conditions are usually described in a cardholder agreement which the cardholder signs when their account is opened.

Secured credit cards are an option to allow a person with a poor credit history or no credit history to have a credit card which might not otherwise be available. They are often offered as a means of rebuilding one's credit. Fees and service charges for secured credit cards often exceed those charged for ordinary non-secured credit cards, however, for people in certain situations, (for example, after charging off on other credit cards, or people with a long history of delinquency on various forms of debt), secured cards can often be less expensive in total cost than unsecured credit cards, even including the security deposit.

Sometimes a credit card will be secured by the equity in the borrower's home.

[edit]Prepaid "credit" cards

[edit]Features

As well as convenient, accessible credit, credit cards offer consumers an easy way to track expenses, which is necessary for both monitoring personal expenditures and the tracking of work-related expenses for taxation and reimbursement purposes. Credit cards are accepted worldwide, and are available with a large variety of credit limits, repayment arrangement, and other perks (such as rewards schemes in which points earned by purchasing goods with the card can be redeemed for further goods and services or credit card cashback).

Some countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, limit the amount for which a consumer can be held liable due to fraudulent transactions as a result of a consumer's credit card being lost or stolen.

[edit]Security problems and solutions

Main article: Credit card fraud

[edit]Code 10

Code 10 calls are made when merchants are suspicious about accepting a credit card. The phrase "Code 10 authorization" is used to avoid alerting the customer to the fact that the merchant is suspicious of their card^{[citation needed]}.

The operator then asks the merchant a series of YES or NO questions to find out whether the merchant is suspicious of the card or the cardholder. The merchant may be asked to retain the card if it is safe to do so.

[edit]Credit history

The way credit card owners pay off their balances has a tremendous effect on their credit history. Two of the most important factors reported to a credit bureau are the timeliness of the debt payments and the amount of debt to credit limit. Lenders want to see payments made as agreed, usually on a monthly basis, and a credit balance of around one-third the credit limit. The credit information stays on the credit report generally for 7 years. However, there are a few jurisdictions and situations where the timeframe might differ.

[edit]Profits and losses

In recent times, credit card portfolios have been very profitable for banks, largely due to the booming economy of the late nineties. However, in the case of credit cards, such high returns go hand in hand with risk, since the business is essentially one of making unsecured (uncollateralized) loans, and thus dependent on borrowers not to default in large numbers.

[edit]Costs

Credit card issuers (banks) have several types of costs:

[edit]Interest expenses

Banks generally borrow the money they then lend to their customers. As they receive very low-interest loans from other firms, they may borrow as much as their customers require, while lending their capital to other borrowers at higher rates. If the card issuer charges 15% on money lent to users, and it costs 5% to borrow the money to lend, and the balance sits with the cardholder for a year, the issuer earns 10% on the loan. This 10% difference is the "net interest spread" and the 5% is the "interest expense".

[edit]Operating costs

This is the cost of running the credit card portfolio, including everything from paying the executives who run the company to printing the plastics, to mailing the statements, to running the computers that keep track of every cardholder's balance, to taking the many phone calls which cardholders place to their issuer, to protecting the customers from fraud rings. Depending on the issuer, marketing programs are also a significant portion of expenses.

[edit]Charge offs

When a consumer becomes severely delinquent on a debt (often at the point of six months without payment), the creditor may declare the debt to be a charge-off. It will then be listed as such on the debtor's credit bureau reports (Equifax, for instance, lists "R9" in the "status" column to denote a charge-off.) The item will include relevant dates, and the amount of the bad debt.^{[citation needed]}

A charge-off is considered to be "written off as uncollectable." To banks, bad debts and even fraud are simply part of the cost of doing business.

However, the debt is still legally valid, and the creditor can attempt to collect the full amount for the time periods permitted under state law, which is usually 3 to 7 years. This includes contacts from internal collections staff, or more likely, an outside collection agency. If the amount is large (generally over $1500–$2000), there is the possibility of a lawsuit or arbitration.

In the United States, as the charge off number climbs or becomes erratic, officials from the Federal Reserve take a close look at the finances of the bank and may impose various operating strictures on the bank, and in the most extreme cases, may close the bank entirely.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Rewards

Many credit card customers receive rewards, such as frequent flyer points, gift certificates, or cash back as an incentive to use the card. Rewards are generally tied to purchasing an item or service on the card, which may or may not include balance transfers, cash advances, or other special uses. Depending on the type of card, rewards will generally cost the issuer between 0.25% and 2.0% of the spread. Networks such as Visa or MasterCard have increased their fees to allow issuers to fund their rewards system. Some issuers discourage redemption by forcing the cardholder to call customer service for rewards. On their servicing website, redeeming awards is usually a feature that is very well hidden by the issuers. Others encourage redemption for lower cost merchandise; instead of an airline ticket, which is very expensive to an issuer, the cardholder may be encouraged to redeem for a gift certificate instead^{[citation needed]}. With a fractured and competitive environment, rewards points cut dramatically into an issuer's bottom line, and rewards points and related incentives must be carefully managed to ensure a profitable portfolio. Unlike unused gift cards, in whose case the breakage in certain US states goes to the state's treasury, unredeemed credit card points are retained by the issuer.

[edit]Fraud

In relative numbers the values lost in bank card fraud are minor, calculated in 2006 at 7 cents per 100 dollars worth of transactions (7 basis points).^[17] In 2004, in the UK, the cost of fraud was over £500 million.^[18] When a card is stolen, or an unauthorized duplicate made, most card issuers will refund some or all of the charges that the customer has received for things they did not buy. These refunds will, in some cases, be at the expense of the merchant, especially in mail order cases where the merchant cannot claim sight of the card. In several countries, merchants will lose the money if no ID card was asked for, therefore merchants usually require ID card in these countries. Credit card companies generally guarantee the merchant will be paid on legitimate transactions regardless of whether the consumer pays their credit card bill. Most banking services have their own credit card services that handle fraud cases and monitor for any possible attempt at fraud. Employees that are specialized in doing fraud monitoring and investigation are often placed in Risk Management, Fraud and Authorization, or Cards and Unsecured Business. Fraud monitoring emphasizes minimizing fraud losses while making an attempt to track down those responsible and contain the situation. Credit card fraud is a major white collar crime that has been around for many decades, even with the advent of the chip based card (EMV) that was put into practice in some countries to prevent cases such as these. Even with the implementation of such measures, credit card fraud continues to be a problem.

[edit]Promotion

Promotional purchase is any purchase on which separate terms and conditions are set on each individual transaction unlike a standard purchase where the terms are set on the cardholder’s account record and their pricing strategy. All promotional purchases that post to a particular account will be carrying its own balance called as Promotional Balance.

[edit]Revenues

Offsetting costs are the following revenues:

[edit]Interchange fee

Main article: Interchange fee

In addition to fees paid by the card holder, merchants must also pay interchange fees to the card-issuing bank and the card association.^[19]^[20] For a typical credit card issuer, interchange fee revenues may represent about a quarter of total revenues.^[21]

These fees are typically from 1 to 6 percent of each sale, but will vary not only from merchant to merchant (large merchants can negotiate lower rates^[21]), but also from card to card, with business cards and rewards cards generally costing the merchants more to process. The interchange fee that applies to a particular transaction is also affected by many other variables including: the type of merchant, the merchant's total card sales volume, the merchant's average transaction amount, whether the cards were physically present, how the information required for the transaction was received, the specific type of card, when the transaction was settled, and the authorized and settled transaction amounts. In some cases, merchants add a surcharge to the credit cards to cover the interchange fee, encouraging their customers to instead use cash, debit cards, or even cheques.

[edit]Interest on outstanding balances

Interest charges vary widely from card issuer to card issuer. Often, there are "teaser" rates in effect for initial periods of time (as low as zero percent for, say, six months), whereas regular rates can be as high as 40 percent. In the U.S. there is no federal limit on the interest or late fees credit card issuers can charge; the interest rates are set by the states, with some states such as South Dakota, having no ceiling on interest rates and fees, inviting some banks to establish their credit card operations there. Other states, for example Delaware, have very weak usury laws. The teaser rate no longer applies if the customer doesn't pay their bills on time, and is replaced by a penalty interest rate (for example, 23.99%) that applies retroactively.

[edit]Fees charged to customers

The major fees are for:

Late payments or overdue payments
Charges that result in exceeding the credit limit on the card (whether done deliberately or by mistake), called overlimit fees
Returned cheque fees or payment processing fees (e.g. phone payment fee)
Cash advances and convenience cheques (often 3% of the amount)
Transactions in a foreign currency (as much as 3% of the amount). A few financial institutions do not charge a fee for this.
Membership fees (annual or monthly), sometimes a percentage of the credit limit.
Exchange rate loading fees (sometimes these might not be reported on the customer's statement, even when applied).^[22] The variation of exchange rates applied by different credit cards can be very substantial, as much as 10% according to a Lonely Planet report in 2009.^[23]

[edit]Over limit charges

Consumers who keep their account in good order by always staying within their credit limit, and always making at least the minimum monthly payment will see interest as the biggest expense from their card provider. Those who are not so careful and regularly surpass their credit limit or are late in making payments are exposed to multiple charges that were typically as high as £25 - £35 ^[24] until a ruling from theOffice of Fair Trading^[25] that they would presume charges over £12 to be unfair which led the majority of card providers to reduce their fees to exactly that level.

[edit]US

The Credit CARD Protection Act of 2009, initiated during the term of President G W Bush, and signed into law by President Obama, will require that consumers "opt-in" to over-limit charges. Consumers who choose not to opt-in will be unable to make purchases over the limit; the card will simply be declined and no fees will be imposed. This legislation took effect on February 22, 2010.

[edit]UK

The higher level of fees originally charged were claimed to be designed to recoup the costs of the card operator's overall business and to ensure that the credit card business as a whole generated a profit, rather than simply recovering the cost to the provider of the limit breach which has been estimated as typically between £3-£4. Profiting from a customer's mistakes is arguably not permitted under UK common law, if the charges constitute penalties for breach of contract, or under the Unfair Terms In Consumer Regulations 1999.

Subsequent rulings in respect of personal current accounts suggest that the argument that these charges are penalties for breach of contract is weak, and given the OFT's ruling it seems unlikely that any further test case will take place.

Whilst the law remains in the balance, many consumers have made claims against their credit cards providers for the charges that they have incurred, plus interest that they would have earned had the money not been deducted from their account. It is likely that claims for amounts charged in excess of £12 will succeed, but claims for charges at the OFT's £12 threshold level are more contentious.

[edit]Neutral consumer resources

[edit]Canada

The Government of Canada maintains a database of the fees, features, interest rates and reward programs of nearly 200 credit cards available in Canada. This database is updated on a quarterly basis with information supplied by the credit card issuing companies. Information in the database is published every quarter on the website of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).

Information in the database is published in two formats. It is available in PDF comparison tables that break down the information according to type of credit card, allowing the reader to compare the features of, for example, all the student credit cards in the database.

The database also feeds into an interactive tool on the FCAC website.^[26] The interactive tool uses several interview-type questions to build a profile of the user's credit card usage habits and needs, eliminating unsuitable choices based on the profile, so that the user is presented with a small number of credit cards and the ability to carry out detailed comparisons of features, reward programs, interest rates, etc.

[edit]Controversy

Credit card debt has increased steadily. Since the late 1990s, lawmakers, consumer advocacy groups, college officials and other higher education affiliates have become increasingly concerned about the rising use of credit cards among college students. The major credit card companies have been accused of targeting a younger audience, in particular college students, many of whom are already in debt with collegetuition fees and college loans and who typically are less experienced at managing their own finances. Credit card debt may also negatively affect their grades as they are likely to work more both part and full time positions.^[27]

Another controversial area is the universal default feature of many North American credit card contracts. When a cardholder is late paying a particular credit card issuer, that card's interest rate can be raised, often considerably. With universal default, a customer's other credit cards, for which the customer may be current on payments, may also have their rates and/or credit limit changed. The universal default feature allows creditors to periodically check cardholders' credit portfolios to view trade, allowing these other institutions to decrease the credit limit and/or increase rates on cardholders who may be late with another credit card issuer. Being late on one credit card will potentially affect all the cardholder's credit cards. Citibank voluntarily stopped this practice in March 2007 and Chase stopped the practice in November 2007.^[28]The fact that credit card companies can change the interest rate on debts that were incurred when a different rate of interest was in place is similar to adjustable rate mortgages where interest rates on current debt may rise. However, in both cases this is agreed to in advance, and is a trade off that allows a lower initial rate as well as the possibility of an even lower rate (mortgages, if interest rates fall) or perpetually keeping a below-market rate (credit cards, if the user makes their debt payments on time). It should be noted that the Universal Default practice was actually encouraged by Federal Regulators, particularly those at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) as a means of managing the changing risk profiles of cardholders.

Another controversial area is the trailing interest issue. Trailing interest is the practice of charging interest on the entire bill no matter what percentage of it is paid. U.S Senator Carl Levin raised the issue of millions of Americans affected by hidden fees, compounding interest and cryptic terms. Their woes were heard in a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing which was chaired by Senator Levin, who said that he intends to keep the spotlight on credit card companies and that legislative action may be necessary to purge the industry.^[29] In 2009, the C.A.R.D. Act was signed into law, enacting protections for many of the issues Levin had raised.

In the United States, some have called for Congress to enact additional regulations on the industry; to expand the disclosure box clearly disclosing rate hikes, use plain language, incorporate balance payoff disclosures, and also to outlaw universal default. At a congress hearing around March 1, 2007, Citibank announced it would no longer practice this, effective immediately. Opponents of such regulation argue that customers must become more proactive and self-responsible in evaluating and negotiating terms with credit providers. Some of the nation's influential top credit card issuers, who are among the top fifty corporate contributors to political campaigns, successfully opposed it.

[edit]Hidden costs

In the United Kingdom, merchants won the right through The Credit Cards (Price Discrimination) Order 1990^[30] to charge customers different prices according to the payment method. As of 2007, the United Kingdom was one of the world's most credit-card-intensive countries, with 2.4 credit cards per consumer, according to the UK Payments Administration Ltd.^[31]

In the United States, until 1984 federal law prohibited surcharges on card transactions. Although the federal Truth in Lending Act provisions that prohibited surcharges expired that year, a number of states have since enacted laws that continue to outlaw the practice; California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas have laws against surcharges. As of 2006, the United States probably had one of the world's if not the top ratio of credit cards per capita, with 984 million bank-issued Visa and MasterCard credit card and debit card accounts alone for an adult population of roughly 220 million people.^[32] The credit card per US capita ratio was nearly 4:1 as of 2003^[33] and as high as 5:1 as of 2006.^[34]

[edit]Credit card numbering

Main article: Credit card number

The numbers found on credit cards have a certain amount of internal structure, and share a common numbering scheme.

The card number's prefix, called the Bank Identification Number, is the sequence of digits at the beginning of the number that determine the bank to which a credit card number belongs. This is the first six digits for MasterCard and Visa cards. The next nine digits are the individual account number, and the final digit is a validity check code.

In addition to the main credit card number, credit cards also carry issue and expiration dates (given to the nearest month), as well as extra codes such as issue numbers and security codes. Not all credit cards have the same sets of extra codes nor do they use the same number of digits.

[edit]Credit cards in ATMs

Many credit cards can also be used in an ATM to withdraw money against the credit limit extended to the card, but many card issuers charge interest on cash advances before they do so on purchases. The interest on cash advances is commonly charged from the date the withdrawal is made, rather than the monthly billing date. Many card issuers levy a commission for cash withdrawals, even if the ATM belongs to the same bank as the card issuer. Merchants do not offer cashback on credit card transactions because they would pay a percentage commission of the additional cash amount to their bank or merchant services provider, thereby making it uneconomical.

Many credit card companies will also, when applying payments to a card, do so at the end of a billing cycle, and apply those payments to everything before cash advances. For this reason, many consumers have large cash balances, which have no grace period and incur interest at a rate that is (usually) higher than the purchase rate, and will carry those balance for years, even if they pay off their statement balance each month.

[edit]Credit cards as funding for entrepreneurs

Credit cards are a risky way for entrepreneurs to acquire capital for their start ups when more conventional financing is unavailable. It's widely reported that Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner used personal credit cards^[35] to start Cisco Systems. It is rumoured that Larry Page and Sergey Brin's start up of Google was financed by credit cards to buy the necessary computers and office equipment, more specifically "a terabyte ofhard disks".^[36] Similarly, filmmaker Robert Townsend financed part of Hollywood Shuffle using credit cards.^[37] Director Kevin Smith fundedClerks in part by maxing out several credit cards. Actor Richard Hatch also financed his production of Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming partly through his credit cards. Famed hedge fund manager Bruce Kovner began his career (and, later on, his firm Caxton Associates) in financial markets by borrowing from his credit card. UK entrepreneur James Caan (as seen on Dragon's Den) financed his first business using several credit cards.

Adverse Credit Remortgage

2011-01-06T21:24:00.001-08:00

Foreclosures are rising in the USA, and repossessions in the UK. In fact, the amount of homes repossessed in the UK this year is likely to exceed 75,000 – more than double the amount in 2008. There are a number of reasons behind the rise, not least of which are the tracker mortgages which reset to higher rates after a grace period, meaning many are in houses they are unable to afford. These mortgages are similar to the Option ARM mortgages in the US, whereby a low introductory rate was offered and then the rate rose at a later date. Unfortunately the intention of many of these mortgages was to refinance the mortgage when the original reset. Oops.

House prices have fallen, the banks have all gone broke and we are seeing a return to rational lending practices. Which means anyone who had intended to refinance these mortgages, is, to use a technical term, shit out of luck. In the current market, poor credit refinancing is hardly an option. Realistically, the options for those with bad credit being able to refinance their loans are slim to none. Hence the prediction of one of the largest amounts of repossessions and foreclosure, both in the U.K. and the U.S.A. this year and next.

Adverse Credit Remortgage

A great many companies offer adverse credit remortgage services. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but there is no way in hell these people can live up to the promises they make. What they are looking to do is “consult,” with you – charge you a consultation fee and then inform you that there is nothing they can do. There are a good number of scams being operated in the US which basically persuade people to sign over their rights to a property, agree to rent said property and then buy it back from the “lender,” when they are back on their feet again. What happens is – the home is signed over by way of a “quit claim deed,” and the “owner,” starts paying rent to the “rescuer.”

The rescuer will then allow the foreclosure to proceed, the ex-owner will be evicted and any equity no longer belongs to the original owner because of the “quit claim.”.

Adverse credit remortgaging

The only possible way to remortgage a property in this fashion is to talk to the lender. As things get worse, which they will, there is a slim possibility the lender may write off some of the debt. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask. Buyer beware – If it seems to good to be true. Guess what? It is.

The ongoing issues with the banking system are going to continue to cause problems for people wishing torefinance with poor credit. A recent report by The London Times points out that UK homeowner loans were paid back at a record rate in June 2009, largely thanks to the ridiculously low interest rates and falling property values. According to the Bank Of England, over £8 billion was repaid on outstanding mortgages, as people stop treating their homes as ATMs, largely down to the fact that it is all but impossible to remortgage with adverse creditcurrently, and even if it was not, the 100% home equity loan is a thing of the past.

Outstanding UK homeowner loans are still at record highs, and couple with a falling property market, this still puts a large proportion of the population underwater with their mortgages. No doubt, this will continue for some years as foreclosures and repossessions are still rising.

For those of us unlucky enough to be needing to refinance with bad credit, the situation will not be improving any time soon. By far the best option is to attempt to renegotiate any outstanding loans. The recent government programs to prevent the foreclosure level from continuing to rise are - at best a waste of time, and at worst - will slow down the process of recovery and turn the recession into a long, drawn out depression.

Medical science

2011-01-06T04:28:00.001-08:00

Introduction

Many industrial processes produce airborne particles, and inhalation is the most common way of their absorption. As a result of development and growth of industry and the corresponding increase in production, the volume and variety of contaminants also increase. [1]

Many occupational diseases and related problems arise from contact with air pollutants. As many of these problems may be irreversible, assessment of the health status of workers and work environment in relation to airborne particles is essential. [2]

Exposure to vegetable dust is probable in many industries, agricultural work and the general environment. The processing of various agricultural products such as cotton, flax, grains, tobacco, paprika and tea is often associated with exposure to vegetable dusts.

Vegetable dusts may cause a variety of harmful effects in the airways and lungs. [3] Organic dusts may also cause acute or chronic respiratory symptoms and changes in lung function. [4]

Tobacco dusts may be accompanied with bacteria, endotoxins, fungal spurs (molds), pollen, mite, insects, particulates and inorganic material such as quarts, and residues of pesticides and insecticides. [5] Tobacco dusts may cause allergic reactions in the upper airways. [3] Spirometry is a useful method for evaluation of pulmonary health and measurement of lung capacities and airflows. [6]

As tobacco compounds, especially tobacco's additional contaminants, are affected by environmental factors and as results of previous studies are not exactly correspondent to each other, this study was designed to investigate the effect of exposure to tobacco dusts on lung capacities and airflows.

¤ Materials and Methods

In this historical cohort study, initially all individuals (273) exposed to tobacco dusts in a cigarette-producing factory were included. All the subjects were exposed to tobacco dusts for more than 8 years. Rate of exposure to dusts in all the subjects was the same according to the previous available records. Subjects with history of smoking, cardiovascular and acute or chronic respiratory disease, beta blocker usage; and those who refused to participate, those with poor cooperation and those with unacceptable spirogram were excluded. Finally 231 subjects (160 men, 71 women) completed the study.

One hundred healthy workers (67 men, 33 women) from a food stuff repackaging factory in the same area that were not exposed to the harmful dusts or any other air pollutants were chosen as controls, using the same exclusion criteria. Spirometry was performed in all subjects and controls from 8 to 12 a.m., in standing position and during the same winter.

Pulmonary function measurements were performed according to American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria using a calibrated Spirolab II spirometer (MIR, Rome, Italy). Each one repeated the maneuver 3 to 8 times to obtain 3 acceptable spirograms (according to ATS standard). The spirogram with the highest value was used for statistical analysis and interpretation. The lung capacities and airflows were compared between the two groups using SPSS software by application of independent Student t test and correlation. P < .05 was considered significant.

¤ Results

The mean age of the exposed and unexposed groups was 36 ± 7 and 35 ± 7 years, respectively. Two hundred thirty-one acceptable spirograms of the exposed group (69% men, 31% women) and 100 of controls (67% men, 33% women) were analyzed.

The two groups were matched for age, gender and height, and there was no significant difference in terms of age, gender and height between the groups [Table 1]. The results of pulmonary function test in workers exposed to tobacco dust and in unexposed workers are shown in [Table 2].

In terms of parametric results, including lung capacities and airflows, there were significant differences between the two groups (exposed and unexposed workers) (P< .001). The relative variations in the parameters were as follows: forced vital capacity (FVC) (9%), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (16%), peak expiratory flow (PEF) (27%), forced expiratory flow (FEF) 25_75 (18%), FEF 25% (26%), FEF 50% (20%), FEF 75% (10%), peak inspiratory flow (PIF) (23%).

Prevalence of respiratory, eye-irritant and allergic symptoms in exposed and unexposed groups, obtained by history taking, was 20.5% and 6%, respectively, which indicates that prevalence in the exposed group was 3.5 times that in the unexposed group.

Considering relative variation, the highest reduction was seen in PEF, FEF 25% and PIF. FEF 50% , FEF 25_75% and FEV1 were in the next indices that decreased, respectively. FEF 75% and FVC showed a little decrease. FEV1/FVC showed no significant differences between the two groups.

¤ Discussion

The results of this study show reduced lung capacities and especially airflows in the exposed group in comparison with the unexposed group. With the exception of FEV1/FVC ratio, reduction for all measured parameters was significant; however, decrease in PEF, PIF, FEF 25% was more obvious in comparison with all the other parameters, and reduction in FEF 50% , FEF 25_75% and FEV1 was in the next order. FEF 75% and FVC showed a little decrease.

These results may indicate involvement of medium and large airways. In a study in Turkey on 126 workers exposed to tobacco dusts and 55 controls, significant decrease was seen in FEV1, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) in the subjects exposed to tobacco dusts in comparison with the control group. [7]

Another study in USA on 121 workers that were exposed to tobacco dusts and 98 controls showed reduction in FEF 50% , FEF 25% and FEV1. [8]

The results of this study show involvement of airways, especially medium and large airways, in the exposed group. Exposure to tobacco dust, like other particles and dusts activates some protective reactions, which include increase in mucosal secretions and perhaps decrease in the diameter of respiratory ducts. This can be the reason for decrease in the parameters. However, more studies are necessary to provide verification of these results.

In addition, organic dusts may include other contaminants such as bacteria, endotoxins, fungi spur, mite, pollen, insects and inorganic particles such as quarts, residues of insecticides and pesticides. [5] These contaminants may cause general irritant or specific allergic reactions in respiratory ducts and even lung tissue. In an immunologic survey in USA on 102 workers exposed to tobacco dusts and 30 controls, 12.7% of the exposed group had increased total serum IgE level and 26.7% of them had high level of specific serum IgE for tobacco allergens and positive skin test for extracted tobacco, but none of the controls had increased level of total or specific serum IgE. [9] An investigation in China on 130 tobacco-processing workers and 112 control workers showed higher prevalences of chronic respiratory or nasal symptoms, lung function abnormalities and positive specific IgE reactions to fungi in tobacco-processing workers in comparison with those in control workers. [10] A study in USA about the causes of occupational chronic cough stated agricultural and alimentary industries such as tobacco industry and exposure to tobacco dusts as a reason for occurrence of chronic cough. [11]

In the present study, irritant and allergic symptoms in the respiratory system (such as cough) and eyes were more frequent in the exposed group in comparison with the unexposed group (3.5 times).

The present study showed significant reduction in spirometric parameters, especially airflows, in the group exposed to tobacco dust. A part of this reduction may be due to added contaminants to tobacco dust. In an environmental study in 3 tobacco-producing factories in Finland, the level of endotoxins in the inhaling air was high. The level of gram-negative bacteria and fungi in a factory that used spray humidifiers was high; but in the one using steam humidifiers, no microorganism was detected. [12]

Humid climate is a good condition for growth of fungi, bacteria, mite and insects. Residues of pesticides in organic matters and inappropriate usage of pesticides may be causative factors in the reduction of lung capacities and airflows.

In our study, the variance of the parameters in the control group was lower than in the case group; it can compensate for the imbalance in the sizes of the two groups. However, systemic error is possible and might have some effects on our findings, and so it is one of the limitations of this study.

Although this study only investigated the effects of tobacco exposure in workers, yet the same or even worse conditions may affect workers in other industries, especially in small workshops where workers are exposed to organic materials such as tea, grains, cotton. Probability of reduction of spirometric parameters in the workers in these environments is very high.

¤ Conclusion

The results of this study show that exposure to tobacco dust would decrease lung capacities and airflows during the years.

Recommendation

Although more comprehensive, long-term prospective and specific studies are necessary, yet we recommend control of engineering in industries with high exposure to organic dust to reduce the dusts; storing organic material in better conditions to inhibit the growth of fungi, bacteria, mites and insects; avoiding overuse of pesticides and insecticides; providing standard and appropriate protective tools (mask) for workers who are exposed to dusts; and, finally, periodic assessment of pulmonary function by spirometry for workers who are exposed to organic dusts and assessment of other preventive action.

¤ Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to Research Deputy of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences for financial support for this study; and Mrs. Taghavi (working in the laboratory of occupational health under the health faculty) for her sincere cooperation and assistance. Also, the authors would like to thank Farzan Institute for Research and Technology for technical assistance.

Immigration To America

2011-01-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

My wife and I went to Frankenmuth Michigan, the other weekend. We usually go up there once or twice a year. That's where I proposed to my wife, so it holds some sentimental value for us. It is also the biggest Christmas town in America. "Bronner's Christmas Wonderland", which is in Frankenmuth, is the world's largest Christmas store. If you love Christmas, I encourage you to visit Bronners in Frankenmuth. It is so decorated with lights, horse drawn carriage rides through the small town, it is so beautiful.

Frankenmuth was founded by German immigrants back in 1845. The town is called Little Bavaria , and it will take you back to a taste of the German way of living. The people are friendly, peaceful and ready to show you around.

While we were enjoying our dinner, I started to look around the dining room. There were Asian people, Indian people, and Muslims, all enjoying their meals with their families, just like I was. There were no looks, no remarks, just people enjoying an evening out. Lots of cameras taking pictures, as this is a town that has people from all over the world that come to visit. Presidents, heads of States, famous actors, athletes, you name it, there have been a ton of famous and different people come here for the same reasons that I come here for. If you go to Bronners, you will see all their pictures plastered all over the walls.

I started to think to myself, "What is America?" Why is there such immigration to America? All these different people make up who we are. There is no other place in the world like the United States. We are unique in the fact that a person can come here and have every advantage as anyone else, for freedom and the right to pursue happiness and a better way of life.

Remember when we had to say this every morning in school? I remember doing this every single day. I don't know if they still recite this in the schools any more, but I wanted to put it here for all of you to read. Read it and really give it some thought. Let the words go through your thought process and think about them for a moment.

"I pledge Allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

and to the Republic for which it stands,

one nation under God, indivisible,

with Liberty and Justice for all"

There are a lot of people that are offended by that for many different reasons. Some are religious reasons and others are political reasons, but put all those aside for a moment and think about the words.

Now there are countries that you can go to where you don't have to pledge anything, but I guarantee you won't have the same freedoms or opportunities that you receive living in America. Why are there so many people trying to get in here, legally and illegally, to America every year? It's called freedom and a chance for a new life. It has always been the same ever since the first Pilgrims landed back in 1620.

America is you and me. Red, yellow, black and white; Muslim, Christian, Jew; male and female. old and young, rich or poor, we all live here together. Keep your heritage, and let me keep mine. Worship your God as you please, but let me do the same. Just remember that there are others that you must share this space with. Be kind and gentle, understanding and compassionate, not just about your own needs but also the needs of others.

Let’s focus, not just on the differences that we have, but on the strengths of our connectivity. There are issues and points that we will never agree on or connect to. Let's find and accentuate the positives and build on the common grounds, not tear down. Tearing apart and destroying is such a mindless and easy thing to do. It's not hard to destroy something, but It takes work and thought to build and think things through.

Our forefathers worked hard to lay out laws and rules that would protect people such as I have just described. I know that in a real world, things go wrong. Rules and laws are broken and thoughtless, mindless people come in and try to destroy and take with only themselves in mind.

We are not a perfect country because there are no perfect human beings, but we are prudent and we persevere. We don't quit and we don't let these few come in and gain the strong hold or the upper hand. We will only survive as long as we never quit on our country and on each other.

Thank you and God bless America.

Free IT Courses - Upskilling for the New Work Environment

2011-01-03T05:16:00.001-08:00

Information technology, or IT as its commonly referred to, is defined as the ‘development, installation and implementation of computer systems and applications’. However, in a business sense, this could be further expanded to include the streamlining of business operations, reduction of operating costs and improving bottom line profits through the meaningful application of these technologies.

As technology develops at exponential rates, the rate of advancements, along with the amount of technology in the marketplace, will continue to increase rapidly. One of the first adopters of these technologies is business ... and this is not just large corporations. Nearly every small to medium business now has access to advanced computer systems and software at affordable prices that were not to be seen a decade ago. With the popularity of the home and business computer, advanced software applications that increase workplace productivity and operational efficiency, along with the popularity of websites, databases and online marketing techniques to attract and capture potential customers, the reliance businesses place on technology is unprecedented. Through the use of the available technology, businesses have been able to reach new markets and apply new services to current and potential clients.

However, as systems and software become increasingly complicated, organisations require specialist IT staff to implement and manage such applications effectively. The greatest software in the world will simply be unproductive if not installed and maintained correctly. In response, the demand for qualified and experienced IT staff is booming. This was highlighted by a report released in November 2010 by a leading recruitment agency, illustrating that demand for IT professionals, especially within the retail sector, has increased nearly 50% over the past six months. In the analysis of the data in respect to the business environment and trends in technology, the increase had been correlated with a demand and willingness of businesses and retailers to invest in new or updated computer hardware and software applications. Business owners held a strong belief that the implementation of the latest information technology would give them a competitive edge in the marketplace and better satisfy their customers.

With technology creating massive changes in the workforce, in respect to roles, functions and capabilities, those who have previously relied on IT specialists require a basic understanding of the systems and how they be applied in the workplace. Specialist educational providers, who have recognised the need for this have developed free IT courses for upskilling those who require more confidence in utilising these applications. Furthermore, with the increasing use of IT within the business environment comes with it an increased demand for experienced and qualified IT staff to manage the technology. Whether you are considering your career options or are feeling like a change, a free IT course is a great way to obtain the skills you need to make this transition.

How To Locate The Perfect Nursing School

2011-01-03T05:15:00.001-08:00

Health care has always been a fantastic field to get into. And with recent changes, this field is set to explode again. Many jobs and careers in this field will be virtually free from any worries regarding the recession or layoffs. One of the most in demand jobs is that of a registered nurse.

How does this affect you? If you already are a registered nurse, then you know the benefits of rarely worrying about being laid off, or suffering from any other economic squeeze. If you are considering becoming a nurse, then this article is for you. You'll a couple of things to look for when selecting your nursing school, so you can give yourself the best possible chances of success.

When you start looking at schools, make sure to focus on only those that are accredited. While you'll still have to pass your exam to get a nursing license, an accredited school will be much easier, because the subject of study will be in line with acceptable core curriculum. The two biggest bodies to check your potential school for are the NLNAC and the CCNE. If your school is accredited by either one, that's acceptable, but both would be ideal.

The second thing to check is how many students, as a percentage, regularly pass the national nursing exam, known as the NCLEX. Make sure to check a few years worth of data. If the school in question has over seventy five percent of students pass this exam on the first try, then chances are it's a pretty good school. If the school seems reluctant to release this information, then perhaps you should give them a pass.

Tuition is another big issue. There are many options for tuition assistance, grants, scholarships and student loans. Obviously, student loans should be your last option, as you don't want to have a mountain of debt when you are just starting your career. Find out if the school has any other options besides this. You'd be surprised how many scholarship and grant programs there are out there if you look hard enough.

Making sure the school you're looking at has the curriculum you're interested in is also important. For example, if you'd like to become a surgical nurse, then make sure the school in question has classes that can support this. Some schools have this, while others don't, so it's important to shop around.

Becoming a nurse is an excellent career decision. The jobs are in high demand, and the salaries are pretty good. The only thing you need to do now is put in the work to find the right school for you, and start studying.

Essential Health Insurance Information You Ought To Know

2011-01-03T04:59:00.001-08:00

Lately, healthy insurance has taken a prominent place in the front of national debate. While it's not certain what will actually happen, many people are going to experience a change in their health plan. Some may get a much better plan, some may not. And several people may get some benefits where before they had none. In this article, you'll learn a few basic things that you should know about your own health plan, so you'll be more informed in the future.

The big question you should ask right away is if your plan is considered "managed care" or not. If it is, you will likely be saving some money, but those savings will come at a price. Generally speaking, these kinds of plans are more restrictive in both the doctors you can see, and the procedures and treatments they can give you for your ailments. If you know this going in, it can save you some trouble down the road.

Another thing you'll need to find out is if you have the option of seeing a doctor outside of your group. Some managed care plans allow you to see a specialist, for example, who isn't in your group, but they require that you get a referral from your primary physician. Generally, if you do see a doctor outside your group, it is going to cost a bit more.

Another thing to be sure of is the approval process. Many plans require additional approval for prescribed treatments, even if they are suggested by your primary physician. If you go ahead with a treatment that hasn't been approved by your plan, then you may end up having to pay for the whole thing by yourself. This can get quite expensive, so be careful.

The last thing you'll need to be aware of is what kind of prescription drugs are available on your plan. Many plans only cover generic drugs, and it's important to know this. Some new drugs that are popular don't yet have a generic version. If your doctor prescribes you a non generic brand without knowing whether your insurance covers it or not, you will either have to pay for everything yourself, or go back to your doctor for another prescription. It can save you a lot of time and money if you know this ahead of time.

Long gone are the days of having comprehensive health insurance that covers everything. That's why you need to know what you're covered for, and what you aren't. That way you can be sure to maximize the benefits from your plan, and minimize the cost.

A Review Of Making Money Online Through Affiliate Marketing

2011-01-03T04:08:00.005-08:00

A Review Of Making Money Online Through Affiliate Marketing

This procedure of making money online pays consistently and fairly over and over again. Family and Friends have always criticized your countless attempts to make sufficient money online. If you are serious really and want to add on or even increase your income, then click through and begin on the way to financial freedom. In the history of making money online opportunities, our procedure has granted several people such as you to exceed and meet their current income.

It is very easy put lots of information into an Email, but don't bear anybody to genuinely read it all. The great Email Campaigns are really short and to the point. Through keeping it short the reviewer is more prepared to read quickly what you have to say rather of losing interest and striking delete. If you genuinely have a lot of information to send off, then you just provide a quick overview and some key features with links back to the overall version on your web site.

The last item to let in the Email before sending it is that is known as a call to action. This is where you boost the reader to pretend on whatever it is you’re essaying to achieve by sending the marketing Email. Fortunately for you, the major part of your Email list has plausibly bought from you before or at least shown concern in the past. This increments the chance that they will have to show some kind of interest and go through your Email, and hopefully take part in the call to action.

There are various methods you can use to search online free work at home jobs. While you may look for companies trying for online assistance, you may as well launch your own business online. If you have good computer skills and wishing to learn Internet marketing schemes, you can provide your services to people who require assistance. One another free work at home jobs online is Affiliate Marketing Programs. The Affiliate Company will offer you with an ID and an Affiliate gateway website that you can utilize to advertize your product and yield commissions from those sales.

Making money online is really very easy however some people find it very hard. There are several ways to make money online such as Affiliate marketing, Domain marketing, information marketing, Google AdSense any many more. But article marketing is one another money making system. Online article marketing is a moneymaking way to generate money online and people are still to understand the business.

Unlike steady software that needs to be set up onto a computer, Pay Per Click SaaS software is totally hosted online and can be got at any computer with an Internet Connection. The software is present online by registration for the product.

Cash Door Loans Collateral Free Finances At Your Door Way

2011-01-03T04:07:00.001-08:00

Is your life becoming hard because you do not hold sufficient amount of cash. This is just because you do not have a planned budget. You need not worry for your expenses now, as Cash Door Loans are there to assist you in your fiscal troubles.

You can avail these funds by just giving an online application to the lender. The lender may ask you to give in your details such as your bank account number, resident proof, ID proof, mobile number, employment letter, and so on. The lender asks you for the employment letter to make sure that the borrower is capable to repay the borrowed amount.

Applying through the internet is very convenient, as you need not follow all lengthy procedures that are included in the traditional banking procedures.

The amount obtainable under these funds is 50 pounds to 500 pounds. This cash can be useful to give off your expenses as your house rent, shopping expenses, traveling expenditures, or it may also include buying a gift for your loved one or a weak end party.

The period for the repayment is allotted before hand by the lender. The era is 1 – 30 days; the repayment period is flexible up to a certain extent. The borrower must give a prior notice to the lender before he makes a delay in the repayment.

They come along with elevated interest rates. The interest rate is high as they are approved in a speedy way and they do not demand for any collateral. The elevated interest rate is the only drawback of these funds.

To get a better deal you may compare the other loan lenders which are available in the financial market. A good surf though the internet will help you to get many online lenders. You must make sure that you go through all the term and conditions put forth by the lender before getting into these deals.

Domains Yahoo

2010-11-29T00:01:00.003-08:00

Yahoo Domains: Your A-Z Guide to Picking & Registering a Domain

Choosing the right domain name and domain name provider is the first step to creating your new website. Yahoo! Domains is one of the leading domain registrars in the world and has the backing of Yahoo!, a leading internet company. In fact, Yahoo! hosts its domains and websites on the very same servers as Yahoo.com, making it the most reliable domain and hosting provider in the industry.
In addition, Yahoo! provides domain names for as little as $3.95 per year for new customers, and $9.95 for existing customers, with no set up fees. Other, domain providers charge as much as $35 per year and do not provide as many features or functionality as Yahoo! For example, Yahoo! Domains is one of the few companies that provides 24/7 toll free phone and email support.

Quick Domain How To's, Tips, & Advice

Buy Yahoo Web Hosting, get your Yahoo Domain Name for Free
Many people do not realize that you need to purchase web hosting services even after you buy a domain name. We recommend that you purchase Yahoo! Web Hosting and get the domain for free, so you can start building your site immediately. We have provided below the lowest possible price on the internet for Yahoo! Web Hosting.

What is a Domain Name?
A domain name can be thought of as the “address” for your website. Most domains consist of the primary name, plus a top level domain name extension such as .com, .org, or .net . For example, for Yahoo.com the name is “Yahoo” plus the top level domain name extension of .com.
For more background on domains please visit this page.
Picking and Registering a Domain
The most difficult aspect in choosing a domain name is finding a name that you like that is not already in use. The basic rules are simple (maximum length of 63 letters, no special characters such as %, &, *) but most of the obvious and attractive names have already been taken. We recommend that you go to Yahoo Domains Home Page and use their domain availability tool.
For more advice on picking a domain name please visit this page.
Domains, Web Hosting, and E-commerce
Many people do not realize that buying a domain name is only the first step in getting your website up and running. All providers also require that you also purchase a web hosting package with your domain name or provide the hosting services yourself.
90% of all web sites are hosted by shared hosting providers such as Yahoo! Web Hosting, Godaddy, or Ipowerweb. We suggest Yahoo! Web Hosting if you are considering purchasing a web hosting service. Not only do you get a free domain name (from Yahoo! Domains) when you buy a Yahoo! Web Hosting plan, but you also get 24/7 toll free phone support from one of the most trusted companies on the internet. Click here for more information about Yahoo! Web Hosting.
Furthermore, if you want to sell your goods or services online, you will either need to buy online shopping cart software like Miva or Paypal our purchase an e-commerce hosting service like Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions. We recommend Yahoo Merchant Solution because it is a turn key e-commerce solution that includes a free domain, set up consulting, and 24/7 service from an established company like Yahoo. Click here to visit Yahoo Merchant Solutions for more info.
Yahoo! Small Business
Yahoo! Domains, Yahoo! Web Hosting, and Yahoo! Merchant Solutions are all a part of Yahoo! Small Business. Yahoo! Small Business provides a suite of online services that helps you get online, advertise online, and sell online.
Click here for more information about Yahoo! Small Business.

ATT Prepaid Wireless

2010-11-26T07:12:00.001-08:00

AT&T picks up the ZTE R225 for GoPhone

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If the phone above doesn’t appear all that impressive, well, it’s not. It’s your run of the mill candybar handset. Made by ZTE, the R225 has really no advanced features. It’s for the cell phone user who wants to talk and text but little more. It can access the mobile web and access messaging services such as AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo! Messenger. The simple handset has a simple price: just $20. You can get the R225 at AT&T’s website.
Via Phone Scoop.

Posted in AT&T on November 19th, 2010
No Comments

AT&T GoPhone gets two Samsung handsets

I’m not sure how long ago AT&T GoPhone made available these two Samsung handsets, but they’re ready for the buying right now. The first, pictured above, is the SGH-A187, which is a low-end QWERTY device. It’s basically a messaging phone, though you can take advantage of GoPhone’s data allotment with the web browser. It also has a 1.3 megaplixel camera. The A197 might be a higher model number, but it’s just a basic flip phone with a VGA camera and little else. You can get the A187 for $79.99 and the A197 for $49.99 at AT&T’s website.
Via CNET.

Posted in AT&T on October 20th, 2010
No Comments

AT&T changing GoPhone rates

Starting on October 3, AT&T GoPhone will offer new rates for its unlimited plans. They will keep both the pay-per-day unlimited plan and the monthly version, but will make changes to both. The per-day plan — Unlimited Daily Talk and Text — will now cost $2 per day, down from $3. Users will only pay the $2 fee on days they make or receive calls, use IM, or send a message. The monthly plan will remain a flat $60 per month, but will now offer the option to add 200MB of data for an extra $15 per month. It also looks like the basic rate is now 10 cents per minute, down from 25 cents. Previously you had to pay $1 per day to get the 10 cents per minute rate. It appears that is no longer the case.
You can get the new GoPhone rates on Sunday at an AT&T outlet or on AT&T’s website.

Posted in AT&T on October 1st, 2010
2 Comments

A way to use prepaid data on an iPhone

There was a time when AT&T had the king of prepaid data plans. For the same $20 monthly fee it charted postpaid users, AT&T allowed prepaid users to hook up a smartphone and pay by the month. Not long after the iPhone’s release they discontinued it and came back with far less attractive plans: $19.99 for 100MB and $4.99 for 1MB. Still, for someone who wanted a quick data bundle it was serviceable. But then AT&T made it policy to not allow iPhones on prepaid. Thankfully, there is a way around this.

Posted in AT&T on September 16th, 2010
No Comments

New Pantech handset, Pursuit, headed for GoPhone

Via Howard Forums we get a look at the Pantech Pursuit, a phone apparently headed for the AT&T GoPhone lineup. It has been available on postpaid, but as this Radio Shack listing notes, it’s ready for GoPhone. The full-QWERTY slider has a 2 megapixel camera, media player, and runs on the 3G network. It looks like it’s available only in Radio Shack stores for now, and they don’t list the price on the website. On contract it cost $50 on contract.

Posted in AT&T on August 9th, 2010
No Comments

AT&T adds LG Prime to GoPhone lineup

On Friday Engadget found a shot of a new LG handset, the prime, which it later found out was headed for AT&T GoPhone. Yesterday afternoon a Howard Forums user pointed to AT&T’s website, on which the Prime appeared. It’s an all-touch model that features a three-inch screen at 400 x 240 pixels, a 2 megapixel camera, and multimedia capabilities — including AT&T Mobile Music — with the capacity to hold a 16GB microSD card. It doesn’t appear that this one will run on 3G, though that’s not a huge issue for AT&T prepaid. You can get it for $99.99 at AT&T’s website.

Posted in AT&T on June 21st, 2010
25 Comments

AT&T working to improve voice quality

AT&T, by most accounts, is not big on prepaid. They do recognize its prominence in the market, but as a market leader the company is more focused on postpaid data services. It’s tough, really, to think about AT&T without thinking iPhone at the same time. Problem is, the iPhone has caused massive traffic on AT&T networks, especially in urban areas, and apparently that has affected voice quality. (Though voice and data run on separate channels, the overall network can suffer when one part is overloaded.) Prepaid customers, however, care not for the iPhone users. They want voice services. So what is AT&T doing to remedy the issue?

Posted in AT&T on June 16th, 2010
3 Comments

AT&T offers expensive prepaid data plan

One of the saddest moments I can remember in the history of this site is when AT&T announced that it would no longer support its prepaid data plans, which included the $20 unlimited prepaid data plan. I knew plenty of people who used their unlocked GSM smartphones with this plan, but, as with any good deal from AT&T, it was not meant to last. The company first eliminated the plans, and then came back with a set of new, lower-limit plans. Now we learn, via PhoneNews.com, that AT&T will offer prepaid laptop data plans. It should come as no surprise that they’re quite expensive.

Posted in AT&T on June 15th, 2010
4 Comments

No more Pick Your Plan on AT&T prepaid

While other carriers are adding and modifying their prepaid offerings, AT&T GoPhone has discontinued its Pick Your Plan service (via PhoneNews.com. They will continue focusing on their pay-as-you-go options, including the $60 unlimited talk and text plan. This has already gone into effect, so if you want to sign up for AT&T prepaid it will have to be with their 25 cents per minute rate, a dollar a day for 10 cents per minute, or the $60 monthly unlimited plan.

Posted in AT&T on May 3rd, 2010
8 Comments

As expected, AT&T adds far more prepaid than postpaid in Q1

Earlier in the week we presented some analysis which showed that both AT&T and Verizon would report adding more prepaid users than postpaid in the first quarter. We got the first confirmation yesterday, as AT&T reported its quarterly earnings. The company added a record 1.9 million subscribers in the first quarter, though only 513,000 were postpaid. That means, on net, AT&T added almost 1.4 million prepaid subscribers. That seems like a pretty significant number. While CEO Randall Stephenson continued emphasizing the company’s focus on postpaid, he admitted that prepaid will likely continue to outgrow postpaid going forward. Two years ago it was pretty difficult to imagine such a development.

Posted in AT&T on April 22nd, 2010
No Comments

AT&T strong on prepaid adds

AT&T was the first major cellular operator to announce its third quarter results, and with good reason. They exceeded most analysts’ expectations, adding 2 million wireless customers for the quarter. Pertinent to our niche, 641,000 of them were prepaid, or 32 percent of the total. That’s particularly strong for AT&T, which isn’t known for its attractive prepaid plans. They did add a $60 unlimited talk and text plan, but that didn’t come until this month, so it wasn’t available for even one day of last quarter. With this new plan, combined with the normally expected sales boost in the fourth quarter, AT&T could see even bigger prepaid gains from October through December.

Posted in AT&T on October 23rd, 2009
3 Comments

AT&T GoPhone adds unlimited talk and text plan

AT&T just got serious about unlimited prepaid. The company previously offered unlimited calling for $3 per day with its GoPhone service, but at roughly $90 per month it was far more expensive than competitors. Starting today, the plan will become more comprehensive and less expensive. The GoPhone unlimited plan will include unlimited voice, plus unlimited text, picture, and video messaging for $60.

Posted in AT&T on October 12th, 2009
5 Comments

Too bad AT&T discontinued prepaid unlimited data

A little over a year ago, AT&T decided to remove its unlimited prepaid data option. It’s a service which attracted all types of users, but apparently AT&T wasn’t making enough off them. This becomes a bigger shame as we learn of AT&T rolling out more 7.2 Mbps networks. If only they had just raised the price to $25, or even $30, rather than completely eliminating it. Oh well.

Posted in AT&T on September 10th, 2009
3 Comments

Pantech C180 likely headed for AT&T GoPhone

If that phone looks like nothing special, well, that’s the case. In fact, the entire point of the phone may be it’s complete lack of features. It’s the Pantech C180, and as Engadet Mobile tells us, it looks headed for AT&T. With a phone like that, which doesn’t even have a camera or access to EDGE data, we can only imagine it going to GoPhone. Unless AT&T plans on paying customers to take it on a two-year contract. Since that’s bloody unlikely, we’ll assume it will be one of those boxed-up prepaid phones you see at Wal-Mart, Target, and other retailers.

Posted in AT&T on August 27th, 2009
No Comments

AT&T gains latest victory against cell phone traffickers

One issue which deeply affects the prepaid cellular industry is the presence of mobile phone traffickers. While they’re not moving narcotics in and out of the country, they’re certainly undermining a system which has proven — if not beneficial, then at least preferable to consumers. Big box retailers like Wal-Mary have prepaid phone packages, which are normally very cheap. This is because the company subsidizes the cost in hopes that they make back the money as the user buys more minutes. However, when traffickers buy these packages and bulk, unlock them, and resell them for a profit, the carrier takes a hit. Enough hits, and the system goes kaput. We’ve seen a number of carriers take on these traffickers lately, the most recent of which is AT&T, which just won four injunctions against traffickers.

Posted in AT&T on July 14th, 2009
2 Comments

AT&T finished with iPhone on GoPhone?

A while back, we asked whether the iPhone can GoPhone. Ever since AT&T GoPhone eliminated their $20/month unlimited prepaid data plans back in November, the answer has been “kind of.” In that, you can probably get it to work, but that paying per kilobyte for a device like the iPhone just isn’t economical. However, there are some customers still grandfathered into the data plan. Among them is Erica Sadun of The Unofficial Apple Weblog. After receiving an odd text message from AT&T regarding iPhone upgrades and service, she found out that she might be out of luck come today.

Posted in AT&T on June 17th, 2009
No Comments

Could prepaid data plans help carriers?

Once upon a time, AT&T GoPhone had the most attractive prepaid data plan in all the land. It was just $20 per mont for all you can eat data. AT&T soon realized, of course, that people were catching onto this steal, and decided that they weren’t making enough money off it. So they discontinued the plan. Earlier this year they introduced new data plans, but the news wasn’t good for prepaid users. The new system was to be on a per-KB basis, with Pick Your Plan customers afforded a couple of bundles, neither of which is particularly attractive. Yet given recent comments by Glenn Lurie, president of national distribution, it appears AT&T thinks prepaid data plans can fuel the industry.

Posted in AT&T on June 5th, 2009
No Comments

AT&T GoPhone releases Samsung A167

We kick off the week with some device news from AT&T GoPhone. It’s not nearly as cool as the Samsung a117, the full-QWERTY device AT&T announced last week. Instead, it’s the A167, an entry-level flip phone. Like most phones of its ilk, it features just a VGA camera and Bluetooth. The attractive part about this is the price, $70 without a contract. I wonder if this will show up in retail packs. It seems like the perfect phones: cheap, but with the camera and Bluetooth which might gain attention among other entry-level phones. You can get it at AT&T’s website.

Posted in AT&T on May 18th, 2009
1 Comment

AT&T drops QWERTY Samsung a117

That there is the Samsung a117, a full QWERTY texting phone for AT&T GoPhone. It’s nice for prepaid customers to have a selection of full QWERTY phones, even if they’re not top of the line. As we heard from Virgin CEO Dan Schulman earlier, the best way to target prepaid customers is to hit those who talk and text heavily, leaving the data-heavy devices to the big players. A quick glance makes this seem somewhat like the Samsung Blackjack, just without all the fancy features. You can get it now at AT&T’s website for $99 contract-free.
From Engadget Mobile.

Posted in AT&T on May 12th, 2009
2 Comments

AT&T officially unveils GoPhone Unlimited plan

When we first heard about AT&T’s unlimited prepaid plan, there wasn’t much in the way of specifics. We knew it was $3 per day and included unlimited voice minutes, and that it was being tested somewhere in Florida. On Friday the company made the official announcement that the AT&T GoPhone Unlimited will be available nationwide starting today (May 11). Like the Unlimited Talk option on GoPhone’s Pay As You Go package, the fee will only be charged on days you use the phone.

Posted in AT&T on May 11th, 2009
No Comments

AT&T testing unlimited GoPhone plan

We’ve seen a number of prepaid unlimited calling plans pop up over the past year or so. These have mostly been MVNOs of one type or another, or in the case of Cricket wireless and MetroPCS, regional carriers. The majors haven’t really gotten in on the action…until now. AT&T GoPhone is now testing an unlimited plan in “limited markets in Florida.” Details after the jump, but as a teaser: it’s cheaper than their current postpaid unlimited plan.

Posted in AT&T on May 1st, 2009
11 Comments

End of week note: AT&T adds 325,000 prepaid

MetroPCS really jumped out ahead of the pack in reporting their Q1 results, and with good reason. They added 684,000 customers, something to brag about these days. It was more than T-Mobile added total. Clearly, Metro won’t top AT&T any time soon. The nation’s second largest carrier added 1.2 million subscribers in the first quarter, so they’re still ahead of the game. Yet 325,000 of those were prepaid, a solid number. Yet that’s not as good as last year.

Posted in AT&T on April 24th, 2009
No Comments

Motorola EM330 ready to go at AT&T

How much do you think the above-pictured phone costs? If you’re willing to sign a contract and mail in a rebate form, it’s free. That’s nice. Not so much if you want it on prepaid, but given the looks it should probably clock in at under $100. It’s the Motorola EM330, a new music phone from AT&T. Along with the media player it features a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and microSD expansion. Unfortunately, the Go Phone price is $130, which might seem like a lot for a basic device. Still, if it’s a music device you seek it’s worth a look.
Via Electronista.

Posted in AT&T on March 18th, 2009
No Comments

AT&T phasing out 2G phones?

This is not good news for AT&T GoPhone customers. According to a BlackBerry News tipster, AT&T is planning an exit strategy from their 2G network. Since many, if not most GoPhones operate on AT&T’s 2G spectrum, this could be particularly bad for non-contract customers. We learned earlier this year that AT&T had migrated its 2G network to a less optimal spectrum, and it appears that this latest management directive furthers this plan.

Posted in AT&T on February 17th, 2009
No Comments

New AT&T data plans coming for prepaid

It began with the removal of unlimited prepaid data form AT&T’s MEdiaNet plan. It’s now ended with the abolition of MEdiaNet altogether. AT&T has nixed their fancy-sounding media service in favor of a simpler, more straightforward data program. They’ve even gone and dropped some of the prices for postpaid customers. Engadget Mobile has a fact sheet on the new plans. There’s a prepaid option on there.

Posted in AT&T on January 26th, 2009
2 Comments

AT&T pays $2 million to settle customer privacy suit

It’s been a year and a half since AT&T acquired Dobson Communications. Since then, they were ordered to divest a number of their wireless licenses which overlapped with their acquisition. This included rural areas in Kentucky and Oklahoma. They did that, but the problem was that they apparently didn’t take enough measures to protect consumer privacy, failing to rid their own records of confidential consumer account information. So the Department of Justice has ordered they pay $2 million in a settlement. Bad AT&T.

Posted in AT&T on January 15th, 2009
No Comments

New AT&T Pick Your Plan experimental pricing

If you live in the Northeast and Texas, you might notice that AT&T GoPhone Pick Your Plan deals might be looking a bit different. That’s because the nation’s No. 1 carrier is experimenting with some new pricing schemes. Phone News has the scoop. As you’ll see in the table below, not a whole ton has changed on the surface, other than reducing the number of plans from five to four. However, the big changes come in the fine print.

Posted in AT&T on December 22nd, 2008
1 Comment

AT&T’s GoPhone advertising more acceptable this year

Last year at this time, I was a bit miffed at some of AT&T’s advertising practices for Go Phone. As you can see in the screenshot that follows, they claimed unlimited talk and unlimited text front and center, while only making the true claim in the fine print. Yes, you can talk for as long as you want, as long as it’s to an AT&T customer. This year, however, things look a bit different.

Posted in AT&T on December 1st, 2008
No Comments

AT&T plans to buy Centennial Wireless

It’s not quite Alltel, but AT&T will acquire Centennial Wireless, a regional provider with a rural focus. They cover the Midwest and Southeast regions. The deal will cost AT&T $944 million, but will bring them 1.1 million subscribers. It won’t give them more than Verizon-Alltel’s 80 some-odd million, but they won’t be far behind.

Posted in AT&T on November 10th, 2008
1 Comment

AT&T eliminates unlimited MEdiaNet for Go Phone Pick Your Plan

Earlier this month we learned that AT&T will eliminate their $20 unlimited MEdiaNet option for Pay As You Go subscribers. Chris from Phone News came along and corrected a mistake, noting that this only applied to Pay As You Go subscribers, while my screenshot was taken from the Pick Your Plan screen. Well, as if it was an omen, AT&T has cancelled the $20 unlimited data plan for Pick Your Plan subscribers. That’s just no fun.

Posted in AT&T on October 15th, 2008
2 Comments

ppp

2010-11-08T20:59:00.001-08:00

Any trained body emerges above a wonder.

2010-11-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

List Of Insurance Companies

2010-11-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Following is the list of all life insurance company granted permission by IRDA.

1. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited

2. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd

3. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd

4. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

5. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd.

6. Life Insurance Corporation of India

7. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd

8. Met Life India Insurance Company Ltd.

9. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited

10. SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd

11. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited

12. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.

13. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd.

14. Sahara India Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

15. Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

16. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd.

17. Future Generali Life Insurance Company Ltd.

18. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd.

19. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co. Ltd

20. AEGON Religare Life Insurance Company Limited.

21. DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

22. Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Comp. Ltd.

Types Of Loans

2010-11-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

Secured

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan.

A subsidized loan is a loan that will not gain interest before you begin to pay it. It is known to be used at multiple colleges.

A unsubsidized loan is a loan that gains interest the day of disbursement.

A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used by many individuals to purchase housing. In this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. The financial institution, however, is given security — a lien on the title to the house — until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it.

In some instances, a loan taken out to purchase a new or used car may be secured by the car, in much the same way as a mortgage is secured by housing. The duration of the loan period is considerably shorter — often corresponding to the useful life of the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. A direct auto loan is where a bank gives the loan directly to a consumer. An indirect auto loan is where a car dealership acts as an intermediary between the bank or financial institution and the consumer.

A type of loan especially used in limited partnership agreements is the recourse note.

A stock hedge loan is a special type of securities lending whereby the stock of a borrower is hedged by the lender against loss, using options or other hedging strategies to reduce lender risk.[citation needed]

A pre-settlement loan is a non-recourse debt, this is when a monetary loan is given based on the merit and awardable amount in a lawsuit case. Only certain types of lawsuit cases are eligible for a pre-settlement loan.[citation needed] This is considered a secured non-recourse debt due to the fact that if the case reaches a verdict in favor of the defendant the loan is forgiven.

Unsecured

Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrower's assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages:

* credit card debt
* personal loans
* bank overdrafts
* credit facilities or lines of credit
* corporate bonds (may be secured or unsecured)

The interest rates applicable to these different forms may vary depending on the lender and the borrower. These may or may not be regulated by law. In the United Kingdom, when applied to individuals, these may come under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Demand

Demand loans are short term loans (typically no more than 180 days)[1] that are atypical in that they do not have fixed dates for repayment and carry a floating interest rate which varies according to the prime rate. They can be "called" for repayment by the lending institution at any time. Demand loans may be unsecured or secured.

Free High Paying Adsense Keywords

2010-11-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Very often when you see top paying keyword, you can start thinking that the price given in the stat is real to what you get. But Google gets the stat from the bids of advertisers. There can no problems with this, but advertisers very often are using a so-called "bully technique" of advertising using adwords.

What does it mean? Well, to get more clicks, better CTR etc. the advertiser can set its bids higher than others. For example if the normal bid is $5, he will bid $10. As a result Google will show his adwords more often to get maxim profit from this advertiser. But at the same time the CTR of such adword will grow higher and higher, and according to adwords policy Google will reduce the cost per click for this adword as it has very good CTR, like a bonus to advertiser that he has created such a good adword

So in a result the price for this adword will be reduced by Google itself from stated $10 to, for example, $4.5. BUT you would never know it and his competitors too. They will only see that this advertiser is ready to pay/paying $10 per click and that's to much for them and they cannot afford it.

Here is a small list of top keywords I've made by http://xedant.com/english.php. Keep in mind what I've told you while browsing this list...

Keywords Adwords CPC
no win no fee insurance $ 48,73
derek nimmo $ 48,49
asbestos stomach cancer $ 47,48
remortgage with ccj $ 47,12
illinois asbestos attorney $ 47,07
serviced offices scotland $ 46,48
car insurance audi a3 $ 46,00
buy structured settlements $ 45,77
inselkampf account $ 45,56
no win no fee claim uk $ 45,51
buy car insurance on line $ 44,98
car insurance quotes pa $ 44,75
cheep van insurance $ 44,70
i want to sell my endowment policy $ 44,49
no win no fee solicitor uk $ 44,45
fixed rate secured loans $ 44,28
personal management requirements $ 44,19
no win no fee accident claims $ 44,11
accident claims no win no fee $ 44,11
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Ternary Logic

2010-11-03T20:12:00.001-07:00

Ternary Logic

It is well known that the numeral system used in most if not all modern computer systems is the binary numerical system, as again it is known that binary logic, also known as Boolean algebra, also brings his significant contribution to the building of the same computer systems which I will name them more briefly as computers. In other words we distinguish here, on the one hand between a binary arithmetic in which we do basic calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division in a manner as possible like we do arithmetic calculations with numbers written in the decimal numerical system and on the other hand we call into question this time an algebra, which has also two digits that are the truth values of sentences and I mean by this the propositional calculus of the above mentioned Boole algebra.

Why does the binary numeral system and binary logic have so much significance in the construction of computers? The answer is at hand if we think about how easy it is to build electronic circuits with two states and I mention here the known bistable circuit. In the same manner we can easily distinguish between a closed electrical circuit and an open one, and going further, between a forward biased LED and a switched off one, as again, one is a magnetized portion and a different thing is a non-magnetized portion of the same magnetic tape. In the spiritual plane we discover the dualist philosophies, among which the two religious concepts of Yin and Yang with roots in Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, is prominently situated, and also Manichaeism which supports radical ontological dualism between the two eternal principles, Good and Evil, which oppose each other in the course of history, in an endless confrontation. A key element of Manichean doctrine is the non-omnipotence of the power of God, denying the infinite perfection of divinity that has they say a dual nature, consisting of two equal but opposite sides (Good-Bad.

Ternary digits

The two figures of the binary numeral system are 0 and 1, each bearing the name of Binary digIT, hence the name of BIT with its plural bits. The figures of the ternary numeral system are 0, 1 and 2. As each of these figures would be known in English as a Ternary digIT we get the word TIT (with the plural TITs) that I propose to use from now on, when we refer to the figures of the ternary numeral system.

Counting and converting
Let’s count in the ternary numeral system: 0, 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 100, 101, 102, etc. Let's convert into the base-10 number system, the number 21023 written in base-3 number system: 21023 = 2.33 + 1.32 + 0.31 + 2.30 = 54 + 9 + 0 + 2 = 6510. The resources of the Word Editor does not allow me to convert in base-3 a number written in base-10, but the procedure is similar to that used in the passage in base-2 of the numbers written in base-10, namely we do the integer division of the number with three and then successively of the obtained quotients with the same number three until the moment the quotient is zero, then we write the obtained remainders one after another from the last and reaching up to the first.

**Numbers one to twenty-seven in standard ternary**
Ternary	1	2	10	11	12	20	21	22	100
Binary	1	10	11	100	101	110	111	1000	1001
Decimal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Ternary	101	102	110	111	112	120	121	122	200
Binary	1010	1011	1100	1101	1110	1111	10000	10001	10010
Decimal	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Ternary	201	202	210	211	212	220	221	222	1000
Binary	10011	10100	10101	10110	10111	11000	11001	11010	11011
Decimal	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27

Practical usage

A base-three system is used in Islam to keep track of counting Tasbih to 99 or to 100 on a single hand for counting prayers (as alternative for the Misbaha). The benefit—apart from allowing a single hand to count up to 99 or to 100—is that counting doesn't distract the mind too much since the counter needs only to divide Tasbihs into groups of three.

A rare "ternary point" is used to denote fractional parts of an inning in baseball. Since each inning consists of three outs, each out is considered one third of an inning and is denoted as .1. For example, if a player pitched all of the 4th, 5th and 6th innings, plus 2 outs of the 7th inning, his Innings pitched column for that game , meaning 3⅔. In this usage, only the fractional part of the number is written in ternary form. Ternary numbers can be used to convey self-similar structures like a Sierpinski Triangle or a Cantor set conveniently. Additionally, it turns out that the ternary representation is useful for defining the Cantor Set and related point sets, because of the way the Cantor set is constructed. The Cantor set consists of the points from 0 to 1 whose ternary expression does not contain any instance of the digit 1.Ternary is the integer base with the highest radix economy, followed closely by binary and quaternary. It has been used for some computing systems because of this efficiency. It is also used to represent 3 option trees, such as phone menu systems, which allow a simple path to any branch.

Ternary computer

Setun was a balanced ternary computer developed in 1958 at Moscow State University. The device was built under the lead of Sergei Sobolev and Nikolay Brusentsov. It was the only modern ternary computer, using three-valued ternary logic instead of two-valued binary logic prevalent in computers before and after Setun's conception. The computer was built to fulfill the needs of the Moscow State University and was manufactured at the Kazan Mathematical plant. Fifty computers were built and production was then halted in 1965. In the period between 1965 and 1970, a regular binary computer was then used at Moscow State University to replace it. However, although this replacement binary computer performed equally well, the device was still 2.5 times as expensive as the Setun. In 1970, a new ternary computer, the Setun-70, was designed. The computer was named after the Setun River, which ends near Moscow University.

Referance

Mohsen Soltanifar, On A sequence of cantor Fractals, Rose Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal, Vol 7, No 1, paper 9, 2006.
Mohsen Soltanifar, A Different Description of A Family of Middle-a Cantor Sets, American Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol 5, No 2, pp 9–12, 2006.
Brousentsov, N. P.; Maslov, S. P.; Ramil Alvarez, J.; Zhogolev, E.A.. "Development of ternary computers at Moscow State University". http://www.computer-museum.ru/english/setun.htm. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
Hayes, Brian (2001), "Third base", American Scientist 89 (6): 490–494,
Klimenko, Stanislav V.: Computer science in Russia: A personal view. IEEE Annals of the history of computing, v 21, n 3, 1999
Malinovski, B. N.: Istorija vychislitel’noj tekhniki v licakh. Kiev, 1995, (in Russian)
Žogolev, Y. A.: The order code and an interpretative system for the Setun computer. USSR Comp. Math. And Math. Physics (3), 1962, Oxford, Pergamon Press, p 563-578 (in English)
G. Trogemann, A. Y. Nitussov, W. Ernst (Hg.), Computing in Russia: The History of Computer Devices and Information Technology revealed. Vieweg Verlag, July 2001 (in English)
Hunger, Francis: SETUN. An Inquiry into the Soviet Ternary Computer. Institut für Buchkunst Leipzig, 2008, ISBN 3-932865-48-0 (Englisch, German)

Swiss Bank Details

2010-11-01T04:28:00.000-07:00

Switzerland is a prosperous nation with a gross domestic product (GDP) higher than that of some larger western European nations. In addition, the value of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been relatively stable compared with that of other currencies. In 2009, the financial sector comprised 11.6% of Switzerland's GDP and employed approximately 195,000 people (136,000 of whom work in the banking sector); this represents about 5.6% of the total Swiss workforce. Furthermore, Swiss banks employ an estimated 103,000 people abroad.

Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment in which the banking sector was able to develop and thrive. Switzerland has maintained neutrality through both World Wars, is not a member of the European Union, and was not even a member of the United Nations until 2002.

Currently an estimated one-third of all funds held outside the country of origin (sometimes called "offshore" funds) are kept in Switzerland. In 2001 Swiss banks managed US$ 2.6 trillion. The following year they handled US$400 billion less which has been attributed to both a bear market and stricter regulations on Swiss banking. By 2007 this figure has risen to roughly 6.7 trillion Swiss francs (US$6.4 trillion).

The Bank of International Settlements, an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world's central banks, is headquartered in the city of Basel. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country's neutrality, which was important to an organization founded by countries that had been on both sides of World War I.

Foreign banks operating in Switzerland manage 870 billion Swiss francs worth of assets (as of May 2006[update]).

Law and regulation

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is a public law institution that supervises most banking-related activities as well as securities markets and investment funds. Regulatory authority is derived from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA) and Article 98 of the Swiss Federal Constitution.

The office of the Swiss Banking Ombudsman, founded in 1993, is sponsored by the Swiss Banking Ombudsman Foundation, which was established by the Swiss Bankers Association. The ombudsman's services, which are offered free of charge, include mediation and assistance to persons searching for dormant assets. The ombudsman handles about 1,500 complaints raised against banks yearly.

Banking law of 1934

The Swiss Parliament passed the Banking Law of 1934, which codified the rules of secrecy and criminalizes violation of it. The secrecy provisions were not included in the first draft of the law, which mainly concerned administrative matters such as bank supervision. The provisions, found in Article 47(b), were added before passage of the bill due to Nazi authorities' attempts to investigate the assets of Jews and "enemies of the state" held in Switzerland.

Electronic payments

Swiss banks, as well as the post office (which handles some financial transactions) use an electronic payments system known as Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC). The system is supervised by the Swiss National Bank and is operated via a joint venture.SIC handled over 250 million transactions in 2005, with a turnover value of 41 trillion Swiss francs.

Major banks

As of 2008, there are 327 authorized banks and securities dealers in Switzerland,[16] ranging from the "Two Big Banks" down to small banks serving the needs of a single community or a few special clients.

UBS AG and Credit Suisse are respectively the largest and second largest Swiss banks and account for over 50% of all deposits in Switzerland; each has extensive branch networks throughout the country and most international centres.

Due to their size and complexity, UBS and Credit Suisse are subject to an extra degree of supervision from the Federal Banking Commission.

UBS

UBS came into existence in June 1998, when Union Bank of Switzerland, founded in 1862, and Swiss Bank Corporation, founded in 1872, merged. Headquartered in Zürich and Basel, it is Switzerland's largest bank. It maintains seven main offices around the world (four in the United States and one each in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong) and branches on five continents.

As of 2008[update], UBS had a net loss of CHF27.56 billion, a market capitalization of over CHF43 billion, and 77,783 employees.

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse is the second-largest Swiss bank. Based in Zürich, it was founded in 1856; its market capitalization (as of 2007[update]) is $95.2 billion, and the company has about 40,000 employees. Credit Suisse Group offers private banking, investment banking and asset management services. It acquired The First Boston Corporation in 1988 and merged with the Winterthur insurance company in 1997; the latter was sold to AXA in 2006. The asset management services were sold to Aberdeen Asset Management in 2008 during the GFC

Central Bank

Swiss National Bank headquarters in Bern

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) serves as the country's central bank. Founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (16 January 1906), it began conducting business on 20 June 1907. Its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the cantons, cantonal banks, and individual investors; the federal government does not hold any shares. Although a central bank often has regulatory authority over the country's banking system, the SNB does not; regulation is solely the role of the Federal Banking Commission.

Private banks - Private bankers

The term private bank refers to a bank that offers private banking services and in its legal form is a partnership. The first private banks were created in St. Gallen in the mid 18th century and in Geneva in the late 18th century as partnerships, and some are still in the hands of the original families such as Hottinger and Mirabaud. In Switzerland, such private banks are called private bankers (a protected term) to distinguish them from the other private banks which are typically shared corporations. Historically in Switzerland a minimum of Francs 1 million was required to open an account, however, over the last years many private banks have lowered their entry hurdles to Francs 250,000 for private investors.[citation needed]

Cantonal banks

There are, as of 2006, 24 cantonal banks; these banks are state-guaranteed semi-governmental organizations controlled by one of Switzerland's 26 cantons that engage in all banking businesses. The largest cantonal bank, the Zürich Cantonal Bank, had a 2005 net income of CHF 810 million.

Banking privacy

Swiss bank secrecy does protect the privacy of bank clients; the protections afforded under Swiss law are similar to confidentiality protections between doctors and patients or lawyers and their clients. The Swiss government views the right to privacy as a fundamental principle that should be protected by all democratic countries. While privacy is protected, in practice all bank accounts are linked to an identified individual. Moreover, the bank secrecy is not absolute: a prosecutor or judge may issue a "lifting order" in order to grant law enforcement access to information relevant to a criminal investigation.

Taxation

Swiss law distinguishes between tax evasion (non-reporting of income) and tax fraud (active deception). International legal assistance used to be granted only with respect to tax fraud. Under pressure from the OECD and the G20, the Swiss government decided in March 2009 to abolish the distinction between tax evasion and tax fraud in dealings with foreign clients. Switzerland adheres to the international OECD standards with regard to administrative assistance in tax matters (decision to take over the OECD Model Tax Convention, in particular Article 26)

For Swiss taxpayers the distinction remains in place. Although not considered a crime and hence not prosecuted in a penal court, tax evasion is a serious offence under Swiss tax law and hefty financial penalties apply. In domestic prosecutions, banking secrecy may be lifted by court order in cases of tax fraud or particularly severe cases of tax evasion.

European Union

Pressure on Switzerland has been applied by several states and international organizations attempting to alter the Swiss privacy policy. The European Union, whose member countries geographically surround Switzerland, has complained about member states' nationals using Swiss banks to avoid taxation in their home countries. The EU has long sought a harmonized tax regime among its member states, although many Swiss banking officials (and, according to some polls, the public) are resisting any such changes.

However Switzerland did not want to be seen as an obstacle to closer tax cooperation among EU-member states and decided to support the international efforts to adequately tax cross-border investment income. The retention tax agreed with the European Union (EU) in the taxation of savings income agreement is a suitable and efficient means of doing so. The EU is committed to eliminating existing loopholes in the system of taxation of savings income. Switzerland has expressed to the EU its willingness in principle to correspondingly adjust the taxation of savings income. Here it should be noted that Switzerland has adopted the OECD standard on administrative assistance and that the Federal Council rejects the automatic exchange of information. Since July 1, 2005, Switzerland has charged a withholding tax on all interest earned in the personal Swiss accounts of European Union residents.

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but, since December 2008, is a part of the Schengen agreement.

United States

Swiss bank accounts cannot be opened without the holder signing a legal document asserting that they have no outstanding financial obligations to the IRS. Despite this, Swiss banks have been criticized for improperly shielding individuals practicing tax evasion.

In January 2003, the United States Department of Treasury announced a new information-sharing agreement under the already extant U.S.-Swiss Income Tax Convention; the agreement was intended to facilitate more effective tax information exchange between the two countries. However, Swiss policy has continued to come under international criticism, and in March 2009 Switzerland agreed to renegotiate more effective tax cooperation with the United States and other countries.

Money laundering

There are several measures in place to counter money laundering. The Money Laundering Act sets forth requirements of account holders' identification, and requires reporting of any suspicious transactions to the Money Laundering Reporting Office.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Switzerland is "a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore entities and various intermediaries..." However, Switzerland's cooperation in transnational financial issues has been praised by several major U.S. officials. A Federal Bureau of Investigation anti-terrorism official noted that Switzerland was one of several countries to participate in joint task forces targeting financing of Al-Qaeda terrorist cells; a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury praised Swiss cooperation and the country's assistance in the finding and freezing of terrorist and Iraqi assets.

Numbered bank accounts

Some bank accounts are afforded an extra degree of privacy. Information concerning such accounts, known as numbered accounts, is restricted to senior bank officers, rather than being accessible to all the employees of a bank. However, the information required to open such an account is no different from that of an ordinary account; completely anonymous accounts are not allowed by law. Should a criminal investigation take place, law enforcement has access to information related to a numbered account in the same way it has access to information about any other account.

Swiss Banks and World War II

Several inquiries have been made into the conduct of Swiss banks during the Nazi Germany period (1933–1945), especially regarding funds deposited by or allegedly stolen from victims of the Holocaust. The campaign causing the highest outlays ($1.25 billion in 1999) on the part of the Swiss banking industry as of 2009 was the World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks launched by Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, in concert with US Senator Alfonse d'Amato of New York.

The audit run by the Volcker commission which resulted from this lawsuit cost CHF 300 million and gave its final report in December 1999. It determined that the 1999 book value of all dormant accounts possibly belonging to victims of Nazi persecution that were unclaimed, closed by the Nazis, or closed by unknown persons was CHF 95 million. Of this total, CHF 24 million were "probably" related to victims of Nazi persecution. In addition the commission found "no proof of systematic destruction of records of victim accounts, organized discrimination against the accounts of victims of Nazi persecution, or concerted efforts to divert the funds of victims of Nazi persecution to improper purposes." It also "confirmed evidence of questionable and deceitful actions by some individual banks in the handling of accounts of victims".

In response to the lawsuit, the Swiss government commissioned an independent panel of international scholars known as the Bergier Commission to study the relationship between Switzerland and the Nazi regime. It reached similar conclusions about the banks' conduct in its final report, and found that trade with Nazi Germany did not significantly prolong the war.

International competition

With recent changes in the Swiss bank secrecy regime the assets held by foreign persons in Swiss bank accounts declined according to data by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) by 28.1% between January 2008 and November 2009.[citation needed] Other states, such as Singapore, have attracted depositors seeking privacy and protection. Having taken steps to make its banks more attractive, Singapore strengthened penalties for violators of bank secrecy (and now imposes steeper fines and longer jail sentences for offenders), and modified its laws on trusts and inheritance. Singapore is also now the location of Credit Suisse's international banking headquarters.

Mesothelioma

2010-10-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

What Is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the smooth lining of the chest, lungs, heart, and abdomen. This skin layer is made up of mesothelial cells, hence the name mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a diffuse but solid tumor that begins as a result of insult to the tissues caused by asbestos particles. These have penetrated into the pleural cavity of the chest or into the abdomen. Mesothelioma is either called pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma based on where it appears.

Because it occurs in such a small number of patients mesothelioma is often referred to as an orphan disease. Numbers of newly affected individuals in the United States have been reported to be between 2,500 and 3,000 every year. A steady rise in cases is reported in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

In its early stages mesothelioma is difficult to detect as it may start with a thickening of the pleural rind, or fluid which can be associated with many other conditions. This rind is normally thin and smooth in the non diseased state. In time it begins to demonstrate progression forming a more pronounced irregular rind and nodules which coalesce into a crust that compresses and invades into adjacent structures compromising lung and cardiac function. In the abdominal cavity it can invade into the liver and bowel rendering the patient inoperable. Peritoneal mesothelioma it is often found coating the omentum described sometimes as a salt like sand like particles too numerous to count and impossible to remove without sacrificing the entire omentum. Involvement of the ovaries and fallopian tubes is not uncommon in women and often mesothelioma is confused with ovarian cancer. Once vital organs are involved or disease identified outside of the operative field surgery is no longer an option and patients are referred to chemotherapy or clinical trials.

Figure E: Right Pleural Epithelial Mesothelioma on chest wall and lung. Photo courtesy K. Brauch

For the vast majority of patients, as the tumor mass grows, once subtle symptoms will give way to weight loss, cough, respiratory infections, fatigue, shortness of breath, digestive and bowel problems and pain in the chest or abdomen, depending upon whether it is pleural or peritoneal. It may begin to weep fluid into the intracavitary space. In the chest cavity this is called an effusion and it fills the space where the lobes of the lung reside, next to the lining of the chest cavity, and often spreads into the area surrounding the heart creating symptoms similar to those observed in congestive heart failure. In peritoneal patients it is called ascites and it fills the abdomen bathing the visceral organs with this malignant fluid.

Figure F: Epithelial mesothelioma on the diaphragm. Click here. for enlargement. Photo courtesy K. Brauch.

The symptoms gradually become more noticeable prompting the patient to seek a medical consultation. By this time the progression of the disease may already be too advanced as the tumor may have spread to the lymph nodes and/or begun to metastasize to remote organs of the body like the brain, spleen, liver or kidneys. Metastatic mesothelioma is considered late stage and incurable, given the current state of treatments. It is widely reported that only 10-20% of patients with pleural mesothelioma are diagnosed early enough for surgical intervention, the rest are referred on to palliative care No such figures have been reported in peritoneal mesothelioma.
What Causes Mesothelioma?

The exact method by which asbestos causes mesothelioma isn’t known with certainty. Animal models have provided some understanding of the type of damage that asbestos fibers can do, but the exact mechanism hasn’t been found yet. After asbestos became a commercially successful product, it was soon apparent that asbestos workers were an at-risk population.

Starting at the turn of the century, British investigators discovered a relationship between exposure to high levels of asbestos and respiratory disease. These early studies were often suppressed by government at the request of the asbestos industry. By the mid 50’s American medical researchers had joined the chorus of concerned professionals identifying asbestos as hazardous. Much of their work was never published or was suppressed and/or disputed by scientists in the pay of the asbestos lobby.

Figure G: Amphiboles Protruding, Brook T. Mossman, UVM College of Medicine.

Asbestos fibers have been detected in many resected surgical specimens from mesothelioma patients. In pleural mesothelioma, asbestos fibers are found trapped in the tissues from the lower parts of the lung and they are sometimes concentrated into nodules or spots on the parietal pleura, the primary location for mesothelioma in the thoracic cavity. These fibers are found using electron beam microscopy. They are invisible to the naked eye and are not routinely commented upon in a typical pathology report. Although smoking while exposed to asbestos is known to significantly increase lung cancer risks, smoking is not a risk factor in the formation of mesothelioma. It is not uncommon to find pleural plaques in the lungs of patients with primary peritoneal mesothelioma which is indicative of heavy asbestos exposure.

Genetic susceptibility may also contribute to the cause of malignant mesothelioma. Populations of three small villages located in Turkey has been environmentally exposed to a rare asbestos-like fiber called erionite for generations. (Please see erionite on the Understanding Asbestos page for more information.)

50% of all deaths in these villages was attributable to malignant mesothelioma. All villagers lived in homes built with this mineral and research by Dr. Michele Carbone discovered that those who developed mesothelioma had a genetic predisposition to the disease . Predisposed individuals who lived in villages without erinote were not found to develop mesothelioma. Further research into the residents of these communities has confirmed an autosomal dominant pattern of susceptibility to malignant mesothelioma and disease develops in the presence of asbestos-like fibers.

Some important journal articles pertaining to this section are listed below.

Mechanisms of asbestos-induced carcinogenesis.

A mesothelioma epidemic in Cappadocia: scientific developments and unexpected social outcomes.

Mesothelioma due to environmental exposure to erionite in Turkey.
A History of Mesothelioma

The history of the acceptance of mesothelioma as a primary malignancy of the pleura is one of more than 100 years of confusion and frustration. The disease was rare enough that its appearance was only intermittently identified in the medical literature. With less than one case in a thousand being identified as pleural or peritoneal carcinomas, it is little wonder that physicians at first were reluctant to assign it the status of a primary tumor. The medical establishment of the 1800’s was convinced that pleural tumors had to be metastatic cancers from some other primary tumor, regardless of the lack of evidence for this.

In the late 1800’s it was noted that mesothelioma could be found in the lymph nodes and the theory developed that the cancer began in the lymphatic system and spread to the lungs or abdomen. Not until 1891 was consideration given to the opposite theory. As always, research into the nature of mesothelioma was hampered by the lack of a sufficiently large body of evidence. Patients, thankfully, were still few and far between and reaching a consensus with so little clinical data was difficult.

The early 20th century finally brought acceptance that some pleural sarcomas could arise even without a primary cancer elsewhere in the body. From this humble beginning, the realization that the tumor developed from the mesoderm hit home and the term mesothelioma came to be accepted in 1921. Through the ‘30’s and ‘40’s further research and an increasing number of patients established the description of the tumor and began to identify the link to asbestos exposure.

Because of the confusion over whether mesothelioma truly was a separate clinical entity, five different views about causation took hold:

1. The endothelial lining of the lymph nodes was the cause, hence the name endothelioma.
2. Aberrant lung tissue became malignant within the lining of the pleura.
3. The tumor arose in the pleural capillary endothelium.
4. Tumors of epithelial origin always arose from a primary tumor elsewhere. The primary tumors were felt to be too small to be detected in autopsy.
5. The tumor arose from the mesothelial lining of the pleura and peritoneum.

It was Wedler in 1943 who reported a connection too high to be coincidental between asbestosis and pleural malignancy in a population of German asbestos workers. The analysis, which factually reported the connection but made no attempt to stamp the disease with a label, was widely accepted in Germany and ignored in the rest of the world. It wasn’t until the early 1950’s that additional evidence rescued the observations of Wedler and began to build an irrefutable connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelial cancer.
Inhalation- The Primary Path of Exposure

The primary access path for asbestos fibers is the respiratory system. Fibers released into the air are inhaled by the subjects where they are carried into the deepest recesses of the lungs. Asbestos fibers that are locked into heavier particles of plaster, concrete or paint are often expelled through coughing and rarely reach deeply enough into the lungs. From studies conducted in the early to mid-20th century, most of which were post-mortem examinations, it became apparent that pleural asbestos disease tended to accumulate near the bottom lobes of the lungs, in the gutter of the thoracic cavity and on the surface of the diaphragm.

Microscopic examination of biopsy or autopsy tissue samples revealed that in many cases the asbestos fibers were no longer located in the alveoli of the lungs but rather in the intrapleural space or within the mesothelial lining of that space. This was described by many physicians as a “clearing” of the lungs, but despite the benign sounding label, this process held serious and potentially fatal implications for the subject. It has also been hypothesized that asbestos fibers can be swallowed or may enter directly by piercing the skin. It is not known why some patients develop pertitoneal mesothelioma rather than the more common pleural based disease.

The clearing of the lungs is directly connected to the two primary theories about how injury is caused by asbestos. The first theory postulates that the asbestos fibers pierce the tissue walls of the pleural space (and sometimes the peritoneal space via the stomach or the diaphragm) and cause tissue damage which creates an inflammatory immune response. The second theory states that the asbestos fibers are so small that they begin to interact with mesothelial cells at a molecular level, interrupting cell replication and/or damaging the cellular DNA during mitosis, or cell division.
Inflammatory Immune Response

The migration of the asbestos fibers out of the alveoli is a function of the small size of the fibers. This allows them to pierce the cell walls and migrate between cell boundaries into the mesothelial lining of the pleural cavity or even into the intrapleural space. There, they sometimes penetrate the diaphragm and make their way into the abdomen or the testes.

Whenever these fibers migrate, they leave a trail of damaged or compromised cells behind. The inflammatory response includes the migration of both macrophages and mesothelial cells to the affected area. It has now been described that these cells secrete substances which contribute to cell survival and permit cell division rather than programmed cell death as is the case when damaged cells are detected by the body’s natural surveillance system. These damaged cells now acquire a survival advantage and can transform into malignant mesothelioma. The response to this damage varies by individual and invariably involves the immune system. Evidence for the response is found in the irritation and destruction of cells and the creation of scar tissue at the site of the injury. This process can be quite significant in the case of heavy asbestos exposure and can lead to major impairment of the lungs as a crust or plaque of fibrous scar tissue forms over the affected areas. Microscopic examination of this material has often found asbestos fibers entombed in the nodules and layers of tissue and has been used as prima fascia evidence for the asbestos connection as a cause for the injury.

Selected articles for further reading are listed below.

Differential effects of malignant mesothelioma cells on THP-1 monocytes and macrophages.

Acute injury and regeneration of the mesothelium in response to asbestos fibers.

Genetic Damage During Cell Division:

All living cells have a limited ability to renew themselves. This ability confers a specific life span that appears to be pre-programmed into their chromosomes. When cells divide, the ends of the DNA molecules get shorter, truncating a section of the chromosome called the telomeres. The DNA strands get shorter and shorter until the cell can no longer replicate itself.

Almost all of the cells in our body, including mesothelial skin cells, will grow old and die. The only exceptions are bone marrow cells (making blood cells) and the sperm producing cells of the testes. These cells are called immortal cells since they never lose the ability to reproduce themselves. They are assisted during cell division by an enzyme called telomerase that allows them to keep dividing endlessly without degrading. Before regular cells get old and die they divide, and new cells, (daughter cells) take their place. This process, called mitosis, can be repeated roughly 60 to 100 times during the human lifespan before the cells lose their ability to divide. Once that happens, our tissues and organs begin to fail and we reach the end of our lifespan.

It is during mitosis of respiratory tissue cells that asbestos fibers are thought to do the damage that eventually leads to mesothelioma. During mitosis, the DNA in the parent cell is split into two halves and each half is drawn towards an opposite end of the cell. There, new amino acids replace the missing halves of the DNA by using the original halves as templates. Assuming nothing goes wrong, the cell now contains two identical sets of DNA and a barrier forms that divides the cell into two identical halves.

During mitosis, asbestos fibers that have penetrated the cell are thought to physically interfere with the replication of the DNA. This may break the DNA chains, causing the cell to fail, or damage the functioning of its genes, making it become cancerous. The majority of cells whose genetic machinery is non-functional will die and be cleaned up by the immune system but not all of them will. Some cells whose genetic machinery wasn't fatally damaged will continue to live on in a diminished or damaged state. Those malfunctions which cause a regular cell to reproduce endlessly are termed cancer.
Molecular Details

As cells proceed through mitosis they are monitored by a system of chemical controls that check for DNA damage and look for the inability to perform essential cellular processes. If this system detects damage or errant functions, RNA message molecules are used to cause the cells to stop dividing. These controls cause damaged cells to either repair themselves or self-destruct. The latter process is called apoptosis or programmed cell death.

Participating in cancer development are protein encoding genes referred to as oncogenes. When oncogenes are mutated it will often lead to the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells. With the overexpression of oncogenes, the balance in the normal cell apoptosis program (normal cellular pattern of destruction of abnormal cells) is broken and cell survival and proliferation is largely elevated which results in the growth of tumors. There are five classifications of oncogenes they are (i) growth factors, (ii) growth factor receptors, (iii) signal transducers, (iv) transcription factors, and (v) others, including programed cell death regulators. Many of the drugs in development will target one of these classifications and some drugs will actually target multiple oncogenes.

Current research has repeatedly found abnormalities in mesothelioma cases where deletions of chromosome regions 1p, 3p, 9p, and 6p, and the loss of chromosome 22 have been observed. It is believed that these deletions affect tumor suppressor genes, allowing for the development of mesothelioma.

Selected articles for further reading are listed below:

Cytogenetic and molecular genetic changes in malignant mesothelioma.

Cell Methylation and Cancer:

Recent developments in the field of biology have studied the functional processes of genes at the molecular level. Scientists have known for some time that certain sections of the chromosome, called genes, serve essential functions for the health and welfare of the cell and the host organism. There are large areas of the chromosome that were previously regarded as non-functional or “junk” DNA that are now known to have a role in the control of which genes are active (expressed) and which are not. The process of controlling genes through protein molecule messengers is called methylation.

Some genes control the replication of, and also the longevity of the cells that contain them. While we haven’t identified all of these genes, we have learned that, when growth regulating genes are blocked from doing their functions, cells can grow without restraint, causing cancer.

We have now discovered some of the proteins that appear to be responsible for interfering with the balanced and normal functions of a wide variety of regulatory genes. The excessive presence of such proteins in blood or urine (called over-expression) can be used as a measure of the presence of cancer. We still don’t know exactly what causes these proteins to be produced in excessive amounts, nor have we uncovered all the connections between the production of these molecules and the genetic damage caused by asbestos.

We are now on the cutting edge of science having identified many of the genes responsible for suppressing or promoting tumor growth. Targeting the repair of tumor suppressor genes or inactivation of promoter genes may lead to more effective treatments. Because it is thought that many genetic events are linked to the formation and support of the cancer cell this remains an area under intense investigation.

Selected articles for further reading are listed below:

Gene methylation in pleural mesothelioma: correlations with clinico-pathological features and patient's follow-up.
Simian Virus SV40

One highly contentious issue is the role of simian virus 40 (SV40) in the development of mesothelioma tumors. Animal experiments have established that SV40 is a potent tumor inducing virus, however, clinical studies still have not conclusively linked SV40 to human mesothelioma cases. Many studies and publications have demonstrated the presence of SV40 in multiple tumors including malignant mesothelioma. .

There is some evidence, however, that the SV40 presence in the samples may be due to pervasive laboratory contamination. The source of this contamination was the original monkey cell cultures used as a medium in which to grow smallpox vaccines. The SV40 remnants were felt to be benign and were therefore ignored by laboratories. it was only later that the tentative connection to cancer was noted.

Animal models and in vitro studies with human mesothelial cells when, exposed to a attenuated strain of SV 40 suggest that they may act as co carcinogens. When exposed to this attenuated strain of SV40 alone no malignant mesothelioma was observed, When exposed to both the attenuated strain and asbestos mesothelioma developed. It therefore it can be assumed that SV 40 is not directly responsible for the development of mesothelioma but might have a synergistic role when coupled with asbestos exposure. Laboratory work in this area continues and the role of SV40 in mesothelioma remains to clearly defined.

Selected articles for further reading are listed below:

Mesothelioma epidemiology, carcinogenesis, and pathogenesis.
Types of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma can be classified into two major groups, benign and malignant. Malignant mesothelioma is organized into four main categories based on the location of the tumor: Rarely mesothelioma is diagnosed in both the pleural and peritoneal cavity but may be found more often as the disease process progresses.

1. pleural – found in the chest cavity, on the surface of the lung and on the diaphragm,
2. peritoneal – found in the abdomen on the surface of the omentum and visceral organs,
3. pericardial – growing on the exterior surface of the pericardium, or lining of the heart, and
4. testicular – noted as a thickening of the ducts and glands in the testes.

Each of these categories of mesothelioma is further divided into one of three subtypes, epithelial, sarcomatoid or mixed. Among the total spectrum of asbestos patients there are a smaller number of cases with different cancers, such as lung cancer and metastatic cancer of the liver, kidneys, bones and other organs. (m) In addition, sarcomatous varieties have been judged to be extremely aggressive, and can be associated with intracranial metastases – brain tumors. There are also benign mesothelial proliferations and well differentialed papillary mesothelioma that are of low malignant potential. The diagnosis should be confirmed by an experienced pathologist as in many cases a more virulent form of the disease can be mixed in with this seemingly benign process. In most cases these tumors are of low malignant potential and are treated only when they begin to cause symptoms and most often with surgery as a single modality.
Who Gets Meso/Who is At Risk

As explained above, the process of developing mesothelioma from asbestos exposure is a long one. Furthermore, while the development of mesothelioma correlates with asbestos exposure, such exposure isn’t an absolute indicator of who will get the tumor and who won’t. Since there is no national or international mesothelioma registry, statistics for the disease vary widely, depending upon the source. Nevertheless, there is a valid statistical relationship between the amount of exposure to asbestos and the incidence of mesothelioma.

If we contain this discussion to the subject of pleural mesothelioma, we will find that well over fifty years of published studies have established three primary groups of individuals by virtue of their exposure. These are: -1- individuals with high levels of exposure of a short duration, -2- individuals with high levels of exposure of long duration and -3- individuals with low levels of exposure of long duration. (l)

The majority of studies showed that group -1- exposure sometimes led to gradual impairment of lung function but it didn’t always rise to the level of asbestosis, i.e. there was little evidence of plaque or nodules in the pleural space. Group -1- also had a relatively high incidence of cancer, most of which was later to be called mesothelioma.

The second case, -2-, led to very high levels of impairment with asbestosis and early death from from the effects of the impairment. secondary illnesses with some cases of mesothelioma.

The third case -3- led to gradual impairment with asbestosis and death caused by a broad spectrum of secondary conditions such as pneumonia, emphysema, tuberculosis etc. Asbestosis appeared to greatly reduce the patient’s ability to resist secondary diseases, raising some of these to the level of fatal illnesses. (o)

Mesothelioma was not seen as often in groups two and three. Medical researchers felt that this was because patients either didn't live long enough to develop cancer or weren't genetically at risk. Ironically, only after dust abatement practices were mandated into the workplace did the incidence of mesothelioma become a significant health issue in the literature and in the vernacular of the medical community, lending credence to the theory about group two.

Studies also revealed a clear relationship between the amount of dust inhaled over a lifetime and the development of asbestosis. Trades with a history of working with asbestos tend to dominate the population of mesothelioma patients. The greater the former, the more likely it would be that signs of asbestosis would be observed. Conversely, it was discovered that there was no safe level of asbestos exposure with respect to mesothelioma, since even short exposures could create the cancer, with or without asbestosis symptoms.
Symptoms of Mesothelioma

As the tumor grows and expands, it often produces fluid that fills the chest or the abdomen, depending upon whether it is pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma. This fluid places pressure on vital organs. In the case of pleural mesothelioma, which represents 80% of cases, the fluid compresses the lung, causing intense pain, shortness of breath and overwhelming fatigue. This fuid will eventually enter the pericardial space and patients will have symptoms suggestive of congestive heart failure. ,Sleep disturbance, loses appetite, and pain are common complaints as the fluid and the expanding tumor slowly fills up the chest, compromising lung function. Relieving the fluid pressure can provide short term symptomatic relief. (p)

Pleural mesothelioma patients in five studies presented by P. Chahinian showed the following symptoms in varying degrees:
Dyspnea (shortness of breath) 6-60% of cases
Chest pain 33-71% of cases
Both dyspnea and pain 19-28% of cases
Cough

3-27%
Hemoptysis (spitting blood or bloody sputum) 1-6%
Hoarseness 1-3%
Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) 1%
Weight Loss

14-29%
Fever

3-33%
Asymptomatic

3-4%
Pleural effusion (fluid in the chest cavity)

74-84%

Pericardial patients reported different clinical symptoms:

Pericardial effusion (fluid in the pericardial space)

Dyspnea

Pain

Constrictive pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardial sac)

Vascular compression

Cardiac tamponade (bleeding into the pericardium)

Pericardial thickening on scans (12% of patients only)

Peritoneal patients present another set of symptoms again:

Abdominal pain

63%

Abdominal mass

40%

Increased abdominal girth

70%

Ascites (fluid in the abdomen)

66%

Digestive disturbances

33%

Fever

20%

Weight loss

44%

Thrombocytosis (increased platelets in the peripheral blood)

23%

Leukocytosis (elevated white blood cell count)

50%

Disease Development And Progression

The latency of mesothelioma has been one of its greatest problems and may partly explain why a connection with asbestos exposure took so long to be accepted as the primary cause. Mesothelioma latency isn’t known exactly since exposure to asbestos doesn’t always equate directly or immediately to an insult to the tissues. Consequently, estimates of latency vary widely with mesothelioma patients being reported in age ranges from early teens to octogenarians. The accepted figure falls somewhere between 15 and 50 years from the date of exposure to asbestos although it’s anyone’s guess as to when the asbestos first triggered the cellular damage that translated into mesothelioma.

Since symptoms are often misdiagnosed or even absent during early stage mesothelioma, the rate of progression of the disease is also a guess. The most commonly available figures pertain to median survival time from the date of diagnosis but many mesothelioma experts believe the tumor may be in existence for quite some time before diagnosis.

Even survival times vary widely with no clear consensus emerging. On the low side, survival times of 4 to 8 months are reflected in the information to be gleaned from obituaries and tributes paid to the afflicted. On the high side, 12 to 18 months is considered the norm, although this number is demonstrating some upward movement and tends to become differentiated when mesothelioma types, categories and treatments are considered as part of the assessment.

There are three subtypes of mesothelioma epithelial is the most common accounting for approximately 50% of the cases with sarcomatoid, the more aggressive, reported at approximately 16% and mixed (biphasic) 34%. Of the three subtypes, epithelial is thought to be the most responsive to treatment and sarcomatoid has been refractory to chemotherapy and early relapse in surgical series. Biphasic or the mixed type can vary depening upon the percentage of sarcomatoid cells mixed in with the epithelial variant. Patient groups of sarcomatous subtype, or those with lymph node involvement, tend to have no long term survivors. . Epithelial cases without lymph node involvement, and who are younger than 50, have the best chance for long term survival. Median survival numbers for this group are trending up, and vary based on the type of treatment chosen.

In pleural mesothelioma, the tumor tends to appear only in one lung, with a right/left preference of 60% to 40%. Pleural mesothelioma occurs about four times more frequently than peritoneal.Men are five times more likely than women to get pleural mesothelioma and both sexes are equally represented with peritoneal. Though not common mesothelioma can metastasize to the contralateral lung, abdomen, and in rare cases to the brain and spinal cord.

As of this time, there are no medical procedures that are proven to be curative. Most of the leading treatments (covered under the treatment section of this web site) involve experimental procedures, clinical trials of drugs and novel technologies.
Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

Diagnosis of mesothelioma is difficult because the disease often isn’t visible on external scans and the symptoms may be confused with a number of common ailments that misdirect the medical staff and defer more thorough investigations. Mesothelioma is a diagnosis of exclusion, in other words once common ailments are ruled out an investigation into the rare spectrums of illness begins. A definitive diagnosis of mesothelioma requires a tissue biopsy, obtained either through a needle biopsy or an open procedure. Needle biopsy are inconclusive in many cases which leads to a surgical procedure to obtain enough tissue to confirm the diagnosis and identify the cell type.

The process of diagnosis usually begins with some form of radiological investigation. In pleural cases, where respiratory distress is the primary symptom, doctors may fall back on an x-ray to check for pneumonia or shadows on the lung indicative of tuberculosis or lung cancer. It is during this stage that fluid in the pleural cavity or an irregular pleural rind is noted i and more extensive procedures commence. In many developing countries where tuberculois is common when symptoms develop it is considered more cost effective to treat for a suspected tuberculosis. Therapy continues for 6 months and it is only at this time if sympstoms persist that a more extensive diagnostic work up begins. The window of opportunity to treat mesothelioma has often closed as the disease at this point is usually very advanced and refractory to treatment. Insurance will not approve a more costly test unless a patient has had an abnormal X Ray or another test that suggests a CT scan (Computed Tomography scan) is necessary. Computed tomography involves a series of precisely calibrated X-rays to be taken and received by electronic means rather than photographic film. These images are enhanced by the use of contrast medium. Prior to the CT scan the patients is injected with contrast dye and if an abdominal ct is also requested oral contrast is provided. Patients are required to fast prior to an Abdominal CT scan but not for the Pleural CT scan. These images are then reconstructed by computer to offer a highly detailed view of the body in narrow slices, allowing a look inside the body at anatomical details not otherwise visible without surgical examination.

Figure H: PET/CT Fusion showing combined images. The red cross in the human image shows hot spot. The slices show (from left to right) CT scan, PET scan and Combined fusion scan. Click here for enlargement. Photo courtesy K. Brauch.

CT scans are excellent at showing topography but cannot distinguish between scar tissue or tumor. While they can detect pleural or peritoneal thickening, the results are not definitive enough to allow for a mesothelioma diagnosis with CT scan alone.

Another tool of importance in external exams is the Positron Emission Tomography scanner, or PET. PET is a process where radioactive glucose is injected into the bloodstream, where it is consumed in the greatest proportion by the most active parts of the body. This usually means the brain, heart, sex organs and tumors, if present, will consume the largest amount of this isotope, causing hot spots to appear on a scanned image of the body.

Tumors tend to be extremely active and therefore consume large amounts of the sugar isotope. This will cause hot spots to appear where they normally shouldn't, allowing the radiologist to identify possible indications of cancer.

Although PET scans can show activity, they are rather indistinct and cannot clearly identify the exact location of the activity. Simply put, CT scans can tell where a growth is located and PET scans can tell if there is excessive biological activity. The latest technology combines both the CT scan and the PET scan into a single computer image. Therefore, taken together, the PET/CT fusion scan produces a much more accurate image of activities inside the body. If an area of thickening is actively consuming sugar it may be cancerous. If the activity level is low or normal, it may simply be inflammatory response to injury, healing or other benign activity. PET scans are used as part of the initial work-up for surgery. It helps to identify areas of activity that might not be imaged well on CT scan. This may prompt a biopsy to rule out disease that is outside of the operative field. There are false positives whereas a PET may be positive but the biopsy reveals benign non malignant process but the opposite is also true. A negative PET scan does not always reflect accurately the extent of disease. It is not uncommon to discover more advanced disease during the planned operative procedure leading to technically unresectable disease.

Figure I: PET/CT slice showing tiny central hot spot and presence of EPP (removed lung) in left of image. For Enlargement click here. Photo courtesy K. Brauch

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound are both soft tissue scanning tools that are generally little used in the imaging mesothelioma. MRI is sometimes used to determine if mesothelioma has penetrated through the diaphragm into the abdomen. In most cases, the images are considered too indistinct to be of much clinical value. Ultrasound simply doesn't penetrate deeply enough to be a good clinical tool in this setting. Ultrasound is useful in quantifying the amount of effusion present and is often used prior to a thoracentesis. Despite the progress, external tests aren't yet definitive enough to allow diagnosis without biopsy. Even if a tumor is detected, it must be examined by a pathologist to determine what kind of tumor it is and whether it is mesothelioma or some other type of cancer.

Selected articles for futher reading are listed below:

Prognostic Value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

One of the first physical examinations to be conducted is the examination of fluid from the chest or abdomen. Fluid extractions from the chest via needle (thoracentesis) are performed for two reasons, to relieve the buildup of fluid and to provide a sample for a cytological examination. Unfortunately, examinations of the pleural effusion or abdominal ascites are only rarely conclusive. A negative result is inconclusive as enough viable cells may not have been extracted a positive results will define a malignant process but further examination is warranted.

Needle biopsies are also poor indicators since the mesothelioma tumor can be quite diffuse and thin. The biopsy is usually obtained under CT quidance. An experienced radiologist perfoms this procedure. Some of the problems associated with this technique are too little material to sample, sampling a small area will not allow a discussion of the type of mesothelioma or percentage of more virulent cells which aide the oncologist or surgeon in formulating a treatment plan. . The principle means of obtaining a pathology specimen is through surgery and in most cases this involves a VATS procedure ( video assisted surgery). For pleural mesos the surgery itself is called a thoracotomy (chest incision) followed by a thoracoscopy (fiber optic exam of the chest). For abdominal biopsies the surgery is called a laparotomy and laparoscopy (fiber optic exam of the abdomen). These procedures are in themselves difficult surgeries that are only offered in the event a serious illness is suspected. Since the symptoms of mesothelioma are often confused with other, more benign, illnesses, many people either don’t receive them or receive them only after long delays, affecting the prognosis of their cancer.

In an attempt to improve diagnosis of lymph node involvement, some institutions will require a mediastinoscopy to biopsy the lymph nodes in the chest. This procedure is day surgery and a finding of positive lymph nodes might influence a decision not to offer surgery since the surgical staging would be at least stage 3.

Diagnostic examinations may or may not involve rudimentary treatment attempts. In pleural cases, many surgeons opt to perform a pleurodesis. . The purpose of this is to irritate the site and stimulate the formation of scar tissue which wall off the space thus preventing reacumulation of fluid. If the fluid accumulation isn’t stopped, it leads to secondary problems such as pneumonia, or compression of key blood vessels and arteries. Untreated, the fluid accumulation may lead to serious and life threatening complications long before the tumor itself is fatal. It is recommended that this procedure not be performed prior to a consult with a pleural mesothelioma specialist, unless it is deemed absolutely necessary, as it may preclude some innovative treatment options that are being offered at mesothelioma treatment centers. Further discussion can be found in the section labeled chemotherapy.

After the thoracotomy, the surgeon will temporarily insert a tube , placed in the opening and sewn air-tight to the skin, to allow the remaining fluid and blood from the surgery to drain. An alternative to a pleurodesis would be the placement of a pleurex catheter which permits drainage of pleural fluid and can be managed at home or in the hospital setting. This is used as a palliative procedure to manage effusions and ascites. Chest tubes or chest ports are inserted and used for instillation of intra pleural chemotherapy. .

Selected articles for further reading are listed below:

The comparative accuracy of different pleural biopsy techniques in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma.

Nonspecific laboratory findings in patients with malignant mesothelioma can include an elevation in the white blood count, number of platelets, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and a decrease in red blood cells (anemia). Elevations of CA125 and hyaluronic acid are also noted in many cases of mesothelioma. All of these findings are nonspecific and are not reliable for making the diagnosis of mesothelioma nor following response to therapy.

Pathology; once a biopsy is obtained special stains are necessary to confirm the diagnosis of mesothelioma. Positive staining for Calretinin, WT1 and cytokeratin is desired, as well as negativity for CEA, CD15, TTF-1 and B72.3. The utility of these stains assists in distinguishing mesothelioma from other cancers that present in similar fashion for example lung cancer. Despite advances in making a pathological diagnosis rare subtypes, poorly differentiated mesotheliomas, and sarcomatoid continue to present diagnostic challenges. Electron microscopy can be employed to look for specific characterists of the cell in some of these more challenging cases.

[A comparative evaluation of immunohistochemical markers for the differential diagnosis between malignant mesothelioma, non-small cell carcinoma involving the pleura, and benign reactive mesothelial cell proliferation][Article in Polish]

Significance of combining detection of E-cadherin, carcinoembryonic antigen, and calretinin in cytological differential diagnosis of serous effusion][Article in Chinese]
Serum Markers

Serum Mesothelin-related protein (SRMP) and Osteopontin have been identified as promising new serum markers to identify and follow response to therapy in patients with malignant mesothelioma. Studies demonstrated that SRMP has value as both a surveillance and prognostic marker for malignant mesothelioma. Mesomark a serum test for SRMP was released in late 2004 by Fujjirebio Diagnostics. It has been approved to follow response to therapy and track changes in disease status in patients with malignant mesothelioma. Studies are underway to validate it’s utility in diagnosing mesothelioma in it’s earliest stages in high risk individuals.

SMRP was the subject of a Meso Foundation grant to investigate its validity in a study of the residents of Libby Montana. (See Meso Foundation press release and press release about European distribution of the test.).

Selected articles for futher reading are listed below.

Osteopontin is a glycoprotein that is overexpresssed in several cancers. In mesothelioma osteopontin are upregulated in asbestos exposed individuals with mesothelioma. Osteopontin might help to distinguish benign pleural changes resulting from asbestos exposure as opposed to malignant tranformaion in asbestos exposed individuals. It has been resported that osteopontin can also predict survival and recurrence patterns. Osteopontin remains under intense investigation to ascertain where it can best be utilized as seen in the clinical setting. Please refer to abstract below for additional information.

Comparison of osteopontin, megakaryocyte potentiating factor, and mesothelin proteins as markers in the serum of patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Asbestos exposure, pleural mesothelioma, and serum osteopontin levels.

Staging And Outcomes

Assuming a diagnosis of mesothelioma is confirmed, staging of the disease remains extremely difficult and is an obstacle to effective treatment. Staging techniques require knowledge about where the tumor is located, how extensive it is and whether it is still locally contained or whether it has metastasized to organs or adjacent tissues.

Since staging is essential to selecting the appropriate treatment, much effort has been invested in developing an accurate pre-operative staging technique. Because of the difficulty of imaging the extent of mesothelioma and its presence or absence in the lymph nodes, staging pre-operatively remains a fairly imprecise process. Several recent attempts have been made to establish a standard process. (t)

Both the International Mesothelioma Interest Group and Brigham & Women's Hospital have developed staging systems based upon a common set of variables. These are:

* T or tumor staging - what is the size and location of the tumor in relation to nearby organs and structures?
* N or nodal staging - are lymph nodes positive or negative for meso?
* M or metastatic staging - is there evidence of metastasis?

Each variable above is expressed as a number and the final combination is compared to a table to establish staging. Negative nodes and metastasis is represented as N0 and M0 Regardless of the staging system used, patients with stage 3 or higher disease are almost always only considered for chemotherapy. This is because stage 3 implies that the tumor is no longer locally contained and cannot be removed (resected) by surgical means.

Recent studies with genomics have added an additional set of considerations to outcome. An assay of the markers of genetic damage in a population of patients seems to co-relate certain genotypes to a better prognosis or outcome. While most of this material is just now being published, it may soon be possible to examine mesothelioma cells for DNA markers that can forecast whether the patient would benefit from aggressive surgical treatment or not.

Stage 1 and 2 patients tend to be surgical candidates, while stage 3 and stage 4 patients are generally offered chemotherapy in combination therapies. (q) (r) (s) Radiation is rarely offered as a primary treatment since it has little effect on its own. Staging, therefore, has a pivotal role in choosing treatment options and determining the prognosis for mesothelioma patients. Treatment options and outcomes are discussed in detail under the treatment section of this web site.

2010-10-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Windows 7

2010-10-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 is the latest release of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009, less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista.

It has both advantages and dis advantages. The following are some important advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

Windows 7 is faster than its predecessors, both in terms of installation and boot up time.
Calculator has been enhanced with some new features like unit conversion, calculations like fuel economy and auto lease payment.
WordPad in Windows 7 has improved much better and look similar to the Microsoft Office Word. It can be used to open, edit file names with docx extension which was earlier introduced with MS-Office 2007. Word prediction is the new feature in Word Pad. Realistic brush has been added in Paint.
Microsoft facilitates in windows 7, to download some eye-catching themes and background images from its own Microsoft website or from RSS feed. It allows the user to customize every part of the themes and save for our future use or send to the otherwindows 7 users.
It also supports advanced touch and handwriting recognition.
Windows 7 supports Virtual Hard Disks with the support of enhanced performances of multi core processors.
Windows Media Player 12 has got much enhanced features in the Windows 7 and drag and drop option has been added which were not there in the previous versions.
Windows 7 allows the user to make the best use of graphic cards from the different vendors.
Bitlocker is a feature which provides encryption for the internal drives in vista, but it is extended to the external drives inwindows 7. This makes backup and restore much easier.
Default settings of User Account have been eliminated, to protect form the unauthorized software to be installed.
Windows 7 has included a new concept, jumplists which organize the recently used files as well as web pages.
More than that, it also allows the user to overcome the clutter in the desktop by introducing three new features Aero Peek, Aero shake and snap.
Home networking has been made much easier than its previous operating systems and is probably safe from hackers.
the on screen keyboard help you to type easily and fast.

Disadvantages

Some of the users are not satisfied with the new features, because, they need to buy out additional resources such as RAM, etc to make use of them.
It is expensive than the previous Microsoft operating systems.
Some of the users have problems such as; their system hangs after installing Windows 7
If the user has got an HP multifunction printer, and its driver being upgraded to the Windows 7, then the printer doesn’t response to the print commands. So, the user needs to go to the new HP solution Center to resolve this problem.
Windows have specific themes for United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, South Africa and Australia, if the user is not from the above country and he wish to have a specific theme of his country, he will not get that, hence the user will not satisfied with that feature.
Some of the features like Start Menu user interface, Windows Ultimate Extras, InkBall, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar Windows Mail called Windows Live Essentials were included in Vista are removed in Windows 7.
It is only compatible for latest processors. It is very slow in old processors and some options not worked in old processors.
Some applications can’t run in Windows 7
There is hardware that can be directly recognized in Vista, but not in Windows 7
Previously difficult to force the software that can be imposed installed in Vista, also installed in Windows 7

Site Quality Tips

2010-10-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

In this article i give ideas to improve your site quality. Most persons want to design quality site page to get more traffic. But they not have ideas. The following ideas are very help to design page with high quality.

1. First you must decide which type of site to publish. It may be personal or public.

2. Provide good contents only. Don't steal others content. Please avoid fake contents. If your site have any duplicate contents it reduce the traffic of your site.

3.If you decide to place ads in your site, then go for a ratio of not less than 75% editorial to 25% advertising. Because visitors may dissatisfy with over ads.

4. You must avoid to place blinking GIF images, scrolling texts, pop-up windows and sounds in your site.

5. Put as few clicks between your visitor and your information as possible. Many links make tension to visitors.

6. Give the content briefly.

7.Use HTML to design pages. HTML is run in all type of browsers.

8. Give home page link in every pages in your site.

9. Don't make your page too wide.

10.Increase the line spacing (leading) to improve readability.

11.Put your contact info, or a link to it, on the top and/or bottom of every page. It helps visitor to give suggestions to improve your site.

12. Make your website has more than 15 pages. It is useful to have a site map or a “Search” feature to ensure your visitors can easily find what they’re looking for.

13. Use small size images in your site like 15 Kb size.

14. Show date and time in your site.

15. Update your content regularly.

Do this an get traffic to your site.

Name Server

2010-10-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

Name server
A name server or DNS is the Internet's equivalent to a phone book. A domain name server maintains a directory of domain names and their matching IP addresses. This information allows other computers to know where to go to find your website over internet. How? The information from all the domain name servers across the Internet is gathered into a Central Registry. Computer networks across the world check in with the Central Registry on a regular basis to get updates so they will know information about your domain and where to find your domain name or your website if you have one.

For example Human-readable names like "example.com" are easy for people to remember, but they don't do machines any good. All of the machines use names called IP addresses to refer to one another. For example, the machine that humans refer to as "www.example.com" has the IP address 70.42.251.42. Every time you use a domain name, you use the Internet's domain name servers (DNS) to translate the human-readable domain name into the machine-readable IP address. During a day of browsing and e-mailing, you might access the domain name servers hundreds of times!

When you type a URL into your browser, the browser's first step is to convert the domain name and host name into an IP address so that the browser can go request a Web page from the machine at that IP address (see How Web Servers Work for details on the whole process). To do this conversion, the browser has a conversation with a name server.

When you register for a hosting account you are given the addresses of these two name servers, after which you have to log into your domain registrar account and point the domains to the appropriate address. This allows you to attach your site to your web hosting account so that it can be put live on the internet.

It takes approximately 48 hours for your new or modified information that is entered into a domain name server to make it's way across the internet.

Open Source HardWares

2010-10-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

Ya.. We have all heard of open source software which produces many popular programs, but have you ever heard of open source hardware? Basically the premise is exactly the same as open source software– the specs for building the hardware are freely available for you to do anything with.

The following are the open source projects available to public use.

Neuros OSD an open source digital video recorder.
Ben NanoNote - hand held notebook computer based on a MIPS processor running Linux.
The RepRap Project: An open source, 3D printer/fabber
e-puck mobile robot, an open-hardware, education oriented, mobile robot.
VIA OpenBook - a netbook case design released by VIA Technologies
OpenSPARC is an open-source processor project to which Sun Microsystems have contributed the UltraSPARC T1 and UltraSPARC T2 multicore processor designs.
PC532 - a personal computer design based on the NS32532 microprocessor, released in 1990.

In this Arduino is one of open source electronics platform. It helps to create interactive objects for any one. For more about Arduino please visit http://arduino.cc/. They provides many more to users.

I regularly update contents about it.. Please don't forget to visit.

List of Banks in India
RBI	ABN AMRO Bank	Andhra Bank
Axis Bank	Bank of Baroda	Bank Of India
Barclays Bank	Canara Bank	Central Bank of India
Citibank	Corporation Bank	Dena Bank
Deutsche Bank	GE Financial	HDFC
HSBC	ICICI	IDBI
Indiabulls Financial Services	Indian Bank	Indian Overseas Bank
ING Vysya	Kotak Mahindra Bank	LIC Housing Finance Corporation
National Housing Bank	Oriental Bank of Commerce	PNB
Punjab & Sind Bank	Reliance Money	SBI
Standard Chartered	Syndicate Bank	Union Bank of India
United Bank of India