Breast Cancer Awareness Month

STORE SHELVES are filling up with pink products tied to October's Breast Cancer Awareness month, but shoppers need to do their homework to be sure their green is really going to the right cause.
There is a seemingly endless variety of pink products on offer these days. The options range from food items - pink M&Ms and Tic Tacs are popular - to home appliances such as a pink KitchenAid mixer or a pink Dyson vacuum cleaner. Many products also carry the ubiquitous pink-ribbon logo that has become a universal symbol of breast-cancer awareness. Shoppers can choose from pink-ribbon slippers, towels, bedding, pajamas and jewelry, among other items.
But buyers need to look beyond the pink to be sure a product supports a legitimate breast-cancer group. Anybody can use the pink-ribbon logo, so it's important to read tags, boxes and fine print to find out what group is being supported and how much money it is getting from your purchase. Sometimes the money goes directly to breast-cancer research, while other purchases may support free mammograms for low-income women or simply "breast-cancer awareness."
Most major breast-cancer groups have strict requirements for disclosing how much of a pink product goes to charity. Consumers should look for labels and boxes that state what organization benefits and how much of the purchase price goes to it. Some products give only a vague description, promising that a "portion" of the proceeds support breast-cancer research.
Their (Breast Cancer Research Foundation) rule is that a company must disclose whatever their donation is - if they aren't willing to disclose it, they won't be accepted as a partner. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation lists all its pink products and the contribution on its Web site, www.bcrfcure.org. Some pink purchases clearly go further than others. Each sale of $60 Darey Dyle Rose Quartz earrings generates $40, or 67% of the purchase price, for the group BreastCancer.org. Spend $1,950 on a Van Cleef & Arples pendant, and $1,000, or 51% of the price, goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. KitchenAid offers a variety of Cook for the Cure products that benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation www.komen.org
The company donates $50, or about 17% of the purchase price, from sales of iths pink Artisan Stand Mixer. Meanwhile, 50 cents from the purchase of a $13 pair of pink-ribbon Meshmellows slippers - or about 4% of the purchase price - goes to the National Breast Cancer Foundation www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
Sometimes simply buying a pink product doesn'e guarantee money will be given to breast-cancer causes. The shopper has to take an extra step, such as mailing in product lids or labels or registering online to generate income for charity. For instance, Yoplait products with pink lids support the Komen Foundation - but only if you mail them in. Specially marked bags of Sun Chips carry a pink ribbon, but the 25-cent-per-bag donation to Komen is triggered only when the shopper goes to a Web site and enters a special code. Viva paper towels will donate $100,000 to the Brease Cancer Research Foundation, but if shoppers redeem a special coupon the company will donate an additional 10 cents, up to a total $200,000 donation.l
Shoppers also need to decide what type of breast-cancer projects they support, because groups with pink products have different missions. The best way is to check a group's Web site. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation last year spent 89% of the $27 million it raised on research grants for breast-cancer prevention and treatment. The Komen Foundation spends most of its funds on breast-cancer education, awareness and community programs, such as free mammograms, but allocates about 40% to breast-cancer research. Products that support Breast-cancer.org help support the group's mission to provide women the most up-to-date medical information about breast cancer. Products llike a pink Gund plush bear support LIFE, which stands for LPGA Pros in the Fight to Eradicate breast cancer, a group that focuses on education and awareness about the risks of breast cancer to young women. Meanwhile, CancerCare, which receives support from the sale of pink TicTacs and pink Women for Hope braclets www.womenforhope.com , uses money it raises for support services for people affected by cancer.
Last year, pink products accounted for $35 million of the Komen Foundation's $200 million in annual revenue. Cindy Schneibel, vice president of resource development for Komen, says the pink products do more than raise money for research - they also raise awareness among peoople who might not otherwise think about breast cancer.
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Google Looks To Boost Ads With YouTube

WITH IT'S $!.65 billion agreement to acquire YouTube Inc., Google Inc. will be able to broaden its online-advertising business and boosts its video offerings to meet the rapidly changing viewing habits of consumers.
The all-stock purchase announced yesterday (Oct. 9, 2006), of closely held YouTube, a 19-month-old, San Bruno, Calif. startup with 67 employees, highlights users' growing consumption of video online and the booming sales of Web advertising. The hefty price tag also reflects the interest of other media and technology companies in acquiring YouTube as a way to jumpstart their online video efforts.
The deal--the largest in Google's eight-year history-- marries Google's massive collection of computes, data lines and systems for serving up online ads from hundreds of thousands of advertisers with YouTube's leading position in playing videos for users on the Web. It could transform the Mountain View, Calif. based Google into a bigger power broker for the distribution of video online, following the mixed track record of its own online video efforts. YouTube has said that consumers view videos through its service, ranging from homemade videos to movie clips, more than 100 million times daily.
This is going to allow them to continue to develop features for their community and their partners, and allow them to sharpen their focus. They will be able to leverage the technology and resources of Google to supercharge their efforts in those areas.
The acquisition could also boost Google's ambitions to significantly broaden its as-brokering activities beyond simple text ads on Web pages to larger amounts of video advertising online. The Web search company places ads, often targeted by specific keywords, such as "Chicago hotel," on its own and partner sites using an automated online system and has said it intends t also broker ads in radio, print media and television.
They believe the combination of Google and YouTube will create this very new and interesting global media platform for users, content providers and advertisers all around the world.
The sale is a huge windfall for YouTube, which Mr. Hurley, 29, founded in Feb. 2005 in his garage along with chief technology officer Steve Chen, 28, and another former colleague from eBay Inc.'s PayPal electronic-payment unit. Mr. Hurley had said in a June interview that an initial public offering in the future was a possibility. But the offer from Google was attractive enough to lead YouTube to abandon that interest.
Some analysts raised questions about YouTube's priced tag. Critics said Google could be exposing itself to liability for copyright violations, since videos posted by users without permission of content owners are available through YouTube's site. The startup already faces one lawsuit related to this issue. YouTube has been racing to sign deals with media and entertainment companies to license their content and head off any additional litigation, generally agreeing to share online ad revenue with the content owners. The YouTube commitment to enforcing copyrights is very consistent with Google's.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company "evaluated acquiring this type of technology several months ago" but decided to build its own service, a test version of which opened recently.
In a prelude to the acquisition announcement, YouTube early Monday announced agreements with Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group and Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG joint venture Sony BMG to make their music videos available through YouTube and to allow consumers to use music from the two companies as soundtracks for their own videos on YouTube. The video site also signed a content and ad-revenue-sharing agreement with CBS Corp. related to video from CBS Television Network and Showtime Networks Inc. Google separately announced agreements with Warner Music Group Corp. and Sony BMG to make their music videos available through its video service.
YouTube's deal with Universal Music is particularly significant since Universal Music Chief Executive told investors last month that YouTube violates copyright laws by allowing users to post music videos and other content. Universal Music has considered taking legal action against YouTube over that issue, say people familiar with the matter.
Yahoo Inc., News Corp. and Microsoft Corp. were among the other companies that expressed interest in acquiring YouTube, say people familiar with the matter. YouTube had earlier passed on a lower offer from Google and held acquisition discussions with Yahoo, which tendered an offer in recent weeks, say people familiar with the matter. Yahoo's offer, valid for 24-hours, expired amid its concerns about copyright- and revenue-related issues though talks continued after the expiration, one of the people says.
Meanwhile, Google significantly increased its offer and deal talks between the two gathered intensity late Tuesday, when Google and YouTube drafted a term sheet, a person familiar with the matter says. In parallel, the two companies worked to complete content and as-revenue-sharing partnerships with the major music companies and CBS Corp. that were announced yesterday morning.
News Corp. sniffed around YouTube as recently as last week, but never made a firm offer because the startup said it was not for sale. On Friday, when the news of the Google negotiations surfaced, News Corp. sent a letter to YouTube asking for an opportunity to participate in the sale process. YouTube didn't respond. Behind the scenes, Google's deal to purchase YouTube is threatening to create a rift between Google and News Corp., which jointly made headlines in August with and ad brokering deal under which Goolge guaranteed revenue of $900 million over three and a half years to News Corp. for its MySpace social networking service and other sites. Over the weekend, News Corp. executives expressed their displeasure with the deal to Google and threatened to remove any links to YouTube videos placed by users on their MySpace blog pages, according to a person close to the situation.
News Corp. earlier this year held discussions with NBC Universal and Viacom about jointly building a YouTube rival. The three media companies discussed putting their television videos on a new site, but ultimately the talks foundered, these people say. This month, News Corp. announced it would put video clips from its Fox television shows up on MySpace.
YouTube's sale could represent a significant financial gain for venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which has provided funding to the startup. Sequoia holds roughly 30% of YouTube. Under the sale agreement, YouTube will retain some independence, keeping its brand, offices and management. Google will also continue to operate its separate Google Video service.
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Exotic Felines

Last week we went to the 'Exotic Feline Rescue Center' and it was so neat! They are located about 20 miles south of Terre Haute, Indiana. Their mission is to provide permanent homes for exotic felines that have been abused, abandoned, or for some reason have nowhere to live out their lives. They also believe that these special cats have much to give and deserve to be treated in a humane and dignified manner. You wouldn't believe some of the stories we were told about these felines. It was awful. Founded in 1991 by Joe Taft, it became a non-profit organization in 1996. There are just a handful of sanctuaries in the US that provide the services they do. They house about 175 cats (big) on site from 8 different species. They work and cooperate with many organizations including: Fund for Animals with the California Leopards, Columbus Zoo, Louisville Zoo, Baltimore Zoo, DNR, US Fish and Wildlife, USDA, Sarasota in Defense of Animals, other shelters, and private individuals. For the last 4 1/2 years they have taken in an average of two cats per month. They feed their cats 2500 lbs. of meat everyday. If they bought prepared carnivore diet, it would cost approximately $912,500 per year. Thankfully most of the meat comes from local farmers. But they do purchase 2500 lbs. of poultry each week for the cats. For more information on these cats go to http://www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/
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Take The Test

You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer

Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from. And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi. Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics... Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

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Here Come the Holidays

It excites some and depresses others. With Halloween just around the corner, everyone is already getting ready for Christmas. I have always noticed that Thanksgiving just seems to kind of get skipped over. Why do you think that is? I love Thanksgiving because that is exactly what it is. A special day for giving thanks for all of our blessings. The stores are just getting ready to clean up from Halloween and then they will set up Christmas accessories for sale. You never see turkey decorations or displays of the pilgrims at a big dinner table. Maybe it has something to do with politics or whatever. But people celebrate Christmas happily enough and that is a religious holiday. I am thinking that does not enter too many minds as it has become so materialistic. All the bright lights and pretty decorations are nice, but just like Thanksgiving, Christmas has all been forgotten the real reason for the season. We need to slow down a little in the world or we will all go nuts before our time on earth is finished.
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